Vasumitra (or Sumitra, according to the ''d'' manuscript of the ''

Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...

'') (; died 124 BCE), was the fourth ruler of the

Shunga Empire 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 Shunga, Pushyamitra, after taking ...

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

. He was the son of Agnimitra by his queen Dharini and brother or half-brother of

Vasujyeshtha Vasujyeshtha or Sujyeshtha () was the third king of the Shunga Dynasty of Northern India. His reign is not well documented, thus little is known about him. He is credited with successfully completing his grandfather's Ashvamedha and for defeating ...

, the step son of Queen '' Mālavikā, the third wife of King Agnimitra.''

Early life

In the '' Mālavikāgnimitram'', act 5, verse 14,

Kālidāsa Kālidāsa (''fl.'' 4th–5th century CE) was a Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright. His plays and poetry are primarily based on the Vedas, the Rāmāyaṇa, the Mahābhārata and t ...

tells us that Vasumitra guarded the sacrificial horse let loose by his grandfather Pushyamitra Shunga and he defeated a cavalry squadron of the ''

Yona The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue Yavana in Sanskrit and Yavanar in Tamil, were words used in Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" ( grc, � ...

'' (

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent (p ...

) on the banks of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

. At the new of the victory of her son Vasumitra, Dharini promises to reward Mālavikā, gives her to the King and gladly consents to their union. Vasumitra's victory played a vital role in the union of his father Agnimitra and '' Mālavikā.'' After this happy termination of the course of the royal love, the play ends with the customary Bharatavakya which here takes the form of an expression of general peace and happiness among the King's subjects.

Reign

According to Sailendra Nath Sen, he (Vasmuitra) "After becoming king, gave himself up to pleasure". But we know that 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' ...

decline began during his reign.K.A. Nilkantha Shastri (1970)
''A Comprehensive History of India: Volume 2''
p.108: "Soon after Agnimitra there was no 'Sunga empire'." Sensing an opportunity, enemies began plotting. Bana's ''

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'', ...

'' mentioned him as Sumitra and informed us that he was killed by Mitradeva (or Muladeva, according to some manuscripts) while enjoying a drama. Muladeva is regarded as the founder of the independent Principality of Kosala. The secession of Kosala extinguished the Shunga hold over territories west of

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

but also must have encourages other rulers to rebel and declare independence. Examples of these include Panchala,

Kausambi Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was an important city in ancient India. It was the capital of the Vatsa kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was located on the Yamuna River about southwest of its confluence with the Ganges at ...

, and

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. ...

Succession

He was succeeded by Andhraka, Antaka,

Bhagabhadra Bhagabhadra (Brāhmī: 𑀪𑀸𑀕𑀪𑀤𑁆𑀭 , ) was one of the kings of the Indian Shunga dynasty. He ruled in north, central India around from 114 BCE to 83 BCE. Although the capital of the Shungas was at Pataliputra, he was also known ...

or Bhadra according to different

puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

.Lahiri, Bela (1974). ''Indigenous States of Northern India (Circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D.)'' Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.52-3

Notes

Shunga Empire Year of birth unknown 124 BC deaths 2nd-century BC Indian monarchs {{india-royal-stub