Aspavarma

Aspavarma
Apracha King
(Gāndhārī: Apacaraja)
Coin of Aspavarma
Obv King mounted on a horse, holding a whip. Greek legend around ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ / ΑΖΟΥ.
Rev Pallas Athena holding spear, and triratna symbol. Kharoshthi legend around Iṃdravarmaputrasa Aśpavarmasa strategasa jayatasa "Victorious general Aspavarma, son of Indravarma".
Reign1st century (c. 15 CE - c. 45 CE)
PredecessorIndravarma
SuccessorSasan
HouseApracharajas
DynastyApracha
FatherIndravarma
ReligionBuddhism
Apracaraja Aspavarma.
Coin of Aspavarma (reverse).

Aspavarma or Aspa (Kharosthi: 𐨀𐨭𐨿𐨤𐨬𐨪𐨿𐨨 A-śpa-va-rma, Aśpavarma) was an Apracha general who ruled in Gandhara. He was the son of the Apracharaja general Indravarma who ruled in 50 CE.

Name

The Gandhārī name Aśpavarma is cognate of Sanskrit Aśvavarma, meaning "horse-protected" (from aśpa 'horse' and varma 'protection'). Gandhārī developed general reflex -śp from Old Indo-Aryan corresponding to Sanskrit -śv for the combination sibilant and labial, unlike other Middle Indo-Aryan but similar to Old Iranian, as in the case of the name Aśpavarma.

Inscriptions

Asparvama was a son of Apraca king Indravarma, as known from an inscription discovered in Taxila, who himself is known to be the son of Vispavarma according to Indravarma's Silver Reliquary.

Indravarma's Silver Reliquary, which is known to be earlier than the Bajaur casket, hence before 5-6 CE, and is therefore usually dated to the end of the 1st century BCE, describes Aspavarma's grandfather Vispavarma as a general, and not yet a king at that time. This tends to confirm that his grandson, Aspavarma, probably ruled quite some time later, in the middle of the 1st century CE.

Aspavarma is also referenced in Gāndhārī texts, written in Kharoṣṭhī script, dating from the period.

Coinage

The coinage shows the king on a horse, holding a whip in his right hand, in a style consistent with that of Azes II (who possibly is identical with Azes I). On the reverse, Athena makes a benediction gesture, and is flanked by a Buddhist triratna symbol.

According to Joe Cribb, from a coinage standpoint, Aspavarma was contemporary to Sases and Mujatria, just before the rule of Kushan ruler Vima Takto.

References

  1. ↑ Cunningham, Alexander, COINS OF THE INDO-SCYTHIANS. The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 8 (1888), pp. 199-248
  2. ↑ Schlosser, Andrea (2022). Baums, Stefan; Salomon, Richard; Strauch, Ingo (eds.). Three Early Mahāyāna Treatises from Gandhāra: Bajaur Kharoṣṭhī Fragments 4, 6, and 11. Gandharan Buddhist Texts. Seatle: University of Washington Press. pp. 90–91. doi:10.1515/9780295750750. ISBN 978-0-295-75075-0.
  3. ↑ On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World, Doris Srinivasan, BRILL, 2007, p.269-270
  4. 1 2 Joe Cribb, p.31 Dating and locating Mujatria and the two Kharahostes
  5. ↑ The British Library Kharosthi Fragments, The British Library/University of Washington Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project.