- Bhagabhadra
Bhagabhadra was one of the kings of the Indian
Sunga dynasty. He ruled in north, central, and eastern India around110 BCE . Although the capital of the Sungas was at Pataliputra, he was also known to have held court at Vidisha.He is best known from an inscription at the site of
Vidisha in centralIndia , theHeliodorus pillar , in which contacts with an embassy from theIndo-Greek kingAntialcidas is recorded, and where he is named "Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Saviorson of the princess fromBenares "::"Devadevasa Va [sude] vasa Garudadhvajo ayam:"karito i [a] Heliodorena bhaga- :"vatena Diyasa putrena Takhasilakena:"Yonadatena agatena maharajasa:"Amtalikitasa upa [m] ta samkasam-rano :"Kasiput [r] asa [Bh] agabhadrasa tratarasa:"vasena [chatu] dasena rajena vadhamanasa"
:"This Garuda-standard of
Vasudeva (Krishna orVishnu ), the God of Gods:was erected here by the devotee Heliodoros,:the son of Dion, a man ofTaxila ,:sent by the Great Greek (Yona ) King :Antialkidas, as ambassador to:King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior:son of the princess fromBenares , in the fourteenth year of his reign." :(Archaeological Survey of India, Annual Report (1908-1909))This inscription is important in that in tends to validate that the Sungas ruled in the area of Vidisa around
100 BCE . This is also corroborated by some artistic realization on the nearbySanchi stupa thought to belong to the period of the Sungas. Altogether, three Sunga pillars have also been found in the area. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-3648%281975%2937%3A1%2F2%3C101%3AASCFV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R&size=LARGE Source] ]It is thought that name Bhagabhadra also appears in the regnal lists of the Sungas in the
Puranic records, under the name Bhadraka, fifth Sunga ruler of the Sungas.Notes
ee also
*
Greco-Buddhism
*History of Buddhism External links
* [http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/sastra-vedas/heliodorus-inscription.jpgPhoto of the pillar with Brahmi inscription]
* [http://www.vidisha.nic.in/tourism/vidisha.htm Heliodorus pillar at Vidisha]
* [http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/docs/HISTORY/PRIMARYDOCS/EPIGRAPHY/HeliodorusPillar.htm Text of the inscriptions on Heliodorus pillar]
* [http://www.gosai.com/chaitanya/saranagati/html/vedic-upanisads/vedic-archeology.html Vedic archeology]
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