Book Title: Political History Of Ancient India
Author(s): Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta

Previous | Next

Page 420
________________ SECTION II. AGNIMITRA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. Pushyamitra died in or about 151 B.C., probably after a reign of 36 years,' and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra.? The name of a prince named Agnimitra has been found on several copper coins discovered in Rohilkhand. Cunningham" was of opinion that this prince was probably not to be identified with the son of Pushyamitra, but belonged to a local dynasty of North Pañchāla (Rohilkhand). He gave two reasons for this conclusion : 1. Agnimitra's is the only coin-name found in the Purāņic lists. The names of the other “Mitra” kings occurring on coins of the so-called “Pañchāla series," do not agree with those found in the Purānas. - 2. The coins are very rarely found beyond the limits of North Pañchāla. As to the first point Rivett-Carnact and Jayaswal 5 have shown that several coin-names besides that of Agnimitra can be identified with those found in the 1 Only thirty years according to a Jaina tradition-"atthasayar Muriyanam tisa chchia Pusamittassa" (IA. 1914. 118 f. Merutunga). 2. The commentary on the Amarakośa seems to suggest that Agnimitra is the original of king Śūdraka of tradition (Oka, p. 122 ; Ann. Bhand. Or. Res. Inst, 1931, 360). On the other hand Keith refers to a tradition recorded in the Vira charita and by the younger Rajasekhara which represents Sūdraka as a minister of a śātavāhana king. We are further told by another writer that Śūdraka defeated prince Svāti and ruled for a long time. A tale alluded to in the Harshacharita represents him as an enemy of Chandraketu, lord of Chakora, apparently in South India (Keith, The Sanskrit Drama, p. 129; Sanskrit Literature, p. 292; Ghosh, History of Central and Western India, pp. 141 f.) The story of Sūdraka is essentially legendary and it is difficult to extract any historical truth out of it. The abeyance of śātavāhana power in the Upper Deccan for a long period is a fact. But it is due to the irruption of foreign tribes from the north. Disloyat ministers may have helped to bring in the invader. 3 Coins of Ancient India, p. 79. Cf. Allan, CICAI., p. cxx. 4 JASB, 1880, 21 ff; 87 ff; Ind. Ant., 1880, 311. 5 JBORS, 1917, p. 479. Cf. 1934, pp. 7 ff.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714