Sindhu-Sauvīra (Sanskrit: Sindhu-Sauvīra; Pāli: Sindhu-Sovīra) was an ancient Indo-Aryan kingdom in the western region of the subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India. The inhabitants of Sindhu were called the Saindhavas, and the inhabitants of Sauvīra were called Sauvīrakas.
Sindhu-Sauvīra | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1000 BCE–c. 518 BCE | |||||||
 The Sindhu-Sauvīra kingdom and the Mahājanapadas in the Post Vedic period | |||||||
| Capital | Roruka or Vītabhaya/Vītībhaya | ||||||
| Common languages | Prakrits | ||||||
| Religion | Jainism and Historical Vedic Religion | ||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age India | ||||||
• Established | c. 1000 BCE | ||||||
• Conquered by the Achaemenid Empire | c. 518 BCE | ||||||
| |||||||
| Today part of | Pakistan | ||||||
Location
editThe territory of Sindhu-Sauvīra covered the lower Indus Valley,[1] with its southern border being the Indian Ocean and its northern border being the Pañjāb around Multān.[2]
Sindhu was the name of the inland area between the Indus River and the Sulaiman Mountains, while Sauvīra was the name for the coastal part of the kingdom as well as the inland area to the east of the Indus river as far north as the area of modern-day Multan.[2]
The capital of Sindhu-Sauvīra was named Roruka and Vītabhaya or Vītībhaya, and corresponds to the mediaeval Arohṛ and the modern-day Rohṛī.[2][3][1]
History
editKingdom
editDuring the 6th to 5th centuries BCE, the Sindhu-Sauvīra was ruled by a powerful king named Udāyana or Udrāyaṇa or Rudrāyaṇa by various sources.[1][4][2] Udāyana was married to the princess Prabhāvatī, who was the daughter of Ceṭaka, the consul of the powerful Vajjika League in north-east South Asia, and was herself thus the cousin of the 24th Jain Tīrthaṅkara Mahāvīra, himself the son of Chetaka's sister Trisalā.[5][6] Ceṭaka had become an adept of the teachings of his nephew Mahāvīra and adopted Jainism, thus making the Licchavika and Vajjika capital of Vesālī a bastion of Jainism, and the marriages of his daughters to various leaders, in turn, contributed to the spreading of Jainism across northern South Asia.[7]
Therefore, according to Jain sources, Udāyana converted to Jainism after hearing Mahāvīra preach at Vītabhya, and he abdicated his throne and became a Jain monk after installing his nephew by his sister, Keśīkumāra, as king of Sindhu-Sauvira, instead of his own son, Abhijitkumāra, who found asylum at the court of Kūṇika, the governor of the Āṅgeya city of Campā for the count of the king of Magadha.[3][2] However, Buddhist sources instead claim that Udrāyaṇa embraced Buddhism and was ordained by the Buddha.[2]
Persian conquest
editIn 518 BCE, Sindhu-Sauvīra was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire's Xšāyaθiya Xšāyaθiyānām ("King of Kings"), Darius I, after which it was organised into the satrapy (province) of Hiⁿdūš.[8][9]
Later history
editThe Sauvīra people or country were mentioned in the Junâgaḍh inscription of Rudradáman.[10]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1953). Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of Gupta Dynasty. University of Calcutta. p. 197.
- ^ a b c d e f Jain 1974, p. 209-210.
- ^ a b Sikdar 1964, p. 501-502.
- ^ Jain 1974, p. 66.
- ^ Sikdar 1964, p. 388-464.
- ^ Deo 1956, p. 71.
- ^ Jain 1974, p. 67.
- ^ Young, T. Cuyler (1988). "The consolidation of the empire and its limits of growth under Darius and Xerxes". In Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 53–111. ISBN 978-0-521-22804-6.
- ^ Bivar, A. D. H. (1988). "The Indus Lands". In Boardman, John; Hammond, N. G. L.; Lewis, D. M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History. Vol. 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 194–210. ISBN 978-0-521-22804-6.
- ^ Fleet, J.F. (1893). "Topographical List of the Brihat-Samhita". The Indian Antiquary: A Journal of Oriental Research. 22. Bombay: 189. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
Works cited
edit- Deo, Shantaram Bhalchandra (1956). History of Jaina Monachism from Inscriptions and Literature. Pune, India: Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. ISBN 978-9-333-68377-7.
- Jain, Kailash Chand (1974). Lord Mahāvīra and His Times. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 66. ISBN 978-8-120-80805-8.
- Sharma, J. P. (1968). Republics in Ancient India, C. 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-02015-3.
- Sikdar, Jogendra Chandra (1964). Studies in the Bhagawatīsūtra. Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India: Research Institute of Prakrit, Jainology & Ahimsa. pp. 388–464.