Ushavadata (
Brahmi
Brahmi (; ; ISO 15919, 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 ...
: , ), also known as Rishabhadatta, was a viceroy and son-in-law of the
Western Kshatrapa
The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India ( Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh ...
ruler
Nahapana
Nahapana (Ancient Greek: ; Kharosthi: , ; Brahmi: , ;), was an important ruler of the Western Kshatrapas, descendant of the Indo-Scythians, in northwestern India, who ruled during the 1st or 2nd century CE. According to one of his coins, he w ...
, who ruled in western India.
Name
Ushavadata's name is attested in his inscriptions as , which is derived from the
Saka
The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...
name , meaning "rightly created".
Inscriptions
Much of the information about Ushavadata comes from his
Nashik
Nashik (, Marathi: aːʃik, also called as Nasik ) is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Situated on the banks of river Godavari, Nashik is the third largest city in Maharashtra, after Mumbai and Pune. Nashik ...
and
Karle inscriptions. The Nashik inscription contains an eulogy of Ushavadata in
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, and then records the donation of a cave to Buddhists in a
Middle Indo-Aryan language
The Middle Indo-Aryan languages (or Middle Indic languages, sometimes conflated with the Prakrits, which are a stage of Middle Indic) are a historical group of languages of the Indo-Aryan family. They are the descendants of Old Indo-Aryan (OIA; ...
. The Karle inscription contains a similar eulogy, but in the Middle Indo-Aryan language.
Early life
Ushavadata was the son of one Dinika. He identifies as a
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...
(
IAST
The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...
: Śaka) in his Nashik inscription:
He believed in
Brahmanism
The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...
, and married
Nahapana
Nahapana (Ancient Greek: ; Kharosthi: , ; Brahmi: , ;), was an important ruler of the Western Kshatrapas, descendant of the Indo-Scythians, in northwestern India, who ruled during the 1st or 2nd century CE. According to one of his coins, he w ...
's daughter Dakshamitra.
Charity
Both of Ushavadata's inscriptions mention the following of his charitable acts:
* Donated 300,000 cows
* Donated gold for the establishment of a holy site on the banks of the Barnasa river
* Donated 16 villages to the deities and
Brahmanas
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...
(priests)
* Gave 8 wives to the Brahmanas at the holy site of
Prabhasa
* Fed hundreds of thousands of Brahmanas every year
The Nashik inscription records more such acts, stating that Ushavadata exhibited very pious behaviour at the Trirashmi hills, where the Nashik caves are located:
* Donated four-roomed rest houses in
Bharukachchha
Bharuch (), formerly known as Broach, is a city at the mouth of the river Narmada in Gujarat in western India. Bharuch is the administrative headquarters of Bharuch District.
The city of Bharuch and surroundings have been settled since tim ...
(Bharuch),
Dashapura
Mandsaur is a city and a municipality in Mandsaur district located on Border of Mewar and Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Mandsaur District. The ancient Pashupatinath Temple is l ...
(Mandsaur), Govardhana (near Nashik), and
Shurparaka Shurparaka (; also spelt Surparaka) was a kingdom founded by Bhargava Rama (also known as Parashurama) near the Western sea, close to the mouth of the river Narmada in India. It is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata. Parashurama gave this kingdom to ...
(
Nala Sopara
Nala Sopara or Nallasopara (Pronunciation: aːla sopaɾa formerly known as Sopara or Supara, is a town within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The town lies in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, India and is governed by Vasai-Virar Municipal ...
)
* Commissioned gardens, tanks, and wells
* Established free crossings at several rivers, including Iba, Parada,
Damana,
Tapi, Karabena, Dahanuka, and Nava
* Established public water stations on both the banks of these rivers
* Donated 32,000 coconut tree stems at Nanamgola village to the associations of ''charaka''s at Pimditakavada, Govardhana, Suvarnamukha, and Shurparaka
* Purchased a field from a
Brahmana
The Brahmanas (; Sanskrit: , ''Brāhmaṇam'') are Vedic śruti works attached to the Samhitas (hymns and mantras) of the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas. They are a secondary layer or classification of Sanskrit texts embedded within ea ...
family, and donated it to Buddhists along with a rock-cut cave (one of the
Nasik Caves
The Nasik Caves, or Trirashmi Leni (''Trirashmi'' being the name of the hills in which the caves are located, ''Leni'' being a Marathi word for caves), are a group of 23 caves carved between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE, though a ...
).
Military career
Ushavadatta campaigned in the north under the orders of Nahapana to rescue the
Uttamabhadras
The Uttamabhadras are an ancient Indian tribe described in the Mahabharata and later inscriptions.
The Uttamabhadras lived in the Punjab (India), Punjab. Uttamabhadras originally were people of Balkh who had entered India in Vedic Civilization, V ...
, who had been attacked by the Malayas (identified with the
Malavas
The Malavas (Brahmi script: 𑀫𑁆𑀫𑀸𑀭𑀯 ''Mmālava'') or Malwas were an ancient Indian tribe. Modern scholars identify them with the Mallian people (Malloi) who were settled in the Punjab region at the time of Alexander the Great, A ...
). He also extended the realm by defeating other enemies.
The
Satavahana
The Satavahanas (''Sādavāhana'' or ''Sātavāhana'', IAST: ), also referred to as the Andhras in the Puranas, were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. Most modern scholars believe that the Satavahana rule began in the late ...
king
Gautamiputra Satakarni
Gautamiputra Satakarni (Brahmi: 𑀕𑁄𑀢𑀫𑀺𑀧𑀼𑀢 𑀲𑀸𑀢𑀓𑀡𑀺, ''Gotamiputa Sātakaṇi'', IAST: ) was a ruler of the Satavahana Empire in present-day Deccan region of India. He was mentioned as the important and ...
appears to have defeated Rishabhadatta. An inscription discovered in Nashik, dated to the 18th year of Gautamiputra's reign, states that he donated a piece of land to Buddhist monks; this land was earlier in the possession of Ushavadata.
See also
*
Nasik inscription of Ushavadata
The Nashik inscription of Ushavadata is an inscription made in the Nashik Caves by Ushavadata, a son-in-law of the Western Satraps ruler Nahapana, in the years circa 120 CE. It is the earliest known instance of the usage of Sanskrit, although a ...
References
Bibliography
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2nd-century Indian people
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing
Converts to Hinduism
Western Satraps