Maues

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For the city in Amazonas state in Brazil, see Maués.
Silver tetradrachm of Maues. The obverse shows Zeus standing with a sceptre. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ ((of the) Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows Nike standing, holding a wreath. Kharoshthi legend. Taxila mint.
Silver tetradrachm of Maues. The obverse shows Zeus standing with a sceptre. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ ((of the) Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows Nike standing, holding a wreath. Kharoshthi legend. Taxila mint.

Maues (In Greek on his coins: ΜΑΥΟΥ, "Mauou") was an Indo-Scythian king who reigned circa 85-60 BCE, and invaded the Indo-Greek territories of modern Pakistan.

Contents

[edit] Conqueror of Gandhara

Maues had his capital in Sirkap and minted most of his coins in Taxila. Maues did not manage however to conquer the Punjab territories of the Indo-Greeks east of the Jhelum, which remained under Greek control. After his death the Indo-Greeks regained most of their territory.

Maues is mainly known through his coins, which are often very closely inspired from Indo-Greek coinage. He represented Greek and Indian deities, and used Greek and Kharoshti in coin legends.

Coin of Maues depicting Balarama, 1st century BCE. British Museum.
Coin of Maues depicting Balarama, 1st century BCE. British Museum.

This tends to be indicative of a level of respect for Greek culture and a wish to assimilate it, rather than destroy it. Maues probably ruled his conquered territories based on his military might, but otherwise maintained cohabitation with local Greek and Indian communities. It has been suggested that Maues may have been a Scythian general hired by the Indo-Greeks, who would have briefly seized power, before the Indo-Greeks managed to take it back ("Crossroads of Asia").

Maues took the tile of "Great King of Kings", an exceeded version of a traditional Persian royal title.

One inscription is known which mentions Maues (usually called the "Moga inscription", and starts with:

"In the seventy eighth, 78, year the Great King, the Great Moga, on the fifth, 5, day of the month Panemos, on this first, of the Kshaharata and Kshatrapa of Chukhsa - Liaka Kusuluka by name - his son Patika - in the town of Takshasila..." [1]

Maues issued joint coins mentionned a queen Machene ("ΜΑΧΗΝΗ"). Machene may have been a daughter of one of the Indo-Greek houses.[2]

An Indo-Greek king, Artemidoros also issued coins where he describes himself as "Son of Maues".

[edit] Maues and Buddhism

Indian-standard coin of King Maues. The obverse shows a rejoicing elephant holding a wreath, symbol of victory. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ (Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows a seated king, or possibly Buddha. Kharoshthi legend: RAJATIRAJASA MAHATASA MOASA (Great King of Kings Maues).
Indian-standard coin of King Maues. The obverse shows a rejoicing elephant holding a wreath, symbol of victory. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ (Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows a seated king, or possibly Buddha. Kharoshthi legend: RAJATIRAJASA MAHATASA MOASA (Great King of Kings Maues).
Coin of King Maues. The obverse shows Herakles with a club resting on his arm, the protector deity of Demetrius. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ ((of the) Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows a Buddhist lion. Kharoshthi legend.
Coin of King Maues. The obverse shows Herakles with a club resting on his arm, the protector deity of Demetrius. The Greek legend reads ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΜΑΥΟΥ ((of the) Great King of Kings Maues). The reverse shows a Buddhist lion. Kharoshthi legend.

A few of the coins of Maues, struck according to the Indian square standard, seamingly depict a King in a cross-legged seated position. This may represent Maues himself, or possibly one of his divinities. It has been suggested that this might also be one of the first representations of the Buddha on a coin, in an area where Buddhism was flourishing at the time.

Also, Maues struck some coins incorporating Buddhist symbolism, such as the lion, symbol of Buddhism since the time of the Mauryan king Ashoka.

The symbolism of the lion had also been adopted by the Buddhist Indo-Greek king Menander II. Maues therefore probably supported Buddhism, although whether sincerely or for political motives is unclear. His coins also included a variety of other religious symbol such as the cow of Shiva, indicating wide religious tolerance.

[edit] Theories of Origins

Scholars are at variance regarding the ethnic background of king Maues or Moga. Scholars like Dr. J. N. Banerjea, Dr D. C. Sircar, Dr V. D. Mahajan, Dr E. J. Rapson etc think that king Maues or Moga was Indo-Scythian ruler. According to Dr V. A. Smith, William Wilson Hunter, H. A. Rose, Chandra Chakravarty, Firoze and some other scholars, Maues was a Parthian king [3]. However, according to Dr S. Konow, Dr R. K. Mukerjee, Dr J. L. Kamboj, king Maues, Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio and princess Aiyasi Kamuia belonged to the Kamuia clan, which fact, is fairly born out by Mathura Lion Capital Inscriptions. Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio was son of Arta as is attested from Kharaosta's own coins [4]. Arta is said to be the elder brother of king Maues [5]. Princess Aiyasi Kamuia, the chief queen of Kshatrapa Rajuvula, was the daughter of the Crown prince (Yuvaraja) Kharaosta Kamuio [6]. Many scholars including Dr S. Konow, Dr H. W. Bailey, Dr R. K. Mukerjee, Dr K. P. Jaiswal, Dr J. L. Kamboj, Dr Buddha Prakash etc recognise the names Kamuia & Kamuio (q.v) of the Mathura Lion Capital Inscriptions as the Kharoshthi/Prakritic forms of Sanskrit/Pali Kambojika or Kamboja [7]. Hence according to this view, king Maues, Arta, Kharaosta Kamuio and his daughter Aiyasi Kamuia --- all belonged to the Kambojika or Kamboja clan or lineage[8]. In numerous ancient literature including Puranas, Manu Samhita (X.43.44), Ramayana (1.54.21-23; 1.55.2-3), Mahabharata, Kavimimansa, Brihat-Katha (10.1.285-86,), Kathasaritsagara (18.1.76-78) etc, the Sakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas etc are constantly associated with each other. All are known to have been East Iranian tribes and were localised contiguously in Central Asia. Hence a close cultural and linguistic intimacy apparently existed amongst them. Hence their social customs, religious beliefs and political ideaology had all become almost identical and therefore, it is sometimes very difficult to distinguish between them. It has been argued that the supposedly Parthian or Scythian features of king Maues or Moga and his family are due to long contacts of the Kamuiyas (Kambojas) with the Sakas and the Parthians in Central Asia [9] [10]. "The nomenclature of the early Sakas in India shows an admixture of Scythian, Parthian and Iranian elements. .... " [11] [12].


Preceded by:

(In Arachosia, Gandhara and Punjab)
Indo-Greek King
Archebios

(In Paropamisadae)
Indo-Greek King
Hermaeus		 Indo-Scythian Ruler
(85-60 BCE)		 Succeeded by:

(In Gandhara)
Indo-Greek king:
Artemidoros

(In Punjab)
Indo-Greek king:
Apollodotus II

(In the south)
Indo-Scythian ruler:
Vonones

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Moga inscription
  2. ^ RC Senior "Indo-Scythian coins and history", Vol IV, p.xxxvi. Also Internet source
  3. ^ The Early History of India from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest: Including the Invasion of India by Alexander... - 1904, p 202, Dr Vincent Arthur Smith; cf: The Oxford History of India, 2006, p 162, Dr Vincent Arthur Smith; History of Ancient India, 1967, p 213, Rama Shankar Tripathi; Literary History of Ancient India in Relation to its Racial and Linguistic Affiliation, 1952, p 149, Dr Chandra Chakravarti; Iran and India Through the Ages, 1962, p 73, Firoze Cowasji Davar; History of India, 1906, p 206, Abraham Valentine Williams Jackson, Henry Miers Elliot, Romesh Chunder Dutt, Vincent Arthur Smith, Stanley Lane-Poole, Sir William Wilson Hunter, Sir Alfred Comyn Lyall; Glossary of Tribes, Vol I, p 33, H. A. Rose; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, pp 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī etc.
  4. ^ Kshatrapasa pra Kharaostasa Artasa putrasa (i.e. Kshatrapa Kharaosta, son of Arta), Political History of ancient India, 1996, p 397/98, Dr Raychaudhury; See also: History and Culture of Indian People, The age of Imperial Unity, p 164, (Editors) Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar; Malwa Through the Ages, p 166, ISBN 812080824X; Early Inscriptions of Mathurā: A Study, 1980, p 27, Kalyani Das; 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; Provincial Administration in Ancient India, 600 B.C.-550 A.D., 1981, p 283, Arun Kumar Sinha; Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency ... -, 1896, p 23, Sir James MacNabb Campbell, Reginald Edward Enthoven; Ṛtam, p 46, Akhila Bharatiya Sanskrit Parishad, Lucknow; See: Comprehensive History of India, 1957, Vol II, p 270, Dr K. A. Nilakanta Sastri etc.
  5. ^ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - 1834, p 142, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Corpus Inscrioptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, pp xxxvi, 36, S Konow; Early Inscriptions of Mathurā: A Study, 1980, p 27, Kalyani Das; Ancient India, 1956, p 220, Dr Radha Kumud Mukerjee; History of Indian Administration - 1968, p 94, Dr B. N Puri; These Kamboja People, 1979, p 142; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 168, Kirpaql Singh; Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, pp 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; Cf: Göttingische Gelehrte Anzeigen - 1931, p 12, Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, Göttingische anzeigen von gelehrten sachen; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, pp 306-09.
  6. ^ See: Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - 1834, p 141, by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland - Page 23 by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; History of Indian Administration, 1968, p 107, Baij Nath Puri; Political and Social Movements in Ancient Panjab (from the Vedic Age Upto [sic] the Maurya Period), 1964, p 258, Dr Buddha Prakash; Indian Linguistics, 1931, p 549, Linguistic Society of India; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 394, 397, Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee; Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 1979, p 58, Dilip Kumar Ganguly; History of civilizations of Central Asia - 1999, p 201, Ahmad Hasan Dani, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich Masson, János Harmatta, Boris Abramovich Litvinovskiĭ, Clifford Edmund Bosworth, Unesco; Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, p 36 & xxxvi; Comprehensive History of India, 1957, Vol II, p 270, Dr K. A. Nilakanta Sastri; Indian Culture, 1934, p 193, Indian Research Institute; Aspects of Ancient Indian Administration, 2003, p 58, D. K. Ganguli; See also: (Mathura Lion Capital); Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, p 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; Balocistān: siyāsī kashmakash, muz̤mirāt va rujḥānāt, 1989, Munīr Aḥmad Marrī etc.
  7. ^ Khroshthi Inscriptions, No 15, A3; Notes on Indo-Scythian chronology, Journal of Indian History, xii, 21; Corpus Inscrioptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, pp xxxvi, 36, Dr. S. Konow e.g: "If we bear in mind that 'mb' becomes 'm', i.e mm in the dialect of the Kharoshthi Dhammapada and that common 'o' becomes 'u' as in Sudasa, then Kamuia may very well represent Sanskrit Kambojika" (Dr Konow); cf: "The Kamuiyas, who are associated with the familiy of the Saka Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula of the Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions, are in fact, the Kambojas, Kamuias being just the form we would expect in the dialect for an old Kambojika" (Indian Culture, 1934, p 193, Indian Research Institute); For more refs on Aiyasi Kamuia = Aiyasi Kamboja, see: Ancient Kamboja in Iran and Islam, p 69, 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, by Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; cf also: " Dr Stein Konow's recognition of Kamuia, occurring in the Lion Capital Inscription of Mathura, as = Kambojika is convincing"…See: Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol XVI, 1930, part III and IV, p 229, Dr K. P. Jayswal; "Ancient Kamboja", in Iran and Islam, ed. by C. E. Bosworth, Edinburgh, 1971, pp. 66, Dr H. W. Bailey; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, pp 41, 227/228, Dr J. L. Kamboj; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p90, Kirpal Singh Dardi.
  8. ^ Refs: Corpus Inscrioptionum Indicarum, Vol II, Part I, pp xxxvi, 36, S Konow: "I shall only add that if Kharoshtha and his father Arta were Kambojas, the same may have been the case with Moga, and we understand why the Kambojas are sometimes mentioned with the Sakas and Yavanas" ( Dr S Konow); Ancient India, pp 320-21, Dr R. K. Mukerjee; 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; India and the World, 1964, p 154, Dr Buddha Prakash; Balocistān: Siyāsī Kashmakash, Muz̤mirāt Va Rujḥānāt, 1989, p 2, Munīr Aḥmad Marrīتاريخ قوم كمبوه: جديد تحقيق كى روشنى ميں, 1996, p 221, Yusuf Husain etc.
  9. ^ Prācīna Kamboja, jana aura janapada =: Ancient Kamboja, people and country, 1981, pp 227/228, Dr Jiyālāla Kāmboja, Dr Satyavrat Śāstrī; Indian Culture, 1934, p 193, Indian Research Institute; The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 169, S Kirpal Singh.
  10. ^ Cf: The Sakas and Pahlavas are constantly associated with each other in literature and Inscriptions and sometimes it is even difficult to distinguish between them. The same family contains both Saka and Pahlavas names and similarities are also found in their coinages and their system of strapal government. Dr E. J. Rapson therefore, rightkly remarks that "it is little more than a convenient nomenclature to label Maues and his successors as Sakas" (Cambridge History of India, Vol I, p 568, Dr E. J. Rapson; Ancient India, 2003, p 417, Dr V. D. Mahajan; Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona, 1947, p 177, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute).
  11. ^ Hist & Culture of Indian People, The Age of Imperial Unity, p 121; Ancient India, 2002, p 416, Dr V. D. Mahajan; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, Dr J. L. Kamboj etc.
  12. ^ According to Dr F. W. Thomas: "It would seem probable that the tribes from eastern Iran who had invaded India included diverse elements mingled indistinguishably together, so that, it is not possible to assert that one dynasty was Parthian while another was Saka. .." etc (Journal of Royal Asoiatic Society, 1906, p 215; See also: Catalogue Of The Coins Of The Andhra Dynasty, The Western Ksatrapas, The Traikutak Dynasty And , p xcix, fn 1, Dr E. J. Rapson.).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • "The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies" by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press and the School of Visual Arts, 2002) ISBN 1-58115-203-5
  • "The Greeks in Bactria and India", W.W. Tarn, Cambridge University Press.
  • "The Crossroads of Asia. Transformation in image and symbol" ISBN 0-9518399-1-8