Huvishka

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Coin of King Huvishka

Huvishka (हुविष्क) (120 - 140 AD) (Havishka)) was the Jat-Kushan king in India who became ruler after the death of Kanishka.

History

Rajatarangini[1] tells us that there were on the throne of Kashmira three kings reigning jointly, namely, Hushka, Jushka and


[p.13]: Kanishka ; they built three cities and called these after their names, Jushka also caused a monastery to be built and another town named Jayasvamipura. Though they were of Turashka origin, they yet built several monasteries and places of worship on the plains of Shushkaletra. During their long reigns Buddhist hermits were all-power-ful in the country, and Buddhist religion prevailed without opposition. From the death of Buddha Shakyashiha to this time of Lokadhatu, one hundred and fifty years had passed. Nagarjuna a great Boddhisattva then stopped for six days in the woods of Kashmira.

Huvishka was younger son of Vasishka. He founded 'Hushkpur' or Hushkapura town in Kashmir in his name, the town is known as Uskpur/Uskar at present.[2] When Xuanzang came to India he stayed at a vihara in Hushkpur. He ruled from 120 - 140 AD. Kabul, Kashmir and Mathura were part of his state.

राजकीय संग्रहालय मथुरा में कुषाण प्रतिमाएं

राजकीय संग्रहालय मथुरा[3] भारतीय कला को मथुरा की एक विशेष देन है। भारतीय कला के इतिहास में यहीं पर सर्वप्रथम हमें शासकों की लेखों से अंकित मानवीय आकारों में बनी प्रतिमाएं दिखलाई पड़ती हैं।[4] कुषाण सम्राट वेमकटफिश, कनिष्क एवं पूर्ववर्ती शासक चष्टन की मूर्तियां माँट नामक स्थान से पहले ही मिल चुकी हैं। एक और मूर्ति जो संभवत: हुविष्क की हो सकती है, इस समय गोकर्णेश्वर के नाम से मथुरा मे पूजी जाती है। ऐसा लगता है कि कुषाण राजाओं को अपने और पूर्वजों के प्रतिमा-मन्दिर या देवकुल बनवाने की विशेष रूचि थी। इस प्रकार का एक देवकुल तो माँट में था और दूसरा संभवत: गोकर्णेश्वर में। इन स्थानों से उपरोक्त लेखांकित मूर्तियों के अतिरिक्त अन्य राजपुरुषों की मूर्तियां भी मिली हैं, पर उन पर लेख नहीं है[5]। इस संदर्भ में यह बतलाना आवश्यक है कि कुषाणों का एक और देवकुल, जिसे वहां बागोलांगो (bagolango) कहा गया है, अफ़ग़ानिस्तान के सुर्ख कोतल नामक स्थान पर था। हाल में ही यहाँ की खुदाई से इस देवकुल की सारी रूपरेखा स्पष्ट हुयी है।

Visit by Xuanzang in 631 AD

Alexander Cunningham[6] writes that Hwen Thsang entered the valley of Kashmir from the west in September, A.D. 631. At the entrance there was a stone gate, where he was met by the younger brother of the king's mother ; and after


[p.91]: paying his devotions at the sacred monuments, he went to lodge for the night in the monastery of Hu-se-kia-lo, or Hushkara.[7] This place is mentioned by Abu Rihan,[8] who makes Ushkara the same as Baramula, which occupied both sides of the river. In the ' Raja Tarangini[9] also Hushkapura is said to be near Varaha, or Varahamula, which is the Sanskrit form of Baramula. Hushkara or Uskar still exists as a village on the left or eastern bank of the Behat, two miles to the south-east of Baramula. The Kashmiri Brahmans say that this is the Hushkapura of the ' Raja Tarangini,' which was founded by the Turushka king Hushka, about the beginning of the Christian era.


[p.99]: Hushkapura, which was founded by the Indo-Scythian prince Hushka, or Huvishka, the brother of Kanishka, would appear to have been the same place as the well-known Varahamula, or Barahmula, on the Behat. Abu Rihan[10] calls it " Ushkar, which is the


[p.100]: town of Baramula, built on both banks of the river." It is noted under the same name by the Chinese pilgrim Hwen Thsang, who entered the valley from the west by a stone gate, and halted at the monastery of Hu.se.kia-lo, or Hushkara. The name of Barahmula has now eclipsed the more ancient appellation, which, however, still exists in the village of Uskara, 2 miles to the south-east of the present town, and immediately under the hills. The place has been visited, at my request, by the Rev. G. W. Cowie, who found there a Buddhist stupa still intact. This is probably the same monument that is recorded to have been erected by Raja Lalitaditya[11] between A.D. 723 and 760. It is again mentioned in the native chronicle[12] as the residence of the Queen Sugandha in A.D. 913. From all these notices, it is certain that the town still bore its original name down to the beginning of the eleventh century, when Abu Rihan mentions both names. But after this time the name of Varahamula alone is found in the native chronicles, in which it is mentioned during the reigns of Harsha and Sussala, early in the twelfth century. I think it probable that the main portion of the town of Hushkapura was on the left, or south bank of the river, and that Varahamula was originally a small suburb on the right bank. On the decline of Buddhism, when the monastic establishment at Hushkapura was abandoned, the old town also must have been partially deserted, and most probably it continued to decrease until it was supplanted by the Brahmanical suburb of Varahamula.

Thakur Deshraj writes

वासिष्क के पश्चात्, कनिष्क का राज्य उससे छोटे पुत्र हुविष्क को मिला। इसने काश्मीर में अपने नाम से हुष्कपुर नामक नगर बसाया जो कि आज कल उस्कपुर कहलाता है। जब ह्नानचांग काश्मीर गया था, तब इसी हुष्कपुर के बिहार में ठहरा था। मथुरा में एक और भी बिहार था। उसके सिक्के कनिष्क के सिक्कों से भी अधिक संख्या में और विविध प्रकार के पाए जाते हैं। उन सिक्कों में यूनानी, ईरानी और भारतीय, तीनों प्रकार के सिक्कों के चित्र हैं। इसने 120 ई. से 140 ई. सन् तक राज्य किया । कुछ लोग कहते हैं कि इसका शासन-काल 162 ई. से 182 ई. तक था। काबुल, काश्मीर और मथुरा के प्रदेश इसके राज्य में शामिल थे। इसके सोने चांदी के सिक्के मिलते हैं। जिन पर ‘हूएरकस’ लिखा रहता है।[13]

Jat Gotras from Havishka

Translation of Wardak Brass Vessel Inscription

In the year 51, on the day 15 [of the first half ?] of the month Artemisios. By means of this vase Vagra Marega's son Kamagulya, who has fixed his residence in this place Khavata, inters a relic of the Lord Sakya-muni inside a -vault within the Vagra Mariga monastery.

By means of this meritorious foundation may it (the relic) tend to the pre-eminent lot of the great king, the suzerain of kings, Hoveshka ! May it tend to the veneration of my parents ! May it tend to the veneration of my brother's son Hashṭana Marega ! May there be purity for me ! May it tend to the veneration of my grandsons, friends and associates ! And may there be a share of a pre-eminent lot for the territorial lord Vagra Marega ! May it tend to the bestowal of perfect health on all beings ! May it tend to the veneration of all these, namely, the saintly king,4 him who has obtained the condition of having mastered the doctrine, the creature which is born from, moisture, from a womb (?) or 'from an egg, the creature whose life is in water, the graminivorous animal and the incorporeal soul! And may there be a share of a pre-eminent lot for the territorial lord Rohaṇa, all his and his dependents together -with his retinue ! And may there be a supreme lot for Miṭyaga. This monastery is (or was) a gilt to the Mahasanghikas, who are teachers (or who had no habitation ?).

Source - Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XI,p.211

Note - In this Wardak Inscription of year 51 of Havishka, the Kushana ruler, we find links to four Jat clans namely, Gulya, Burdak, Rahan and Mitya.

See also

Reference

  1. Rajatarangini of Kalhana:Kings of Kashmira/Book I, p.12-13
  2. Sir Alexander Cunningham: The Ancient Geography of India, p.91
  3. राजकीय संग्रहालय मथुरा
  4. व्यक्ति प्रतिमाओं के विशेष अध्ययन के लिए देखिये: T.G.Aravamuthan, Portrait Sculpture in South India ,London, 1931
  5. C.M.Keiffer, Kushana Art and the Historical Effigies of Mat and Surkh Kotal, Marg, Vol 15, Number 2, March 1962, p.43-48
  6. The Ancient Geography of India/Kingdom of Kashmir, pp. 90-91,99-100
  7. ' Hiouen Thsang,' i. 90.
  8. Reinaud, ' Fragments Arabes,' p. 116.
  9. B. vii. 1310 and 1313.
  10. Reinaud, 'Fragments Arabes, etc.,' p. 116.
  11. ' Raja Tarangini,' iv. 188.
  12. Ibid., v. 258.
  13. Jat History Thakur Deshraj/Chapter VII Part I (i) (Page 207)
  14. Dr Mahendra Singh Arya, Dharmpal Singh Dudee, Kishan Singh Faujdar & Vijendra Singh Narwar: Ādhunik Jat Itihas (The modern history of Jats), Agra 1998 p. 286

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