राज्ञो क्षत्रपस जयदामपुत्रस राज्ञो महक्षत्रपस रुद्रदामस.
Rájno Kshatrapasa Jayadámaputrasa
Rájno Mahákshatrapasa Rudradámasa.
Of the king the great Kshatrapa Rudradáman son of the king the Kshatrapa Jayadáman.
None of Rudradáman’s copper coins have been found. Except Jayadáman none of the Kshatrapas seem to have stamped their names on any but silver coins.[46]
An inscription on the Girnár rock gives us more information regarding Rudradáman than is available for any of the other Kshatrapas. The inscription records the construction of a new dam on the Sudarśana lake close to the inscription rock in place of a dam built in the time of the Maurya king Chandragupta (b.c. 300) and added to in the time of his grandson the great Aśoka (b.c. 240) which had suddenly burst in a storm. The new dam is recorded to have been made under the orders of Suvishákha son of Kulaipa a Pahlava by tribe, who was ‘appointed by the king to protect the whole of Ánarta and Suráshṭra.’ Pahlava seems to be the name of the ancient Persians and Parthians[47] and the name Suvishákha as Dr. Bhau Dáji suggests may be a Sanskritised form of Syávaxa.[48] One of the Kárle inscriptions gives a similar name Sovasaka apparently a corrupt Indian form of the original Persian from which the Sanskritised Suvishákha must have been formed. Sovasaka it will be noted is mentioned in the Kárle inscription as an inhabitant of Abulámá, apparently the old trade mart of Obollah at the head of the Persian Gulf. This trade connection between the Persian Gulf and the Western Indian seaboard must have led to the settlement from very early times of the Pahlavas who gradually became converted to Buddhism, and, like the Pársis their modern enterprising representatives, seem to have advanced in trade and political influence. Subsequently the Pahlavas attained such influence that about the fifth century a dynasty of Pallava kings reigned in the Dekhan, Hindu in religion and name, even tracing their origin to the great ancient sage Bháradvája.[49]
Sudarśana Lake, a.d. 150.The statement in Rudradáman’s Sudarśana lake inscription, that Ánarta and Suráshṭra were under his Pahlava governor, seems to show
Chapter V.
Western Kshatrapas, a.d. 70–398.
Kshatrapa IV. Rudradáman, a.d. 143–158. that Rudradáman’s capital was not in Gujarát or Káthiáváḍa. Probably like his grandfather Chashṭana Rudradáman held his capital at Ujjain. The poetic eulogies of Rudradáman appear to contain a certain share of fact. One of the epithets ‘he who himself has earned the title Mahákshatrapa’ indicates that Rudradáman had regained the title of Mahákshatrapa which belonged to his grandfather Chashṭana but not to his father Jayadáman. Another portion of the inscription claims for him the overlordship of Ákarávanti,[50] Anúpa,[51] Ánarta, Suráshṭra, Śvabhra,[52] Maru,[53] Kachchha,[54] Sindhu-Sauvíra,[55] Kukura,[56] Aparánta,[57] and Nisháda;[58] that is roughly the country from Bhilsa in the east to Sindh in the west and from about Ábu in the north to the North Konkan in the south including the peninsulas of Cutch and Káthiáváḍa. The inscription also mentions two wars waged by Rudradáman, one with the Yaudheyas the other with Śátakarṇi lord of Dakshinápatha. Of the Yaudheyas the inscription says that they had become arrogant and untractable in consequence of their having proclaimed their assumption of the title of Heroes among all Kshatriyas. Rudradáman is described as having exterminated them. These Yaudheyas were known as a warlike race from the earliest times and are mentioned as warriors by Páṇini.[59]
The Yaudheyas.Like the Málavas these Yaudheyas appear to have had a democratic constitution. Several round copper coins of the Yaudheyas of about the third century a.d. have been found in various parts of the North-West Provinces from Mathurá to Saháranpur. These coins
Chapter V.
Western Kshatrapas, a.d. 70–398.
The Yaudheyas. which are adapted from the type of Kanishka’s coins[60] have on the obverse a standing robed male figure extending the protecting right hand of mercy. On the reverse is the figure of a standing Kártikasvámi and round the figure the legend in Gupta characters of about the third century:
यौधेय गणस्य
Yaudheya Gaṇasya.
Of the Yaudheya tribe.[61]