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{{Infobox royalty
| name =Sodasa
| title =[[Indo-Scythian]] [[Northern Satraps]] king
| image= [[File:Sodasa coin from Mathura.jpg|300px|]]
| caption =Coin of Sodasa from Mathura. ''Obv'': Standing female and tree-like symbol. ''"Mahakatapasa putasa Khatapasa Sodasa"'' ie "Satrap Sodasa, son of the Great Satrap". ''Rev'': [[Lakshmi]] with elephants pouring water over her.<ref name="p.196">Catalogue Of The Coins In The Indian Museum Calcutta. Vol.1 by Smith, Vincent A. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.213075 p.196]</ref>
| reign =c. 15 CE
| coronation =
| full name =
| predecessor =[[Rajuvula]]
| successor =
| spouse =
| issue =
| royal house =
| dynasty =
| father =[[Rajuvula]]
| mother =Kamuia Ayasa
| birth_date =
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| date of burial =
| place of burial =
| religion =
|}}
[[File:Svamisya Mahakshatrapasya Sudasasya.jpg|thumb|upright=1.38|<center>Regnal title of Sodasa in the [[Mirzapur stele inscription]], vicinity of [[Mathura]]. (Middle [[Brahmi script]]): [[File:Gupta ashoka svaa.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta ashoka mi.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta ashoka sya.svg|22px]][[File:Gupta ashoka m.svg|15px]][[File:Gupta ashoka h.svg|15px]][[File:Gupta ashoka kss.jpg|15px]][[File:Gupta ashoka tr.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta ashoka p.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta ashoka sya.svg|22px]] [[File:Gupta ashoka shu.jpg|18px]][[File:Gupta gujarat daa.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta_ashoka_s.svg|16px]][[File:Gupta ashoka sya.svg|22px]] ''Svāmisya Mahakṣatrapasya Śudasasya'' "Of the Lord and Great Satrap Śudāsa"<ref name="ReferenceA"/></center>]]

'''Sodasa''' ([[Kharosthi]]: '''{{lang|pgd|𐨭𐨂𐨜𐨯}}''' {{transl|pgd|Śu-ḍa-sa}}, {{transl|pgd|Śuḍasa}};<ref>[[Sten Konow|Konow, Sten]], ''Kharoshṭhī Inscriptions with the Exception of Those of Aśoka'', Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. II, Part I. Calcutta: Government of India Central Publication Branch</ref> Middle [[Brahmi script]]: [[File:Gupta ashoka sho.jpg|22px]][[File:Gupta gujarat daa.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta ashoka s.svg|17px]] {{transl|pra|Śo-dā-sa}}, {{transl|pra|Śodāsa}}, also [[File:Gupta ashoka shu.jpg|22px]][[File:Gupta gujarat daa.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta ashoka s.svg|17px]] {{transl|pra|Śu-dā-sa}}, {{transl|pra|Śudāsa}}; from [[Saka language|Saka]] {{lang|xsc|*Śudāsa}}, meaning "who kept the good acts in memory".<ref>Harmatta, Janos 1999, ''Languages and scripts in Graeco-Bactria and the Saka kingdoms'' in Harmatta, J, BNPuri and GF Etemadi (eds), History of civilizations of Central Asia,volume II, The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 BC to AD 250, Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi, p. 401.</ref>) was an [[Indo-Scythian]] [[Northern Satrap]] and ruler of [[Mathura]] during the later part of the 1st century BCE or the early part of 1st century CE.<ref name="Rosenfield"/> He was the son of [[Rajuvula]], the Great Satrap of the region from [[Taxila]] to [[Mathura]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA170 |language=en}}</ref> He is mentioned in the [[Mathura lion capital]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=168–169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA168 |language=en}}</ref>

==Rule==
Sodasa reigned during the 1st century CE, and also took the title of Great Satrap at one point, probably in the area of Mathura as well, but possibly under the suzerainty of the [[Indo-Parthian]] king [[Gondophares]]. At the same time the Indo-Scythian [[Bhadayasa]] ruled in the eastern [[Punjab]].<ref name="Rosenfield"/> There were numerous cultural and political exchanges between the Indo-Scythians of the northwest and those of Mathura.<ref name="Rosenfield"/>

Sodasa may have been a contemporary of the [[Western Kshatrapa]] [[Nahapana]] and the [[Indo-Parthian]] [[Gondophares]].<ref name="Rosenfield"/> The [[Indo-Parthians]] may have destabilized Indo-Scythian rule in northern India, but there are no traces of Indo-Parthian presence in Mathura.<ref name="Rosenfield"/> Sodasa may have been displaced in Mathura by the [[Kushan]] ruler [[Vima Kadphises]], who erected a throne in his name in Mathura, but nothing is known of these interactions.<ref name="Rosenfield"/>

At Mathura, Sodasa is the last of the Indo-Scythians to have left coins.<ref name="Rosenfield"/> Later, under [[Kanishka]], son of Vima Kadphises, the Great Satrap [[Kharapallana]] and the Satrap [[Vanaspara]] are said to have ruled in Mathura with Kanishka as suzerain, pointing to continued Indo-Scythian rule under Kushan suzerainty as least until the time of Kanishka.<ref>Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, Ram Sharan Sharma, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1991 p.295 [https://books.google.com/books?id=9_E3K8fQoDgC&pg=PA295]</ref><ref>Ancient Indian History and Civilization, Sailendra Nath Sen
New Age International, 1999, p.198 [https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA198]</ref><ref>Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992 p.167 [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA167]</ref><ref>Source: "A Catalogue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc..." Rapson, p ciii</ref>

==Inscriptions==
Numerous inscriptions from Mathura mentioning Sodasa's rule are known. The Mirzapur village inscription (in the vicinity of Mathura) refers to the erection of a water tank by Mulavasu and his consort Kausiki during the reign of Sodasa, assuming the title of "Svami (Lord) Mahakshatrapa (Great Satrap)".<ref name="ReferenceA">Buddhist art of Mathurā , Ramesh Chandra Sharma, Agam, 1984 Page 26</ref>

The [[Mathura lion capital]] mentions the reign of his father and predecessor [[Rajuvula]] as Mahaksatrapa while Sodasa is referred to as Ksatrapa. Sodasa probably also dedicated the [[Mora Well Inscription]], were he presents himself as the son of [[Rajuvula]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chakravarti |first1=N. p |title=Epigraphia Indica Vol.24 |date=1937 |page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56526/page/n238 194] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56526}}</ref>

A large stone slab, the [[Kankali Tila tablet of Sodasa]], discovered in [[Kankali Tila|Kankali]] in the area of Mathura, bears a three-line epigraph mentioning that in the year 42 or 72 of "Lord Mahaksatrapa Sodasa," a monument for worship was set up by a certain Amohini.<ref name="Smith"/> A recent date for Sodasa's reign was given as 15 CE, meaning that the regnal date of the inscription would start from the [[Vikrama era]] ([[Bikrami calendar]] (starting in 57 BCE)+72=15 CE).<ref>Image Problems: The Origin and Development of the Buddha's Image in Early South Asia Robert Daniel DeCaroli, University of Washington Press, 2015 [https://books.google.com/books?id=K8MECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 p.205]</ref><ref name="Maitra"/> This would put the long reign of his father [[Rajuvula]] in the last quarter of the 1st century BCE, which is probable.<ref name="Maitra">Indian Studies, Volume 7, Ramakrishna Maitra, 1966 p.67</ref>

Another inscription of Sodasa in Mathura records the gifts of a [[Brahman]] named Gajavara of the Segrava-gotra during the time of Saudasa the Great Satrap of the lord (paramount, whose name is lost) of tanks called Kshayawada, as well as a western tank, a well, a garden, and a pillar.<ref name="archive.org">[https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.35437/2015.35437.Report-For-The-Year-1871-72-Volume-Iii Report For The Year 1871-72 Volume III, Alexander Cunningham]</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights=200 style="border:1px solid #aaa; clear:both" caption="Mathura inscription mentioning the rule of Sodasa as Kshatrapa ([[Satrap]]) or Mahakshatrapa (Great [[Satrap]]).">
File:MathuraLionCapital.JPG|The [[Mathura lion capital]] mentions Sodasa as "Satrap", while his father [[Rajuvula]] was "Great Satrap".
File:Inscription of Sodasha Reign - Circa 1st Century BCE - Mirzapur - ACCN 79-29 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6105.JPG|[[Mirzapur stele inscription]] of Sodasa's Reign, Mirzapur area of Mathura. [[Mathura Museum]]. The inscription refers to the erection of a water tank by Mulavasu and his consort Kausiki, during the reign of Sodasa, assuming the title of "Svami (Lord) Mahakshatrapa (Great Satrap)":<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE by Sonya Rhie Quintanilla [https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA260 p.260]</ref><ref>Epigraphia Indica, Vol 40</ref>
File:Amohini_relief,_Mathura,_circa_15_CE.jpg|The [[Kankali Tila tablet of Sodasa]] with an inscription mentioning the year 42 or 72 during the reign of Sodasa as Makakshatrapa (Great Satrap).<ref name="Smith">The Jain stûpa and other antiquities of Mathurâ by Smith, Vincent Arthur [https://archive.org/details/cu31924012251140 Plate XIV]</ref>
File:Vasu_doorjamb_inscription.jpg|The [[Vasu Doorjamb Inscription]].
</gallery>
<gallery mode="packed" heights=70 style="border:1px solid #aaa; clear:both">
File:Satrap Saudasa inscription.jpg|Another inscription of Sodasa in Mathura. This inscription records the gifts of a [[Brahman]] named Gajavara of the Segrava-gotra during the time of Saudasa the Great Satrap of the lord (paramount, whose name is lost) of tanks called Kshayawada, besides a western tank, a well, a garden, and a pillar.<ref name="archive.org"/>
File:Kankali Tila inscription of Sodasa.jpg|[[Kankali Tila]] inscription of Sodasa (from the [[Kankali Tila tablet of Sodasa]]). This inscription mentions the rule of ''Svamisa Mahakṣatrapasa Śodasa'' ([[File:Gupta ashoka svaa.jpg|16px]][[File:Gupta ashoka mi.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta ashoka s.svg|15px]][[File:Gupta ashoka m.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta ashoka h.svg|15px]][[File:Gupta ashoka kss.jpg|15px]][[File:Gupta ashoka tr.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta ashoka p.svg|13px]][[File:Gupta ashoka s.svg|15px]] [[File:Gupta ashoka sho.jpg|20px]][[File:Gupta gujarat daa.jpg|12px]][[File:Gupta_ashoka_s.svg|16px]] "Of the Lord and Great Satrap Śudāsa") from the beginning of the second line.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Ramaprasad|title=Memoirs of the archaeological survey of India no.1-5|date=1919|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.59235/page/n26 22]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.59235}}</ref>
File:Indian_mountain_temple_architecture_inscription_Mathura_site.jpg|[[Mountain Temple inscription]] mentioning Sodasa and his father Rajuvula
File:1st_century_CE_Mora_Well_Inscription_Sanskrit_Mathura.jpg|[[Mora Well Inscription]] in the name of Rajuvula and his son Sodasa.
</gallery>

==Coinage==
[[File:Map of the Northern Satraps.jpg|thumb|Sodasa ruled in the Mathura portion of the [[Northern Satraps]] territory.]]
Sodasa's coins have been found in [[Mathura]] only, suggesting that he only ruled over the Mathura region.<ref name="SRQ169">{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=169 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA168 |language=en}}</ref> They do not follow traditional [[Indo-Scythian]] coinage patterns, but rather the designs of local rulers of Mathura, and are only made of lead and copper alloy.<ref name="SRQ169"/> The legends only use the Indian [[Brahmi script]], whether Saodasa's father Rajuvula had used coins derived from the [[Indo-Greeks]], with legends in Greek and [[Kharoshthi]].<ref name="SRQ169"/> This suggests that Sodasa had significantly integrated into the local Indian culture.<ref name="SRQ169"/>

Sodasa's coins usually show on the obverse a standing female and tree-like symbol, with the legend ''"Mahakatapasa putasa Khatapasa Sodasa"'', i.e., "Satrap Sodasa, son of the Great Satrap". On the reverse appears a [[Lakshmi]] with elephants pouring water over her.<ref name="p.196">Catalogue Of The Coins In The Indian Museum Calcutta. Vol.1 by Smith, Vincent A. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.213075 p.196]</ref><ref name="SRQ169"/>

Three types of legends are known, with one coin type of Sodasa bearing the legend "son of Rajuvula":

* "Satrap Sodasa, son of the Great Satrap" (''Mahakhatapasa putasa khatapasa śodasasa'' followed by a [[svastika]])<ref name="SRQ169"/>
* "Satrap Sodasa, son of Rajuvula" (Svastika followed by ''Rajuvula putasa khatapasa śodasasa'')<ref name="SRQ169"/><ref name="Rosenfield">The Dynastic art of the Kushans, Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1967 [https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA136 p.136]</ref>
* "Great Satrap Sodasa" (''Mahakhatapasa śodasasa'')<ref name="SRQ169"/>

<gallery widths="200" heights="100" perrow="4">
File:Sodasa.jpg|Coin of Sodasa. Reverse: ''"Mahakshatrapa putasa Khatapasa Sodasasa"'' ("Satrap Sodasa, son of the Great Satrap")
File:Sodasa.JPG|Coin of Sodasa, satrap of Mathura, AE. '''Obv:''' Lakshmi standing between two symbols on the obverse and inscription around "Mahakhatapasa putasa Khatapasa Sodasasa ". '''Rev:''' Standing Abhiseka Lakshmi anointed by two elephants.
</gallery>

==Sculptural styles==
{{multiple image|perrow=3|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| align = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Sculpture under Sodasa
| image1 = Isapur Buddha.jpg
| caption1 = The "Isapur Buddha", probably the earliest known representation of the Buddha (possibly together with [[:File:Butkara_I_stupa_in-situ_seated_Buddha.jpg|Buddha statues]] found in [[Butkara]] in [[Swat District|Swat]]), on a railing post, dated to circa 15 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=199–206, 204 for the exact date |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA204 |language=en}}</ref>
| image2 = Door_Jamb_Recording_Erection_of_Vasudeva_Temple_-_Circa_1st_Century_BCE_-_ACCN_13-367_-_Government_Museum_-_Mathura_2013-02-24_6092.JPG
| caption2 =<center>The [[Vasu Doorjamb Inscription|Vasu doorjamb]] is beautifully carved and has an inscription in the name of Sodasa, 15 CE.</center>
| image3 = Mora doorjamb, Kankali Tila, Mathura, 15 CE.jpg
| caption3 = <center>The similar and contemporary Mora doorjamb, from the [[Jain]] mount of [[Kankali Tila]] in [[Mathura]], 15 CE.<ref name="SRQ171">{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |page=171 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA171 |language=en}}</ref></center>
| image4 = Jain Narrative Relief Panel, mid 2nd century BCE.-1st century CE (18.4 x 61.6 cm) Brooklyn Museum 87.188.5.jpg
| caption4 = [[Jain]] narrative relief panel showing Jain monks of the ''[[ardhaphalaka]]'' sect, near a water pool. Early 1st century CE, reign of Sodasa, [[Mathura]]. [[Brooklyn Museum]] 87.188.5.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=174–176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA174 |language=en}}</ref>
| footer=
}}
{{main|Mathura art}}
The abundance of dedicatory inscriptions in the name of Sodasa (eight of them are known, often on sculptural works), and the fact that Sodasa is known through his coinage as well as through his relations with other Indo-Scythian rulers whose dates are known, means that Sodasa functions as a historic marker to ascertain the sculptural styles at Mathura during his rule, in the first half of the 1st century CE.<ref name="SRQ">{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=168–179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA168 |language=en}}</ref> The next historial marker corresponds to the reign of [[Kanishka]] under the Kushans, whose reign began circa 127 CE.<ref name="SRQ"/>

The [[Kankali Tila tablet of Sodasa]] is one of those sculptural works directly inscribed in the name of Sodasa.<ref name="SRQ"/> Another one is the Katra torana fragment.<ref name="SRQ"/><ref>Photograph visible p.396 in {{cite book |last1=Zin |first1=Monika |title=In her right hand she held a silver knife with small bells... |date=2015 |publisher=Studies in Indian Culture and Literature, Harrassowitz Verlag |page=396 |url=https://www.gko.uni-leipzig.de/fileadmin/user_upload/indologie/pdf/Mitarbeiter_Akademie_Zin/Zin2015f_TheJesterAndTheViduaka.pdf}}</ref><ref>[https://vmis.in/ArchiveCategories/collection_gallery_zoom?id=1335&siteid=541&minrange=0&maxrange=0&assetid=73167&self_archive_id=162212&index=625 Photograph (front)] [https://vmis.in/ArchiveCategories/collection_gallery_zoom?id=1335&siteid=541&minrange=0&maxrange=0&assetid=73166&self_archive_id=162211&index=624 Photograph (reverse)]</ref> The sculptural styles at Mathura during the reign of Sodasa are quite distinctive, and significantly different from the style of the previous period circa 50 BCE, or the styles of the later period of the [[Kushan Empire]] in the 2nd century CE.<ref name="SRQ"/> Stylistically similar works can then be dated to the same period of the reign of Sodasa.<ref name="SRQ"/>

===Early representation of the Buddha===
The "Isapur Buddha" from [[Mathura]], probably the earliest known representation of the Buddha (possibly together with [[:File:Butkara_I_stupa_in-situ_seated_Buddha.jpg|Buddha statues]] found in [[Barikot]] in [[Swat District|Swat]]), on a railing post, is dated to circa 15 CE under the reign of Sodasa.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintanilla |first1=Sonya Rhie |title=History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE |date=2007 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=9789004155374 |pages=199–206, 204 for the exact date |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA199 |language=en}}</ref> Another depiction of the Buddha from the same period appears in the [[Bimaran casket]].

==Paleography==
The inscriptions in the name of Sodasa are also an important marker for the [[paleography]] of the [[Brahmi script]], the shape of the Brahmi letters having evolved in time, and also having varied depending on the regions.<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>

==References==
<references />

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060125085242/http://www.grifterrec.com/y/cribb/ekk_cribb_03.html Dates of Kanishka and the Indo-Scythians]

{{Indo-Scythians}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Indo-Scythian kings]]
[[Category:1st-century monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:1st-century Iranian people]]

Sodasa - Revision history

imported>Antiquistik at 11:10, 12 May 2021