Apraca
Encyclopedia
Bajaur
Bajaur or Bajur or Bajour is an Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Smallest of the agencies in FATA, it has a hilly terrain. According to the 1998 census, the population was 595,227 but other more recent estimates it has grown to 757,000...
in modern Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
from the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE. Its rulers formed a small dynasty, called the Apracarajas. The territory was the stronghold of the warlike Aspasioi of Arrian
Arrian
Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian, public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the 2nd-century Roman period...
, a western branch of the Ashvakas
Ashvakas
The Aśvakas or Aśvakayanas, classically called the Assacenii/Assacani , is the Sanskrit name of a people who supposedly lived in northeastern Afghanistan and the Peshawar Valley. They are/were believed to be a sub-group of the Greater Kamboja tribe profusely referenced in ancient Sanskrit/Pali...
(q.v.) of the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
texts, who had earlier offered stubborn resistance to the Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
ian invader, Alexander the Great in 326 BCE.
A recently discovered inscription in Kharoshthi on a Buddhist reliquary gives a relationship between several eras of the period and mention several Apraca rulers:
- "In the twenty-seventh - 27 - year in the reign of Lord Vijayamitra, the King of the Apraca; in the seventy-third - 73 - year which is called "of AzesAzes IAzes I was an Indo-Scythian ruler who completed the domination of the Scythians in northern India.-History:Although Maues and his successors had conquered the areas of Gandhara, as well as the area of Mathura from 85 BCE, they were unsuccessful against the Indo-Greek kings remaining behind the...
", in the two hundred and first - 201 - year of the Yonas (Greeks), on the eighth day of the month of Sravana; on this day was established [this] stupa by Rukhana, the wife of the King of Apraca, [and] by Vijayamitra, the king of Apraca, [and] by Indravarma (Indravasu?), the commander (stratega), [together] with their wives and sons."
This inscription would date to circa 15 CE
15
Year 15 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Flaccus...
. The rulers seem to have been related to Kharaostes, which if true, would also certainly connect Apraca with Kamuia (q.v.) or Kambojika (Kamboja) lineage. Kamuia (q.v.) is dialectical variation of Kambojika (q.v.) which is same as Kamboja
Kamboja (name)
Kamboja or Kambuja is the name of an ancient Indo-Iranian kingdom.They are believed to have been located originally in Pamirs and Badakshan in Central Asia.The name has a long history of attestation, both in the Iranian and the Indo-Aryan spheres....
of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
or Pali
Páli
- External links :* *...
texts.
Dr Prashant Srivastava, of University of Lucknow, has recently written a research monograph which aims to highlight the significant role played by the family of the Apraca kings in ancient Indian history, and has connected this family of the Apraca kings with the Ashvaka clan. But, the Ashvaka clan was none else than a sub-branch of the greater Kamboja tribe spread on either side of the Hindukush. See Ashvakas
Ashvakas
The Aśvakas or Aśvakayanas, classically called the Assacenii/Assacani , is the Sanskrit name of a people who supposedly lived in northeastern Afghanistan and the Peshawar Valley. They are/were believed to be a sub-group of the Greater Kamboja tribe profusely referenced in ancient Sanskrit/Pali...
.
The Apraca kings are also mentioned in the Bajaur casket
Bajaur casket
The Bajaur casket is an ancient Buddhist reliquary from the area of Bajaur, in Gandhara. It is dated to around 5-6 CE. It proves the involvement of the Indo-Scythian kings of the Apraca, in particular King Indravarman, in Buddhism. The casket is made of schist.The inscription which is written in...
.
Rulers
- VijayamitraVijayamitraVijayamitra was an Indo-Scythian king of the Apracas in modern Pakistan. He is mentioned in a recently discovered inscription in Kharoshthi on a Buddhist reliquary, which gives a relationship between several eras of the period:...
(12 BCE - 15 CE), wife Rukhana - Indravasu (c.20 CE), wife Vasumitra
- Visnuvarman or Vispavarman, wife Śiśirena
- Indravarman, wife Uttara
- AspaAspavarmaAspavarma was an Indo-Scythian ruler, who ruled from around 15 to 45 CE. He ruled in the Bajaur area of modern Pakistan, and is considered as one of the Apraca rulers. He is essentially known through his coins....
or AspavarmaAspavarmaAspavarma was an Indo-Scythian ruler, who ruled from around 15 to 45 CE. He ruled in the Bajaur area of modern Pakistan, and is considered as one of the Apraca rulers. He is essentially known through his coins....
(15 - 45 CE) - SasaSasaSasa may refer to: menina linda com pernas jeitosas ;)* Samoan Sasa* Saša, a given name* Sasa - a genus of bamboo* Sasa, Israel - a kibbutz in Galilee, Israel* Sa'sa' - a Palestinian village, depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war....