________________
KSATRAPA PERIOD
67
180
C. 180-1
181-2
181-2
Rudrasimha I, son of Rudradāman I, began his career as Kșatrapa not later than the Saka year 102, which appears on his coins struck as 'Kșatrapa' for the first time.-(Rapson, ibid. cxxv f.)
Rudrasimha I, Western Kșatrapa, son of Rudradāman and uncle of Jivadāman whom he apparently succeeded is styled Kşatrapa' in the Gundā inscription, and Mahākṣatrapa' on his coins(IA, X, 157; ASWI, ii, 140 ).
Rudrasimha I struck silver coins of the usual type as Kşatrapa in the Saka year 102 ( 180-1 A.D.). The legend on these coins is as follows: 171 HT14798 55h a 1511 4797 GEITHI (Of King Kșatrapa, Rudrasimha, son of King Mahākşatrapa Rudradāman)-(Rapson, ibid, cxxvii, 86).
An Ābhira Senāpati Rudrabhūti, son of Senāpati Bappaka, who had the Kşatrapa king Rudrasimha I, son of Rudradāman as his Overlord, dug and got built with stones a well (or a bund) at Rasāpadraka, for the benefit and happiness of all creatures (afhearai pengaruh), in the Saka year 103 (181-82 A.D.).
This record is known as the 'Gundā Stone-Inscription of the time of Rudrasimha I, which was rescued from an unused well at Gundā (Hālār Dist., Saurastra)–(EI. XVI, 235), and is now in the Watson Museum, Rajkot.
The influential position of the Ābhiras at the Saka court apparently helped Abhira Isvarasena in gaining the throne for himself.
The Abhiras, like the Mālavas, Yaudheyas, Sibis and others migrated to the south and settled in Rajputana, Sindh and Mahārāṣtra, when the Bactrian Greeks, Sakas and Kuşāņas invaded the north-western parts of India. The Ābhīras did not exclusively follow the profession of cowherds; they occupied high political position under the Kșatrapa rulers of Western India, as is known from the Gundā stone-inscription above referred to, purporting that Ābhira Rudrabhūti was a general of Ksatrapa king Rudrasimha.
The Abhiras were an ancient race which, according to the Mahābhārata, Harivamśa and the Purāņas, had spread in the western provinces of India from the Punjab in the north to Mahārāștra in the south. They are, in many passages, conjoined with the Sūdras, with whom they appear to be conterminous in the north-western parts of India. They spoke a language which, according to Dandin's Kāvyādarśa, was called Apabhramśa'. The Mahābhārata and the Vāyupurāņa call them Mlecchas, who were not necessarily foreigners. This term, according to Patañjali, signifies those who could not pronounce the Āryan language correctly. Like the Sūdras, therefore, the Abhiras were probably the aboriginal inhabitants of the country who were gradually absorbed in the Hindu fold. They are not a subcaste included under the genus Sūdras', but they are a caste distinct from the Sūdras. (Mahābhāșya, Vol. I, p. 25/pt. 2.72)
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