Bhagabhadra
Encyclopedia
Bhagabhadra was one of the kings of the Indian Sunga dynasty. He ruled in north, central, and eastern India around 110 BCE. Although the capital of the Sungas was at Pataliputra, he was also known to have held court at Vidisha.
He is best known from an inscription at the site of Vidisha
in central India
, the Heliodorus pillar
, in which contacts with an embassy from the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas
is recorded, and where he is named "Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior
son of the princess from Benares":
This inscription is important in that in tends to validate that the Sungas ruled in the area of Vidisa around 100 BCE. This is also corroborated by some artistic realization on the nearby Sanchi
stupa thought to belong to the period of the Sungas. Altogether, three Sunga pillars have also been found in the area.
It is thought that name Bhagabhadra also appears in the regnal lists of the Sungas in the Puranic records, under the name Bhadraka, fifth Sunga ruler of the Sungas.
He is best known from an inscription at the site of Vidisha
Vidisha
Vidisha is a city in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, located near the state capital Bhopal. Vidishā is the administrative headquarters of Vidisha District. The city was also known as Bhilsa during the medieval period.-Geography:...
in central India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the Heliodorus pillar
Heliodorus pillar
The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 110 BCE in central India in Vidisha near modern Besnagar, by Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador of the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas to the court of the Sunga king Bhagabhadra...
, in which contacts with an embassy from the Indo-Greek king Antialcidas
Antialcidas
Antialcidas Nikephoros "the Victorious" was a Western Indo-Greek king of the Eucratid Dynasty, who reigned from his capital at Taxila. Bopearachchi has suggested that he ruled from ca 115 to 95 BCE in the western parts of the Indo-Greek realms, whereas RC Senior places him around 130 to 120 BCE and...
is recorded, and where he is named "Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior
son of the princess from Benares":
- "Devadevasa Va [sude]vasa Garudadhvajo ayam
- karito i[a] Heliodorena bhaga-
- vatena Diyasa putrena Takhasilakena
- Yonadatena agatena maharajasa
- Amtalikitasa upa[m]ta samkasam-rano
- Kasiput[r]asa [Bh]agabhadrasa tratarasa
- vasena [chatu]dasena rajena vadhamanasa"
- "This Garuda-standard of VasudevaVasudevaIn Hindu itihasa , Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, the son of Shoorsen, of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. His sister Kunti was married to Pandu. He was a partial incarnation of Rishi Kashyap....
(KrishnaKrishnaKrishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
or VishnuVishnuVishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
), the God of Gods - was erected here by the devotee Heliodoros,
- the son of Dion, a man of TaxilaTaxilaTaxila is a Tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is an important archaeological site.Taxila is situated about northwest of Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi in Panjab; just off the Grand Trunk Road...
, - sent by the Great Greek (YonaYona"Yona" is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate Greek speakers. Its equivalent in Sanskrit, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil is the word "Yavana" and "Jobonan/Jubonan" in Bengali...
) King - Antialkidas, as ambassador to
- King Kasiputra Bhagabhadra, the Savior
- son of the princess from Benares, in the fourteenth year of his reign.")
Sanchi
Sanchi is a small village in Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, it is located 46 km north east of Bhopal, and 10 km from Besnagar and Vidisha in the central part of the state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the location of several Buddhist monuments dating from the 3rd...
stupa thought to belong to the period of the Sungas. Altogether, three Sunga pillars have also been found in the area.
It is thought that name Bhagabhadra also appears in the regnal lists of the Sungas in the Puranic records, under the name Bhadraka, fifth Sunga ruler of the Sungas.
