Yasodharman

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Yashôdharman

Yasodharman or Yashôdharman (Devanagari:यशोधर्मा) was the king of Malwa, in central India, during the early part of the 6th century. The Gupta Empire had been weakened by the attacks of the Indo-Hephthalites, known in India as the Hunas, towards the end of the 5th century, which caused it to break up into smaller states. Yasodharman defeated a Huna army in 528, which checked the Huna expansion in India. Twin monolithic pillars at Sondani in Mandsaur District were erected by Yasodharman as a record of his victory. ^[1]

Three inscriptions of Yasodharman have been found in Mandsaur. One of these is of samvat 589 (532 AD). Yasodharman had acquired the title of Vikramaditya. ^[2] He started the vikram samvat calendar of Hindus based on Lunar movements. The Kashmiri poet Kalhana has mentioned about three Kalidasas. The second Kalidasa, who wrote the books 'Raguvansha' and 'Jyotirvidabharan', was court poet of Yasodharman. Kalidasa has mentioned the victories of Yasodharman as 'Raghu-digvijaya'. His rule extended from Himalayas in the north to Travancore in south. The ruler of Magadha had become his friend. Chinese traveler Faxian visited India during his rule. ^[3] The victory of Yasodharman is mentioned in the sentence “Ajay Jarto Hunan” in the grammer of Chandra of the fifth century. This mention in the phrase sentence अजय जर्टो हुणान or “Ajay Jarto Huṇān”, refers to the defeat of Huns by the Jats under the leadership of Yasodharman. ^[4]

He is said to have done this for a girl who had once saved his life. She along with her family had been captured by the Huns.

The Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhan shows that Yasodharman, the father of Vishnuvardhana, was a king of Virk gotra. ^[5]Thakur Deshraj and CV Vaidya have concluded that the inscription of Mandsaur indicate that Yasodharman, the ruler of Malwa, was a Jat king of the Virk gotra ( clan). ^[6][4]

External links

• Bijayagadh Stone Pillar Inscription of Vishnuvardhana
• Mandasor Pillar Inscription of Yashodharman

References

1. ↑ Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 147-148
2. ↑ Kalhana: Rajatarangini
3. ↑ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934, 2nd edition 1992 (Page 712)
4. ↑ ^4.0 4.1 CV Vaidya, History of Medieval Hindu India
5. ↑ Fleet, John F. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum: Inscriptions of the Early Guptas. Vol. III. Calcutta: Government of India, Central Publications Branch, 1888, 254.
6. ↑ Thakur Deshraj: Jat Itihas (Hindi), Maharaja Suraj Mal Smarak Shiksha Sansthan, Delhi, 1934, 2nd edition 1992 (Page 707)

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