Nahapána cannot have lived long after the year 46. His death may be fixed about the year 50 of the era to which the three years 41, 42, and 46 belong. He was probably about 75 years old when he died. Deducting 50 from 75 we get about 25 as Nahapána’s age at the beginning of the era to which the years 41, 42, and 46 belong, a suitable age for an able prince with good resources and good advisers to have established a kingdom. It is therefore probable that the era marks Nahapána’s conquest of Gujarát. As said above, Nahapána was probably considered to belong to the Śaka tribe, and his son-in-law clearly calls himself a Śaka. It may therefore be supposed that the era started by Nahapána on his conquest of Gujarát was at first simply called Varsha; that it afterwards came to be called Śakavarsha or Śakasaṃvatsara; and that finally, after various changes, to suit false current ideas, about the eleventh or twelfth century the people of the Deccan styled it Śáliváhana Saka mixing it with current traditions regarding the great Śátaváhana or Śaliváhana king of Paithan. If, as mentioned above, Nahapána’s conquest of Gujarát and the establishment of his era be taken to come close after the conquest of Mathurá by
Chapter V.
Western Kshatrapas, a.d. 70–398.
Nahapána’s Era. Kanishka, the Gujarát conquest and the era must come very shortly after the beginning of Kanishka’s reign, since Kanishka conquered Mathurá early in his reign. As his Mathurá inscriptions[16] give 5 as Kanishka’s earliest date, he must have conquered Mathurá in the year 3 or 4 of his reign. Nahapána’s expedition to and conquest of Gujarát was probably contemporary with or very closely subsequent to Kanishka’s conquest of Mathurá. So two important eras seem to begin about four years apart, the one with Kanishka’s reign in Upper India, the other with Nahapána’s reign in Western India. The difference being so small and both being eras of foreign conquerors, a Kushán and a Śaka respectively, the two eras seem to have been subsequently confounded. Thus, according to Dr. Burnell, the Javanese Śaka era is a.d. 74, that is Kanishka’s era was introduced into Java, probably because Java has from early times been connected with the eastern parts of India where Kanishka’s era was current. On the other hand the astrological works called Karaṇa use the era beginning with a.d. 78 which we have taken to be the Western era started by Nahapána. The use of the Śaka era in Karaṇa works dates from the time of the great Indian astronomer Varáha Mihira (a.d. 587). As Varáha Mihira lived and wrote his great work in Avanti or Málwa he naturally made use of the Śaka era of Nahapána, which was current in Málwa. Subsequent astronomers adopted the era used by the master Varáha Mihira. Under their influence Nahapána’s a.d. 78 era passed into use over the whole of Northern and Central India eclipsing Kanishka’s a.d. 74 era. On these grounds it may be accepted that the dates in the Násik inscriptions of Ushavadáta and in Ayáma’s inscription at Junnar are in the era founded by Nahapána on his conquest of Gujarát and the West Deccan. This era was adopted by the Western Kshatrapa successors of Nahapána and continued on their coins for nearly three centuries.[17]
Chapter V.
Western Kshatrapas, a.d. 70–398.
The Málava Era, b.c. 56. The Málava Era, b.c. 56.The question arises why should not the dates on the Western Kshatrapa coins belong to the era which under the incorrect title of the Vikrama era is now current in Gujarát and Málwa. Several recently found Málwa inscriptions almost prove that what is called the Vikrama era beginning with b.c. 56 was not started by any Vikrama, but marks the institution of the tribal constitution of the Málavas.[18] Later the era came to be called either the era of the Málava lords[19] or Málava Kála that is the era of the Málavas. About the ninth century just as the Śaka era became connected with the Śaliváhana of Paithan, this old Málava era became connected with the name of Vikramáditya, the great legendary king of Ujain.
It might be supposed that the Málavas who gave its name to the Málava era were the kings of the country now called Málwa. But it is to be noted that no reference to the present Málwa under the name of Málavadeśa occurs in any Sanskrit work or record earlier than the second century after Christ. The original Sanskrit name of the country was Avanti. It came to be called Málava from the time the Málava tribe conquered it and settled in it, just as Káthiáváḍa and Meváḍa came to be called after their Káthi and Meva or Meda conquerors. The Málavas, also called Málayas,[20] seem like the Medas to be a foreign tribe, which, passing through Upper India conquered and settled in Central India during the first century before Christ. The mention in the Mudrárákshasa[21] of a Málaya king among five Upper Indian kings shows that in the time of the Mauryas (b.c. 300) a Málaya kingdom existed in Upper India which after the decline of Maurya supremacy spread to Central India. By Nahapána’s time the Málavas seem to have moved eastwards towards Jaipur, as Ushavadáta defeated them in the neighbourhood of the Pushkar lake: but the fact that the country round Ujain was still known to Rudradáman as Avanti, shows that the Málavas had not yet (a.d. 150) entered the district now known as Málava. This settlement and the change of name from Avanti to Málava probably took place in the weakness of the Kshatrapas towards the end of the third century a.d. When they established their sway in Central India these Málavas or Málayas like the ancient Yaudheyas (b.c. 100) and the Káthis till recent times (a.d. 1818) seem to have had a democratic constitution.[22] Their political system seems to have proved unsuited to the conditions of a settled community. To put an end to dissensions the Málava tribe appears to have framed what the Mandasor inscription terms a sthiti or constitution in honour of which they began a new era.[23] It may be asked, Why may not Nahapána have been the head of the Málavas who under the new constitution became the first Málava sovereign and his reign-dates be those of
Chapter V.
Western Kshatrapas, a.d. 70–398.
The Málava Era, b.c. 56. the new Málava era? Against this we know from a Násik inscription of Ushavadáta[24] that Nahapána was not a Málava himself but an opponent of the Málavas as he sent Ushavadáta to help a tribe of Kshatriyas called Uttamabhadras whom the Málavas had attacked. Further a chronological examination of the early ruling dynasties of Gujarát does not favour the identification of the Kshatrapa era with the Málava era. The available information regarding the three dynasties the Kshatrapas the Guptas and the Valabhis, is universally admitted to prove that they followed one another in chronological succession. The latest known Kshatrapa date is 310. Even after this we find the name of a later Kshatrapa king whose date is unknown but may be estimated at about 320. If we take this Kshatrapa 320 to be in the Vikrama Samvat, its equivalent is a.d. 264. In consequence of several new discoveries the epoch of the Gupta era has been finally settled to be a.d. 319. It is further settled that the first Gupta conqueror of Málwa and Gujarát was Chandragupta II.[25] the date of his conquest of Málwa being Gupta 80 (a.d. 399). Counting the Kshatrapa dates in the Samvat era this gives a blank of (399 - 264 = ) 135 years between the latest Kshatrapa date and the date of Chandragupta’s conquest of Gujarát to fill which we have absolutely no historical information. On the other hand in support of the view that the Kshatrapa era is the Śaka era the Káthiáváḍa coins of the Gupta king Kumáragupta son of Chandragupta dated 100 Gupta closely resemble the coins of the latest Kshatrapa kings, the workmanship proving that the two styles of coin are close in point of time. Thus taking the Kshatrapa era to be the Śaka era the latest Kshatrapa date is 320 + 78 = a.d. 398, which is just the date (a.d. 399) of Chandragupta’s conquest of Málwa and Gujarát. For these reasons, and in the absence of reasons to the contrary, it seems proper to take the dates in Ushavadáta’s and Ayáma’s inscriptions as in the era which began with Nahapána’s conquest of Gujarát, namely the Śaka era whose initial date is a.d. 78.
Kshatrapa II. Chashṭana, a.d. 130.After Nahapána’s the earliest coins found in Gujarát are those of Chashṭana. Chashṭana’s coins are an adaptation of Nahapána’s coins. At the same time Chashṭana’s bust differs from the bust in Nahapána’s coins. He wears a mustache, the cap is not grooved but plain, and the hair which reaches the neck is longer than Nahapána’s hair. In one of Chashṭana’s coins found by Mr. Justice Newton, the hair seems dressed in ringlets as in the coins of the Parthian king Phraates II. (b.c. 136–128).[26] On the reverse instead of the thunderbolt and arrow as in Nahapána’s coins, Chashṭana’s coins have symbols of the sun and moon in style much like the sun and moon symbols on the Parthian coins of Phraates II., the moon being a crescent and the sun represented by eleven rays shooting from a central beam. To the two on the reverse a third symbol seems to have been added consisting of two arches resting on a straight line, with a third arch over and between
Chapter V.
Western Kshatrapas, a.d. 70–398.
Chashṭana’s Coins, a.d. 130. the two arches, and over the third arch an inverted semicircle. Below these symbols stretches a waving or serpentine line.[27]
Chashṭana’s Coins, a.d. 130.The same symbol appears on the obverse of several very old medium-sized square copper coins found in Upper India. These coins Dr. Bhagvánlál took to be coins of Aśoka. They have no legend on either side, and have a standing elephant on the obverse and a rampant lion on the reverse. As these are the symbols of Aśoka, the elephant being found in his rock inscriptions and the lion in his pillar inscriptions, Dr. Bhagvánlál held them to be coins of Aśoka. The arch symbol appears in these coins over the elephant on the obverse and near the lion on the reverse but in neither case with the underlying zigzag line.[28] So also a contemporary coin bearing in the Aśoka character the clear legend वटस्वक Vaṭasvaka shows the same symbol, with in addition a robed male figure of good design standing near the symbol saluting it with folded hands. The position of the figure (Ariana Antiqua, Plate XV. Fig. 30) proves that the symbol was an object of worship. In Chashṭana’s coins we find this symbol between the sun and the moon, a position which suggests that the symbol represents the mythical mountain Meru, the three semicircular superimposed arches representing the peaks of the mountain and the crescent a Siddha-śilâ or Siddhas’ seat, which Jaina works describe as crescent-shaped and situated over Meru. The collective idea of this symbol in the middle and the sun and moon on either side recalls the following; śloka:
यावद्वीचीतरङ्गान्वहति सुरनदी जान्हवी पूर्णतोया ।
यावच्चाकाशमार्गे तपति दिनकरो भास्करो लोकपालः
यावद्वज्रेन्दुनीलस्फटिकमणिशिला वर्तते मेरुश्रृंङ्गे ।
तावत्त्वं पूत्रपौत्रैः स्वजनपरिवृतो जीव शम्मोः प्रसादत ॥
Mayest thou by the favour of Śambhu live surrounded by sons grandsons and relations so long as the heavenly Ganges full of water flows with its waves, so long as the brilliant sun the protector of the universe shines in the sky, and so long as the slab of diamond moonstone lapis lazuli and sapphire remains on the top of Meru.