History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c17.s1.t2.10

c17.s1.t2.10

168. Here remains of Buddhist stūpas with carvings in the style of Amarāvatī have been exposed by Mr. Hamid Kuraishi and Mr. Longhurst. Eighteen inscriptions were found by Mr. Kuraishi, fifteen of which are incised on marble pillars which stood round the Mahā-Chetiya or the Great Stūpa enshrining a relic of the Buddha.³ The inscriptions disclose the name of the place as Śrī-Parvata. We know the tradition that the famous Buddhist saint and scholar Nāgārjuna went to Śrī-Parvata and died there, which, curiously enough, is supported by the present name of the hill (Nāgārjuni koṇḍa). Yuan Chwang has recorded that Nāgārjuna was patronised by the Sātavāhana king.⁴ The inscriptions are in Prakrit of the Pāli type. A number of stone structures with decorations and original buildings were erected by certain ladies under the direction of the monk-architect Reverend Ānanda. These ladies were relations of a royal house called ‘the I k s h v ā k u [Ikhāku] D y n a s t y’. We have known this dynasty from three inscriptions discovered at Jaggayyapeta in the year 1882, and these inscriptions were assigned to the third century A.D. by Dr. Bühler.¹ The present inscriptions disclose the fact that several royal ladies were ardent Buddhists, while the kings were all orthodox Hindus, and their capital town (Vijayapurī) was in the valley close by.² Most of the inscriptions are dated in the reign of King Siri Vira-Purisa-data, between his 6th and 18th regnal years, whose date at Jaggayyapeta is the year 20. One inscription is dated in the 11th regnal year of Mahārāja Vāsiṭhiputa Siri Bāhu-vala-Chātamūla [or, Chātamūla II]. These inscriptions along with the Jaggayyapeta inscriptions give the following genealogy: