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{{Short description|2nd century Western Kshatrapas Åšaka ruler}}{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}{{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}}

factoids
name	Rudradāman I *Western Satrap | image = Rudradaman coin.jpg| caption = Rudradāman I coin, with corrupted Greek legend. British Museum.| reign = 130–150 CE| coronation =| full name =| predecessor = Jayadaman| successor = Damajadasri I| spouse =| issue = Damajadasri I, Rudrasimha I| royal house =| dynasty =| father =| mother =| birth_date =| birth_place =| death_date =| death_place =| date of burial =| place of burial =

}Rudradāman I (r. 130–150) was a Śaka ruler from the Western Kshatrapas dynasty. He was the grandson of the king Caṣṭana.Page 9, Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 7, Asiatic Society of Bombay, Publisher: The Society, 1867, Original from Harvard University, Digitized 14 Jun 2008 Rudradāman I was instrumental in the decline of the Sātavāhana Empire.BOOK, Singh, Upinder, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, 2008, Pearson Education India, 9788131716779, 381,weblink en, Rudradāman I took up the title of Maha-kshtrapa ("Great Satrap"), after he became the king and then strengthened his kingdom.

Reign

As a result of his victories, Rudradāman regained all the former territories previously held by Nahapana, except for the southern territory of Poona and Nasik.Rapson The indigenous Nagas also were aggressive toward Śaka kshatrapas.{{cn|date=November 2022}} Sātavāhana dominions were limited to their original base in the Deccan and eastern central India around Amaravati:

War with the Yaudheyas

File:Coin of Rudradaman.jpg|thumb|350px|Silver coin of Rudradāman I, 16 mm, 2.0 grams.Obv: Bust of Rudradāman, with corrupted Greek legend "OVONIΛOOCVΛCHΛNO".Rev: Three-arched hill or Chaitya with river, crescent and sun. Brahmi legend around (from 12 o'clock):(File:Rudradaman I, Brahmi coin legend.jpg|center|350px|Rudradaman I, Brahmi coin legend.){{center|"Rajno Ksatrapasa Jayadamasaputrasa Rajno Mahaksatrapasa Rudradamasa": "King and Great Satrap Rudradaman, son of King and Satrap JayadamanJayadamanRudradāman conquered the Yaudheya tribes in present day Haryana, as described in the Girnar rock inscription of Rudradaman. Rudradaman refers to the Yaudheyas as a militant republic of kshatriyas that confronted him as opposed to submitting:Rosenfield, "The dynastic art of the Kushans", p132However, the Yaudheyas soon reestablished themselves as independent. Within the next century the warlike Yaudheyas became more powerful. The Yaudheyas were then conquered by the Kushan Empire, who were the suzerains of the Western Kshatrapas, until ultimately by the Gupta Empire.

Wars with the Satavahana Dynasty

Rudradāman fought many battles against the Sātavāhanas (or the Āndhras) and Vashishtiputra Satakarni, the son of the Āndhra king Pulamayi, in an effort to end the hostilities, married the daughter of Rudradāman. The inscription relating the marriage between Rudradāman's daughter and Vashishtiputra Satakarni appears in a cave at Kanheri:}}Rudradaman maintained matrimonial relationships with Sātavāhanas and conceded the country of Aparanta to Vashishtiputra Satakarni, his son-in-law and younger son of Gautamiputra Satakarni, as dowry. In spite of the matrimonial link, at least two wars took place between them wherein he defeated Sātavāhanas but spared the life of Satakarni (probably, Vashishtiputra Satakarni), essentially because of their relationship.BOOK, Sircar, Dineschandra, Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India, 1971, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 9788120806900, 228,weblink en, However, it is not known who was the aggressor in either of the wars and whether there were more wars between them.}}File:Andhau stone inscription of the time of Rudradaman Saka Year 52.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Andhau stone inscription of the time of Rudradāman, Śaka Year 52 (130 CE). The inscription reads: "In the year fifty-two, 50, 2; on the second day of the dark half of Phaguna, of (the reign of) the king Rudradāman, son of Jayadaman, (who was the grandson) of the king Caṣṭana, son of Ysamotika, (this) staff was raised in memory of Rishabhadeva, son of Sihila, of the Opasati gotra, by (his) brother, Madana, son of Sihila."BOOK, Thomas, F. w, Epigraphia Indica Vol.16, 1921, 24,weblink ]](File:Khavada genealogical stone inscription of Rudradaman.jpg|thumb|Genealogical stone inscription of Rudradāman: "Ghsamotika, his son rajan mahakshatrapa svamin Caṣṭana, his son rajan svamin Jayadāman, and his son rajan svamin Rudradaman." Khavada , Kutch district.BOOK, Indian Archaeology 1960-61 a Review, 44, item 22,weblink en, )

Other details

File:Ashoka Rock Edict at Junagadh.jpg|thumb|The Junagadh rock contains inscriptions by Ashoka (fourteen of the Edicts of Ashoka), Rudradāman I and SkandaguptaSkandaguptaFile:Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman (partial, RGB).jpg|thumb|A portion of the Junagadh rock inscription of RudradamanJunagadh rock inscription of RudradamanThe Sanskrit Junagadh inscription dated 150 CEWEB,weblink Source, Groups.mcs.st-and.ac.uk, 2008-12-28, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070930080741weblink">weblink 30 September 2007, dmy-all, credits Rudradāman I with supporting the cultural arts and Sanskrit literature and repairing the dam built by the Mauryans. He in fact repaired the embankments of the lake Sudarśana, which was constructed by the Mauryas for checking floods.Rudradāman is also known as the king who was ruling when the Greek writer Yavanesvara translated the Yavanajataka from Greek to Sanskrit, which influenced astrology in India.While most of the scholars, following Rapson believe that Rudradāman ruled from Ujjain, there is no such evidence to support this. In fact, there is evidence to prove the contrary:{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}

1. Jain sources mention that after Nahapana (40 years) and Gardabhilas (15 years), Śakas will rule Ujjain but for only four years. Caṣṭana no doubt has ruled Ujjain but he must have ruled it only for four years. His son Jayadāman (a Kshatrapa as against Caṣṭana being a Mahaksatrapa) was an ineffectual king and lost most of the territory won by Caṣṭana. This must have included all important Ujjain as well.
2. Natural History of Claudius Ptolemy in 160 CE record Caṣṭana as the king of Avanti while it is known that it is Rudradāman who was ruling between 130 and 150 CE. Ptolemy was obviously referring only to the last best known ruler and if Rudradāman was ruling Avanti, he would have mentioned him, since he was certainly well known through his conquests.
3. Truly speaking, Rudradāman made no reference to Avanti. He said he conquered Eastern and Western Akaravanti (Eastern Malwa) - Western Akaravanti being land lying east to Bhopal, which does not include any western part of Malwa or Avanti. Akaravanti, earlier called as Sudarsana, comprised only Eastern Malwa. Western Akaravanti does not refer to Avanti.

Notes

References

• Todd, James - The Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Rajputana Publications, 1942
• Michell, George - PRINCELY RAJASTHAN - Rajput Palaces and Mansions, Oriental Books, 1992
• Rosenfield, "The dynastic art of the Kushans"
• BOOK, Divatia, N. B., Gujarati Language and Literature, Asian Educational Services, 1993, 81-206-0648-5,
• Buddhist critical spirituality: Prajñā and Śūnyatā, by Shōhei Ichimura, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers (2001), {{ISBN|81-208-1798-2}}

External links

• Coins of the Western Satraps {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061212120417weblink |date=12 December 2006 }}
• Coins of Rudradaman I

–150 }}{{Western Satraps}}