Yashodharman

2021-04-25T00:06:56Z

2409:4053:2D94:6AAE:0:0:C94B:9A04:

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{use Indian English|date=November 2016}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title = ''[[Emperor#Indian Subcontinent|Samraat'']], ''naradhipati'', ''rajadhiraja''
| succession = second-last [[Aulikara dynasty|Aulikara ruler]] of [[Malwa]]
| image = The defeat of the Ephalites, or White Huns A.D. 528.jpg
| caption = The defeat of the [[Alchon Huns|Huna Mlecchas]] of [[Mihirakula]] by Yashodharman at [[Sondani]] in 528 CE.
| issue = [[Shiladitya of Malwa]], [[Yashomati]]
| religion = [[Hindu]]
| reign = 515–545 CE
}}
[[File:Sri Yashodharman.jpg|thumb|260px|The name [[File:Gupta allahabad shrii.jpg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad y.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad sho.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta allahabad dh.svg|10px]][[File:Gupta allahabad rmm.jpg|14px]] ''Śrī Yaśodharmma'' ("Lord Yashodharman") in [[Gupta script]] in Line 4 of the [[Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana]].<ref name="EG"/>]]
'''Yashodharman''' ([[Gupta script]]: [[File:Gupta allahabad y.svg|14px]][[File:Gupta allahabad sho.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta allahabad dh.svg|10px]][[File:Gupta allahabad rmm.jpg|14px]] ''Ya-śo-dha-rmma'',<ref name="EG">{{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors |date=1960 |pages=150–158 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.463254/page/n387}}</ref> {{IAST3|Yaśodharman}}) (r. 515 – 545) was a ruler of [[Malwa]], in central [[India]], during the early part of the 6th century. He probably belonged to the [[Second Aulikara dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |author=J. L. Jain |title=Development and Structure of an Urban System |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oi7lzN6-W5MC&pg=PA30 |year=1994 |publisher=Mittal Publications |isbn=978-81-7099-552-4 |page=30 }}</ref> He [[Aulikara Empire|conquered]] much of the [[Indian subcontinent]] between c. 530-540 CE according to [[Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman|Mandsaur pillar inscription]].<ref name="Sagar"/>

== History ==
{{Main|Battle of Sondani}}
Towards the end of the 5th century, India came under attack from the ''[[Hunas]]''. Yashodharman and possibly the Gupta emperor, [[Narasimhagupta]], [[Battle of Sondani|defeated a
''Huna'' army]] and their ruler Mihirakula in 528 CE and drove them out of India.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Litvinovskiĭ |first2=Boris Abramovich |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750 |date=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=9788120815407 |page=175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FcKtIPVQ6REC&pg=PA175 |language=en}}</ref>

Three inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in [[Mandsaur]]. One of these, the [[Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana]] is of samvat 589 (532 AD).

===Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana (532 CE)===
{{Location map+
|India
|float = right
|width = 220
|caption = The 532 CE [[Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana]] mentions victorious campaigns against northern kings (probably referring to the victory against the [[Alchon Huns]] at [[Sondani]]), and against "mighty kings of the east", including a campaign across the [[Vindhya range]].
|nodiv = 1
|mini = 1
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|places =
{{location map~ |India |lat=25|N |long=81|E |label=Campaign through the [[Vindhya range]]|position=right |label_size=70|mark=Arrow-060(000).svg|marksize=25 }}
{{location map~ |India |lat=24.07|N |long=75.08|E |label=[[Sondani inscription|Sondani]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=Red Star.gif|marksize=20}}
}}
{{Main|Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana}}
The Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman-Vishnuvardhana was written in 532 CE, and records the construction of a well by a person named Daksha in Dashapura (modern [[Mandsaur]], also often spelled [[Mandasor]]), during the rule of Yashodharman.<ref name="Bakker"/> The inscription mentions the victories of local ruler [[Yasodharman]] (and possibly [[Chalukya]] ruler [[Vishnuvardhana]]) over Northern and Eastern kingdoms. These kingdoms are not further specified, but it is known that Yashodhaman occupied most of the territories of the [[Alchon Huns]] or [[Hunas]] to the north, and the most of the territories of the [[Gupta Empire]] to the east following his victories.<ref>Historical Geography of Madhyapradesh from Early Records by P. K. Bhattacharyya [https://books.google.com/books?id=njYpsvmr2dsC&pg=PA200 p.200]</ref><ref name="Davidson">Indian Esoteric Buddhism: Social History of the Tantric Movement by Ronald M. Davidson [https://books.google.com/books?id=n_VquVQvnBwC&pg=PA31 p.31]</ref> Only one more Gupta inscription is known after that date, a land grant in the area of [[Kotivarsha]] ([[Bangarh]] in [[West Bengal]]) by the last Gupta emperor [[Vishnugupta (Gupta Empire)|Vishnugupta]].<ref name="Davidson"/> The victory against the Alchons Huns is also described in the [[Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman]].<ref name="Bakker">[[Hans Bakker]] 50 years that changed India (Timeline)</ref>

{{Quote|"(L. 5.)— And, again, victorious over the earth is this same king of men, the glorious Vishnuvardhana, the conqueror in war; by whom his own famous lineage, which has the [[Aulikara]]-crest, has been brought to a state of dignity that is ever higher and higher. By him, having brought into subjection, with peaceful overtures and by war, <u>the
mighty kings of the east and many (kings) of the north</u>, this second name of "Supreme King of Kings and Supreme Lord", pleasing in the world (but) difficult of attainment, is carried on high."|Mandsaur stone inscription of Yashodharman and Vishnuvardhana<ref name="Fleet">Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 150sq.</ref>}}

===Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman (515–550 CE)===
[[File:Sondani victory pillar of Yashodharman.jpg|thumb|Victory pillar of Yashodharman at Sondani, [[Mandsaur]].]]
{{Location map+
|India
|float = right
|width = 220
|caption = In the [[Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman|Mandsaur pillar inscription]], Yashodharman claims he now controls the territory from the neighbourhood of Lauhitya ([[Brahmaputra River]]) to the "Western Ocean" (Western [[Indian Ocean]]), and from the [[Himalayas]] to mountain [[Mahendragiri (Odisha)|Mahendra]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=New Inscriptional Evidence For The History Of The Aulikaras of Mandasor |journal=Indo-Iranian Journal |date=1989 |volume=32 |issue=1 |page=11 |issn=0019-7246|jstor=24654606 }}</ref> He also claims he defeated the [[Hunas]] at [[Sondani inscription|Sondani]].<ref name="p.145">Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358795 p.145]</ref>
|nodiv = 1
|mini = 1
|relief=yes
|places =
{{location map~ |India |lat=24.07|N |long=75.08|E |label=[[Sondani inscription|Battle of Sondani]]|position=top |label_size=70|mark=Red Star.gif|marksize=20}}
{{location map~ |India |lat=19|N |long=84.33|E |label=[[Mahendragiri (Odisha)|Mahendra]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=AS-góra-icon.svg|marksize=20}}
{{location map~ |India |lat=30|N |long=82|E |label=[[Himalayas]] |position=right |label_size=70|mark=AS-góra-icon.svg|marksize=20}}
{{location map~ |India |lat=19|N |long=70|E |label=[[Indian Ocean|"Western Ocean"]]|position=bottom |label_size=70|mark=Emoji u1f32b.svg|marksize=30}}
{{location map~ |India |lat=23.2|N |long=89.66|E |label=[[Brahmaputra River]]|position=top |label_size=70|mark=RiverIcon-delta.svg|marksize=20}}
{{Location map~|Near East|lat=34.5|N|long=40|E|position=left|label_size= |mark=Red circle (thin).svg|marksize=110|label=}}
}}
{{Main|Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman}}
Twin monolithic pillars at [[Sondani]] in [[Mandsaur District]] were erected by Yasodharman as a record of his victory.<ref>Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 147–148</ref><ref>[http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/mandasor_pillar.htm Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman]</ref> In a part of the [[Sondani inscription]], [[Yasodharman]] thus praises himself for having defeated king [[Mihirakula]]:<ref>[http://pro.geo.univie.ac.at/projects/khm/showcases/showcase9?language=en Coin Cabinet of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna]</ref>

{{Quote|"He (Yasodharman) to whose two feet respect was paid, with complimentary presents of the flowers from the lock of hair on the top of (his) head, by even that (famous) king [[Mihirakula]], whose forehead was pained through being bent low down by the strength of (his) arm in (the act of compelling) obeisance"|[[Mandsaur pillar inscription of Yashodharman]]<ref name="PM">Punjab Monitor, April 2013 [http://www.punjabmonitor.com/2013/04/sondhni-pillars-where-punjabis-met-with.html], from Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 147–148.</ref>}}

==Territory==
{{Main|Aulikara Empire}}
In Line 5 of the Mandsaur pillar inscription, Yashodharman claims he vanquished his enemies and now controls the territory from the neighbourhood of the (river) Lauhitya ([[Brahmaputra River]]) to the "Western Ocean" (Western [[Indian Ocean]]), and from the [[Himalayas]] to mountain [[Mahendragiri (Odisha)|Mahendra]].<ref name="p.145">Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol 3 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.358795 p.145]</ref><ref name="Sagar">Foreign Influence on Ancient India by Krishna Chandra Sagar [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA216 p.216]</ref>

Yashodharman thus conquered vast territories from the Hunas and the Guptas,<ref>Tribal Culture, Faith, History And Literature, Narayan Singh Rao, Mittal Publications, 2006 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Pplg_F0VyVEC&pg=PA18 p.18]</ref> although his short-lived empire would ultimately disintegrate between c. 530–540 CE.<ref name="Sagar"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/bijayagadh_stone_pillar.htm Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080905170414/http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/mandasor_pillar.htm Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:6th-century Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:History of Malwa]]

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Yashodharman