Sridharavarman

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Author: Laxman Burdak IFS (R)

Sridharavarman (ruled c. 339 – c. 368 CE) was a Saka (Indo-Scythian) ruler of Central India, around the areas of Vidisa, Sanchi and Eran in the 4th century CE, just before the Gupta Empire (320 - 540 AD) expansion in these areas.[1][2]

Variants

History

He calls himself a general and "righteous conqueror" (dharmaviyagi mahadandanayaka) in an inscription, and Rajan ('King') and Mahaksatrapa ('Great Satrap') in a probably later inscription at Eran, suggesting that he may have been a high-ranked officer who later rose to the rank of a King.[4]

Although Sridharavarman took the title of Mahakshatrapa, the traditional title of the Western Satraps, he probably did not belong to the line of Chastana, the founder of the dynasty, and belonged to a different Saka family.[5] He probably suffered a defeat by the Gupta Emperor Samudragupta around 365 CE, who then occupied the area around Eran and made his own victorious inscription there.[6]

Sridharavarman is probably the "Saka" ruler mentioned in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta, as having "paid homage" to the Gupta Emperor,[7] forced to "self-surrender, offering (their own) daughters in marriage and a request for the administration of their own districts and provinces".[8]

After submitting to Samudragupta, he and his successor may have ruled a bit longer in Eastern Malwa, until they were vanquished by Chandragupta II in his "conquest of the whole world".[9]

Inscriptions

Sridharavarman is known from two inscriptions: the first one is the Kanakerha inscription at Sanchi.

Another inscription of the same Sridhavarman, made by his Naga General Satyanaga, was made on a pillar at Eran, only the top portion of which is remaining.[10][11] The inscription is dated to the 27th year of Sridharavarman's reign.[12]

Another famous inscription was later added on the same pillar, the inscription of Goparaja, who died in Eran during the rule of Gupta ruler Bhanugupta, who is also only known from this very inscription.[13][14]

At Eran, it seems that this inscription is succeeded chronologically by a monument and an inscription by Gupta Empire's Samudragupta (r. c. 336 – c. 380 CE), established "for the sake of augmenting his fame", who may therefore have ousted Sridharavarman in his campaigns to the West.

During the course of this expedition he is believed to have attacked and defeated the Saka Chief Shridhar Varman, ruling over Eran-Vidisha region. He then annexed the area and erected a monument at Eran (modern Sagar District) "for the sake cf augmenting his fame" in Madhya Pradesh (India). [15]

References

  1. ↑ Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 2016 p58-59
  2. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  3. ↑ Corpus Inscriptionium Indicarium Vol IV Part 2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era, Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi, 1905, (p.610)/p.605-611
  4. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  5. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  6. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  7. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  8. ↑ Lines 23-24 of the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta: "Self-surrender, offering (their own) daughters in marriage and a request for the administration of their own districts and provinces through the Garuḍa badge, by the Dēvaputra-Shāhi-Shāhānushāhi and the Śaka lords and by (rulers) occupying all Island countries, such as Siṁhala and others."
  9. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  10. ↑ Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, c. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Routledge, 2016 p58-59
  11. ↑ Mirashi, V. V. (1951). "Eran Pillar Inscription of Sridharavarman". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 14: 23–26. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44303929.
  12. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  13. ↑ Fleet, John Faithfull (1960). Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors. pp. 91–93.
  14. ↑ Mirashi, Vasudev Vishnu (1955). Corpus inscriptionum indicarum vol.4 pt.2 Inscriptions of the Kalachuri Chedi Era. Archaeological Society of India. pp. 605–611.
  15. ↑ Krishnan, V. S. (1982). Madhya Pradesh: District Gazetteers. Government Central Press. p. 28.

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