Shaka (

Gupta script The Gupta script (sometimes referred to as Gupta Brahmi script or Late Brahmi script)Sharma, Ram. '' 'Brahmi Script' ''. Delhi: BR Publishing Corp, 2002 was used for writing Sanskrit and is associated with the Gupta Empire of the Indian subcon ...

''Sha-kā'') may have been one of the last rulers of the

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...

around 325-345. He may have succeeded

Vasudeva II Vasudeva II (Middle Brahmi script: ''Vā-su-de-va'') was a Kushan emperor who ruled . He was probably the successor of Kanishka III and may have been succeeded by an emperor named Shaka Kushan. Vasudeva II probably only was a local ruler in ...

. There is a group of Kushan gold coins that all carry the Brahmi legend ''Shaka'' in the right field, in the same place where

's coins read ''Vasu'', so it is natural to suppose that perhaps Shaka was the name of the king who issued these coins. A further support for this idea is that there is a mention of one "Devaputra Shahi Shahanshahi Shaka Murunda" in

Samudragupta Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', ( 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India. A military genius and a patron of arts, he is regarded among the greatest rulers in Indian history. As a son of th ...

's famous Allahabad inscription, as one of the rulers who paid him homage. In this context, Shaka could be a title, it could refer to a tribe, or it could be a personal name. In any case, it seems to be related to the Shaka coins. We do not know the date of the Allahabad inscription, so the best guess on dating Shaka is . Robert Göbl, for instance, did not think Shaka was the name of a ruler; rather, he thought the coins were tribal issues, but Michael Mitchiner and many other authors do think Shaka was a personal name. The Shaha coins all have the goddess

Ardoxsho Ardoksho (Bactrian script Αρδοχϸο), also Romanised as Ardochsho, Ardokhsho and Ardoxsho, the Iranic goddess of wealth was a female deity of the Kushan Empire, in Central and South Asia during the early part of the 1st millennium CE. She i ...

on the reverse, whether many other Kushan rulers are known to have used

Oesho Oesho () is a deity found on coins of 2nd to 6th-century, particularly the 2nd-century Kushan era. He was apparently one of the titular deities of the Kushan dynasty. Oesho is an early Kushan deity that is regarded as an amalgamation of Shiva. ...

(probably

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

with his bull) on the reverse of their coins. There are also sources who use the term Shaka-Kushan as a label for a historic period that began sometime between 78 A.D. and 128 A.D. This included the reign of rulers bearing the name of Vasudeva. It was associated with several excavated remains in northern India, which revealed building activities as well as artifacts like red polished pottery, ceramics, and terracotta figures. The discovered remains showed sophisticated construction practices like the use of burnt bricks for flooring and tiles for flooring and roofing. The wares, including some coins, found in the Shaka-Kushana sites were also found in several locations in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, Jhatikra Nahar near

Najafgarh Najafgarh is a town in the South West Delhi, South West Delhi district of National Capital Territory of Delhi, India. It is one of the three subdivisions of the Southwest Delhi district. Najafgarh is located on outskirts of NCT Delhi in south we ...

, and Gordon Highlanders near Badli ki Sarai. Archaeologists believe that this indicates contact among these contemporary settlements or that these sites were under the sphere of influence of the Shaka-Kushana empire.

Footnotes

External links

Online catalogue of coins of Shaka
Kushan emperors 3rd-century Indian monarchs {{Asia-royal-stub