Oesho
{{Short description|Deity of the Kushan dynasty}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| image = CoinOfHuvishkaWithOisho.JPG
| name = Oesho
| caption = Three-faced Oesho on coin of Huvishka, with traditional attributes: thunder (vajra), trident, club (Daṇḍa), vase. Bactrian legend Οηϸο{{cite book |last1=Rosenfield |first1=John M. |title=The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans |date=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA93 |language=en}}
| script_name = Bactrian script
| script = ΟΗϷΟ / Οηϸο
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| consort = Ommo ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā)
| children =
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Oesho ({{langx|xbc|Οηϸο}}) is a deity found on coins of 2nd to 6th-century, particularly the 2nd-century Kushan era. He was apparently one of the titular deities of the Kushan dynasty. Oesho is an early Kushan deity that is regarded as an amalgamation of Shiva.{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Martha L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lk4aAAAAYAAJ&q=Oesho |title=A Treasury of Indian Coins |date=1994 |publisher=Marg Publications |isbn=978-81-85026-25-1 |language=en}}
By the time of the Kushan emperor Ooishki (Bactrian Οοηϸκι; often Romanised as Huvishka), who reigned in 140–180 CE, Oesho and the female deity Ardoksho (Ardoxsho; Ardochsho; Ardokhsho) were the only deities appearing on Kushan coins.
Connections
Connections to several contemporaneous deities worshipped by neighbouring cultures have been suggested.
- During the Kushan era, Oesho was often linked to the Hindu concept of Ishvara, which was embodied by the god Shiva;Sivaramamurti, p. 56-59. Oesho may share the same etymology as Ishvara and/or represent a variant of the word in the Bactrian language spoken by the Kushans.{{Cite book |title=The Dynasty Arts of the Kushans |publisher=University of California Press |year=1967 |pages=92–93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C }}{{Cite book |last=Blurton |first=T. Richard|title=Hindu Art |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1993 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ-lzU_nj_MC |isbn=0-674-39189-6}}
- Similarities have retrospectively been identified with the Avestan Vayu.{{Cite book|last=Sims-Williams|first=Nicolas|chapter=Bactrian Language|title=Encyclopaedia Iranica|volume=3|location=London|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul}}H. Humbach, 1975, p.402-408. K.Tanabe, 1997, p.277, M.Carter, 1995, p.152. J.Cribb, 1997, p.40. References cited in "De l'Indus à l'Oxus".
- Some later representations, evidently influenced by Greco-Bactrian culture, depict Oesho with a trishula, the traditional implement of Shiva, similar to a trident that is part of Poseidon's iconography.{{Cite web |url=http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Vima+AND+Kadphises |title=Coins of Vima Kadphises |access-date=2010-12-05 |archive-date=2011-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514185731/http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Vima+AND+Kadphises |url-status=dead }}
Consort
The consort of Oesho was Ommo ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā), as shown on a coin type of Kushan ruler Huvishka with, on the reverse, the divine couple Ommo ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā) holding a flower, and Oesho ("ΟΗϷΟ", Shiva) with four arms holding attributes.{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA326 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Ommo-Oesho coin of Huvishka British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1888-1208-557 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}
Depictions of Oesho
File:Huvishka Oesho coin.jpg|Coin of Huvishka with deity Oesho ("ΟΗϷΟ", Shiva).{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA326 |language=en}}
File:Huvishka with Ommo and Oesho.jpg|upright=1.5|Coinage of Kushan ruler Huvishka with, on the reverse, the divine couple Ommo ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā) holding a flower, and Oesho ("ΟΗϷΟ", Shiva) with four arms holding attributes. Circa 150-180 CE.{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA326 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Ommo-Oesho coin of Huvishka British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1888-1208-557 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}
File:Vasudeva I Circa CE 190-230 Oesho reverse.jpg|Oesho, with a second human face, and the head of a horned animal, on a coin of Vasudeva I
Image:Coin of KanishkaII.jpg|Coin of the Kushan king Kanishka II with, on the reverse, a depiction of Oesho and the word "Oesho" in modified Greek script.
Image:ShivaOeshoBactria3rdCenturyCE.jpg|Kushan worshipper with Oesho, Bactria, 3rd century CE.Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book
| last = Bopearachchi
| first = Osmund
| author-link = Bopearachchi
| title = De l'Indus à l'Oxus, Archéologie de l'Asie Centrale
| year = 2003
| publisher = Association imago-musée de Lattes
| location = Lattes
| language = fr
| isbn = 2-9516679-2-2
}}