Post No. 11,004
Date uploaded in London – – 19 MAY 2022
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Rudra daman is a name which no Indian can forget for three reasons.
- He has documented India’s great engineering skills
- He has shown the great development of Sanskrit language in India
- Indians have historical sense.
Earlier I wrote many articles in my two blogs to show that Indians had advance engineering skills. But all my previous articles were based on literature. So there may be some exaggeration. But Rudra daman who ruled the western parts of India around 150 CE has left us a beautiful record in history in the form of inscriptions in Girnar in Gujarat.
Girnar hill itself is a historical wonder where we find inscriptions of Asoka and others covering 500 years of Indian history. Probably that’s the only place in the world where we find 500 year inscriptions in one place. We may call it the Rosetta Sone of Indian History.
So far, we know that Bhagiratha was the greatest civil engineer who diverted River Ganga into the plains of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. His forefathers also tried it, but in vain. Bhagiratha succeeded in diverting the river. Earlier some of the river water was wasted.
Agastya of Rigveda followed Bhagiratha and diverted River Kaveri in Karnataka towards Tamil Nadu. Thanks to Agastya now Thanjavur area became fertile land.
Same Agastya beat Bhagiratha in three more feats.
He was the one who laid Road Route in the middle of thick forest on top of Vindhya hills. Rama was able to cross the Vindhyas along the road route. Earlier kings were using coastal routes and boats.
Agastya also took the Tamils and others to South East Asia to establish Hindu kingdoms which survived for 1500 years. (Read my article Pandya King who ruled Vietnam)
Tamils were great navigators because of their proximity to sea. They knew the secret of South West Monsoon. Karikal cholza’s forefathers were praised in Tamil Sangam literature as the ones who ruled over Wind. One Tamil idiot by name Hippalus revealed this secret of monsoon to Westerners in Alexandria in Egypt. Then came disaster via Vasgoda cama of Portugal. British, French and Dutch invaded India and plundered all the wealth.
Earlier Ravana used South West Monsoon for his sexual adventures. He used to come to Godavari region to enjoy sex there. Mahavamsa clearly shows how Asoka and his contemporary used South West Monsoon to go to Patna and waited there for the returning monsoon to bring them back to Sri Lanka.
Without spending a Penny they travelled thousands of miles using Wind Power according to Tamil book Purananuru and Pali book Mahavamsa. But all these are literary evidence.
Rudra daman in his beautiful Sanskrit language inscription gave us historical inscription in Girnar. Girnar’s original name was Girinagara
That showed Sanskrit was highly developed at that time in the western parts of India. Kovalan’s reading of a Sanskrit letter in the hands of a crying Brahmin woman in the street, showed us Sanskrit was known even to a business man like Kovalan in Tamil Nadu. The anecdote is in Tamil epic Silappadikaram. So Sanskrit was known to all literate people at that time throughout the length and breadth of India and Asia. Gatha Sapta Sati also confirmed it through King Hala’s Prakrit book. Prakrit is the colloquial form of Sanskrit, used by common man.
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What does Rudra daman said in his epigraph at Girnar rocks?
From Arvind sharma’s book Hinduism and Its Sense of History, I give some information.
Language Sanskrit, script Brahmi
Location Junagadh
Shortly before 150-151 CE, a terrible cyclone caused a serious breach, as a result of which the Sudarsana lake ceased to exist. When the peasants were fearing the failure of crops, Rudradaman sent his councillors and executive officers for the repair of the dam and the reconstruction of the lake. All the officials have been unsuccessful in the task Pahlava Suvisaka,son of Kulaipa, was appointed as the Governor of Anarta and Saurashtra. The efforts of this Parthian official in the employment of Rudra daman were crowned with success and the reservoir was again brought in to being.
The inscription is in prose running to twenty long lines.
The lake was constructed in the period of Chandra Gupta Maurya
It speaks about the history of the lake for about five hundred years.
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I am copying the inscription from Wikipedia
(Be it) accomplished!
(Line l.) This lake Sudarshana, from Girinagara [even a long distance?] .. of a structure so well joined as to rival the spur of a mountain, because all its embankments are strong, in breadth, length and height constructed without gaps as they are of stone, [clay], . furnished with a natural dam, [formed by?] .., and with well-provided conduits, drains and means to guard against foul matter, three sections by………… .and other favours is (now) in an excellent condition.
(L. 3.) This same (lake) -on the first of the dark half of Margashirsha in the seventy-second -72nd – year of the king, the Mahakshatrapa Rudradaman whose name is repeated by the venerable, the son of . . . . . . . . . . . . , (and) son’s son of the king, the Mahakshatrapa Lord Chashtana the taking of whose name is auspicious, . when by the clouds pouring with rain the earth had been converted as it were into one ocean, by the excessively swollen floods of the Suvarnasikata, Palasini and other streams of mount Urjayat the dam , though proper precautions [were taken], the water- churned by a storm which, of a most tremendous fury befitting the end of a mundane period, tore down hill-tops, trees, banks, turrets, upper stories, gates and raised places of shelter – scattered, broke to pieces, [tore apart] .. ., -with stones, trees, bushes and creeping plants scattered about, was thus laid open down to the bottom of the river:-
(L. 7.) By a breach four hundred and twenty cubits long, just as many broad, (and) seventy-five cubits deep, all the water escaped, so that (the lake), almost like a sandy desert, [became] extremely ugly [to look at].
(L.8) for the sake of / ordered to be made by the Vaishya Pushyagupta, the provincial governor of the Maurya king Chandragupta; adorned with conduits for Ashoka the Maurya by the Yavana king Tushaspha while governing; and by the conduit ordered to be made by him, constructed in a manner worthy of a king (and) seen in that breach, the extensive dam …
(L. 9.) ..he who, because from the womb he was distinguished by the possession of undisturbed consummate Royal Fortune, was resorted to by all castes and chosen their lord to protect them; who made, and is true to, the vow to the latest breath of his life to abstain from slaying men, except in battles; who [showed] compassion not failing to deal blows to equal antagonists meeting him face to face; who grants protection of life to people repairing to him of their own accord and those prostrating themselves before him;
…who is the lord of the whole of eastern and western Akaravanti (Akara: East Malwa and Avanti: West Malwa), the Anupa country, Anarta, Surashtra, Svabhra (northern Gujarat) Maru (Marwar), Kachchha (Cutch), Sindhu–Sauvira (Sindh and Multan districts), Kukura (Eastern Rajputana), Aparanta (“Western Border” – Northern Konkan), Nishada (an aboriginal tribe, Malwa and parts of Central India) and other territories gained by his own valour, the towns, marts and rural parts of which are never troubled by robbers, snakes, wild beasts, diseases and the like, where all subjects are attached to him, (and) where through his might the objects of [religion], wealth and pleasure [are duly attained];
…who by force destroyed the Yaudheyas who were loath to submit, rendered proud as they were by having manifested their’ title of’ heroes among all Kshatriyas; who obtained good report because he, in spite of having twice in fair fight completely defeated Satakarni, the lord of Dakshinapatha, on account of the nearness of their connection did not destroy him; who [obtained] victory . . . . . . . .; who reinstates deposed kings;
…who by the right raising of his hand has earned the strong attachment of Dharma; who has attained wide fame by studying and remembering, by the knowledge and practice of, grammar, music, logic and other great sciences; who the management of horses, elephants and chariots, (the use of) sword and shield, pugilistic combat and other . .. . . . the acts of quickness and efficiency of opposing forces; who day by day is in the habit of bestowing presents and honours and eschewing disrespectful treatment; who is bounteous; whose treasury by the tribute, tolls and shares rightfully obtained overflows with an accumulation of gold, silver, diamonds, beryl stones and (other) precious things; who……….. prose and verse, which are clear, agreeable, sweet, charming, beautiful, excelling by the proper use of words and adorned; whose beautiful frame owns the most excellent marks and signs, such as (auspicious) length, dimension and height, voice, gait, colour, vigour and strength; who himself has acquired the name of Mahakshatrapa; who has been wreathed with many garlands at the svayamvaras of kings’ daughters; -he, the Mahakshatrapa Rudradaman, in order to . . . . . . . . . . . cows and Brahmans for a thousand of years, and to increase his religious merit and fame, -without oppressing the inhabitants of the towns and country by taxes, forced labour and acts of affection -by (the expenditure of) a vast amount of money from his own treasury and in not too long a time made the dam three times as strong in breadth and length . . . . . . . . [on] all [banks] . . . . . . (and so) had (this lake) made (even) more beautiful to look at.
(L. 16.) When in this matter the Mahakshatrapa’s counsellors and executive officers, who though fully endowed with the qualifications of ministers, were averse to a task (regarded as) futile on account of the enormous extent of the breach, opposed the commencement (of the work), (and) when the people in their despair of having the dam rebuilt were loudly lamenting, (the work) was carried out by the minister Suvishakha, the son of Kulaipa, a Pahlava, who for the benefit of the inhabitants of the towns and country bad been appointed by the king in this government to rule the whole of Anarta and Surashtra, (a minister) who by his proper dealings and views in things temporal and spiritual increased the attachment (of the people), who was able, patient, not wavering, not arrogant, upright (and) not to be bribed, (and) who by his good government increased the spiritual merit, fame and glory of his master.
— Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman[5][6]
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MY COMMENTS
The above inscription gives us a lot of other information about the Varna/caste system, the types of victory as found in Artha shastra, Rudradaman’s victorious march and defeating Satakarni kings of South India, the political divisions from Afghanistan to South India.
Only with the help of Satakarnis (Nootruvar Kannar in Silappadikaram ) Tamil kings were able to go up to the Himalayas. They never conquered any part of North India. But they went with their army and defeated who were preventing their advance. The Tamil kings announced that they were going to Himalayas for certain purpose and conquering a territory is not their motive. So no king obstructed their Himalayan ventures. Only some unknown chieftains like Kanaka, Vijaya acted like inexperienced fools (See Silappadikaram)
Rudradaman Inscription is a mile stone in Indian history.
Though we have one lakh inscriptions in India, very rarely we get 500 year history in one inscription!
Long Live Rudradaman.
Xxx Subham xxx
Tamil and Vedas 