Yavana era

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Yavana era
(174 BCE)
Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius, but now is more probably attributed to 174 BCE.[1]

The Yavana Era, or Yona (Prakrit: Yoṇaṇa vaṣaye)

Eastern India.[3] It is now equated with the formerly theorized "Old Śaka era".[1]

Harry Falk and others have suggested that the Yavana era actually started in 174 BCE, based on a reevaluation of the

Hindu-Kush.[1]

The creation of specific eras is a well-known phenomenon marking great dynastical events, such as the

Arsacid Era in Parthia (starting in 248/247 BCE), the Azes era in Gandhara (starting in 47/46 BCE),[4] and the Kanishka era, when he established his empire in 127 CE.[3][4]

It is now thought that the

Indo-Greeks, who for the first time had united the areas of Bactria and parts of ancient India.[1]

The Yavana era progressively fell into disuse after the creation of the Kanishka era, the Kanishka era being used exclusively in inscriptions on relic caskets from the 18th year of his reign, from 145 CE.[5] On statues of the Buddha, an inscription using the Yavana era is known from Gandhara as late as 209 CE (year 384 of the Yavana era), with the "Hashtnagar Buddha".[6]

Coins of Plato

Tetradrachm of Plato.
Obv: Diademed bust of Plato. Rev: Sun divinity Helios, riding a four-horse chariot. Greek legend: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΠΛΑΤΩΝΟΣ (BASILEOS EPIPHANOYS PLATONOS) "Of King Plato, Manifestation of God on earth". Coin marked MZ (bottom left of reverse), which possibly is a dating which equals year 47 Yavana era = 138 BCE.

Although

Ai Khanoum, a Bactrian city which was destroyed during the reign of Eucratides.[7]

Bajaur reliquary

Main article:
Bajaur reliquary inscription

A recently discovered reliquary (published by Salomon in 2005) from

Apraca, the 73rd years of the Azes era, and the 201st year of the Greeks (Yonanas or Ionians).[3]

"In the twenty-seventh - 27 - year in the reign of Lord
Apraca, [and] by Vijayamitra, the king of Apraca, [and] by Indravarma (Indravasu?), the commander (stratega), [together] with their wives and sons."[8]

The inscription means that the Azes era started 128 years after the beginning of the Yavana era. At the time of the discovery, the Azes era being generally dated to 57 BCE, this implied that the Yavana era started in 185 BCE. It is now thought that the Yavana era actually started in 174 BCE, based on a reevaluation of the Azes era which is now thought to have started in 47/46 BCE.[4]

Yavanarajya inscription

Main article: Yavanarajya inscription
Mathura Museum
.

The

Indo-Greeks in the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE in Mathura, a fact that is also confirmed by numismatic and literary evidence.[11] The new dates for the Yavana era (174 BCE) would give a date of 58 BCE for the Yavanarajya inscription, as 174 minus 116 equals 58.[4]

Date referential of Buddha statues in Gandhara

Loriya Tangai Buddha
Statue with inscription mentioning "year 318", probably 143 CE.[12]
Hashtnagar Buddha
Statue and its piedestal (now separated) inscribed: sam 1 1 1 100 20 20 20 20 4 Prothavadasa masasa divasammi pamcami 4 1 ("In the year 384, on the fifth, 5, day of the month Prausthapada").[13]

Several

Bajaur reliquary inscription, that it is about the Yavana era beginning in 174 BCE, and gives a date for the Buddha statue of about 143 CE.[12]

The inscription at the base of the statue is:

sa 1 1 1 100 10 4 4 Prothavadasa di 20 4 1 1 1 Budhagosa danamu(khe) Saghorumasa sadaviyasa

"In year 318, the day 27 of Prausthapada, gift of Buddhaghosa, the companion of Samghavarma"

— Inscription of the Buddha of Loriyan Tangai.[12]

This would make it one of the earliest known representations of the Buddha, after the Bimaran casket (1st century CE), and at about the same time as the Buddhist coins of Kanishka.[12]

The two devotees on the right side of the pedestal are in

Calcutta.[12]

Another statue of Buddha, the Buddha of Hashtnagar, is inscribed from the year 384, which is thought to be 209 CE. Only the pedestal is preserved in the British Museum, the statue itself, with folds of clothing having more relief than those of the Loriyan Tangai Buddha, having disappeared.[12]

References

  1. ^
    JSTOR 24049367
    .
  2. ^ "Silk Road Art and Archaeology". Journal of the Institute of Silk Road Studies, Kamakura. 9. The Institute: 49. 2003.
  3. ^ a b c d Des Indo-Grecs aux Sassanides: données pour l'histoire et la géographie historique, Rika Gyselen, Peeters Publishers, 2007, p.103-109 [1]
  4. ^
    JSTOR 24049367
    .
  5. ^ Baums, Stefan (2017). A framework for Gandharan chronology based on relic inscriptions, in "Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art". Archaeopress.
  6. ^ Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art p.37
  7. ^ Publication by François Widemann in 2004 in "Une confirmation numismatique de l'ère Yavana de 186/185": "The author looks at the dated coinages of the Indo-Greek rulers Heliocles and Platon and argues that the dates are calculated according to a Yavana Era beginning in 186/5 BC." in Numismatic Literature, Numéro 149, American Numismatic Society, 2007
  8. ^ "Afghanistan, carrefour en l'Est et l'Ouest" p.373. Also Senior 2003
  9. ^ History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p.254 [2]
  10. ^ "Some Newly Discovered Inscriptions from Mathura : The Meghera Well Stone Inscription of Yavanarajya Year 160 Recently a stone inscription was acquired in the Government Museum, Mathura." India's ancient past, Shankar Goyal Book Enclave, 2004, p.189
  11. ^ History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE - 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p.8-10 [3]
  12. ^ a b c d e f Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art, Juhyung Rhi, pp.35-51, 2017
  13. ^ Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art p.37
  14. ^ Greco-Buddhist Art of Gandhara p.491
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