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__NOTOC__ Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana is a stone inscription related to a Hindu
Deva Deva may refer to: Entertainment * ''Deva'' (1989 film), a 1989 Kannada film * ''Deva'' (1995 film), a 1995 Tamil film * ''Deva'' (2002 film), a 2002 Bengali film * Deva (2007 Telugu film) * ''Deva'' (2017 film), a 2017 Marathi film * Deva ...
king named Dhana or Dhana–deva of the 1st-century BCE or 1st century CE. He ruled from the city of
Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhy ...
,
Kosala The Kingdom of Kosala (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indian kingdom with a rich culture, corresponding to the area within the region of Awadh in present-day Uttar Pradesh to Western Odisha. It emerged as a small state during the late Vedic peri ...
, in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
. His name is found in ancient coins and the inscription. According to P. L. Gupta, he was among the fifteen kings who ruled from Ayodhya between 130 BCE and 158 CE, and whose coins have been found: Muladeva, Vayudeva, Vishakadeva, Dhanadeva, Ajavarman, Sanghamirta, Vijayamitra, Satyamitra, Devamitra and Aryamitra. D.C. Sircar dates the inscription to 1st-century CE based on the epigraphical evidence. The paleography of the inscription is identical to that of the
Northern Satraps The Northern Satraps (Brahmi: , ''Kṣatrapa'', "Satraps" or , ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps"), or sometimes Satraps of Mathura, or Northern Sakas, are a dynasty of Indo-Scythian rulers who held sway over the area of Eastern Punjab and Math ...
in
Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...
, which gives a 1st century CE date. The damaged inscription is notable for its mention of general
Pushyamitra Pushyamitra Shunga (IAST: ) or Pushpamitra Shunga (IAST: ) (ruled ) was the co-founder and the first or second ruler of the Shunga Empire which he and Gopāla established against the Maurya Empire. His original name was Puṣpaka or Puṣpami ...
and his descendant ''Dhana–'', his use of Vedic
Ashvamedha The Ashvamedha ( sa, अश्वमेध, aśvamedha, translit-std=IAST) was a horse sacrifice ritual followed by the Śrauta tradition of Vedic religion. It was used by ancient Indian kings to prove their imperial sovereignty: a horse accom ...
horse to assert the range of his empire, and the building of a temple shrine.


Sunga inscription from Ayodhya

The Ayodhya inscription of the Sunga dynasty era was found by Babu Jagannath Das Ratnakara at the Ranopali monastery in Ayodhya. The inscription is in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
, written in
Brahmi script Brahmi (; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system of ancient South Asia. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' ...
, and the inscribed stone is found on a flat surface on a footstone at the eastern entrance to the ''samadhi'' (memorial) of Baba Sangat Bakhsh, of
Udasi Udasi (Gurmukhi: ਉਦਾਸੀ ਸੰਪਰਦਾ; ''udāsī saparadā'') is a religious sect of ascetic ''sadhus'' centred in northern India. Becoming custodians of Sikh shrines in the 18th century, they were notable interpreters and spreade ...
Sikhs. The Udasi trace their heritage to the eldest son of
Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated w ...
. The ''samadhi'' monument is inside the Ranopali monastery of Udasi Sampradaya, also called Shri Udasin Rishi Ashram, in a section located to the west. It is believed to have been built during the time of Nawab Shuja-ud-daula, and the inscribed stone likely came from some ruins of the period. According to Kunal Kishore, the inscription is not grammatically correct Sanskrit.Kunal Kishore, Ayodhya Revisited
p.24
Prabhat Prakashan
Others scholars disagree and state that except for one minor scribe error, the inscription is in good Sanskrit.RBDR Sahni
A Sunga Inscription from Ayodhya
Epigraphia Indica Volume 20, ASI, pages 54-58


Inscription

The discovered inscription is damaged and incomplete. It reads:
1. Kosal-adhipena dvir-asvamedha-yajinah senapateh Pushyamitrasya shashthena Kausiki-putrena Dhana 2. Dharmarajna pituh Phalgudevasya ketanam karitam – Shunga dynasty Ayodhya Inscription, 1st-century BCE – 1st century CE


Translation

Sahni – a Sanskrit scholar, translates it as,


Significance

The Sunga inscription is short but one that has attracted much debate. Scholars disagree on how to interpret ''Pushyamitrasya shashthena''. It literally means the "sixth of Pushyamitra", which can be interpreted as "sixth son of Pushyamitra" or "sixth descendant of eneration afterPushyamitra". The former interpretation would mean Dhana likely lived in early 1st-century BCE, the later would imply Dhana to be a great grandchild of a great grandchild through the father or mother side, and he lived in 1st-century CE. According to Bhandare, there is uncertainty if there were more than one ancient kings named Dhanadeva. The inscription suggests there was one in the 1st century BCE, while the dating of the coins with Dhanadeva name range from 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE. Typically, both are considered to be the same. The coins with Dhanadeva were mold cast, were made from silver or copper, and show a bull with fodder tray in front. His name is in Brahmi script, and the coins also show
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...
and Ujjayini signs. The ancient Ayodhya inscription is significant also because it establishes that the Hindu Shunga dynasty was ruling Ayodhya around the 1st century BCE, that the custom of building temple shrines to popular leaders or famous kings was already in vogue by then, and that Phalgudeva may have been the same person as Pushyamitra. It is also the earliest epigraphical evidence that the general
Pushyamitra Shunga Pushyamitra Shunga (IAST: ) or Pushpamitra Shunga (IAST: ) (ruled ) was the co-founder and the first or second ruler of the Shunga Empire which he and Gopāla established against the Maurya Empire. His original name was Puṣpaka or Puṣpami ...
founded a dynasty and performed the Vedic ritual Ashvamedha twice (it is unclear why he did it twice).


See also

*
Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an emp ...
*
Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions The Hathibada Ghosundi Inscriptions, sometimes referred simply as the Ghosundi Inscription or the Hathibada Inscription, are among the oldest known Sanskrit inscriptions in the Brahmi script, and dated to the 2nd-1st-century BCE. The Hathibada in ...
* Nanaghat Inscription *
Sects of Sikhism Sub-traditions, also known as '' Samparda'' (Gurmukhi: ਸੰਪਰਦਾ; ''saparadā'') in the Punjabi language, are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in different approaches to practicing the religion. While all sampradas believe in ...


References

{{Hindudharma 1st-century BC inscriptions 1st-century inscriptions Sanskrit inscriptions in India Shunga Empire Ayodhya