________________
258
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
reign must have come to an end about the year 100. The reign of Rudradâman must have been a long one, and cannot be estimated at less than thirty years. He therefore probably mounted the throne about the year 70. If this was the case, the inscription cannot have been written immediately after the destruction of the lake in the year 72. An interval of at least eight or ten years must lie between the two events. For, on the one hand, it is said that the work was abandoned after the first beginning by the king's ministers, because it was found too difficult, and that later only Suvisâkha succeeded in completing it. On the other hand, the numerous exploits of king Rudra dâman which the inscription enumerates cannot have been performed in a few years. It is said that he conquered the Yaudheyas, who lived in the extreme north of his dominions; that he twice completely defeated Satakarni, who ruled over the Dekhan; and that he reinstated kings who had lost their thrones. Such a career requires at least ten years. I therefore conclude that the date of the incision of the inscriptions falls in the year 80 of the Kshatrapa era, or even a little later.
The name of Rudradâ man's father, which has been effaced in our inscription, was, according to Mr. Burgess's inscription from the Junagadh cave, Jayadâman. The visarga before putrasya is a remnant of the genitive jayadamnaḥ which doubtlessly preceded it.
The three inscriptions of the Kshatrapas which have been hitherto discovered all begin the dynasty with Chashtana. Not one of them gives the name of Chashṭana's father. The reason for this omission seems to be that Chashtana really was the first of the Kshatrapas, and that his father possessed no such title. The name of the father occurs on Chashtana's coins. But it is to be regretted that no really good specimens have been found, and that for this reason the name cannot be read with certainty. As far as I can make out, the legend on the coins is rájño mahakshatrapasaysamotikaputrasa, chashṭanasa, "(the coin) of the king, Ma hâkshatrapa Chashtana, son of Y sam otika." The latter name is very curious, and the initial combination ysa altogether without analogy.
[OCTOBER, 1878.
Perhaps it may have been intended to indicate that the yea is to be pronounced soft, as
και
Second Report of the Archaeol. Survey of Western India, pp. 140, 141.
Be this as it may, Chashtana certainly was the first of his family who bore the title Kshatrapa. Before him it had been borne, by another lord of western India, Na ha påṇa, who belonged to the family of Kshaharâta. This ruler, whose priority to Chashtana fol. lows from a comparison of the types of their coins, or his immediate successor, was destroyed by the Andhra king Gotamiputra, as we learn from the Nasik inscriptions. Shortly afterwards Chashtana must have obtained the dignity of Kshatrapa, and seems to have retaken some of Got a miputra's conquests from the latter's son Vasishthiputra. The word Kshatra pa has been identified by Mr. Prinsep with the Persian Satrap, and it has been conjectured that originally the wearers of this title were governors of some paramount king in the interior of India. It seems to me that the correctness of this conjecture, as far as Nahapana, Chashṭana, and Jayadâ man are concerned, is corroborated by the fact that the coins of the first two show, besides the Nagari (or Pali) characters, Bactrian Pali legends also. The occurrence of the latter unmistakably points to a connection with the north, where this alphabet was in general use. Besides, the epithet svayamadhigatamahákshatrapanamná, 'by him who himself has earned the title Mahâkshatrapa,' which is given to Rudradâman in our inscription, indicates that he had become free, and perhaps had freed himself, from subjection to a lord paramount.
It is not certain who the Satakarni was whom Rudradâman conquered. For Sâtakarni is not a name, but a title which probably belonged to all the kings of the Andhra dynasty. My conjecture regarding the question is that the person intended is either Madhariputra or Gotamiputra II., as the letters in the inscriptions and coins of these two kings belong to the same time as those of Rudrada man's inscription. Further details regarding the Andhra dynasty have been given in my papers in the Jour. Bo. Br. R. As. Soc. vol. XII. pp. 303ff.
As regards the names of the countries
See also Archeol. Survey Report on Kathidvad and Kachh, pp. 181-188.-ED.
