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XXX. ‘White Hun’ Coin of Vyaghramukha of the Chapa (Gurjara) Dynasty of Bhinmal
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
In the April number of the Journal (p. 413, ante), Mr. A. M. T. Jackson published a brief note stating that “the name Vyāghramuśa, read by Mr. V. A. Smith on one of his White Hun coins (see p. 95 of the January number of the Journal), is no doubt ‘Śrī Vyāghramukha of the Śrī Chāpa dynasty,’ under whom wrote the astronomer Brahmagupta.” I accept the correction in the reading of the name, which is clearly right. Not being previously familiar with the history of the Śrī Chāpa dynasty, I asked Mr. Jackson to explain his meaning. This he has kindly done, giving me references, which enable me to pursue the subject further. The shabby little coin which I published opens up side issues of considerable interest, which are worth following up.
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References
page 923 note 1 “Another distinguished astronomer was Brahmagupta, who, born in 598 A.D., wrote, besides a karaṇa [practical astronomical treatise], his Brāhma Sphuṭa-siddhānta when thirty years old [628 A.D.] (chaps, xii and xviii are mathematical)” (Macdonell, , Hist, of Sanskrit Lit., p. 435Google Scholar). See also Weber, , Hist, of Sanskrit Lit., 2nd ed., London, p. 259. Weber says that Albīrūnī gives the date of Brahmagupta as 664 A.D. Brahmagupta is said to allude repeatedly to Varāha-mihira (505–587 A.D.).Google Scholar
page 924 note 1 Authority exists for both spellings—Gurjara and Gūrjara.
page 924 note 2 “Gurjaras,” by Bhandarkar, Devadatta Ramkrishna, M.A., read before Bo. Br. R.A.S., 13th Nov., 1902, p. 6 of reprint. I agree with MrJackson, .Google Scholar
page 925 note 1 Watters spells the Chinese words as Kü-che-lo and Pi-lo-mo-lo. “Julien,” he says, “restores the Sanskrit name of the country as ‘Gurjjara,’ but the pilgrim probably transcribed a name like Guchala or Guchara. The name here given to the capital probably stands for a word like Bhilmala” (On Yuan Chwang, vol. ii, p. 250). The vernacular form Gūjar or Gūjara presumably was that heard by Hiuen Tsang rather than the Sanskrit Gurjara (Gurjjara, Gūrjara) used in inscriptions. There is no doubt that Kiu-che-lo (Kü-che-lo) meant the Gurjara country. Mr. Watters' remark about the form Bhilmala strongly supports Mr. Jackson's identification of Pi-lo-mi-lo (Pi-lo-mo-lo) with Bhinmāl; the more so, because he did not dispute Saint-Martin's and Cunningham'sGoogle Scholar erroneous identification of Pi-lo-mi-lo with Bālmer.
page 925 note 2 Haḍḍāla is in eastern Kāṭhīāwāṛ. The publication of this grant in 1883 first revealed the existence of “a hitherto unknown dynasty of feudal chiefs of Vardhamāna, called Chāpa.” The grant is dated 839 Śaka = 917–18 A.D., and carries back the ancestry to about 800 A.D.
page 926 note 1 “The king is of the Kshattriya caste. He is just twenty years old; he is distinguished for wisdom, and he is courageous. He is a deep believer in the law of Buddha; and highly honours men of distinguished ability” (Beal, , ii, 270Google Scholar). “The king, who was a Kshatriya by birth, was a young man celebrated for his wisdom and valour, and he was a profound believer in Buddhism, and a patron of exceptional abilities” (Watters, , ii, 249). The Hūṇas, Gurjaras, and other foreign tribes, which obtained by conquest the rank of Rājās for their chiefs, were assimilated by Hindu society as Kshatriyas. The same thing has happened with Goṇḍs and other so-called aboriginal tribes in modern times.Google Scholar
page 927 note 1 Author's paper, “The Śakas in Northern India” (Z.D.M.G., Band Ixi (1907), p. 413Google Scholar; following Franke, , Beiträge aus chinesischen Quellen zur Kenntniss der Türkvölker und Skythen Zentralasiens, p. 60, Berlin, 1904).Google Scholar