Udumbara

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

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For Jat village see Udambara

Location of Kuninda relative to other groups: the Audumbaras, the Vemakas, the Vrishnis, the Yaudheyas, the Pauravas and the Arjunayanas

Udumbara (उदुम्बर) was name of a country and city mentioned by Panini and as people in Mahabharata (II.48.12). Udumbara is also name of fig tree (Ficus glomerata) mentioned in Mahabharata (XIII.4.27) and Mahavansa.

Variants of name

• Udumbara (उदुंबर) (AS, p.96)
• Audumbara (औदुम्बर) Mahabharata (II.48.12)
• Audumbatira
• Odomboerae (by Pliny)
• O-tien-po-chi-lo (by Xuanzang)
• Udumbaravati (उदुंबरावती)
• Udumbarāvati (उदुंबरावती)

Mention by Panini

Udumbara (उदुंबर) is a term mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi.

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Udumbaravati (उदुंबरावती) is a term mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi.

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Audumbaraka (औदुंबरक) is mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi.

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Audumbarayana (औदुंबरायण) is mentioned by Panini in Ashtadhyayi.

In Mahavansa

Mahavansa/Chapter 15 and Mahavansa/Chapter 23 mention udumbara.

History

V. S. Agrawala mentions Vishayas known to Panini which includes - Udumbara (उदुम्बर), under Rajanyadi (राजन्यादि) (IV.2.53).

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V. S. Agrawala writes that Ashtadhyayi of Panini mentions janapada Sālvāvayava (साल्वावयन) - Several members were grouped in this confederacy which include, 1. Udumbara, 2. Tilakhala, 3. Madrakāra, 4. Yugandhara, 5. Bhūliṅga, 6. Śaradaṇḍa

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V. S. Agrawala writes that the Udumbara (उदुम्बर) territory is fixed by the find spots of their coins in the Kangra Valley, between Ravi River and Beas, and at Pathankot in Gurdaspur at its mouth. Udumbarāvati might be tributary river flowing through Udumbara country on which the town of the same name was situated.

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Tej Ram Sharma writes that The Candravrtti on Candra informs us that Udumbara, Tilakhala, Madrakara, Yugandhara, Bhulinga and Saradanda, are the divisions of Shalva (or Salva).

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K.P. Jayaswal mentions Later Gupta Period (c. 570 A.D.-590 A.D.) before the rise of Sasanka:

There was a civil war amongst them, greedy for the kingdom (708-709). It ended by the installation of S., the youngster who became a mere symbol. The Brahmin leaders who had done this became disunited amongst themselves. Reaching the province of Magadha in the city called Udumbara the leading Brahmin crowned two boys. Then he retired to the East, and arriving in the province of Gauda they (? one of them ?) become (s) rivalless (710-712). The two boy chiefs were killed by the wicked one in Kalinga, and owing to his bad guide he committed many murders : he killed all those Gaudas who had been honoured by the kings who had fostered the civil war (713-714).

Comments

This fills up the period of the f Separatist Gaudas' of s-25 above. The account is somewhat confused. It is not clear whether the chief Brahmin Minister went to Gauda and punished the Gaudas who had taken part in the family feud, of whether one of the two boys called balamukhyan (?) evidently only one is meant from several adjectives did this. This feud and oppression of Bengal led to the rise of Sasanka (see next section).

The civil strife seems to have arisen between S.(Maha-Sena Gupta?) and some other claimant. Maha Sena Gupta's time is a generation before Harshavardhana (606 A.D.) and Sasanka (c. 590 A.D.).

Udumbara, must have been a town in South Bihar, probably it is Dumraon in the Shahabad district.

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Sandhya Jain writes that Audumbara (औदुम्बर) was an important ancient tribe, mentioned in the tribute list (II.48.12). Bauddha texts say they dwelled on the highway from Magadha to Kashmira in east Kangra district.

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In The early history period Chamba region is believed to be inhabited by certain Kolian tribes, which were later, subjugated by the Khasas. The Khasas too after a time came under the sway of Audumbaras (2nd century B.C.). The Audumbaras had republican form of government and worshiped Shiva as their principal deity.

The Mahabharata mentions the Janapadas in Himachal Pradesh such as Kuluta (Kullu), Trigarta (Kangra), Kulinda (Shimla hills and Sirmaur), Yugandhara (Bilaspur and Nalagarh), Gabdika (Chamba) and Audumbara (Pathankot).

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Buddha Prakash mentions ....[p.110]: Another People, who challenged the Yavanas in the upper part of eastern Punjab, were the Audumbaras. On the basis of the finds of their coins they may be located in the Valley of the Beas or perhaps the wider region between the upper Sutlej and the Ravi in the Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and eastern part of Kangra districts. They are mentioned as a constituent of the Salva confederacy, the other members being Tilakhala to the south of the Beas near Hoshiarpur, Yugandhara on the Yamuna, who gave their name to modern Jagadhari, Bhulinga, living to the north-west of the Aravallis, Sharadanda, occupying the Yamuna basin areas like Patellar and Kunjpura, and Madrakara a branch of the Madras in the Rechna Doab. The Salvas settled in Rajasthana also and the town of Alwar bears their name even now. They

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[p.111]: played an important part in opposing the Shakas and seem to have collaborated with the Malavas and others for that purpose.

The role of the Audumbaras in struggling with the Yavanas is manifest from their coins which fall into two or three classes. The first class consists of square copper pieces the obverse of which shows the forepart of an elephant to left and a tall tree in an enclosure and an inscription in Kharoshthi characters giving the name of the king and the reverse has the figure of a two storied domed and pillared stupa and a trident with an axe- head on the shaft with a legend in Brahmi script suggesting the reading audumbara or the king’s name. These coins reveal the names of four kings Shivadasa, Rudradasa, Mahadeva and Dharaghosha. They also show that their regal title was mahadeva. These coins reveal a unique syncretism between the Buddhist and Shaiva religions as the stupa and trident on the reverse indicate.

It appears that the Audumbara kings, who issued them, though professedly Shaivas, as their very names indicate, also carried the Buddhists with them. The use of both Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts also suggests the spirit of synthesis which animated them. The second class of Audumbara coins are of silver the obverse of which bears the figure of a bearded male with right handraised and left arm covered with deer skin, which is described in the Kharoshthi legend as that of Vishvamitra, and the reverse has the trident with axe on right and tree in enclosure on left and the Brahmi legend reading mahadevasa rana dharaghoshasa and below it odubarisa. These interesting coins show that Dharaghosha was a staunch Shaiva and treated the choleric Vedic rishi Vishvamitra was his guide and the symbol of his state. In the Rgveda (III, 53, 11), Vishvamitra is shown to be guiding the conquests of king Sudas in all directions. Later on he is said to have deserted him and gone over to the confederacy of his opponents headed by Purukutsa. By depicting him on his coins, Dharaghosha proclaimed the resurgence of aggressive and militant Brahmanism. Some other silver coins of one Bhagavata Mahadeva, who was most probably an Audumbara king, give his title rajarana or ‘king of kings’ showing that he expanded his realm over a wide region and assumed an imperial status. Obviously he repelled and supplanted Yavana rule to a considerable extent.

Afterwards the Audumbara kingdom became part of the

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[p.112]: Yaudheya realm as the discovery of Yaudheya coins in Kangra region shows. Hence, in the fourth century, the Allahabad prashasti of Samudragupta made no reference to them.

उदुंबर

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर ने लेख किया है ...उदुंबर (AS, p.96) पंजाब के पठानकोट क्षेत्र को कहा जाता है जिसका संदर्भ मूल सर्वास्तिवादी विनय में भी है।

औदुंबर

औदुंबर: कुनिंदों के साथ औदुंबरों का भी प्रायः नाम आता है। पाणिनी ने अपनी अष्टाध्यायी में उनका उल्लेख ‘राजन्य वर्ग’ में किया है जिसका अर्थ यह है कि उन समय वे गणराज्य के रूप में स्थापित थे। महाभारत और वृहत्संहिता में भी उनका उल्लेख आया है, जहां उन्हें उत्तर भारत की जातियोें में से दिखाया गया है। औदुंबरों से संबंधित सर्वाधिक ज्ञान हमें उनके सिक्कों से प्राप्त होता है। इनके सिक्के प्रमुखतः कांगड़ा जिला के ज्वालामुखी, पठानकोट और होशियारपुर से मिले हैं। इन्हीं खोजों के कारण औदुंबरों को कांगड़ा, गुरदासपुर और होशियारपुर क्षेत्रों का प्राचीन शासक माना जाता है। कनिंघम का कथन है कि वर्तमान नूरपुर क्षेत्र का प्राचीन नाम दहमेरी या (धमेरी) था।

In Mahabharata

Audumbara (औदुम्बर) in Mahabharata (II.48.12)

Sabha Parva, Mahabharata/Book II Chapter 48 describes Kings who presented tributes to Yudhishthira. Audumbara (औदुम्बरा) is mentioned in verse (II.48.12). ...."The Kayavyas, the Daradas, the Darvas, the Suras, the Vaiamakas, the Audumbaras, the Durvibhagas, the Kumaras, the Paradas along with the Vahlikas,..."

Visit by Xuanzang in 641 AD

Alexander Cunningham writes that Xuanzang mentions province named O-tien-po-chi-lo, which M. Julien renders as Adhyavakila, or Atyanvakela, but for which no Sanskrit equivalent is offered either by himself or by M Vivien de St. Martin. I think, however, that it may be intended for Audumbatira, or Audumbara, which Professor Lassen gives as the name of the people of Kachh. They are the Odomboerae of Pliny , but there is no trace of this name at the present day.

References

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