The Datta dynasty is a dynasty of ruler who flourished in the northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

in the areas of

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

and

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhy ...

around the 1st century BCE – 1st century CE.History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE – 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p.17

/ref> They are named after the "-datta" ending of their name, and essentially only known through they coins. It is thought that they replaced the Deva dynasty (Saketa), Deva dynasty, which had originated with the rise of Sunga Empire

Pushyamitra Pushyamitra Shunga (IAST: ) or Pushpamitra Shunga (IAST: ) (ruled ) was the co-founder and the first or second ruler of the Shunga Empire which he and Gopāla established against the Maurya Empire. His original name was Puṣpaka or Puṣpami ...

, and that they were in turn replaced by the Mitra dynasty. The known Datta rulers are:Dimensions of Human Cultures in Central India, A. A. Abbasi, Sarup & Sons, 2001, p.145-14

/ref> *Seshadatta *Ramadatta *Sisuchandradatta *Sivadatta. The coins of Ramadatta usually represent a

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with '' Maya'' ("Illusion"). A ...

standing, and facing elephants. In the archaeological excavations of Sonkh, near Mathura, the earliest coins of the

Northern Satraps The Northern Satraps (Brahmi: , ''Kṣatrapa'', "Satraps" or , ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps"), or sometimes Satraps of Mathura, or Northern Sakas, are a dynasty of Indo-Scythian rulers who held sway over the area of Eastern Punjab and Math ...

level were those of

Hagamasha Hagamasha (, ) was an Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap (ruled in Mathura in the 1st century BCE, probably after 60 BCE). Name Hagamasha's name is attested on his coins in the Brahmi form , which is derived from the Saka name , meaning "whose chariot ...

and Ramadatta. The Datta rulers are never mentioned as "king" or ''Raja'' on their coins, suggesting that they may only have been local rulers subservient to another king. Since the

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, or Graeco-Indian Kingdom, also known historically as the Yavana Kingdom (Yavanarajya), was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of Afghanistan and the northwestern r ...

were in control of

around the same time frame (150–50 BCE) according to the

Yavanarajya inscription The Yavanarajya inscription, also called the Maghera Well Stone Inscription, was discovered in the village of Maghera, 17 kilometers north of Mathura, India in 1988. The Sanskrit inscription, carved on a block of red sandstone, is dated to the 1 ...

, it is thought that there may have been a sort of tributary relationship between the local Datta or Mitra dynasty and the Indo-Greek kings.History of Early Stone Sculpture at Mathura: Ca. 150 BCE – 100 CE, Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, BRILL, 2007, p.8–1

/ref> Alternatively, the Datta and Mitra dynasties of rulers may simply have replaced Indo-Greek rule in the region, before the advent of the

Indo-Scythian Indo-Scythians (also called Indo-Sakas) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples of Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into modern day Pakistan and Northwestern India from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th c ...

and then the

Kushans The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

. Mathura Uttamadatta.jpg, Coin of Uttamadatta. Mathura Purushadatta.jpg, Coin of Purushadatta. Mathura Ramadatta.jpg, Coin of Ramadatta.

References

{{reflist Mathura Dynasties of India