Amoghabhuti

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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Amoghabhuti (अमोघभूति) was a king of the Kuninda Kingdom in northern India, during the late 2nd century BCE to early 1st century BCE.

Variants

• Amogha - A name in List of Shiva's thousand names
• Amogha-bhuti

History

He is well known for his beautiful silver and copper coinage where his name is mentioned, along with his title, Maharaja. His silver coinage followed the silver standard of the Indo-Greek coins, suggesting the existence of commercial exchanges with these neighbours. The obverse of his silver coins bears a legend in Brahmi: Rajnah Kunindasya Amoghabhutisya maharajasya and the reverse bears a legend in Kharoshti: Rana Kunindasa Amoghabhutisa Maharajasa. His copper coins bear on the obverse the same Brahmi legend as his silver issues but the Kharoshti legend on the obverse is replaced by a border of dots.

Buddha Prakash

Buddha Prakash mentions .... [p.112]: Another people, who rose with the Audumbaras and hurled themselves against the Greeks in the first century B.C., were the Kunindas or Kulindas. The findspots of their coins show that they carved out their stale at the foot of the Siwalik hills between the Yamuna and the Sutlej and the territory between the upper courses of the Sutlej and the Beas. Some of the regions now included in Saharanpur, Karnal, Ambala, Jvalamukhi, Hamirpur and Ludhiana districts formed part of their kingdom. The leader, under whom they rose, was Amoghabhuti. His silver and copper coins, of the standard of the hemidrachms of latter Greek kings, show Lakshmi standing facing on a lotus and holding a lotus in her upraised right hand, a deer between the horns of which is the cobra symbol and above it the standard or post in railing, on the obverse, and a number of symbols of mountain and river, svastika, naga and nandipada on the reverse. The legend on the obverse is in Brahmi and that on the reverse in Kharosthi. It reads as rājñah kuṇimdasya amoghabhūtisya mahaādrājasya (of the great king Amoghabhuti king of the Kunindas). In the Kharosthi version maharaja is written independently on the exergue while the idea is to give emphasis to the status of the king as maharaja. Thus it is clear that Amoghabhuti struck against Greek rule and issued his silver coinage to compete with Indo-Greek currency in the market. His name meaning ‘of unfailing prosperity’ is of a piece with the figure of the goddess of riches Lakshmi on the obverse. All this shows that Amoghabhuti ruled over a prosperous kingdom as a powerful independent king.

In Mahabharata

Shalya Parva, Mahabharata/Book IX Chapter 45 gives list of the mothers who became the companions when Skanda was installed, Amogha is one of them.

References

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