Srughna, also spelt Shrughna in Sanskrit, or Sughna, Sughana or Sugh in the spoken form, was an ancient city or kingdom of India frequently referred to in early and medieval texts. It was visited by Chinese traveller, Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) in the 7th century and was reported to be in ruins even then although the foundations still remained. Xuanzang described the kingdom as extending from the mountains to the north, to the

Ganges river The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

to the East, and with the Yamuna river flowing through it. He described the capital city on the west bank of the Yamuna as possessing a large Buddhist vihara and a grand

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

dating to the time of the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka. Srughna is identified with the Sugh Ancient Mound located in the village of Amadalpur Dayalgarh, in the Yamunanagar district of Haryana state of India. To this day, the ancient Chaneti Buddhist Stupa, probably dating to the Mauryan period, stands in the area, about northwest of Sugh.

Identification

Xuanzang saw several stupas, which commemorated the visit of the Buddha or enshrined the relics of Buddhist monks Sariputra and Maudgalyayana.Yamunanagar History
Gazatteer of Haryana: Yamunanagar.

Alexander Cunningham Major General Sir Alexander Cunningham (23 January 1814 – 28 November 1893) was a British Army engineer with the Bengal Engineer Group who later took an interest in the history and archaeology of India. In 1861, he was appointed to the newly ...

identified the lost city with the village of Sugh (or Sugha) situated from Yamunanagar in the state of Haryana. The city probably lost its importance after the 7th century and the name survived in a localized form. Panjab University's 1965 excavation found artifacts dating from 600 BCE to 300 CE, including grey ware and

red ware Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondary ...

pottery, coins, seals, animal remains, male and female terracotta figurines, animal terracotta figurines and miscellaneous terracotta objects such as flesh rubbers, crucibles,

rattle Rattle may refer to: Instruments * Crotalus (liturgy), a liturgical percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion instrument), a type of percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion beater), a part of some percussion instruments * Ratchet (instrume ...

, gamesmen, stamp, seal impression, discs, frames and wheels, balls, goldsmiths heating cup, an ear ornament grooved on the exterior and a broken figurine of a headless child with writing board in lap with

sunga The Shunga Empire (IAST: ') was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled areas of the most of the northern Indian subcontinent from around 185 to 73 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra, after taking the throne of the ...

(187 BCE to 78 BCE) period alphabets. Collection of these figurines belong to Sunga, Mauryan,

Kushana 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 ...

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...

and medieval period. Srughna is regularly mentioned in Panini's Ashtadhyayi,

Patanjali Patanjali ( sa, पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Very little is known about him, and while no one knows exactly when he lived; from analysis of his works it i ...

's Mahabhashya, the Divyavadana, the Mahabharata, the Mahamayuri, the ''Brihatsamhita'' of Varahamihira, etc. Tūrghna, another location mentioned in ancient literary texts, is considered synonymous with Srughna. The village of Sugh, with the nearby Sugh Ancient Mound, is now a well known archaeological site which has yielded a trove of coins. It was excavated by Cunningham in the 19th century.

Suraj Bhan Suraj Bhan (1 October 1928 – 6 August 2006) was a former Governor, Member of Parliament and an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party. Personal life Suraj Bhan Banswal was born on 1 October 1928 at Mehlanwali, Yamuna Nagar dis ...

partially excavated the site in 1964–65. The original site of the Topra Kalan pillar of Ashoka is located about to the west. Ashoka's Rock edicts of Khalsi is also from the region, about to the northeast.

Dhanabhuti, king of "Sugana"

It has been proposed that King Dhanabhuti, the main sponsor of the Buddhist stupa at Bharhut, came from Srughna or Sughana, and that Dhanabhuti was one of its important kings, who, besides building magnificent stupas in his capital city, also made some of the most important donations for the building of the toranas and railings at Bharhut."A local Buddhist kingdom in Punjab with Srughna, modern Sugh, near Jagadhri in the district of Ambala, as its capital city, and covering an area of about 1000 miles in circuit. Raja Dhanabhuti, the pre-eminent king of this royal family ruled from 240 B.C. to 210 B.C. This pious Buddhist king apart from building magnificent stupas in his capital city, also made munificent donations to the world famous Stupa of Bharhut" in

Notes

References

* * * {{cite journal, last1=Bharadwaj, first1=O. P., title=Gautama Buddha in Kurukṣetra, journal=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, date=1980, volume=61, issue=1/4, pages=189–204, jstor=41691865

External links

Haryana tourism

in Tribune India
Ancient Geography of India
by Alexander Cunningham (1871) Locations in Hindu mythology Archaeological sites in Haryana

Identification

Dhanabhuti, king of "Sugana"

See also

Notes

References

External links