Vasudeva I

Vasudeva I (Kushano Bactrian: ΒΑΖΟΔΗΟ "Bazodeo"; Middle Brahmi script: Vā-su-de-va, Chinese: 波調 Bodiao; fl. 200 CE) was a Kushan emperor, last of the "Great Kushans."[1] Named inscriptions dating from year 64 to 98 of Kanishka's era suggest his reign extended from at least 191 to 232 CE. He ruled in northern India, and still minted in coins in Balkh (Bactria) as well, although he probably had to deal with the rise of the Sasanians and the first incursions of the Kushano-Sasanians in the northwest of his territory.[1]

Vasudeva I
Kushan emperor
Gold coin of Vasudeva I or II.

Obv: Vasudeva in tall helmet, holding a scepter, and making an offering over an altar. Legend in Kushan language and Greek script (with the Kushan letter Ϸ "sh"): ϷΑΟΝΑΝΟϷΑΟ ΒΑΖΟΔΗΟ ΚΟϷΑΝΟ ("Shaonanoshao Bazodeo Koshano"): "King of kings, Vasudeva the Kushan".

Rev: ΟΗϷΟ (oesho), a conflation of Zoroastrian Vayu and Hindu Shiva, holding a trisula scepter, with the bull Nandi. Monogram (tamgha) to the left.
Reign191–232 CE
PredecessorHuvishka
SuccessorKanishka II
DynastyKushan
Mamane Dheri
Location of the inscriptions mentioning Vasudeva I as ruler.
Kushan Empire
30 CE–350 CE
Heraios1-30 CE
Kujula Kadphises50–90 CE
Vima Takto90-113 CE
Vima Kadphises113-127 CE
Kanishka I127-151 CE
Huvishka151-190 CE
Vasudeva I190-230 CE
Kanishka II230-247 CE
Vāsishka247-267 CE
Kanishka III267-270 CE
Vasudeva II270-300 CE
Mahi300-305 CE
Shaka305-335 CE
Kipunada335-350 CE

The last named inscription of his predecessor, Huvishka, was in the year 60 = 187 CE, and the Chinese evidence suggests he was still ruling as late as 229 CE.

His name, Vasudeva, is that of the father of Krishna, the popular Hindu God, and he was the first Kushan king to be named after the Indian God. He converted to Hinduism during his reign.[2][3] His name reinforces the notion that his center of power was in Mathura.[1]

Contacts with China

In the Chinese historical chronicle Sanguozhi (三國志), he is recorded to have sent tribute to the Chinese emperor Cao Rui of the Wei in 229 CE (3rd year of Taihe 太和), :

"The king of the Da Yuezhi, Bodiao (波調) (Vāsudeva), sent his envoy to present tribute and His Majesty granted him a title of "King of the Da Yuezhi Intimate with Wei (魏)"." (Sanguozhi)

He is the last Kushan ruler to be mentioned in Chinese sources.[1] His rule corresponds to the retreat of Chinese power from Central Asia, and it is thought that Vasudeva may have filled the power vacuum in that area.[1] The great expansion of the Dharmaguptaka Buddhist group in Central Asia during this period has also been related to this event.

Coinage

The coinage of Vasudeva consisted in gold dinars and quarter dinars, as well as copper coins. Vasudeva almost entirely removed the pantheon of deities displayed in the coinage of Kanishka and Huvishka. Apart from a few coins with the effigies of Mao and Nana, all of Vasudeva's coins feature Oesho on the reverse, who is generally identified as Shiva. On the obverse, Vasudeva restored the royal imagery of Kanishka, with the standing, making a sacrifice over an altar, although he holds a trident rather than Kanishka's spear and he appears nimbate. Another trident is sometimes also added over the small sacrificial altar. At the end of his rule, Vasudeva introduced the nandipada symbol () on his coinage.[4][5]

Sassanid invasion in the northwest

Vusadeva I was the last great Kushan emperor, and the end of his rule coincides with the invasion of the Sassanians as far as northwestern India, and the establishment of the Indo-Sassanians or Kushanshahs from around 240 CE.[1] Vasudeva I may have lost the territory of Bactria with its capital in Balkh to Ardashir I Kushanshah. Thereafter, Kushan rule would be restricted to their eastern territories, in western and central Punjab.

Statuary
Buddha statue pedestal inscription "In the 93rd year" of "Great King, son of God, Vasudeva" ( Mahārājasya Devaputrasya Vāsudeva, from the start of the first line). Mathura Museum. Photograph of the piedestal.

The relatively peaceful reign of Vasudeva is marked by an important artistic production, in particular in the area of statuary.[1] Several Buddhist statues are dated to the reign of Vasudeva, and are important markers for the chronology of Buddhist art.[8]

An inscription with the base of a Buddha statue is also known from the Mathura Museum: "In the 93rd year of Maharaja Devaputra Vasudeva...", probably corresponding to circa 171 CE, or 220 CE with the more recent definition of the Kanishka era as starting in 127 CE.[9] A partially preserved Sakyamuni statue, also from Mathura, has the date "Year 94", although without mentioning Vasudeva specifically.[10]

Statuary dated to the reign of Vasudeva I
  • Hashtnagar Buddha, inscribed with "year 384" (probably of the Yavana era), hence 209 CE.[8].
  • Piedestal of the Hashtnagar Buddha statue, now in the British Museum, inscribed with "year 384" (probably of the Yavana era), hence 209 CE.[8] The inscription reads in the Kharoshthi script: 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").[11] The pedestal was sawed off from the body of the statue by L. White King in 1883 and brought to the British Museum.[12] British Museum
  • Mamane Dheri Buddha, inscribed with "Year 89" (probably of the Kanishka era), hence 216 CE.[8] Peshawar Museum.
  • Sakyamuni statue of the "Year 94" (221 CE). Mathura Museum.[13]

References
  1. Rezakhani, Khodadad (2017). From the Kushans to the Western Turks. p. 202.
  2. Coins of India Calcutta : Association Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1922
  3. Kumar, Raj (1900). Early history of Jammu region. Gyan Publishing House. p. 477. ISBN 9788178357706.
  4. Rosenfield, John M. (1967). The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans. University of California Press. p. 111.
  5. Shrava, Satya (1985). The Kushāṇa Numismatics. Praṇava Prakāshan. p. 11.
  6. CNG Coins
  7. Cribb, Joe (2010). "The Kidarites, the numismatic evidence". Coins, Art and Chronology II: The First Millennium C.E. In the Indo-Iranian Borderlands, Edited by M. Alram et Al.: 98.
  8. Rhi, Juhyung (2017). Problems of Chronology in Gandharan. Positionning Gandharan Buddhas in Chronology (PDF). Oxford: Archaeopress Archaeology. pp. 35–51.
  9. Sharma, R.C. (1994). The Splendour of Mathura Art and Museum. D. K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd. p. 140.
  10. Indian Archaeology, 1994-1995 (PDF). p. 100, Plate XLVI.
  11. Problems of Chronology in Gandharan Art p.37
  12. Errington, Elizabeth. Numismatic evidence for dating the Buddhist remains of Gandhara. p. 204.
  13. Indian Archaeology, 1994-1995 (PDF). p. 100, Plate XLVI.

Bibliography
  • Falk, Harry (2001). "The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣâṇas." Silk Road Art and Archaeology VII, pp. 121–136.
  • Falk, Harry (2004). "The Kaniṣka era in Gupta records." Harry Falk. Silk Road Art and Archaeology X, pp. 167–176.
  • Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1998). "Further notes on the Bactrian inscription of Rabatak, with an Appendix on the names of Kujula Kadphises and Vima Taktu in Chinese." Proceedings of the Third European Conference of Iranian Studies Part 1: Old and Middle Iranian Studies. Edited by Nicholas Sims-Williams. Wiesbaden. Pp, 79-93.
Preceded by
Huvishka		 Kushan Ruler Succeeded by
Kanishka II
  1. From the dated inscription on the Rukhana reliquary
  2. An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 442
  3. A Kharosthī Reliquary Inscription of the Time of the Apraca Prince Visnuvarma, by Richard Salomon, South Asian Studies 11 1995, Pages 27-32, Published online: 09 Aug 2010
  4. Cribb, Joe; Donovan, Peter (2014). Kushan, Kushano-Sasanian, and Kidarite Coins A Catalogue of Coins From the American Numismatic Society by David Jongeward and Joe Cribb with Peter Donovan. p. 4.
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