{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox royalty|title=Rani|succession=[[Shunga Empress]]|name=Devamala|spouse=[[Pushyamitra Shunga]]|issue=[[Agnimitra]]|father = Devakumara Raya Jadhav|full name=Vedikamati - Raya - Jadhav}}
'''Devamala''' ([[Sanskrit]]:देवमला, or Devamati (देवमती), full name: Vedikamati- Raya -Jadhava) is a queen regnant of the [[Shunga dynasty]] and the wife of King [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] and mother of [[Agnimitra]] and the daughter of King Devakumara Raya Jadhav. She married [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] at a very young age, and became a mother of one prince known [[Agnimitra]]. The lesser known facts of Devamala are she is also called by many names and some names were kept by her husband,
[[Pushyamitra Shunga]]. Some origins are unnamed about her in some legends, mostly in other parts, the stories mention the daughter of King Devakumara Raya Jadhav's daughter Princess Devamala's marriage to King [[Pushyamitra Shunga]]. But, hence, after giving birth to a child, Devamala and her husband [[Pushyamitra Shunga|Pushyamitra]] named the baby as [[Agnimitra]]. Agnimitra, like his father, Pushyamitra Shunga, married three princesses known - Dharini, Iravati and Malavika. Later, Devamala's son, Agnimitra, had sons namely [[Vasumitra]] and many others. After the death of her husband, [[Pushyamitra Shunga]], Devamala too dies naturally after the birth of Vasumitra. It's described she was kidnapped by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] for rejecting him for his marriage. Without the king's permission,
[[Pushyamitra Shunga]] made Devamala, his queen. {{efn|Devamala is the daughter of King Raya Jadhava and the mother of Agnimitra and wife of Pushyamitra Shunga}}

==In Hindu Scriptures==
===Kidnappiation of Devamala===
Once, [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] saw a beautiful girl named Devamala, he fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. But he wanted her father to marry her off to him, but he refused. So, he kidnapped his daughter, Devamala, for not giving her hand in marriage.

===Birth of Agnimitra===
Agnimitra, was a son born to [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] and his wife, Devamala after the marriage. When Agnimitra, grew up, he started behaving like his father but his mother, Devamala was a poor and innocent woman who is known as unnamed in [[History]].
==References==
<references group="lower-alpha"/>
{{reflist}}

2023-01-09T08:41:14Z

Divyakanti:

{{sources|date=December 2020}}
{{for|the 5th century CE tribe|Pushyamitras}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox royalty
| succession = [[Shunga Empire|Shunga Emperor]]
| image = [[File:Bharhut Sunga individual.jpg|200px]]
| caption = Man on a relief, [[Bharhut]], Sunga period, 2nd century BCE.
| reign = {{circa|185|149 BCE}}
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| predecessor = [[Brihadratha Maurya]]
| successor = [[Agnimitra]]
| spouse = [[Devamala]] (also known as Devamati)
| issue = [[Agnimitra]]
| dynasty = [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]]
| father =
| mother =
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| date of burial =
| place of burial =
}}

'''Pushyamitra Shunga''' ([[IAST]]: {{IAST|Puṣyamitra Śuṅga}}) (ruled {{circa|185|149 BCE}}) was the founder and first ruler of the [[Shunga Empire]] which he established by rebelling against [[Maurya Empire]].

Pushyamitra was originally a ''Senapati'' "General" of the [[Maurya Empire]]. In 187 BCE he assassinated the last Mauryan Emperor, [[Brihadratha Maurya]], during an army review, and made himself as an emperor.

Pushyamitra is recorded to have performed numerous [[Ashvamedha]] campaigns to legitimize his right to rule. Inscriptions of the Shungas have been found as far as the [[Ayodhya]] (the [[Dhanadeva-Ayodhya inscription]]), and the ''[[Divyavadana]]'' mentions that his empire stretched as far as [[Sagala|Sakala]] ([[Sialkot]]) in the [[Punjab region]] in the northwest.

The Buddhist texts state that Pushyamitra persecuted the Buddhists, although some modern scholars have expressed skepticism about these claims.

== Ancestry ==
[[File:I17 1karshapana Sunga MACW4325 1ar (8485402873).jpg|thumb|300px|A silver coin of 1 [[karshapana]] of King Pushyamitra Sunga (185-149 BC) of the Sunga dynasty (185-73 BC), workshop of Vidisa (?). ''Obv:'' 5 symbols including a sun ''Rev:'' 2 symbols.]]
[[File:SungaCoin.JPG|thumb|300px|Bronze coin of the Shunga period, Eastern India. 2nd–1st century BCE.]]
Pushyamitra Shunga was the hereditary ruler of [[Vidisha]]. It was incorporated into the Maurya Empire uptil his led [[coup d'état]].

Several sources suggest that Pushyamitra was a [[Brahmin]] [[warrior]] and the 16th century Buddhist scholar [[Taranatha]] explicitly calls him a Brahmin king.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=29}} However, the various sources offer differing suggestions about which Brahmin [[gotra]] (clan) Pushyamitra belonged to. A [[Purana|Puranic]] manuscript mentions persons who were born of "Shunga, a descendant of [[Bharadvaja]], by a woman married in the family of Kata, a descendant of [[Vishvamitra]]". Based on this, [[K. P. Jayaswal]] theorized that Shunga was a [[Brahmin]] with two gotras (''dwaimushyayana'' or ''dvigotra''): his family traced their ancestry to both Bharadvaja and Vishvamitra lineages.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|pp=28-29}} The ''Pravara Kanda'' of the ''[[Apastamba]]'' mentions a "Shunga-Shaishiri" gotra. J. C. Ghosh theorized that the Shunga family derived from the Shunga of the Bharadvaja gotra, and the Shaishiri of the Vishvamitra gotra (Kata group).{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=30}}<ref>''Ghosh, J.C.,"The Dynastic-Name of the Kings of the Pushyamitra Family," J.B.O.R.S, Vol. XXXIII, 1937, p.360''</ref>

However, the ''[[Matsya Purana]]'' mentions the "Shunga-Shaishiri" ''dwaimushyayana'' gotra (named "Shaunga-Shaishireya" here) as a combination of the Bharadvaja and [[Kashyapa]] (not Vishvamitra) gotras. The ''[[Harivamsa]]'' mentions a [[dvija|twice-born]] general of the [[Kashyapa]] gotra who performed the [[Ashvamedha]] sacrifice. Some scholars such as Jayaswal identify this general with Pushyamitra. The ''[[Malavikagnimitra]]'' describes Pushyamitra as a "Baimbaki". [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|H. C. Raychaudhuri]], who read this term as "Baimbika", identified it with Baimbakayah of the [[Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra]], who was of the Kashyapa gotra (although other scholars believe that the term "Baimbaki" signifies descent from a person named Bimba, or refers to a heroic lover in general).{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|pp=29-30}} Bela Lahiri theorizes that the constituents of a ''dwaimushyayana'' gotra may have differed during different periods, and Pushyamitra may have belonged to one of these gotras.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=33}}

According to the Puranas, Pushyamitra became the king after killing his master [[Brihadratha Maurya|Brihadratha]], the last Mauryan king.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=296}} However, the Buddhist text ''[[Divyavadana]]'' names Pushyamitra as the last Mauryan king.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=29}} This text appears to have confused Brihadratha with Pushyamitra.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=30}}

H. C. Raychaudhuri theorized that the name "Shunga" is derived from the Sanskrit word for the fig tree.<ref>''Raychaudhari Hemchandra, "Tha Audvijja Senani of the Harivansa?", Indian culture, Vol. IV, 1938, P. 360-365''</ref>

== Persecution of Buddhists ==
=== Buddhist accounts ===
[[File:Sunga horseman Bharhut.jpg|thumb|Sunga horseman, Bharhut.]]
Buddhist texts state that Pushyamitra cruelly persecuted the Buddhists. The earliest source to mention this is the 2nd Century CE text ''[[Ashokavadana]]'' (a part of ''[[Divyavadana]]''). According to this account, Pushyamitra (described as the last Mauryan king) wanted to be famous. His ministers advised him that as long as Buddhism remained the dominant faith, he would never be as famous as his ancestor [[Ashoka]], who had commissioned 84,000 [[stupa]]s. One advisor told him that he could become famous by destroying Buddhism. Pushyamitra then tried to destroy the [[Kukkutarama]] monastery, but it was saved by a miracle. He then proceeded to [[Sagala|Shakala]] in the north-west, where he offered a prize of one hundred ''dinara''s (gold coins) for every head of a Buddhist monk brought to him. Next, he proceeded to the Koshthaka kingdom, where a Buddhist [[yaksha]] named Damshtranivasin killed him and his army with help of another yaksha named Krimisha.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|pp=95-96}}{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=33}}

{{quote|... Pushyamitra equipped a fourfold army, and intending to destroy the Buddhist religion, he went to the [[Kukkutarama]] (in [[Pataliputra]]). ... Pushyamitra therefore destroyed the [[sangharama]], killed the monks there, and departed. ... After some time, he arrived in [[Sagala|Sakala]], and proclaimed that he would give a ... reward to whoever brought him the head of a Buddhist monk.{{sf|Strong|1989|p=293}}}}

''Vibhasa'', another 2nd century text, states that Pushyamitra burned Buddhist scriptures, killed Buddhist monks, and destroyed 500 monasteries in and around [[Kashmir]]. In this campaign, he was supported by yakshas, ''kumbhanda''s, and other demons. However, when he reached the [[Bodhi tree]], the deity of that tree took the form of a beautiful woman and killed him.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=96}} ''Shariputrapariprichha'', translated into Chinese between 317 and 420 CE also mentions this legend, but this particular version is more detailed, and describes eastern India (not Kashmir) as the center of Pushyamitra's anti-Buddhist campaign.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=96}}

The medieval-era ''Arya-Manjushri-Mula-Kalpa'' mentions a wicked and foolish king named Gomimukhya ("cattle-faced"), or Gomishanda ("Gomin, the bull"), who seized the territory from the east to Kashmir, destroying monasteries and killing monks. Ultimately, he and his officers were killed in the north by falling mountain rocks.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=96}}{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=33-34}} This king is identified with Pushyamitra by some scholars.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jayantanuja |last=Bandyopadhyaya |title=Class and Religion in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwUF11NRyT4C&pg=PA209 |year=2007 |publisher=Anthem |isbn=978-1-84331-332-8 |page=209 }}</ref>

The 16th-century Tibetan Buddhist historian [[Taranatha]] also states that Pushyamitra and his allies killed Buddhist monks and destroyed monasteries from ''madhyadesha'' (midland) to [[Jalandhar]]a. These activities wiped out the Buddhist doctrine from the north, within five years.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=96}}

=== Authenticity of Buddhist claims ===
[[File:Procession on Elephants. Bharhut, c. 100 BC. Indian Museum, Calcutta ei05-19.jpg|thumb|Men riding elephants. [[Bharhut]], Sunga period.]]
Based on Buddhist tradition, some scholars believe that Pushyamitra was indeed a persecutor of the Buddhist faith. However, others believe that Buddhist scholars were biased against Pushyamitra, because he did not patronize them.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|pp=34-35}}

[[Vincent Arthur Smith|V. A. Smith]] and H. P. Shastri believed that Pushyamitra's rebellion against the Maurya dynasty was a Brahminical reaction to the rise of Buddhism.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=34}} According to archaeologist [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]], there is evidence of some damage to Buddhist establishments at [[Takshashila]] around the time of Shunga rule. He also theorized that the [[Sanchi Stupa|Sanchi stupa]] was vandalized in 2nd century BCE (that is, during Pushyamitra's reign), before being rebuilt on a larger scale.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|pp=96-97}} G. R. Sharma, who excavated the Buddhist ruins at [[Kosambi|Kaushambi]], suggested that the destruction of the local monastery might have happened during the reign of Pushyamitra Shunga. P. K. Mishra believes that the damage to the [[Deur Kothar]] stupa is also datable to Pushyamitra's period.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=97}} H. C. Raychaudhari pointed out that Buddhist monuments were constructed at [[Bharhut]] during the Shunga rule.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=34}} However, according to N. N. Ghosh, these were constructed during the reign of later Shunga rulers, not Pushyamitra's period.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=97}}

H. Bhattacharya theorized that Pushyamitra might have persecuted Buddhists for political, rather than religious, reasons: the politically active Buddhists probably supported the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek]] rivals of Pushyamitra, which might have prompted him to persecute them.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=100}} The ''Ashokavadana'' states that Pushyamitra declared a reward for killing Buddhist monks in [[Sagala|Shakala]] (present-day Sialkot), which was located near the Indo-Greek frontiers. According to K. P. Jayaswal, this further highlights a political motivation behind his alleged persecution of Buddhists.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|pp=99-100}}

Many other scholars have expressed skepticism about the Buddhist claims of persecution by Pushyamitra. [[Étienne Lamotte]] points out that the Buddhist legends are not consistent about the location of Pushyamitra's anti-Buddhist campaign and his death.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=98}} The ''Ashokavadana'' claims that Pushyamitra offered ''dinara''s as a reward for killing Buddhist monks, but the ''dinara'' did not come into circulation in India before the 1st century CE. ''Ashokavadana'' also claims that Ashoka persecuted ''Nirgrantha''s ([[Ajivika]]s), which is an obvious fabrication, considering that Ashoka's edicts express tolerance towards all religious sects.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=99}} The Sri Lankan Buddhist text ''[[Mahavamsa]]'' suggests that several monasteries existed in present-day Bihar, Awadh and Malwa at the time Pushyamitra's contemporary [[Dutthagamani]] ruled in Lanka. This suggests that these monasteries survived Pushyamitra Shunga's reign.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=100}}

H. C. Raychaudhury argued that Pushyamitra's overthrow of the Mauryans cannot be considered as a Brahmin uprising against Buddhist rule, as Brahmins did not suffer during the Mauryan rule: Ashoka's edicts mention the Brahmins before [[Shramana]]s, and the appointment of a Brahmin general (Pushyamitra) shows that the Brahmins were honoured at the Mauryan court.{{sfn|Lahiri|1974|p=34}} The fact that the ''Ashokavadana'' mentions Pushyamitra as a Mauryan further erodes its historical credibility, and weakens the hypothesis that he persecuted Buddhists because he was a Brahmin.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|p=99}} Raychaudhury also aruged that according to ''[[Malavikagnimitra]]'', a Buddhist nun named Bhagavati Kaushiki attended Pushyamitra's court, which indicates that they did not persecute Buddhists. However, Shankar Goyal states that there is no evidence of Kaushiki being a Buddhist nun.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rxpuAAAAMAAJ |title=Aspects of ancient Indian history and historiography |author=Shankar Goyal |publisher=Harman |year=1993 |isbn=9788185151694 |page=30 }}</ref> [[Romila Thapar]] writes that the lack of concrete archaeological evidence casts doubt on the claims of Buddhist persecution by Pushyamitra.<ref>Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Romila Thapar, Oxford University Press, 1960 P200</ref>

It is possible that the Buddhist influence at the Mauryan court declined during Pushyamitra's reign, and the Buddhist monasteries and other institutions stopped receiving royal patronage. This change might have led to discontent among the Buddhists, resulting in exaggerated accounts of persecution.{{sfn|Simmons|Sarao|2010|pp=99-100}}

[[Michael Witzel]] states that ''[[Manu Smriti|Manudharma]]'', which emphasizes the role of orthodox faith in state-craft and society, was first compiled under Pushyamitra's rule. According to Kaushik Roy, it was a Brahmanical reaction to the rise of Buddhism and Jainism.<ref name="roy">Roy, Kaushik (2012). Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present, p.109-118. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781107017368}}</ref>

== Succession of the throne ==
Pushyamitra Shunga was succeeded in 148 BCE by his son [[Agnimitra]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |first=Sailendra Nath |last=Sen |publisher=New Age International, 1999 |year=1999 |isbn=978-8-12241-198-0 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA170}}</ref>

== In literature ==
Pushyamitra Shunga's history is recorded in the [[Harshacharita]] authored by [[Bāṇabhaṭṭa]].

According to ''Vicarasreni'' of [[Merutunga]], Pushyamitra or Pushpamitra got his throne in 204 BC.{{sfn|Jain|1991|p=85}}

== See also ==
* [[History of Buddhism]]
* [[Indo-Greeks]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
{{ref begin}}
* {{cite book |last=Jain |first=Kailash Chand |title=Lord Mahāvīra and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-TxcO9dfrcC |date=1991 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] | isbn=978-81-208-0805-8 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Simmons|first1=Caleb|last2=Sarao|first2=K. T. S.|editor1-last=Danver|editor1-first=Steven L.|title=Popular Controversies in World History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slVobUjdzGMC |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-59884-078-0 }}
* {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vdu1AAAAIAAJ |title=Indigenous states of northern India, circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D. |first=Bela |last=Lahiri |publisher=University of Calcutta |year=1974 |page=31 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Strong|first1=John S.|author-link = John S. Strong|title=The Legend of King Aśoka : a study and translation of the Aśokāvadāna|date=1989|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton|isbn=0-691-01459-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kp9uaQTQ8h8C&pg=PA232}}
* {{citation |last=Thapar |first=Romila |author-link=Romila Thapar |title=The Past Before Us|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aei9AAAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 }}
{{ref end}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Shunga Empire|King of Shunga Dynasty]]
| years = 185–149 BCE
| before = [[Mauryan Dynasty]]'' '''[[Brihadratha Maurya]]''
| after = [[Agnimitra]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shunga, Pushyamitra}}
[[Category:2nd-century BC Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:140s BC deaths]]
[[Category:Persecution of Buddhists]]