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{{Short description|Historical ruling family in India}}
{{Other uses|Mitra dynasty (disambiguation){{!}}Mitra dynasty}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{South Asia in 50 CE|right|{{center|Approximate location of the Mitra dynasty, in the 1st century CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schwartzberg |first1=Joseph E. |title=A Historical atlas of South Asia |date=1978 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |page=145, map XIV.1 (e)|isbn=0226742210 |url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182}}</ref>}}}}
'''Mitra dynasty of Kosambi''' was centered on the city of [[Kosambi]] at the [[Vatsa]] region. Its capital Kosambi was among the most important trade centers in the ancient India. The dynasty also likely controlled territory in nearby regions such as [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]].

Many of its rulers bear the suffix "-''mitra''" in their names.<ref name="Olivelle2006">{{cite book|author=Patrick Olivelle|title=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC&pg=PA85|date=13 July 2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-977507-1|page=85}}</ref> However, it is disputed how many kings the dynasty was composed of. [[Dhanabhuti]], who is known for [[Bharhut inscriptions]], may have been related to the Mitra dynasty. A number of different, and possibly, related [[Mitra dynasty (disambiguation)|Mitra dynasties]] existed in the northern India, and it is possible that they all can trace their lineage back into the royal house of the [[Shunga Empire]].

Common symbols in the coinage of the Mitra dynasty include the tree-in-railing and the [[Ujjain]] symbol. Bull is a common animal to appear on the coinage.

The Mitra dynasty was ended when [[Samudragupta]] of the [[Gupta Empire]] annexed Kosambi in the middle of the 4th century CE.

==Possible origins==
The [[Vatsa|Vatsa region]] and its capital [[Kosambi]] was among the most important trade centres in [[ancient India]]. After the Mauryas and Shungas lost control of the area, Kosambi established itself as a solid independent civic centre. A large number of coins from Kosambi is known. The initial coinage was based on locally modified variants of the [[Mauryan Empire|Mauryan]][[Shunga Empire|-Shunga]] style [[Casting (metalworking)|cast]] copper coins, and a few of the coins were inscribed with the city's name. Later coinage evolved to portray a more independent iconography, and they began to be inscribed with the names of rulers. This is an indication that the city's local government transitioned into a [[monarchy]]. The bull was a common symbol when the coinage minted by the city evolved to have a more robust local character.<ref name="Pieper2013">{{cite book|author=Wilfried Pieper|title=Ancient Indian Coins Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PdLvjgEACAAJ|year=2013|publisher=Classical Numismatic Group|isbn=978-0-9837652-6-4|pages=95–96, 98}}</ref>

It is likely that the Mitra dynasty started its independent rule in Vatsa after the [[Maurya Empire]],<ref name="Conference1988">{{cite book|author=Indian History and Culture Society. Conference|title=Studies in Indian History and Culture: Anthology of Papers Presented at the 10th Annual Conference of Indian History and Culture Society Held at Bharat Kala Bhavan, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, During December 23-25, 1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CYJDAAAAYAAJ|year=1988|publisher=The Bhavan|page=107}}</ref> or the collapse of the [[Shunga Empire]], allowed various petty states to emerge in the Northern [[India]].<ref name="Pandey_1967"/><ref name="Mitchiner1978">{{cite book|author=Michael Mitchiner|title=The ancient & classical world, 600 B.C.–A.D. 650|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zuQLAQAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Hawkins Publications; distributed by B. A. Seaby|isbn=978-0-904173-16-1|page=577}}</ref>

There were possibly five different contemporary dynasties identifiable with the suffix "-''mitra''". These various Mitra dynasties may have shared a link with the Shunga dynasty, as many of its rulers' names also ended with "''-mitra''". It is possible that the Shungas may have used a similar method of governing provinces as the preceding [[Maurya Empire]] had done. Princes with royal blood would have been sent to govern the provinces, and after the central power had weakened they would have established their own dynasties. Some numismatic evidence for the possible connection between Mitras and the Shunga dynasty descending from [[Pushyamitra]] has been found.<ref name="Pandey_1967">{{Cite journal|author=Pandey, M. S.|title = The Origin and Territorial Extension of the Mitra Kings|year=1967|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=29|pages=74–76|jstor = 44155471}}</ref>

There were, possibly linked, Mitra dynasties ruling in Panchala, [[Mitra dynasty (Mathura)|Mathura]], Ayodhya and also possibly at Magadha.<ref name="Pandey_1967"/><ref name="Bajpai2004">{{cite book|author=K. D. Bajpai|title=Indian Numismatic Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA39|date=October 2004|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-035-8|pages=37–41, 45}}</ref>

==Expansion==

During the time period stretching from the 1st century BCE to the 2nd century CE, the Mitras of Kosambi appear to have extended their hegemony over [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] (including [[Pataliputra]]), and possibly [[Kannauj]] as well. Inscriptions and coins of the Mitra dynasty are known from various parts of [[Bihar]].<ref name="Bajpai2004"/>

Brhaspatimitra has been called ''Magadharaja'', a king of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]], in [[Minor Inscriptions of Kharavela|Kharavela's Hathigumpha inscription]] (that is related to [[Hathigumpha inscription]]). If the Brhaspatimitra mentioned in the inscription is the same king as the Brhaspatimitra of Mitra dynasty, then that would mean that the dynasty held a considerable influence in the region surrounding Kosambi. It is worth to note that there is numismatic evidence to support this theory, as Magadha is not known to not have produced any typical regional coinage unlike the contemporary Kosambi, [[Mathura]] or [[Panchala]].<ref name="Bajpai2004"/>

==Conquest by the Gupta Empire==
{{Further|Allahabad pillar}}
[[File:South Asia historical AD375 EN.svg|thumb|Possible extent of the [[Gupta Empire]] near the end of [[Samudragupta]]'s reign. Prayaga, on the map, is an alternate name for the city of Kosambi.]]
[[File:Maharaja Sri Gupta inscription on the Allahabad pillar Samudragupta inscription.jpg|thumb|Gupta script inscription "Maharaja Sri Gupta" (Great King, Lord Gupta"), mentioning the first ruler of the dynasty king Gupta. Inscription by [[Samudragupta]] on the [[Allahabad pillar]], where Samudragupta presents king Gupta as his great-grandfather. Dated circa 350 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fleet |first1=John Faithfull |title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. 3 |date=1888 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403/page/n197 1]–17 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.49403}}</ref>]]

[[Samudragupta]] (r. c. 335–375 CE<ref name="Thorpe2009"/>) of the [[Gupta Empire]] appears to have ended the Mitra dynasty of Kosambi during his conquests in the middle of the 4th century CE.<ref name="Bajpai2004"/> While the pillar was originally erected by [[Ashoka]], Samudragupta later added his own inscription on the same pillar. [[Harisena]], a poet and a high-ranking military commander in Samudragupta's army, was the author of the inscriptions.<ref name="Thorpe2009">{{cite book|author=Showick Thorpe Edgar Thorpe|title=The Pearson General Studies Manual 2009, 1/e|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAo1X2eagywC&pg=RA2-PA48|year=2009|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-2133-9|page=248}}</ref>

According to the theory proposed by 19th-century archaeologists, and supported by Indian scholars such as Upinder Singh, the Allahabad pillar came from somewhere else, probably Kosambi.<ref>{{cite book|author=Upinder Singh|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA327 |year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-1120-0|page=327}}</ref> The [[Edicts of Ashoka]] suggest that the pillar was first erected at Kosambi, some 50 kilometers west of its current location. It was moved to Allahabad much later when the region came under Muslim rule.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krishnaswamy |first1=C.S. |last2=Ghosh |first2=Amalananda |author-link2=Amalananda Ghosh |date=October 1935 |title=A Note on the Allahabad Pillar of Aśoka |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=697–706 |jstor=25201233}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cunningham|first1=Alexander|author-link=Alexander Cunningham|title=Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of Ashoka|date=1879|publisher=Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35693/page/n55 37]–38|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35693}}</ref> The presence of another broken pillar at Kosambi near the ruins of the Ghoshitarama monastery<ref>{{cite web| url=http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=25.344268&lon=81.386746&z=18&m=b&show=/664259/Ashoka-Pillar | title=Ashoka Pillar Kaushambi (Excavation site of ancient ruins) | publisher=Wikimapia | access-date=7 October 2014}}</ref> has led some to believe that the Allahabad pillar might have been one of a pair, not unlike the ones discovered at [[Rampurva]].<ref>{{cite book|title = Buddhist Architecture|last = Le|first = Huu Phuoc|publisher = Grafikol|year = 2010|isbn = 978-0984404308|pages = 39|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC}}</ref>

==List of kings==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Name
! Native ([[Prakrit]]) name
! [[Sanskrit]] form (if relevant)
! Notes
! class=unsortable|
|-
|[[Agaraju]]
|Agarāju
|'''N/A'''
|Possibly one of the earlier kings in the dynasty
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="Pieper2013"/>
|-
|Agnimitra
|Agimita
|Agnimitra
|Succeeded by his sons Jyesthamitra and Vasumitra (Sumitra)
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="(India)Krishnan1965">{{cite book|author1=Madhya Pradesh (India)|author2=V. S. Krishnan|title=Madhya Pradesh: Raisen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSULAQAAIAAJ|year=1965|publisher=Government Central Press|page=25}}</ref>
|-
|Asvaghosa
|Aśvaghoṣa
|'''N/A'''
|
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/>
|-
|[[Brhaspatimitra]]
|Bahasatimita
|Bṛhaspatimitra / Bahasatimitra
|Possibly held the title ''Magadharaja'', a king of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]]
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="Bajpai2004"/>
|-
|Devamitra
|(Devamita?)
|Devamitra
|Disputed: K.D. Bajpai assigns him to the Mitra dynasty of Ayodhya
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref>{{cite book|author=K. D. Bajpai|title=Indian Numismatic Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA96|date=October 2004|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-035-8|page=96}}</ref>
|-
|Jyesthamitra
|Jeṣamita
|Jyeṣṭhamitra
|Succeeded his father Agnimitra. Ruled between c. 140–133 BCE. His brother Vasumitra (Sumitra) rose to the throne after him.
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="(India)Krishnan1965"/>
|-
|Prajapatimitra
|Pajāpatimita
|Prajāpatimitra
|
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/>
|-
|Prausthamitra
|Pothamita
|Prauṣṭhamitra
|
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/>
|-
|[[Radhamitra]]
|Rādhāmita
|Rādhāmitra
|Known for his unusual hexagonal coins, and possibly one of the earliest kings in the dynasty
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="BopearachchiPieper1998"/>
|-
|[[Sarpamitra]]
|Sapamita
|Sarpamitra
|He may have ruled somewhere around the 1st century BCE or the 1st century CE.
|<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="Gyani">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.78739|title=The Journal Of The Numismatic Society Of India Vol 3 & 4|date=25 March 1941|via=Internet Archive|pages=135–136}}</ref>
|}

===Disputed kings===
[[File:Bharhut princely portrait.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of [[Dhanabhuti]]]]

The exact number of kings in the dynasty has been disputed to be between seven and twenty-five different kings.<ref name="Mitchiner1978"/><ref name="Pieper2013"/><ref>{{cite book|author=K. D. Bajpai|title=Indian Numismatic Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=chGrJUMarHoC&pg=PA39|date=October 2004|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-035-8|page=42}}</ref>

Another opinion is that some of the Mitras of Kannauj actually belonged to the house of Kosambi, and that there were actually no long-lived separate Mitra dynasty at [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]]. K. D. Bajpai holds that the first Mitra ruler of Kosambi was Sungavarma (Sugavamasa). Sungavarma's name includes the epithet ''Sunga'', and that makes it possible to link him with the ruling dynasty of the Shunga Empire. Furthermore, Bajpai argues that Angaraja, [[Dhanabhuti]] and Visvadeva were also part of the Mitras of Kosambi. Their names appear in the [[Bharhut inscriptions]]. They would be probable descendants of king Sungavarma. The kings of Kosambi lent their patronage for the [[stupa]] of Bharhut, which would have been within the territory they controlled.<ref name="Bajpai2004"/>

A genealogy constructed from the Bharhut inscriptions would link the above-mentioned kings to the Mitra dynasty so that Visvadeva would be father of Agaraju. Dhanabhuti would be Agaraju's son.<ref name="Bajpai2004"/>

==Coins of Mitra dynasty==

Most rulers of the Mitra dynasty of Kosambi, except [[Radhamitra]], have the symbol known as the tree-in-railing in their coins. Another common symbol is the [[Ujjain]] symbol.<ref name="Goyala1994">{{cite book|author=Śrīrāma Goyala|title=The Coinage of Ancient India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1jVmAAAAMAAJ|year=1994|publisher=Kusumanjali Prakashan|page=188}}</ref> [[Bull]] is a common animal to appear on the coinage of Kosambi of the era.<ref name="Pieper2013"/>

Some of the coins of Radhamitra are known for their unusual [[hexagon]]al shape. They were manufactured by [[Casting (metalworking)|casting]], but they were made to closely resemble [[punch-marked coins]]. The civic coinage of Vatsa is known for their wide innovation in shapes of coins.<ref name="Olivelle2006"/><ref name="BopearachchiPieper1998">{{cite book|author1=Osmund Bopearachchi|author2=Wilfried Pieper|title=Ancient Indian coins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UVmAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brepols|isbn=978-2-503-50730-9|pages=55, 57, 154}}</ref>

The symbols in one of Radhamitra's series of coins make a clear connection with other rulers of Kosambi such as Asvaghosa, [[Brhaspatimitra]], Agnimitra, [[Sarpamitra]], Prajapatimitra, Jyesthamitra and Prausthamitra. The coins cast by these rulers portray similar symbols in obverse and reverse sides of their coins. However, the exact chronology of these coins has not been extensively and conclusively studied yet. The civic coinage has been thought to precede the nominative coinage of the kings.<ref name="Olivelle2006"/>

==See also==
*[[Udayana (king)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Indian royalty]]
[[Category:Dynasties of India]]

Mitra dynasty (Kosambi) - Revision history

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