Aspavarma
{{Infobox royalty
|name = Aspavarma
|title =Apracha King
(Gāndhārī: Apacaraja)
|image= Apracharajas Aspavarama.jpg
|caption = Coin of Aspavarma
Obv King mounted on a horse, holding a whip. Greek legend around ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ / ΑΖΟΥ.
Rev Pallas Athena holding spear, and triratna symbol. Kharoshthi legend around {{IAST|Iṃdravarmaputrasa Aśpavarmasa strategasa jayatasa}} "Victorious general Aspavarma, son of Indravarma".
|reign = 1st century (c. 15 CE - c. 45 CE)
|coronation =
|predecessor = Indravarma
|successor = Sasan
|spouse =
|issue =
|royal house = Apracharajas
|dynasty = Apracha
|father = Indravarma
|mother =
|birth_date =
|birth_place =
|death_date =
|death_place =
|date of burial =
|place of burial =
|religion = Buddhism
}}
{{short description|Apracha general}}
File:Apracharajas Aspavarma.jpg
Aspavarma or Aspa (Kharosthi: 𐨀𐨭𐨿𐨤𐨬𐨪𐨿𐨨 {{IAST|A-śpa-va-rma}}, {{IAST|Aśpavarma}}Cunningham, Alexander, COINS OF THE INDO-SCYTHIANS. The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society, Third Series, Vol. 8 (1888), pp. 199-248) was an Apracha general who ruled in Gandhara. He was the son of the Apracharaja and general Indravarma who ruled in 50 CE.
Inscriptions
Asparvama was a son of Apraca king Indravarma, as known from an inscription discovered in Taxila,On the Cusp of an Era: Art in the Pre-Kuṣāṇa World, Doris Srinivasan, BRILL, 2007, p.269-270 [https://books.google.com/books?id=dCz8NczNbcMC&pg=PA269] who himself is known to be the son of Vispavarma according to Indravarma's Silver Reliquary.
Indravarma's Silver Reliquary, which is known for sure to be before the Bajaur casket, hence before 5-6 CE, and is therefore usually dated to the end of the 1st century BCE, describes Aspavarma's grandfather Vispavarma as a general, and not yet a king at that time. This tends to confirm that his grandson, Aspavarma, probably ruled quite some time later, in the middle of the 1st century CE.
Aspavarma is also referenced in Gāndhārī texts, written in Kharoṣṭhī script, dating from the period.[http://ebmp.org/p_abt.php The British Library Kharosthi Fragments], The British Library/University of Washington Early Buddhist Manuscripts Project.
Coinage
The coinage shows the king on a horse, holding a whip in his right hand, in a style consistent with that of Azes II (who possibly is identical with Azes I). On the reverse, Athena makes a benediction gesture, and is flanked by a Buddhist triratna symbol.
According to Joe Cribb, from a coinage standpoint, Aspavarma was contemporary to Sasan and Mujatria, just before the rule of Kushan ruler Vima Takto.Joe Cribb, p.31 [https://www.academia.edu/15209723/DATING_AND_LOCATING_MUJATRIA_AND_THE_TWO_KHARAHOSTES Dating and locating Mujatria and the two Kharahostes]
References
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|||||}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=Indravarma}}
{{s-ttl|title=Apracharaja|years=c. 15 CE - c. 45 CE}}
{{s-aft|after=Sasan}}
{{s-end}}
{{Indo-Scythians}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspavarma}}
Category:1st-century monarchs in Asia