Northern Satraps
| Northern Satraps | ||||||||||
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 The Northern Satraps ruled the area from Eastern Punjab to Mathura.
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| Capital | Sagala/ Mathura | |||||||||
| Religion | Buddhism | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Historical era | Antiquity | |||||||||
| • | Established | 60 BC | ||||||||
| • | Disestablished | 2nd century AD | ||||||||
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| Today part of |  India Pakistan |
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The Northern Satraps are a dynasty of Indo-Scythian rulers who held sway over the area of Mathura and Eastern Punjab from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD. They are called "Northern Satraps", in opposition to the "Western Satraps" ruling in Gujarat and Malwa at roughly the same time. They are thought to have replaced the last of the Indo-Greek kings in the Eastern Punjab, as well as the Mitra dynasty of Indian rulers in Mathura.
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Northern Satraps
In central India, the Indo-Scythians are thought to have conquered the area of Mathura over Indian kings around 60 BC, thus founding the Northern Satraps. Some of their first satraps were Hagamasha and Hagana, who were in turn followed by Rajuvula, but according to some authors, Rajuvula may have been first.
Rajuvula
Obv: Bust of King Rajuvula, with Greek legend.
Rev: Pallas standing right (crude).[1] Kharoshthi legend.
Rajuvula is considered as one of the main Northern Satraps ruler. He was a Great Satrap (Mahakshatrapa, a sub-ruler to a king) who ruled in the area of Mathura in northern India in the years around 10 AD, under the authority of the Indo-Scythian king Azilises.[1] In Mathura, he sometimes using the term "Basileus" (king) next to his title of Satrap, which implies a higher level of autonomy from the Indo-Scythian center in northwestern India.[1]
In Mathura, Rajuvula established the famous Mathura lion capital, now in the British Museum, which confirms the presence of Northern Satraps in Mathura, and sheds some light on the relationships between the various satraps of Northern India.[2] His coins are found near Sankassa along the Ganges and in Eastern Punjab. Their style is derived from the Indo-Greek types of Strato II.[2][1] Rajuvula apparently replaced the last of the Indo-Greek kings Strato II around 10 AD, and took his capital city, Sagala. Numerous coins of Rajuvula have been found in company with the coins of the Strato group in the Eastern Punjab (to the east of the Jhelum) and also in the Mathura area:[3] for example, 96 coins of Strato II were found in Mathura in conjonction with coins of Rajuvula, who also imitated the designs of Strato II in the majority of his ussues.[4]
The coinage of the period, such as that of Rajuvula, tends to become very crude and barbarized in style. It is also very much debased, the silver content becoming lower and lower, in exchange for a higher proportion of bronze, an alloying technique (billon) suggesting less than wealthy finances.
Mathura lion capital
The Mathura lion capital, an Indo-Scythian sandstone capital in crude style, from Mathura in Central India, and dated to the 1st century AD, describes in kharoshthi the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha, by Queen Nadasi Kasa, the wife of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, Rajuvula.
The capital describes, among other donations, the gift of a stupa with a relic of the Buddha, by Queen Ayasia, the "chief queen of the Indo-Scythian ruler of Mathura, satrap Rajuvula". She is mentioned as the "daughter of Kharahostes" (See: Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions). The lion capital also mentions the genealogy of several Indo-Scythian satraps of Mathura. It mentions Sodasa, son of Rajuvula, who succeeded him and also made Mathura his capital.
Sodasa and Bhadayasa
Sodasa, son of Rajuvula, seems to have replaced his father in Mathura, while Bhadayasa ruled as Basileus in Eastern Punjab.[6][7][8] Bhadayasa has some of the nicest coins of the Northern Satraps, in direct inspiration from the coins of the last Indo-Greek kings.
The coinage of Sodasa is cruder and of local content: it represents a Lakshmi standing between two symbols on the obverse with an inscription around Mahakhatapasa putasa Khatapasa Sodasasa "Satrap Sodassa, son of the Great Satrap". On the reverse is a standing Abhiseka Lakshmi (Lakshmi standing facing a Lotus flower with twin stalks and leaves) anointed by two elephants sprinkling water, as on the coins of Azilises.[6][9]
Successors
Several successors are known to have ruled as vassals to the Kushans, such as the Mahakshatrapa ("Great Satrap") Kharapallana and the Kshatrapa ("Satrap") Vanaspara, who are known from an inscription discovered in Sarnath, and dated to the 3rd year of Kanishka (c. 130 AD), in which Kanishka mentions they are the governors of the eastern parts of his Empire, while a "General Lala" and Satraps Vespasi and Liaka are put in charge of the north.[10][11][12] The inscription was discovered on an early statue of a Boddhisattva, the Sarnath Bala Boddhisattva, now in the Sarnath Museum .[13]
The "Northern Satraps" Rulers (Mathura area)
- Hagamasha (satrap, 1st century BC)
- Hagana (satrap, 1st century BC)
- Rajuvula, c. AD 10 (Great Satrap)
- Sodasa, son of Rajuvula in Mathura, Bhadayasa in Eastern Punjab.[7][8]
- "Great Satrap" Kharapallana (c. AD 130)
- "Satrap" Vanaspara (c. AD 130)
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Coin of satrap Hagamasha. Obv. Horse to the left. Rev. Standing figure with symbols, legend Khatapasa Hagāmashasa. 1st century BC.
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Joint coin of Hagana and Hagamasha. Obv.: Horse to left. Rev. Thunderbolt, legend Khatapāna Hagānasa Hagāmashasa. 1st century BC.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p.170 [1]
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, by John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1967 p.135 [2]
- ↑ Mathurā and Its Society: The ʼSakæ-Pahlava Phase, Bratindra Nath Mukherjee, Firma K.L.M., 1981, p.9
- ↑ Bibliography of Greek coin hoards, p. 194-195 [3]
- ↑ Senior ISCH vol. II, page 129.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans, John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1 janv. 1967, p.136 [4]
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992, p.126 [5]
- ↑ Ancient Indian History and Civilization, Sailendra Nath Sen New Age International, 1999, p.198 [6]
- ↑ Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992 p.167 [7]
- ↑ Source: "A Catalogue of the Indian Coins in the British Museum. Andhras etc..." Rapson, p ciii
- ↑ Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka, Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Brill Archive, 1969, p.271 [8]
- ↑ From the dated inscription on the Rukhana reliquary
- ↑ An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 442 [9]
- ↑ A Kharosthī Reliquary Inscription of the Time of the Apraca Prince Visnuvarma, by Richard Salomon, South Asian Studies 11 1995, Pages 27-32, Published online: 09 Aug 2010 [10]
