Srughna

2021-04-13T05:15:55Z

59.90.17.201:

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2017}}
{{Location map
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[[File:Srughna or Sugh.jpg|thumb|250px|Plan of the ancient city of Srughna or Sugh.]]
{{coord|30.141915|N|77.354361|E|display=title}}
'''Srughna''', also spelt '''Shrughna''' in [[Sanskrit]], or '''Sughna''', '''Sughana''' or '''Sugh''' in the spoken form,<ref name="archive.org">{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=alexander |title=Archeological Survey Of India Vol Ii |date=1871 |page=227 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.62695/page/n271}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Alexander Cunningham |first1=Great Britain India Office |title=The Stûpa of Bharhut: A Buddhist Monument Ornamented with Numerous ... |date=1879 |publisher=W.H. Allen and Co. |page=3 |url=https://archive.org/details/stpabharhutabud00offigoog/page/n14 |language=English}}</ref> was an ancient city or kingdom of India frequently referred to in early and medieval texts. It was visited by Chinese traveller, [[Xuanzang]] (Hiuen Tsang) in the 7th century and was reported to be in ruins even then although the foundations still remained. Xuanzang described the kingdom as extending from the mountains to the north, to the [[Ganges river]] to the East, and with the [[Yamuna river]] flowing through it.<ref name="archive.org"/> He described the capital city on the west bank of the Yamuna as possessing a large [[Buddhist]] [[vihara]] and a grand [[stupa]] dating to the time of the [[Mauryan]] emperor, [[Ashoka]].{{sfn|Cunningham|1877|p=34}} Srughna is identified with the [[Sugh Ancient Mound]] located in the village of [[Amadalpur]] Dayalgarh, in the [[Yamunanagar|Yamunanagar district]] of [[Haryana]] state of India.<ref name="TourismGov1">{{cite web |url=http://haryanatourism.gov.in/Destination/ancient-site-of-sugh|title=Ancient site of Sugh|website=HaryanaTourism.gov.in|publisher=Haryana Tourism Corporation Limited |access-date=2018-04-23}}</ref><ref name="Tribune1">{{cite web |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/haryana/dc-orders-probe-into-damage-to-ancient-sugh-mound/419006.html |title=DC orders probe into damage to ancient Sugh mound |last=Sharma|first=Shriv Kumar |date=2018-06-08 |publisher=The Tribune, India. |access-date=2018-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archaeologyharyana.nic.in/sites/default/files/documents/List-of-Protected-Monuments-in-Haryana-with-notification-no.pdf |title=List of Protected Monuments in Haryana with notification no. |website=Archaeology Haryana|publisher=Department of Archaeology and Museums, Haryana |access-date=2018-04-23}}</ref> To this day, the ancient [[Chaneti Buddhist Stupa]], probably dating to the Mauryan period, stands in the area, about {{convert|3|km}} northwest of Sugh.<ref name="PG">{{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Parmanand |title=Geography from Ancient Indian Coins & Seals |date=1989 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=9788170222484 |page=154 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzHpZ5N5MhcC&pg=PA154 |language=en}}</ref>

==Identification==
Xuanzang saw several stupas, which commemorated the visit of the Buddha or enshrined the relics of Buddhist monks [[Sariputta|Sariputra]] and [[Maudgalyayana]].<ref name=sadh2>[http://haryanajobalert.com/Admin/Upload/YJQMLC7Wyamunanagar.pdf Yamunanagar History], Gazatteer of Haryana: Yamunanagar.</ref> [[Alexander Cunningham]] identified the lost city with the village of Sugh (or Sugha) situated {{convert|5|km|mi}} from [[Yamunanagar]] in the state of [[Haryana]].{{sfn|Handa|2000|pp=517, 518}} The city probably lost its importance after the 7th century and the name survived in a localized form.<ref name=sadh2/> [[Panjab University]]'s 1965 excavation found artifacts dating from 600 BCE to 300 CE, including [[Painted Grey Ware culture|grey ware]] and [[Black and red ware culture|red ware]] pottery, coins, seals, animal remains, male and female terracotta figurines, animal terracotta figurines and miscellaneous terracotta objects such as [[Plug (jewellery)|flesh rubbers]], [[crucibles]], [[Toy rattle|rattle]], [[wikt:gamesmen|gamesmen]], stamp, seal impression, discs, frames and wheels, balls, goldsmiths heating cup, an ear ornament grooved on the exterior and a broken figurine of a headless child with writing board in lap with [[Shunga Empire|sunga]] (187 BCE to 78 BCE) period alphabets.<ref name=sadh2/> Collection of these figurines belong to Sunga, [[Maurya Empire|Mauryan]], [[Kushan Empire|Kushana]], [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] and medieval period.<ref name=sadh2/>

Srughna is regularly mentioned in [[Panini (grammarian)|Panini]]'s [[Ashtadhyayi]], [[Patanjali]]'s [[Mahabhashya]], the [[Divyavadana]], the [[Mahabharata]], the [[Mahamayuri]], the ''Brihatsamhita'' of [[Varahamihira]], etc. Tūrghna, another location mentioned in ancient literary texts, is considered synonymous with Srughna.{{sfn|Handa|2000|pp=517, 518}}{{sfn|Bharadwaj|1980|p=192|ps=: {{quote|"Tūrghna is apparently a scribal error for Srughna which was the region about Jagadhari with its head-quarters at the present village of Sugha situated on the Western Yumunā Canal at a distance of about {{convert|5|km}} to the east of Jagadhari town in district Ambala."}}}}

The village of Sugh, with the nearby [[Sugh Ancient Mound]], is now a well known archaeological site which has yielded a trove of coins. It was excavated by Cunningham in the 19th century. [[Suraj Bhan (archaeologist)|Suraj Bhan]] partially excavated the site in 1964–65.{{sfn|Handa|2000|pp=517, 518}}

The original site of the [[Topra Kalan]] pillar of Ashoka is located about {{convert|18|km}} to the west.<ref name="PG"/> [[Ashoka]]'s [[Rock edicts of Khalsi]] is also from the region, about {{convert|60|km}} to the northeast.

==Dhanabhuti, king of "Sugana"==
It has been proposed that King [[Dhanabhuti]], the main sponsor of the Buddhist stupa at [[Bharhut]], came from Srughna or Sughana, and that Dhanabhuti was one of its important kings, who, besides building magnificent stupas in his capital city, also made some of the most important donations for the building of the [[torana]]s and railings at [[Bharhut]].<ref name="DCA">"A local Buddhist kingdom in Punjab with Srughna, modern Sugh, near Jagadhri in the district of Ambala, as its capital city, and covering an area of about 1000 miles in circuit. Raja Dhanabhuti, the pre-eminent king of this royal family ruled from 240 B.C. to 210 B.C. This pious Buddhist king apart from building magnificent stupas in his capital city, also made munificent donations to the world famous Stupa of Bharhut" in {{cite book |last1=Ahir |first1=D. C. |title=Buddhism in North India |date=1989 |publisher=Classics India Publications |isbn=9788185132099 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wJQEAAAAYAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ahir |first1=D. C. |title=Buddhism In The Punjab Haryana And Himachal Pradesh |date=1971 |pages=27–28 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.107652/page/n29}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Ajit |title=Bharhut Sculptures and their untenable Sunga Association |journal=Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology |date=2014 |volume=2 |pages=223‐241 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10237709 |language=en}}</ref>

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=600|caption_align=center
| align = center
| direction =horizontal
| header=Child learning Brahmi (2nd century BCE, Sugh)
| image1 = Child learning Brahmi Alphabets, Shunga era 2nd Century BCE, National Museum, New Delhi.jpg
| image2 = Child seated and writing the Brahmi alphabet, Sugh, 2nd century BCE (detail of the writing plate).jpg
| footer=Ancient terracota sculpture from Sugh ''"Child learning [[Brahmi]]"'', 2nd century BCE. The writing on the ''takhtī'' writing tablet consists in a line made of the 12 primary Brahmi vowels (a ''Bhārākhadī''), repeated four times, in a script identical to that of [[Ashoka]] (an indicator for the object's datation):<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chhabra |first1=B. Ch. |title=Sugh Terracotta with Brahmi Barakhadi: appears in the Bulletin National Museum No. 2 |date=1970 |publisher=National Museum |location=New Delhi |url=https://archive.org/details/NationalMuseumBulletinNo.2/page/n1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Chhabra |first1=B.Ch. |title=Sugh Terracotta with Brahmi Barakhadi: appears in the Bulletin National Museum No. 2 |date=1970 |publisher=Bulletin National Museum No. 2 |url=https://archive.org/details/NationalMuseumBulletinNo.2}}</ref><br><center>'''a ā i ī u ū e ai o au aṃ aḥ<br>𑀅 𑀆 𑀇 𑀈 𑀉 𑀊 𑀏 𑀐 𑀑 𑀒 𑀅𑀁 𑀅𑀂'''</center>
}}

==See also==
* [[Sugh Ancient Mound]]
* [[History of Haryana#Buddhism|Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Haryana]]
* [[Buddhist pilgrimage sites]]
* [[Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last1=Cunningham|first1=Alexander|title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum|date=1877|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=9785879911145|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25IRAwAAQBAJ|language=en}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Handa|first1=Devendra|title=Minuscule Silver Coins from Sugh|journal=East and West|date=2000|volume=50|issue=1/4|pages=515–521|jstor=29757464}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Bharadwaj|first1=O. P.|title=Gautama Buddha in Kurukṣetra|journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute|date=1980|volume=61|issue=1/4|pages=189–204|jstor=41691865}}

==External links==
* [http://haryanatourism.gov.in/showpage.aspx?contentid=5368 Haryana tourism]
* [http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/sunday-special/people/buddha-smiled-in-this-haryana-village/406678.html Article] in Tribune India
* [https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023029485 Ancient Geography of India] by Alexander Cunningham (1871)

[[Category:Locations in Hindu mythology]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Haryana]]

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Srughna