Kunala

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Kunala (कुणाल) (263 BC – ?) was the Crown Prince and second son of 3rd Mauryan Emperor Ashoka[1][2] and Queen Padmavati[3] and the presumptive heir to Ashoka, thus the heir to the Mauryan Empire which once ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent. After the departure of Mahendra, Ashoka's eldest son, he was supposed to be the heir to the empire, but was blinded by his step-mother, Tishyaraksha, at a young age in jealousy. While he was not able to take the throne, his son, Samprati, became his heir.

List of Maurya Kings

Genealogy of Mauryas

Significance of name

Kunal also means "bird with beautiful eyes", "someone who sees beauty in everything" or "one with beautiful eyes".[4]

Jat clan

Kuranlya (कुरंल्या) Jat gotra started after Kunal son of Ashoka. [5]

Early life

At the age of eight, Ashoka sent his son to Ujjain, to be brought up and carry out his princely education, to become the heir to the throne of the Mauryan Empire.[6]

Blinding

When the prince was eight years old, the emperor wrote (in Prakrit) to the tutors and mentioned the word: Adheetaam - Meaning "He (Kunala) must study"(Context: Kunala should begin his studies). [7] One of Ashoka's wives who wanted to secure the succession to her own son, being then present, took up the letter to read it. She secretly put a dot over the letter 'a', which changed the word to Andheetaam - Meaning "He (Kunala) must be blinded". Without rereading the letter, the emperor sealed and dispatched it. The clerk in Ujjayini was so shocked by the contents of this letter that he was unable to read it aloud to the prince. Kunala, therefore, seized the letter and read the cruel sentence of his father. Considering that as yet no Maurya prince had disobeyed the chief of the house, and unwilling to set a bad example, he stoutly put out his eyesight with a hot iron".[8]

Alternatively, some stories explain that Kunala had been sent to Taxila to put down a rebellion, which he managed to do peacefully. But he was similarly blinded through the treacherousness of Ashoka's wife Tishyaraksha.[9]

It is said by some scholars that the letter was sent to Kunal; not believing it, Kunal went to his father. This made Emperor Ashoka angry, finding out that his wife had changed the letter, he sentenced her to death. Kunal then became heir to the throne of Mauryan Empire. It is uncertain whether this is true.

Attempts to claim throne

Years later Kunala came to Ashoka's court dressed as a minstrel accompanied by his favourite wife Kanchanmala. When he greatly pleased the emperor by his music, the emperor wanted to reward him. At this, the minstrel revealed himself as prince Kunala and demanded his inheritance. Ashoka sadly objected that being blind, Kunala never could ascend the throne. Thereupon the latter said that he claimed the empire not for himself but for his son. "When," cried the emperor, "has a son been born to you?" "Samprati" (meaning "Just now") was the answer. Samprati accordingly was the name given to Kunala's son, and though a baby, he was appointed Ashoka's successor. However, when Ashoka died, Samprati was too young to rule. Therefore, Ashoka was succeeded by another, older grandson, Dasharatha. After the demise of Dasharatha, Samprati did indeed become Emperor.[10]

History

Kunala also served as the Viceroy of Taxila during the reign of his father, having been appointed to the position in 235 BCE.[11]

Alexander Cunningham[12] writes that About fifty years after Alexander's visit, the people of Taxila rebelled against Bindusara, king of Magadha, who sent his eldest son Susima to besiege the place. On his failure, the siege was entrusted to his younger son, the celebrated Asoka. It was here in Taxila that Asoka himself had resided as Viceroy of the Panjab during his father's lifetime ; and here also resided his own son Kunala, or the "fine-eyed," who is the hero of a very curious Buddhist legend, which will be described hereafter.

There is a village named Kunal in Hisar district of Haryana. It was in these lands that the very first evidence of the presence of man was discovered with the excavation of Agroha, Banawali and Kunal. All of these were the pre-Harappan settlements, bringing for us the very first images of prehistoric times. The presence of the pillar in the Hisar Fort belonging to the time of Emperor Ashoka (234 BC) was originally from Agroha. The discovery of coins of the Kushan Kings tells tales of ancient India.

It is said that Prince Kunala established a kingdom in the Mithila region on the Indo-Nepal Border. It might be the same place where the present village, Kunauli (earlier known as Kunal Gram) at the bank of Kosi river on the Indo-Nepal Border is situated. There are some historical and archaeological evidences to support this claim.

In Jatakas

Jatakas include Kunala in following stories:

Kunala Namesake

कुणाल सरोवर

विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[13] ने लेख किया है ...कुणाल (AS, p.201) जातकों (5,419) में उल्लिखित मध्य प्रदेश में स्थित एक सरोवर का नाम है.

External links

References

  1. ↑ Sen, Colleen Taylor (2022). Ashoka and the Mauraya Dynasty: the history and legacy of ancient India's greatest empire. Dynasties. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78914-596-0.
  2. ↑ Olivelle, Patrick (2024). Ashoka: Portrait of a Philosopher King. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-27490-5.
  3. ↑ Lahiri, Nayanjot (2015). Ashoka in Ancient India. Harvard University Press. p. 284. ISBN 978-0674057777.
  4. ↑ Strong, John S. (1989). The legend of King Aśoka : a study and translation of the Aśokāvadāna. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01459-0.
  5. ↑ Dr Mahendra Singh Arya etc,: Ādhunik Jat Itihas, Agra 1998, p. 234
  6. ↑ Sen, Colleen Taylor (2022). Ashoka and the Mauraya Dynasty: the history and legacy of ancient India's greatest empire. Dynasties. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78914-596-0.
  7. ↑ Strong, John S. (1989). The legend of King Aśoka : a study and translation of the Aśokāvadāna. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01459-0.
  8. ↑ Strong, John S. (1989). The legend of King Aśoka : a study and translation of the Aśokāvadāna. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01459-0.
  9. ↑ Strong, John S. (1989). The legend of King Aśoka : a study and translation of the Aśokāvadāna. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01459-0.
  10. ↑ Strong, John S. (1989). The legend of King Aśoka : a study and translation of the Aśokāvadāna. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01459-0.
  11. ↑ Mookerji, Radhakumud (1995). Aśoka (3. rev. ed., repr ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 45,124. ISBN 9788120805828.
  12. ↑ The Ancient Geography of India/Taxila,p.106
  13. ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.201

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