300px, Gunda inscription of Rudrasimha, Saka year 103. Rudrasimha I date 114 Saka Era

Rudrasimha I was a

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 Pr ...

ruler, who reigned from 178 to 197 CE. He was son of

Rudradaman I Rudradāman I (r. 130–150) was a Śaka ruler from the Western Kshatrapas dynasty. He was the grandson of the king Caṣṭana. Rudradāman I was instrumental in the decline of the Sātavāhana Empire. Rudradāman I took up the title of ''Mah ...

, grandson of Jayadaman, and grand-grandson of Chashtana. During his reign, the Abhiras became increasingly important. Some of them were even serving as generals. Ashvini Agrawal thinks that the Abhira king '' Isvardatta'' was a general in the service of Rudrasimha I who deposed his master in 188 A.D and ascended the throne. Ashvini Agrawal further says that Rudrasimha I soon deposed him and regained the throne in 190 A.D.

Reign

Numismatics and Epigraphics

From the reigns of Jivadaman and Rudrasimha I, the date of minting of each coin, reckoned in the

Saka era The Shaka era (IAST: Śaka, Śāka) is a historical Hindu calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year 78. The era has been widely used in different regions of India as well as in SE Asia. Hist ...

, is usually written on the obverse behind the king's head in

Brahmi numerals The Brahmi numerals are a numeral system attested from the 3rd century BCE (somewhat later in the case of most of the tens). They are a non positional decimal system. They are the direct graphic ancestors of the modern Hindu–Arabic numeral s ...

, allowing for a quite precise datation of the rule of each king. This is a rather uncommon case in Indian numismatics. Some, such as the numismat R.C Senior considered that these dates might correspond to the much earlier

Azes era The "Azes era" (also known as the ''Aja'' or ''Ajasa'' era, Prakrit: ''Ayasa vaṣaye'') starting 47/46 BCE, was named after the Indo-Scythian king, "King Azes the Great" or Azes I. As a number of inscriptions are dated in this era it is of great ...

instead.

Influence of Abhiras

During his reign, the Abhiras became increasingly important. Some of them were even serving as generals. Ashvini Agrawal thinks that the Abhira king '' Isvardatta'' was a general in the service of Rudrasimha I who deposed his master in 188 A.D and ascended the throne. Ashvini Agrawal further says that Rudrasimha I soon deposed him and regained the throne in 190 A.D. Rudrasimha I is also known for an inscription 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 ...

at Gunda, north

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, it is ...

, mentioning "the digging of a well for the welfare of society by

Senapati Senapati (Sanskrit: सेनापति; ''sena-'' meaning "army", ''-pati'' meaning "lord") is a title in ancient India denoting the rank of military commander or general of the army. It was a hereditary title of nobility used in the Marath ...

Bapaka's son, Rudrabhuti

Abhira The Abhira tribe is mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. A historical people of the same name are mentioned in the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''. They are thought to be people who moved in from eastern Iran in the aftermath of ...

", and dated to Saka era 103 (181 CE). The inscription also gives a detailed genealogy of the kings up to Rudrasimha: The inscription refers Rudrasimha to as simply a ''ksatrapa'', ignoring the existence of any ''mahaksatrapa''. According to Sudhakar Chattopadhyaya, this indicates that the Abhira general was the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' ruler of the state, though not assuming any higher title. The inscription states Abhira Rudrabhuti as the son of the general Bapaka. The Abhira dynasty was probably related Abhira Rudrabhuti.

Notes

References

* Rapson, "A Catalogue of Indian coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc..." {{Western Satraps Western Satraps