Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela and Bhabru Edict of Asoka

Author(s): Shashi Kant
Publisher: D K Print World

Page 70

44 The Hāthīgumphā Inscription and the Bhabru Edict Bhāgavata of Ahicchatrā, and his daughter Yasamātā lived at Mathura. King Tevaņiputra Bhāgavata was the son of King Sonakāyanaputra Vamgapāla who appears to have founded his independent kingdom in Ahicchatrā in similar circumstances as did Simuka and Khāravela's grandfather but about two decades later on the death of Samprati. If so, Tevaņiputra Bhāgavata's daughter's son could be a contemporary of Khāravela and could be his adversary in his twelfth year in c. 173 BC.
The instant inscription makes Bahasatimita the king of Magadha and it also seems to indicate that his territory included Anga to the east. An examination of the evidence afforded by the Yugapurāņa of the Gārgi-saṁhitā and its correlation with the information supplied by the Pabhosa Cave Inscriptions, also suggest that the Maurya dynasty in Magadha was put to an end by the confederacy of the newly formed kingdoms of Mathura and Ahicchatrā and that Bahasatimita who was a prince of the Mathura house but was also the daughter's son of the then King of Ahicchatrā, was installed as King of Magadha in c. 206 BC under the regency of an Ahicchatrā prince.
It is believed that in c. 187 Bc. Brhadratha, the last of the Mauryas, was killed by Pusymitra Sunga in Magadha and the latter founded the Sunga dynasty. On this account K.P.Jayaswal identified Bahasatimita with Pusyamitra Sunga, saying that Puşya was a star in the Brhaspati constellation. This identification has, however, not been accepted. It is to be noted that no coins of Pușyamitra Sunga have been discovered at least in
1.
The tradition contained in the Yugapurāna seems to suggest that the confederate forces of the Yavanas, Pañcālas and Mathuras put an end to the Maurya rule in Magadha (ref. D.R. Mankad, 'A critically edited text of the Yugapurāna', J.U.P.H.S., XX, pp. 32-64). These Yavanas are, however, not to be confused with the hordes of Demetrius because till c. 200 BC the Seleucids were still strong and Bactria was yet a satry. They could at best be the mercenaries employed by the kings of Mathura and Ahicchatrā. The problem of Bahasatimita has been examined at length in my work cited above.