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The Vakataka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c8.s7: 2. The Yaudheya Kuṇinda and the Arjunāyana Republics

The Vākāṭaka–Gupta Age (circa 200–550 A.D.) c8.s7

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2. The Yaudheya Kuṇinda and the Arjunāyana Republics

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The credit of giving the first blow to the Kushāṇa empire really belongs to the Yaudheyas, and it is rather strange that their achievement in this connection should have escaped the notice of most of the modern historians. Before the rise of the Kushāṇa empire the Yaudheyas were a great power ruling over a wide stretch of territory covering northern Rajputana and the south-eastern Punjab.¹ Soon afterwards however the Kushāṇas under the leadership of Kanishka smashed their power and succeeded in penetrating right up to Benares, if not beyond.

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¹ *Mbh.* II, Chap. 35, vv. 4 ff.

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The Kushāṇa power was at its zenith during the reigns of Kanishka and Huvishka, and so the Yaudheyas could not raise their head for about half a century. They were, however, too martial and freedom-loving to brook the foreign yoke and raised their standard of revolt in *c.* 145 A. D. somewhere in the north-eastern Rajputana. The task of crushing their rising was entrusted to Śaka Mahākshatrapa Rudra-dāman I and he proudly states in his Junagadh record how he forcibly overthrew the Yaudheyas, who had become insubordinate owing to their pride due to their valour being respected by all the Kshatriyas. The Yaudheyas were not dismayed by this initial reverse. They bided their time for a few decades and made a second bid for independence towards the end of the second century A. D. This time they were successful in their venture and succeeded in freeing their homeland and ousting the Kushāṇas beyond the Sutlej.

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Though the above view relies almost exclusively on the evidence of coins, it is fairly conclusive. It is true that there is no evidence directly referring to the conflict between the Yaudheyas and the Kushāṇas, but the evidence supplied by numismatics conclusively shows that the former could have succeeded in re-establishing their power only by overthrowing the latter. The coins of Kanishka III (c. 180 to c. 210 A. D.) and Vāsudeva II (210 to 240 A. D.) are not found to the east of the Sutlej ; it is thus clear that they had lost all cis-Sutlej territories. On the other hand, the post-Kushāṇa coins of the Yaudheyas having legends in the characters of the 3rd or 4th century A. D. are found in large hoards between the Sutlej and the Jumna, the homeland of the Yaudheyas, in the districts of Saharanpur, Dehra Dun, Delhi, Rohtak, Ludhiana and Kangra.¹ It is therefore quite clear that they were ruling over this territory as an independent power from the beginning of the 3rd century A.D., obviously after ousting the Kushāṇas who were previously holding it. The territory on the banks of the Sutlej right up to the borders of the Bahawalpur state is still known as Johiyawar after the Yaudheyas ; it is therefore clear that the state of Patiala and the greater part of northern Rajputana must have been included within the dominions of the resuscitated Yaudheya republic.

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¹ ASC, II, 14, 77.

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The above achievement of the Yaudheyas was a remarkable one. It was no easy thing to challenge a power whose empire extended from Bactria to Bihar, whose resources were practically limitless, and whose kings enjoyed the prestige of being revered as the Sons of Heaven for more than a century. The Kushāṇas must have probably thrown all their select reserves from the North-Western Frontier and Central Asia in their effort to put down the Yaudheya rising, but they proved of no avail against the bravery and patriotism of the revolting republic.

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The Yaudheya victory over the imperial Kushāṇas naturally increased their prestige and reputation. They were already known as Kshatriyas *par excellence*; now it began to be believed that they possessed a mystic formula (*mantra*) ensuring victory in all circumstances and against all odds.¹

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¹ A Yaudheya clay-seal found near Ludhiana along with Yaudheya coins has the legend यौधेयानां जयमंत्रधराणाम् ; PASB. 1884, p. 139.

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The Yaudheyas naturally celebrated their independence by issuing a new currency (Pl. I. 6).² As it was intended to replace the coinage of the Kushāṇas, it bore a striking resemblance to it in weight and general fabric. The foreign Greek and Kharo-shṭhī scripts were however replaced by the national Brāhmī one and the legend, *Yaudheyagaṇasya jayaḥ* proudly proclaimed the victory of the new republic. Kārtikeya, the generalissimo of the gods, occupies the place of honour on the coinage and naturally; for he was also the tutelary deity of the Yaudheyas since the days of the *Mahābhārata*.³

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² As to the dates of these coins, see Allan, *Catalogue of Indian Coins Ancient India*, Introduction, para 184.

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³ *Mbh.* II, Chap. 35, vv. 4 ff.

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The Yaudheyas very probably received valuable support and co-operation in their bid for independence from the Kuṇindas, their northern neighbours, who were occupying the region between the upper courses of the Sutlej and the Beas. The Kuṇindas, like the Yaudheyas, were an independent republic before the middle of the first century A. D., and they also had to submit to the Kushāṇa hegemony at *c.* 70 A. D. The coins of a Kuṇinda ruler Chhatreśvara bearing the titles *Mahātman* and *Bhāgavata* have been found with a legend in characters of *c.* 200 A. D. They bear close resemblance in type, fabric and size to the contemporary coinage of the Yaudheyas with Kārtkeya on the obverse.¹ This remarkable resemblance in coinage will, to some extent, support the hypothesis that Kuṇindas and Yaudheyas were contemporary powers and worked hand in hand in regaining their independence towards the beginning of the 3rd century A. D. As compared to the Yaudheyas, the Kuṇindas were a small state and it seems that they eventually coalesced with them. For, we do not find their coinage subsequent to *c.* 250 A. D. ; nor do they figure among the republics mentioned in the Allahabad inscription of Samudra-gupta.

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¹ Allan, *CAI.* Pl. XXIII, 11-16 with Pl. XXXIX, 22 & XL 10-14.

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To the south-east of the Yaudheya country lay the territory of another republic, the Arjunāyanas, who were occupying the Agra-Jaipur area. There is no doubt that they also rebelled against the Kuṣāṇas and established an independent state ; it continued to flourish down to the middle of the 4th century, as it figures among the tributaries of Samudra-gupta. It is rather inexplicable that we should have so far found no coins of the Arjunāyanas issued during the post-Kuṣāṇa period.

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On some of the Yaudheya coins issued at this time, we have the mysterious words, *dvi* (two) and *tri* (three) after the legend *Yaudheyagaṇasya jayaḥ*. No satisfactory explanation of these terms can at present be proposed. According to the traditional belief, the Arjunāyanas and Yaudheyas were the descendants of the Pāṇḍava brothers, Dharma and Arjuna.² It is likely that this belief may have facilitated the formation of a kind of loose union between the two neighbouring republics. We have seen already how the Kuṇindas also appear to have coalesced with the Yaudheyas after *c.* 250 A. D. In course of time a kind of loose confederation seems to have been formed between these three republics, the move being also due to the realisation of the necessity of having a strong state which would effectively meet the Scythian menace, if it occurred again. The terms 'two' and 'three' occurring on some of the later Yaudheya coins, may perhaps refer to the second and third members of the Yaudheya confederation, *viz.*, the Kuṇindas and the Arjunāyanas.

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² *Mbh.* I, Chap. 95. v. 75 (Bom. Ed.).

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The Yaudheyas continued to be a powerful republic down to the third quarter of the 4th century A. D. Their coins in the characters of the 3rd and 4th centuries A. D. are found in large numbers, in northern Rajputana and the south-eastern Punjab, thus showing that they continued to be a formidable power throughout this period. Unfortunately we possess no information about the details of their republican administration. As shown above, it was probably a confederation of three republics, the Yaudheyas, the Arjunāyanas and the Kuṇindas. The federating units, it seems, enjoyed complete autonomy and did not lose their separate existence. The foreign policy and the military operations were probably under the direction of a council of the presidents of the three republics, elected by the federating units. The presidents enjoyed the titles of Mahārāja and Mahāsenāpati. A fragmentary inscription of such a Mahārāja-Mahāsenāpati, elected by the Yaudheya republic, has been found in the Bharatpur state.¹ Had the name and the genealogy of this dignitary been preserved, we might have known whether the post was hereditary or depended on election.

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¹ *CII.* III, 252.

Cites (3)