Aiyasi Kamuia

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Aiyasi Kamuia was the chief queen of Saka Mahaksatrapa Rajuvula of Mathura who finds mention in the Lion Capital inscriptions of Mathura. She was a Buddhist devotee at whose behest, a relic of Buddha was established and a Stupa & Samgharama were founded, and a land grant was made to Budhila, a Buddhist monk from Nagara.[1] She is said to belong to a Kambuja or Kamboja lineage.[2] A full size portrait,[3] of Aiyasi Kamuia, popularly known as Kambojika, was unearthed from Mathura city in 1869 and is currently housed in British Museum, London.[4]

Contents

[edit] Aiyasi was Kamboja or Kambojaka princess

The Mathura Lion Capital Inscriptions were discovered in 1896 from Saptarsi mound in the south-eastern part of Mathura city in Uttar Pradesh, India, and presently are housed in the British Museum, London. They contain an epigraph in Kharoshthi characters, which refers to princess Aiyasi with family name Kamuia. According to Dr. S Konow's interprettations, Aiyasi Kamuia was the chief queen (Agra-Mahisi) of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula. Princess Aiyasi was the daughter of the Yuvaraja Kharaostes (Kharaosta), himself a Kamuio. Such designations are naturally inherited from the father and not from the mother side .[5] On Aiyasi Kamuia/Kharaosta relationship, also see Links: [3] ; [4] and [5].

Some scholars interpret the name Aiyasi as a Prakritised version of Indo-Aryan Arya-shri.

Making use of science of linguistics, the scholars have identified the term Kamuia and Kamuio appearing respectively as the last names of princess Aiyasia and her father, Yuvaraja Kharaostes in the Mathura Lion Capital Inscriptions with the Sanskrit/Pali term Kambojaka or Kambojika [6].

It is also notable that ancient Pali texts, and some times even the Sanskrit literature, use Kambojaka in the same sense as the standard Sanskrit Kamboja.[6]

The Inscriptions no 'A' and 'E' on the Mathura Lion Capital mention Kharaosta as the Yuvaraya Kharaosta Kamuio. He was the inheritor to the position as King of Kings after king Maues or Moga though, in his own coins, Yuvaraja Kharaosta addresses himself as Kshatrapa (Satrap).

Mathura Lion Capital Inscriptions reveal that princess Aiyasi Kamuia had established the relic of Lord Sakyamuni, a stupa and a Sangharama at the right side of river Yamuna for the order of the four quarters of the Sarvastivadins. The place is now known by the name of Saptarsi Tila. The land for the purpose was granted by Sodasa, son of Rajuvula.

The full size sculpture of gracefully dressed beautiful female was discovered from Mathura and is now located in the Archaeological Museum, Mathura. The sculpture is popularly called Kambojika or Kambojaka.[7]

The sculpture is identified with Aiyasi Kamuia (Kambojaka), the chief queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula.[8]

Based on her drapery, ornaments, wreath, hair, some people erroneously or else ignorantly identify the Kambojika or Kambojaka of the Mathura Museum as a Greek lady and style her as the daughter of Kamboja country! [7].

This interprettation does not seem to be correct.

The Kambojas and Yavanas (Greeks) being close neighbors in the north-west, are documented to have followed identical culture, social customs, dress mode, manners and religion. See also: [8]

Thus, to identify Kambojaka of the Mathura Museum as a Greek lady, based on the drapery, ornaments, wreath, hair style etc is not a correct approach.

[edit] Epilogue

[edit] Epilogue 1

The family of king Moga was apparently a Scythianised section of the Trans-Pamirian Kambojas (Parama Kambojas) who had been living in trans-Hindukush Scythian region as neighbors to the Rishikas.[9] The vast Central Asian region lying on the north of Mt Hemodos (Hindukush/Himalayan) was known as Scythia to the classical writers.[10] In fact, the classical writers further say that river Ganges rises in the Scythian mountains. This attests that even the Mt Himalayan lied in the Scythian belt of the classical writers.[11]

The vast trans-Himavantam region, the Scythia of classical writers, was known as Saka-dvipa in ancient Sanskrit literature.

It is understandable that the Parama Kambojas were obviously located in Scythia of the classical writings. And therefore, they have been indiscriminately considered as part of the Scythian population both in the Greek as well as the Chinese writings.

Too all probability, in the wake of great tribal movement of second century BCE occasioned by pressure from Yuezhis, a section of these Parama Kambojas, including the family of king Moga, were displaced and consequently moved from the Parama-Kamboja of Transoxiana to south side of Hindukush in Kabol valley. The Kamboja family of king Moga immigrating from the Scythian cultural belt was obviously Irano-Scythian in culture, social customs and manners. This scenario appears to have caused confusion among scholars in attributing Saka identity to king Maues and his family who, otherwise, belonged to [the [Kamboja]] lineage as is sufficiently attested by family name Kamuia/Kamuio born by members of Moga's immediate family.

[edit] Epilogue 2

The first five lines of the Mathura Lion Capital have been interpretted by Dr S. Konow in sense different from the older view. According to the older view, the principal donor was Nada Diaka (or Siaka), the chief-queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula, the daughter of Aiyasi Kamusa and mother of Yuvaraja Kharaosta. If the Yuvaraja Kharaosta is identical with Kshatrapa Kharaostes of the coins, as is almost unanimously agreed among the scholars now, it follows from older view that Arta, father of Kharaosta was first husband of Rajuvula's chief queen who had married Rajuvula after Arta's death.[12]

But this view has ably and logically been refuted by the newer view of Dr S Konow. According to view propounded by Dr S. Konow, the name of the principal donor was Aiyasi Kamuia (Kambojaka, belonging to Kambuja/Kamboja tribe) who was daughter of Yuvaraja Kharaosta, also Kambojaka and the mother of Nada Diaka (or Siaka).[13]

The fact that the last name 'Kamuia' (Kambojaka) has been used both by Yuvaraja Kharaosta as well as princess Aiyasi, this clearly proves that Aiyasi Kamuia was the daughter and not mother of Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio (Kambojaka), since such designations are naturally inherited from the father and not from the mother.[14][15]

. Hence, Dr konow's view is more convincing and has been accepted by numerous later scholar community

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 1999, p 207, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, János Harmatta, Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ, Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Unesco.
  2. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, p 36 & xxxvi; Khroshthi Inscriptions, No 15, A3; Notes on Indo-Scythian chronology, Journal of Indian History, xii, 21; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - 1834, p 141, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Comprehensive History of India, 1957, Vol II, p 270, Dr K. A. Nilakanta Sastri; Ancient Kamboja in Iran and Islam, 1971, Editor C. E. Bosworth, Edinburgh, 1971, pp. 66, H. W. Bailey; Indian Culture, 1934, p 193, Indian Research Institute; Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol XVI, 1930, Part III, IV, p 229, Dr K. P. Jayswal; Ṛtam, p 46, by Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad, Lucknow; Literary History of Ancient India in Relation to Its Racial and Linguistic Affiliations, 1953, pp 165, 149, 46, 37 Chandra Chakraberty; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, p 41, 306/09, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; These Kamboj People, 1979, p 141; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, pp 168-69, Kirpal Singh Dardi; Balocistān: Siyāsī Kashmakash, Muz̤mirāt Va Rujḥānāt, 1989, Munīr Aḥmad Marri;تاريخ قوم كمبوه: جديد تحقيق كى روشنى ميں, 1996, p 221, Yusuf Husain etc.
  3. ^ height 4 feet, 5 inch, width 1 feet, 11 inch, dignified lady in standing pose.
  4. ^ The Catalogue of the Sculptures of Archaeological Museum, Mathura, F. 42, J. P. Vogal; Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies, 2000, p 113, D. Fairchild Ruggles; Female Images in the Museums of Uttar Pradesh and Their Social Background, 1978, p 190, Padma Upadhyaya; Sculptures of Mathura and Sarnath, 2002; Ancient Kamboja, People and Country, 1981, p 227-28, 215, Dr J. L. Kamboj, Dr Satyavart Shastria; Sculptures of Mathura and Sarnath by Usha Rani Tiwari (Hardcover - May 1, 2002); Development of Material Culture in India, 1986, p 118, Malati Mahajan.
  5. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, part I, p 36 & xxxvi, Dr Stein Konow; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1990, p 141, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
  6. ^ E.g. : Kambojaka jalajeneva assau; Kambojaka assatare sudanne.. etc. [1]; See also: [2]).
  7. ^ The Catalogue of the Sculptures of Archaeological Museum, Mathura, F. 42, J. P. Vogal.
  8. ^ The Catalogue of the Sculptures of Archaeological Museum, Mathura, F. 42, J. P. Vogal; Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies, 2000, p 113, D. Fairchild Ruggles; Female Images in the Museums of Uttar Pradesh and Their Social Background, 1978, p 190, Padma Upadhyaya; Sculptures of Mathura and Sarnath, 2002; Ancient Kamboja, People and Country, 1981, p 227-28, 215, Dr J. L. Kamboj, Dr Satyavart Shastria; Sculptures of Mathura and Sarnath by Usha Rani Tiwari (Hardcover - May 1, 2002); Development of Material Culture in India, 1986, p 118, Malati Mahajan.
  9. ^ MBH II.27.25; MBH 10.14.1-2 etc
  10. ^ See: Diodorus II.37.
  11. ^ Pliny Hist Nat., VI.22; Indika, Fragment LVI.
  12. ^ See quote in: Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 58, D.K. Ganguly.
  13. ^ See: Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, p 36 & xxxvi; Khroshthi Inscriptions, No 15, A3; Notes on Indo-Scythian chronology, Journal of Indian History, xii, 21; Comprehensive History of India, 1957, Vol II, p 270, Dr K. A. Nilakanta Sastri; Ancient Kamboja in Iran and Islam, 1971, Editor C. E. Bosworth, Edinburgh, 1971, pp. 66, Dr H. W. Bailey; Five Phases of Indian Art, 1991, p 17, K. D. Bajpai; Indological Studies: Prof. D.C. Sircar Commemoration Volume, 1987, p 106, Prof. D.C. Sircar Commemoration Volume, Upendra Thakur, Sachindra Kumar Maity - Social Science; Female Images in the Museums of Uttar Pradesh and Their Social Background, 1978, p 162, Padma Upadhyaya; Ṛtam, p 46, Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad, Lucknow; Literary History of Ancient Indiain Relation to its Racial, and Linguistic Affiliations, 1952, pp 46,165, Chandra Chakravarty; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - 1834, p 141, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; The Śakas in India, 1981, p 97, Satya Shrava; History of Civilizations of Central Asia, 1999, p 201, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, János Harmatta, Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ, Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Unesco; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland, 1905, p 795, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Journal of Indian History - 1921, p viii, University of Kerala, University of Allahabad Department of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 41, 306-09, Dr J. L. Kamboj; These Kamboj People, 1979, p 141; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, pp 168-69, Kirpal Singh Dardi; Balocistān: Siyāsī Kashmakash, Muz̤mirāt Va Rujḥānāt, 1989, Munīr Aḥmad Marri;تاريخ قوم كمبوه: جديد تحقيق كى روشنى ميں, 1996, p 221, Yusuf Husain; Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 58, D. K. Ganguli; Cf: Buddhist Sects in India, 1998, p 132, Nalinaksha Dutt - Religion; Cf: An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 439, Richard Salomon, University of Washington. The author Richard Salomon accepts Dr Konow's views as probably correct.
  14. ^ Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, part I, p 36 & xxxvi, Dr Stein Konow; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1990, p 141, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, p 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 168, Kirpal Singh.
  15. ^ Dr S. Konow convincingly argues that Yuvaraja Kharaosta is mentioned twice (II A.1 and E.1) in prominent positions in the Capital record, and this would befit only a senior relative of family of the queen making the endowments and not a junior member like a son or grand son. Moreover, the queen expressly states a close relationship with Kharaosta and also claims that his concurrence for making the endowments has been obtained (See: Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum II, I, pp xxxv-vi, 36; An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 440, Richard Salomon, University of Washington; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, pp 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 168, Kirpal Singh.

[edit] External links

  • Mathura Lion Capital Inscriptions [9]
  • The Early Kushan Kings: New Evidence for Chronology: Para (63) [10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, part I, Dr Stein Konow
  • Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research society, Vol XVI, 1930, parts III, IV, Dr K. P. Jayswal
  • Ancient India, 1956, Dr R. K. Mukerjee
  • Comprehensive History of India, 1957, Vol II, Dr K. A. Nilkantha Shastri
  • Ancient Kamboja People & Country, 1981, Dr J. L. Kamboj
  • Political History of ancient India, 1996, Dr H. C. raychaudhury
  • India and the World, 1964, Dr Buddha Parkash
  • India and Central Asia, 1929, Dr P.C. Bagchi
  • Sculptures of Mathura and Sarnath, 2002, Usha Rani Tiwari (br)
  • The Sakas in India, Dr S. Chattopadhyaya
  • The development of Kharoshthi Script, Dr C. C. Dasgupta
  • Hellenism in Ancient India, G. N. Bannerjee
  • Journal of Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol Xvi Parts III, IV, 1930.
  • Female Images in the Museums of U.P. and their Social Background, P. Upadhyava