Pushyamitra Shunga
Pushyamitra Shunga | |
---|---|
Mauryan Empire | |
Dynasty | Shunga |
Religion | Hinduism |
Pushyamitra Shunga (
Pushyamitra is recorded to have performed the
Buddhist texts claim that Pushyamitra persecuted Buddhists; scholars have rejected these claims.[4][5]
Ancestry
According to the Puranas, Pushyamitra became the king after killing his master Brihadratha, the last Mauryan emperor.[6] However, the Buddhist text Divyavadana names Pushyamitra as the last Mauryan emperor.[7] This text appears to have confused Brihadratha with Pushyamitra.[8]
H. C. Raychaudhuri theorized that the name "Shunga" is derived from the Sanskrit word for the fig tree.[9]
Alleged persecution of Buddhists
Buddhist accounts
Buddhist texts claim that Pushyamitra cruelly persecuted the Buddhists. The earliest source to mention this is the 2nd Century CE text Ashokavadana (a part of Divyavadana). According to this account, Pushyamitra (described as the last Mauryan emperor) wanted to be famous. His ministers advised him that as long as Buddhism remained the dominant faith, he would never be as famous as his ancestor Ashoka, who had commissioned 84,000 stupas. One advisor told him that he could become famous by destroying Buddhism. Pushyamitra then tried to destroy the Kukkutarama monastery, but it was saved by chance. He then proceeded to Shakala in the north-west, where he offered a prize of one hundred Roman denarii (coins) for every head of a Buddhist monk brought to him. Next, he proceeded to the Koshthaka kingdom, where a Buddhist yaksha named Damshtranivasin killed him and his army with help of another yaksha named Krimisha.[10][11]
... Pushyamitra equipped a fourfold army, and intending to destroy the Buddhist religion, he went to the Kukkutarama (in Pataliputra). ... Pushyamitra therefore destroyed the sangharama, killed the monks there, and departed. ... After some time, he arrived in Sakala, and proclaimed that he would give a ... reward to whoever brought him the head of a Buddhist monk.[12]
Vibhasa, another 2nd century text, states that Pushyamitra burned Buddhist scriptures, killed Buddhist monks, and destroyed 500 monasteries in and around
The medieval-era
The 16th-century Tibetan Buddhist historian Taranatha also states that Pushyamitra and his allies killed Buddhist monks and destroyed monasteries from madhyadesha (midland) to Jalandhara. These activities wiped out the Buddhist doctrine from the north, within five years.[13]
Authenticity of Buddhist claims
Based on Buddhist tradition, some scholars believe that Pushyamitra was indeed a persecutor of the Buddhist faith. However, others believe that Buddhist scholars were biased against Pushyamitra, because he did not patronize them.[16] According to archaeologist
H. Bhattacharya theorized that Pushyamitra might have persecuted Buddhists for political, rather than religious, reasons: the politically active Buddhists probably supported the Indo-Greek rivals of Pushyamitra, which might have prompted him to persecute them.[20] The Ashokavadana states that Pushyamitra declared a reward for killing Buddhist monks in Shakala (present-day Sialkot), which was located near the Indo-Greek frontiers. According to K. P. Jayaswal, this further highlights a political motivation behind his alleged persecution of Buddhists.[21]
Others have expressed skepticism about the Buddhist claims of persecution by Pushyamitra.
H. C. Raychaudhury argued that Pushyamitra's overthrow of the Mauryans cannot be considered as a Brahmin uprising against Buddhist rule, as Brahmins did not suffer during the Mauryan rule: Ashoka's edicts mention the Brahmins before
Historian Eric Seldeslachts states that there is "no proof whatsoever that Pushyamitra actually persecuted the Buddhists" though he may not have actively supported the Buddhists, invoking the Buddhist wrath.[26]
Romila Thapar writes that the lack of concrete archaeological evidence casts doubt on the claims of Buddhist persecution by Pushyamitra.[5]
It is possible that the Buddhist influence at the Mauryan court declined during Pushyamitra's reign, and the Buddhist monasteries and other institutions stopped receiving royal patronage. This change might have led to discontent among the Buddhists, resulting in exaggerated accounts of persecution.[21]
Succession of the throne
Pushyamitra Shunga was succeeded in 148 BCE by his son Agnimitra.[28]
In literature
Pushyamitra Shunga's history is recorded in the Harshacharita authored by Bāṇabhaṭṭa.
According to Vicarasreni of Merutunga, Pushyamitra or Pushpamitra got his throne in 204 BC.[29]
See also
- History of Buddhism
- Indo-Greeks
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-93-81574-56-0.
- ISBN 978-93-81574-56-0.
- ISBN 978-81-208-2790-5.
- JSTOR 44156189.
- ^ a b Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Romila Thapar, Oxford University Press, 1960 P200
- ^ Thapar 2013, p. 296.
- ^ Lahiri 1974, p. 29.
- ^ Lahiri 1974, p. 30.
- ^ Raychaudhari Hemchandra, "Tha Audvijja Senani of the Harivansa?", Indian culture, Vol. IV, 1938, P. 360-365
- ^ Simmons & Sarao 2010, pp. 95–96.
- ^ Lahiri 1974, p. 33.
- ^ Strong 1989, p. 293.
- ^ a b c d Simmons & Sarao 2010, p. 96.
- ^ Lahiri 1974, p. 33-34.
- ISBN 978-1-84331-332-8.
- ^ Lahiri 1974, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Simmons & Sarao 2010, pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b Simmons & Sarao 2010, p. 97.
- ^ a b Lahiri 1974, p. 34.
- ^ a b Simmons & Sarao 2010, p. 100.
- ^ a b Simmons & Sarao 2010, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Simmons & Sarao 2010, p. 98.
- ^ Ganguly, Kanchan. "Roman Coins in India and their impact.pdf".
- ^ a b Simmons & Sarao 2010, p. 99.
- ISBN 9788185151694.
- ISBN 978-90-04-15830-6.
- ISBN 9781107017368
- ISBN 978-8-12241-198-0.
- ^ Jain 1991, p. 85.
Sources
- Jain, Kailash Chand (1991). Lord Mahāvīra and His Times. ISBN 978-81-208-0805-8.
- Simmons, Caleb; Sarao, K. T. S. (2010). Danver, Steven L. (ed.). Popular Controversies in World History. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-59884-078-0.
- Lahiri, Bela (1974). Indigenous states of northern India, circa 200 B.C. to 320 A.D. University of Calcutta. p. 31.
- ISBN 0-691-01459-0.
- ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2