Ushavadata

Ushavadata's name is attested in his inscriptions as {{IAST|Uṣavadāta}}, which is derived from the Saka name {{lang|xsc|*R̥śvadāta}}, meaning "rightly created".{{cite book |last=Harmatta |first=János |author-link=János Harmatta |editor-last1=Harmatta |editor-first1=János |editor-link1=János Harmatta |editor-last2=Puri |editor-first2=B. N. |editor-link2=Baij Nath Puri |editor-last3=Etemadi |editor-first3=G. F. |date=1999 |chapter=Languages and scripts in Graeco-Bactria and the Saka Kingdoms |title=History of civilizations of Central Asia |volume=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C |location=Delhi |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9U6RlVVjpakC&pg=PA413 413] |isbn=978-8-120-81408-0}}

File:Nasik_Cave_inscription_No_10.jpg inscription No.10. of Ushavadata, Cave No.10.]]

Much of the information about Ushavadata comes from his Nashik and Karle inscriptions. The Nashik inscription contains an eulogy of Ushavadata in Sanskrit, and then records the donation of a cave to Buddhists in a Middle Indo-Aryan language. The Karle inscription contains a similar eulogy, but in the Middle Indo-Aryan language.{{sfn|Andrew Ollett|2017|p=39}}

Ushavadata was the son of one Dinika.{{sfn|Andrew Ollett|2017|p=40}} He identifies as a Shaka (IAST: Śaka) in his Nashik inscription:

{{quote|"[Success !] By permanent charities of Ushavadata, the Shaka, [son of Dinika], son-in-law of king Nahapana, the [Kshahara]ta Kshatrapa...."|Inscription No.14a of Nahapana, Cave No.10, Nasik{{sfn|Senart|1906|p=[https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/page/n113/mode/2up?view=theater 85]-[https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/page/n113/mode/2up?view=theater 86]}}}}

He believed in Brahmanism,{{sfn|N. B. Divatia|1993|p=42}} and married Nahapana's daughter Dakshamitra.

Both of Ushavadata's inscriptions mention the following of his charitable acts:{{sfn|Andrew Ollett|2017|p=40}}

• Donated 300,000 cows
• Donated gold for the establishment of a holy site on the banks of the Barnasa river
• Donated 16 villages to the deities and Brahmanas (priests)
• Gave 8 wives to the Brahmanas at the holy site of Prabhasa
• Fed hundreds of thousands of Brahmanas every year

The Nashik inscription records more such acts, stating that Ushavadata exhibited very pious behaviour at the Trirashmi hills, where the Nashik caves are located:{{sfn|Andrew Ollett|2017|pp=39-40}}

• Donated four-roomed rest houses in Bharukachchha (Bharuch), Dashapura (Mandsaur), Govardhana (near Nashik), and Shurparaka (Nala Sopara)
• Commissioned gardens, tanks, and wells
• Established free crossings at several rivers, including Iba, Parada, Damana, Tapi, Karabena, Dahanuka, and Nava
• Established public water stations on both the banks of these rivers
• Donated 32,000 coconut tree stems at Nanamgola village to the associations of charakas at Pimditakavada, Govardhana, Suvarnamukha, and Shurparaka
• Purchased a field from a Brahmana family, and donated it to Buddhists along with a rock-cut cave (one of the Nasik Caves).{{sfn|Andrew Ollett|2017|p=39}}

{{quote|"Success! In the year 42, in the month Vesakha, Ushavadata, son of Dinika, son-in-law of king Nahapana, the Kshaharata Kshatrapa, has bestowed this cave on the Samgha generally...."|Inscription No.12 of Nahapana, Cave No.10, Nasik{{sfn|Senart|1906|p=[https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/page/n107/mode/2up?view=theater 82]-[https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/page/n111/mode/2up?view=theater 83]}}}}

Ushavadatta campaigned in the north under the orders of Nahapana to rescue the Uttamabhadras, who had been attacked by the Malayas (identified with the Malavas).{{sfn|Senart|1906|p=[https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/page/n101/mode/2up?view=theater 78]-[https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/page/n105/mode/2up?view=theater 79]}} He also extended the realm by defeating other enemies.{{cite book |author1=Ashvini Agrawal |title=Rise and Fall of the Imperial Guptas |date=1989 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120805927 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRjC5IaJ2zcC&dq=Rishabhdatta&pg=PA58 |language=English |format=Hardcover}}

The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni appears to have defeated Rishabhadatta. An inscription discovered in Nashik, dated to the 18th year of Gautamiputra's reign, states that he donated a piece of land to Buddhist monks; this land was earlier in the possession of Ushavadata.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|p=383}}

• Nasik inscription of Ushavadata

{{reflist}}

{{ref begin}}

• {{cite book |author=Andrew Ollett |title=Language of the Snakes: Prakrit, Sanskrit, and the Language Order of Premodern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNA1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |year=2017 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-29622-0 }}
• {{cite book |author=N. B. Divatia |title=Gujarati Language and Literature |publisher= Asian Educational Services |year=1993 |isbn= 81-206-0648-5 }}
• {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA383 |year=2008 |publisher=Pearson Education India |isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 }}
• {{cite book |author-last=Senart |author-first=E. |author-link=Émile Senart |editor-last=Hultzsch |editor-first=R. |editor-link=E. Hultzsch |date=1906 |title=Epigraphia Indica |volume=8 |url=https://archive.org/details/EpigraphiaIndica/Epigraphia_Indica |location=Kolkata |publisher=Government of India Central Printing Office |isbn=978-1-246-36021-9 }}

{{ref end}}

Category:2nd-century Indian people

Category:Year of birth missing

Category:Year of death missing

Category:Converts to Hinduism

Category:Western Satraps