The Deva dynasty of Saketa, was a dynasty of kings who ruled in the area of the city of

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

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 janapada, small state during the late Ve ...

, in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

from the 2nd century BCE until the end of 1st century BCE.

Political history

Five Deva kings are attested by their coins: Mula-deva, Vayu-deva, Vishakha-deva, Patha-deva, and Dhana-deva. Another king - Phalgudeva - is attested by the 1st century BCE Ayodhya inscription of his son Dhanadeva. After the decline of the

Maurya empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

, Saketa (modern

) appears to have come under the rule of the

Shunga is a type of Japanese erotic art typically executed as a kind of ukiyo-e, often in woodblock print format. While rare, there are also extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate ukiyo-e. Translated literally, the Japanese word ''shunga' ...

ruler

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 ...

. One interpretation of Dhanadeva's inscription suggests that Pushyamitra appointed at a Deva king as a governor at Saketa. This would mean that the Devas ruled as Shunga vassals. However, another interpretation suggests that the Devas ruled as sovereigns and considered themselves as legitimate heirs of the Shungas. The ''

Yuga Purana The ''Yuga Purana'' is a Sanskrit text and the last chapter of a ''Jyotisha'' (astrology) text '' Vriddhagargiya Samhita''. It is also considered a minor text in the Puranic literature. Contents The Yuga Purana is structured as a chronicle, and ...

'' mentions Saketa as the residence of a governor, and describes it as being attacked by a combined force of

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

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. ...

s, and Panchalas. Patanjali's commentary on Panini also refers to the Greek siege of Saketa. The ''

'' states that Saketa was ruled by seven powerful kings after the retreat of the Greeks. The ''Vayu Purana'' and the ''Brahmanda Purana'' also state that seven powerful kings ruled in the capital of Kosala. These kings appear to be same as the Deva kings: Dhanadeva's is described as the king of Kosala (''Kosaladhipati'') in his inscription. Although the texts mention seven powerful kings of Kosala, only six Deva kings are known from coins and an inscription. Indologist

Hans T. Bakker Hans T. Bakker (born 1948) is a cultural historian and Indologist, who has served as the Professor of the History of Hinduism and Jan Gonda Chair at the University of Groningen. He currently works in the British Museum as a researcher in project ...

speculates that Mitra-deva, who is mentioned in the 7th century text ''

Harshacharita The ''Harshacharita'' ( sa, हर्षचरित, ) (''The deeds of Harsha''), is the biography of Indian emperor Harsha by Banabhatta, also known as Bana, who was a Sanskrit writer of seventh-century CE India. He was the ''Asthana Kavi'', ...

'', may have been the seventh Deva king. Mitra-deva is said to have killed Sumitra (that is, the Shunga king

Vasumitra Vasumitra (or Sumitra, according to the ''d'' manuscript of the ''Matsya Purana'') (; died 124 BCE), was the fourth ruler of the Shunga Empire of North India. He was the son of Agnimitra by his queen Dharini and brother or half-brother of Vasujye ...

). If Bakker's identification is correct, it appears that the Deva kings rebelled against their Shunga overlords. However, several kings, whose names ended in -deva, ruled various parts of India, so this identification is not certain. Moreover, some manuscripts of ''Harshacharita'' mention the king's name as Muladeva. The Deva dynasty was replaced by the

Datta dynasty The Datta dynasty is a dynasty of ruler who flourished in the northern India in the areas of Mathura and Ayodhya around the 1st century BCE – 1st century CE.History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE – 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Qu ...

at the end of the 1st century BCE, which itself was replaced by the Mitra dynasty in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, which also ruled in

. It is thought that the

Indo-Scythian Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into modern day Pakistan and Northwestern India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th centur ...

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 ...

ultimately replaced these local kings, until the advent of the

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, i ...

Rulers

Based on the identification of Mitradeva as a Deva king,

provides the following list of Deva kings: # Muladeva (possibly a vassal of

at Saketa) # Mitradeva (contemporary of

) # Vayu-deva # Patha-deva # Phalgudeva #

Dhanadeva __NOTOC__ Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana is a stone inscription related to a Hindu Deva king named Dhana or Dhana–deva of the 1st-century BCE or 1st century CE. He ruled from the city of Ayodhya, Kosala, in India. His name is found in ancient coi ...

# Vishakhadeva

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{ref end Shunga Empire Ayodhya History of Uttar Pradesh Dynasties of India