.svg)
16,952
edits
Shunga Empire: Difference between revisions
m
→Name: clean up
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
CleanupBot (talk | contribs) m (→Name: clean up) |
||
| Line 66: | Line 66: | ||
The name "Shunga" has only been used for convenience to designate the historical polity now generally described as "Shunga Empire", or the historical period known as the "Shunga period", which follows the fall of the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref name="RSS"/> The term comes from a single epigraphic inscription in [[Bharhut]], in which a dedication to the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] Bharhut [[stupa]] is said to have been made "at the time of the Suga kings" (''Suganam raje''), with no indication as to whom these "Suga kings" might be.<ref name="RSS">{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages |date=10 December 1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-535666-3 |pages=141–142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC&pg=PA141 |language=en}}</ref> Other broadly contemporary inscriptions, such as the [[Heliodorus pillar|Heliodorus pillar inscription]], are only assumed to relate to Shunga rulers.<ref name="RSS"/> The [[Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana]] mentions a ruler named [[Pushyamitra]], but does not mention the name "Shunga". | The name "Shunga" has only been used for convenience to designate the historical polity now generally described as "Shunga Empire", or the historical period known as the "Shunga period", which follows the fall of the [[Maurya Empire]].<ref name="RSS"/> The term comes from a single epigraphic inscription in [[Bharhut]], in which a dedication to the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] Bharhut [[stupa]] is said to have been made "at the time of the Suga kings" (''Suganam raje''), with no indication as to whom these "Suga kings" might be.<ref name="RSS">{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages |date=10 December 1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-535666-3 |pages=141–142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC&pg=PA141 |language=en}}</ref> Other broadly contemporary inscriptions, such as the [[Heliodorus pillar|Heliodorus pillar inscription]], are only assumed to relate to Shunga rulers.<ref name="RSS"/> The [[Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana]] mentions a ruler named [[Pushyamitra]], but does not mention the name "Shunga". | ||
The Bharut epigraph appears on a pillar of the gateway of the stupa, and mentions its erection "during the rule of the ''Sugas'', by [[Dhanabhuti|Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti]]".<ref name="About INC-ICOM">{{cite web |title=Bharhut Gallery |url=http://www.inc-icom.org/newgal_bharut.html |website=INC-ICOM Galleries |publisher=Indian National Committee of the International Council of Museums |access-date=29 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235552/http://www.inc-icom.org/newgal_bharut.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="academia.edu">{{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 |page=230 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10237709 |language=en}}</ref> The expression used (''Suganam raje'', [[Brahmi script]]: 𑀲𑀼𑀕𑀦𑀁 𑀭𑀚𑁂), may mean "during the rule of the Shungas", although not without ambiguity as it could also be "during the rule of the [[Srughna|Sughana]]s", a northern Buddhist kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olivelle |first1=Patrick |title=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE |date=13 July 2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977507-1 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC&pg=PA58 |language=en}}</ref | The Bharut epigraph appears on a pillar of the gateway of the stupa, and mentions its erection "during the rule of the ''Sugas'', by [[Dhanabhuti|Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti]]".<ref name="About INC-ICOM">{{cite web |title=Bharhut Gallery |url=http://www.inc-icom.org/newgal_bharut.html |website=INC-ICOM Galleries |publisher=Indian National Committee of the International Council of Museums |access-date=29 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235552/http://www.inc-icom.org/newgal_bharut.html |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="academia.edu">{{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 |page=230 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10237709 |language=en}}</ref> The expression used (''Suganam raje'', [[Brahmi script]]: 𑀲𑀼𑀕𑀦𑀁 𑀭𑀚𑁂), may mean "during the rule of the Shungas", although not without ambiguity as it could also be "during the rule of the [[Srughna|Sughana]]s", a northern Buddhist kingdom.<ref name="academia.edu"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Olivelle |first1=Patrick |title=Between the Empires: Society in India 300 BCE to 400 CE |date=13 July 2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977507-1 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=efaOR_-YsIcC&pg=PA58 |language=en}}</ref> There is no other instance of the name "Shunga" in the [[epigraphy|epigraphical]] record of India.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |title=Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the other Indo-Aryan Languages |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-535666-3 |page=141 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XYrG07qQDxkC&pg=PA141 |language=en}}</ref> The unique inscription reads: | ||
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=450|caption_align=center | {{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=450|caption_align=center | ||
| Line 84: | Line 84: | ||
}} | }} | ||
[[Dhanabhuti]] was making a major dedication to a Buddhist monument, [[Bharhut]], whereas the historical "Shungas" are known to have been [[Hindu]] monarchs, which would suggest that Dhanabhuti himself may not have been a member of the Shunga dynasty.<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=8–9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA8 |language=en}}</ref> Neither is he known from "Shunga" regnal lists.<ref name="SRQ"/><ref name="SRQ13"/> The mention "in the reign of the Shungas" also suggests that he was not himself a Shunga ruler, only that he may have been a tributary of the Shungas, or a ruler in a neighbouring territory, such as [[Kosala]] or [[Panchala]].<ref name="SRQ13">{{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=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref | [[Dhanabhuti]] was making a major dedication to a Buddhist monument, [[Bharhut]], whereas the historical "Shungas" are known to have been [[Hindu]] monarchs, which would suggest that Dhanabhuti himself may not have been a member of the Shunga dynasty.<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=8–9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA8 |language=en}}</ref> Neither is he known from "Shunga" regnal lists.<ref name="SRQ"/><ref name="SRQ13"/> The mention "in the reign of the Shungas" also suggests that he was not himself a Shunga ruler, only that he may have been a tributary of the Shungas, or a ruler in a neighbouring territory, such as [[Kosala]] or [[Panchala]].<ref name="SRQ"/><ref name="SRQ13">{{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=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7Cb8IkZVSMC&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref> | ||
The name "Sunga" or "Shunga" is also used in the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'', the date of which is contested, to designate the dynasty of kings starting with [[Pushyamitra]] {{Circa|185 BCE}}, and ending with [[Devabhuti]] circa 75 BCE. According to the [[Vishnu Purana]]:<ref name="RSS"/><ref>{{cite book |title=A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set) |date=1 December 2003 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-2503-4 |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gE7udqBkACwC&pg=PA93 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Indian History |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=978-81-8424-568-4 |page=254 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&pg=PA254 |language=en}}</ref> | The name "Sunga" or "Shunga" is also used in the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'', the date of which is contested, to designate the dynasty of kings starting with [[Pushyamitra]] {{Circa|185 BCE}}, and ending with [[Devabhuti]] circa 75 BCE. According to the [[Vishnu Purana]]:<ref name="RSS"/><ref>{{cite book |title=A Comprehensive History Of Ancient India (3 Vol. Set) |date=1 December 2003 |publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd |isbn=978-81-207-2503-4 |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gE7udqBkACwC&pg=PA93 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Indian History |publisher=Allied Publishers |isbn=978-81-8424-568-4 |page=254 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&pg=PA254 |language=en}}</ref> | ||