Hathigumpha inscription
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Udayagiri (Orissa)
Udayagiri is a Buddhist complex in Orissa composed of major stupas and monasteries , similar to Ratnagiri, and together with Lalitgiri and Ratnagiri part of Puspagiri University. As per epigraphical artifacts found here, its historical name was “Madhavapura Mahavihara.”Numerous excavations by the...
, near Bhubaneshwar in Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
, was written by Kharavela
Kharavela
Khārabēḷa was the third and greatest emperor of the Mahāmēghabāhana Dynasty of Kaḷinga . The main source of information about Khārabeḷa is his famous seventeen line rock-cut Hātigumphā inscription in a cave in the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar, Orissa.During the reign of Khārabēḷa, the Chedi...
, the king of Kalinga
Kalinga (India)
Kalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...
in 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...
, during the 2nd century BCE. Hathigumpha inscription consists of seventeen lines incised in deep cut Brahmi letters on the overhanging brow of a natural cavern called Hathigumpha in the southern side of the Udayagiri hill near Bhubaneswar in Orissa. It faces straight towards the rock Edicts of Asoka at Dhauli
Dhauli
Dhauli hills are located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Orissa . It is a hill with vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill...
situated at a distance of about six miles.
The inscription is written in a type which is considered as one of the most archaic forms of the Kalinga Brahmi
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
alphabet, also suggesting a date around 150 BCE.
The inscription is dated to 165th year of the era of the Maurya kings, and the 13th year of Kharavela's reign, which, considering the coronation of Chandragupta
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya , was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor...
in 321 BCE as the probable start of the era, makes a date of 157 BCE for the inscription, a date of 170 BCE for Kharavela's accession, and a date of 162 BCE for the conflict against the Yavana king Demetrius
Demetrius I of Bactria
Demetrius I was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece...
.
Background
Hathigumpha inscription at UdayagiriUdayagiri
Udayagiri is the name of many places in India, among them:*Udayagiri Fort, one in Tamil Nadu and the other in Andhra Pradesh...
caves is the main source of information about Kalinga
Kalinga
Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
ruler Kharavela
Kharavela
Khārabēḷa was the third and greatest emperor of the Mahāmēghabāhana Dynasty of Kaḷinga . The main source of information about Khārabeḷa is his famous seventeen line rock-cut Hātigumphā inscription in a cave in the Udayagiri hills near Bhubaneswar, Orissa.During the reign of Khārabēḷa, the Chedi...
. This inscription, consisting of seventeen lines has been incised in deep cut Brahmi
Brāhmī script
Brāhmī is the modern name given to the oldest members of the Brahmic family of scripts. The best-known Brāhmī inscriptions are the rock-cut edicts of Ashoka in north-central India, dated to the 3rd century BCE. These are traditionally considered to be early known examples of Brāhmī writing...
letters of the 1st century BC on the overhanging brow of a natural cavern called Hathigumpha in the southern side of the Udayagiri hill. It faces straight towards the rock Edicts of Asoka at Dhauli
Dhauli
Dhauli hills are located on the banks of the river Daya, 8 km south of Bhubaneswar in Orissa . It is a hill with vast open space adjoining it, and has major Edicts of Ashoka engraved on a mass of rock, by the side of the road leading to the summit of the hill...
situated at a distance of about six miles. It was introduced to the Western world by A. Stirling in 1820 who published an eye copy of it in Asiatic Researches, XV, as well as in his book An Account, Geographical, Statistical and Historical of Orissa or Cuttack and by James Prinsep who deciphered the inscription. Princep's reading along with the facsimile prepared by Kittoe was Published in the Journal of the Asiatic Society Bengal, VI (1837), where he erroneously attributed this inscription to a king named Aira. Towards the end of 1871 a plaster cast of the inscription was prepared by H. Locke which is now preserved in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Alexander Cunningham
Alexander Cunningham
Sir Alexander Cunningham KCIE CSI was a British archaeologist and army engineer, known as the father of the Archaeological Survey of India...
published this inscription in 1877 in the Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum Vol. I and in 1880 R.L. Mitra published a slightly modified version in his Antiquities of Orissa, Vol. II.
Bhagwan Lal indraji is credited with the first authentic reading which he presented before the Sixth International Congress of Orientalists, 1885 it is to be noted here that Pandit Indraji was the first scholar to declare that the king eulogised in the Hathigumpha inscription was named Kharavela. It is a fact that there is a large number of lacuna in the inscription, which obstruct its correct reading and because of its mutilated condition has given rise to unnecessary controversies.
The inscription mainly mentions the various conquests of this king, starting with his fight against the Satavahana
Satavahana
The Sātavāhana Empire or Andhra Empire, was a royal Indian dynasty based from Dharanikota and Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh as well as Junnar and Prathisthan in Maharashtra. The territory of the empire covered much of India from 230 BCE onward...
king Satakarni
Satakarni
Satakarni was the third of the Satavahana kings. He ruled around 180 BCE in Central India.It is thought that Satakarni was a son of Kunala...
:
- "And in the second year (he), disregarding Satakamini, dispatches to the western regions an army strong in cavalry, elephants, infantry (nara) and chariots (ratha) and by that army having reached the Kanha-bemna, he throws the city of the MusikasMusikasThe Musikas were an Indian tribe of the lower Indus. They were confronted and vanquished by Alexander the Great as he went downstream on the Indus River....
into consternation." Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XX
The inscription then mentions that Kharavela forced the Indo-Greek (Yavana) king Demetrius
Demetrius I of Bactria
Demetrius I was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece...
to retreat from Rajgir
Rajgir
Rajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1000 BC have...
, about 70 km (43.5 mi) southeast of Pataliputra, to the area of Mathura:
- "Then in the eighth year, (he) with a large army having sacked Goradhagiri causes pressure on Rajagaha (RajagrihaRajgirRajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1000 BC have...
). On account of the loud report of this act of valour, the Yavana (Greek) King Dimi[ta] retreated to Mathura having extricated his demoralized army and transport." Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XX
Salient features
The Hathigumpha inscription mentions that:- In the very first year of his coronation ( His Majesty) caused to be repaired the gate, rampart and structures of the fort of Kalinga Nagari, which had been damaged by storm, and caused to be built flight of steps for the cool tanks and laid all gardens at the cost of thirty five hundred thousand (coins) and thus pleased all his subjects.
- In the second year, without caring for Satakarni [His Majesty] sent to the west a large army consisting of horse, elephant, infantry and chariot, and struck terror to Asikanagara with that troop that marched up to the river Kanhavemna.
- Then in the fourth year, (His Majesty] .... the Vidhadhara tract, that had been established by the former kings of Kalinga and had never been crossed before. The Rathika and Bhojaka chiefs with their crown cast off, their umbrella and royal insignia thrown aside, and their Jewelry and wealth confiscated, were, made to pay obeisance at the feet [of His Majesty).
- And in the fifth year, [His Majesty] caused the aqueducts that had been excavated by king NandaNandaNanda is a surname of Punjabis . Nanda is a Tarkhan , Ahluwalia and Kamboj surname. All the clans of Tarkhan , Lohar, Gujjar, Kamboj, Ahluwalia tribes have a close genetic and ancestral relationship with each other, and together they form the Khatri/Rajput caste.-Among Kamboj people:*Nanda is a...
three hundred years before , to flow into [Kalinga] Nagri through Tanasuli. - And in the seventh year of his reign [ the Queen] of Vajiraghara, blessed with a son attained motherhood.
- In the 8th year of his reign, he attacked RajagrihaRajgirRajgir is a city and a notified area in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. The city of Rajgir was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha, a state that would eventually evolve into the Mauryan Empire. Its date of origin is unknown, although ceramics dating to about 1000 BC have...
in MagadhaMagadhaMagadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
and forced the Indo-Greek king DemetriusDemetrius I of BactriaDemetrius I was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece...
(described as the Yavana king ("Yavana-raja") named Dimi{ta}) to retreat to Mathura. - In the 12th year of his reign, he attacked the king of UttarapathaUttarapathaAncient Buddhist and Hindu texts use Uttarapatha as the name of the northern part of Jambudvipa, one of the "continents" in Hindu mythology.The name is derived from the Sanskrit terms uttara, for north, and patha, for road...
. Then brought back the image of Kalinga Jina with its thrown and endowment that had been taken away by king NandaNandaNanda is a surname of Punjabis . Nanda is a Tarkhan , Ahluwalia and Kamboj surname. All the clans of Tarkhan , Lohar, Gujjar, Kamboj, Ahluwalia tribes have a close genetic and ancestral relationship with each other, and together they form the Khatri/Rajput caste.-Among Kamboj people:*Nanda is a...
and the jewels plundered by him (King Nanda) from the Kalinga royal palace, along with the treasures of AngaAngaAnga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...
and MagadhaMagadhaMagadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
. - He then attacks the kingdom of MagadhaMagadhaMagadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
, and in Pataliputra, the capital of the Sunga, makes king "Bahasatimita" (thought to be a Sunga king Brhaspatimitra, or Pusyamitra himself) bow at his feet.
-
- It is important to note that as far back as 1951, the Yavana-raja was thought to actually be the Kushana Vima Kadphises rather than the Indo Greek Demetrius, as it was only interpreted to be Dimita (since the inscription is not in very good condition). P.L. Gupta has been a longstanding proponent of this theory.