- Yasodharman
Yasodharman or Yashôdharman (
Devanagari :यशोधर्मा) was the king ofMalwa , in centralIndia , during the early part of the6th century .History
The
Gupta empire had been weakened by the attacks of theIndo-Hephthalites , known in India as the "Hunas ", towards the end of the5th century , which caused it to break up into smaller states. Yasodharman defeated a "Huna" army in528 and their rulerMihirakula , which checked the "Huna" expansion in India. Legend has it that Yashodharman, originally a prince, had lost his kingdom and was saved by a girl while wandering in a forest.It is said that it was a message from this girl, whom he later considered a sister, that acted as a motivation behind his military endeavours. Twin monolithic pillars atSondani inMandsaur District were erected by Yasodharman as a record of his victory. [Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 147-148] [ [http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/mandasor_pillar.htm Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman] ]Three inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in
Mandsaur . One of these is of samvat 589 (532 AD). Yasodharman had acquired the title ofVikramaditya . [Kalhana :Rajatarangini ] The Kashmiri poetKalhana has mentioned about threeKalidasa s. The second Kalidasa, who wrote the books 'Raguvansha' and 'Jyotirvidabharan', was court poet of Yasodharman. According to some analysts, Kalidasa has mentioned the victories of Yasodharman as 'Raghu-digvijaya'. His pillars claim that his rule extended fromHimalaya s in the north toTravancore in south, although that seems rather unlikely. The ruler ofMagadha had become his friend. The victory of Yasodharman is mentioned in the sentence “Ajay Jarto Hunan” in the grammar of Chandra of the sixth century. This mention in the phrase sentence अजय जर्टो हुणान or “"Ajay Jarto unicode|Huṇān"”, refers to the defeat ofHun s by the Jats under the leadership ofYasodharman . CV Vaidya, History of Medieval Hindu India ]Bijayagadh inscription
The Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana, locally known as Bhīm kī Lāţ, was erected at
Bayana inBharatpur district for having perfection been attained in samvat 428 on the fifteenth lunar day of the dark fortnight of (the month) Phâlguna. The line 3 of Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana reads as [ [http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/bijayagadh_stone_pillar.htm Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana] ] ::"(Line 3.)-On the ceremony of the pundarîka-sacrifice (having been performed), this sacrificial post has been caused to be set up by the Varika, the illustrious Vishnuvarhana whose royalty and name are well established,-who is the excellent son of Yashôvardhana; (and) the excellent son’s son of Yashôrâta; (and) the excellent son of the son’s son of Vyâghrarâta, - for the purpose of increasing (his) splendour, sacrifices, religion, welfare (in the other world), prosperity, fame, family, lineage, good fortune, and enjoyment".
The Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of
Vishnuvardhana shows that Yasodharman, the father of Vishnuvardhana, was a king ofVirk gotra. [ [http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/bijayagadh_stone_pillar.htm Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana] ] [Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 254.]Thakur Deshraj and CV Vaidya apparently believe that theinscription ofBijaygarh andMandsaur "prove" thatYasodharman , the ruler ofMalwa , was a Jat king of theVirk gotra clan ). [Thakur Deshraj : Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934, 2nd edition 1992 (Page 707)] CV Vaidya, History of Medieval Hindu India ]External links
* [http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/bijayagadh_stone_pillar.htm Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana]
* [http://www.mssu.edu/projectsouthasia/history/primarydocs/Epigraphy/Gupta-Era/mandasor_pillar.htm Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
