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Kharahostes
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Kharahostes or Kharaostasa was an Indo-Scythian ruler (probably a satrap) in the northern Indian subcontinent around 10 BCE- 10 CE. He is known from his coins, often in the name of Azes II, and from an inscription on the Mathura lion capital.
According to view proposed by F. W. Thomas, Kharahostes, the heir apparent, was son of Nadadi (or Nadasi) Akasa , the chief queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula, who in turn, was the daughter of Kamusa or Kamuia .
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Kharahostes or Kharaostasa was an Indo-Scythian ruler (probably a satrap) in the northern Indian subcontinent around 10 BCE- 10 CE. He is known from his coins, often in the name of Azes II, and from an inscription on the Mathura lion capital.
According to view proposed by F. W. Thomas, Kharahostes, the heir apparent, was son of Nadadi (or Nadasi) Akasa , the chief queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula, who in turn, was the daughter of Kamusa or Kamuia . Dr Rapson, Dr Luders, Dr Leeuw agree with Dr Thomas.
According to Dr Fleet, Yuvaraja Kharaosta was son of Nada Diaka and a grandson of Mahaksatrapa Rajuvula. Dr Fleet therefore thinks that Nada Diaka was daughter of Rajuvula by his chief queen, Aiyasi Kamuia (Dr Fleet 1907a: 1024-25).
But according to Dr Sten Konow, Sir John Marshall, Pandit Bhagwan Lal Indraji, Dr R. K. Mookerji etc, the chief queen of Mahaksahtrapa Rajuvula was Aiyasi Kamuia (q.v.) and not Nadasi Akasa (or Nada Diaka). Dr Sten Konow, Sir John Marshall, Dr Richard Salomon, Dr R. K. Mookerji, Dr A. H. Dani, Dr B. N. Puri etc think that Aiyasi Kamuia was the daughter of Yuvaraja Kharaosta (or Kharahostes), himself a Kamuio (q.v.) .
Kharohostes' coinage bear a dynastic mark (a circle within three pellets), which is rather similar, although not identical, with the dynastic mark of the Kushan ruler Kujula Kadphises (three pellets joined together), which has led to suggestions that they may have been contemporary rulers.
Kharahostes of the Coins is same as Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio
It is now almost unanimously agreed among the scholars that Kharaosta of the Lion Capital inscriptions is the same Strap Kharaostas (in Kharoshthi legend) or Kharahostes (in Greek Legend) whose coins have been investigated by Dr Rapson and Dr Lüders . Dr Bühler, who initially doubted the identity of two persons (1894a: 532), later changed his views and accepted/suggested the identification of Kharaostes of the coinage with the Yuvaraja Kharaosta of the Mathura Lion Capital . Dr Lüders asserts that there is no reason for doubting the identification of Kharahostes of the coins with Kharaosta of the Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions .
The Inscriptions A and E on the Mathura Lion Capital attaches an appellation of Yuvaraya with the name of Kharaosta . See also: Mathura Lion Capital. The Lion Capital twice refers to Kharaosta in inscription A and E and refers to him as Yuvaraya Kharaosta. Kharaosta appears to be an important person in the inscriptions since Aiyasi Kamuia, the princess making the endowments, expressly discloses her close relationship with him and also states that the permission for making the sacred endowments has duly been obtained from him. According to noted scholars, Kharaosta was the legitimate inheritor (heir-apparent) to the position as King of Kings after king Maues or Moga of Gandhara .
Kharaosta’s known coins are of two types, presenting legends in Greek characters on the obverse and in Kharoshthi in the reverse.
The Kharoshthi legend in the coins runs thus:
Kharahostei satrapei Artauou, K?atrapasa Pra Kharao?tasa Artasa Putrasa (i.e. Of Chhatrapa Kharaosta, son of Arta) .
Some of his coins write Ortas in place of Artas.
The coinage evidence shows that Kharaosta (i.e Yuvaraja Kharaosta of the Lion Capital inscriptions) was not a son or heir-apparent to Mahaksatrapa Rajuvula but to somebody else instead. Kharaosta was actually an heir to king Maues or Moga and for this reason, great strap Rajuvula had married Aiyasi Kamuia, the daughter of Kharaosta Kamuio. Dr S Konow has closely examined and re-analyzed the Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions and has discovered some new facts and drawn new conclusions. Based on a close analysis of the estimated ages of various people mentioned in the inscriptions, Dr Konow concludes that (1) Aiyasia Kamuia was the chief queen (Agra-Mahisi, Inscription A2, A3) of the great Saka Strap Rajuvula and (2) Yuvaraja Kharaosta (Inscription E1) was the father of the princess Aiyasi Kamuia. The fact that last name 'Kamuia' (Kambojaka) has been used for both Yuvaraja Kharaosta as well as princess Aiyasi, clearly proves the father vs daughter relationship. This is because family-name designations are naturally inherited from the father's side and not from the mother . Thus, Kharaosta was in fact, the father-in-law of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula and on the other hand, he was also a legitimate heir to king Moga or Maues. Arta, father of Kharaosta, was elder brother of king Moga and is said to have died prior to Moga's death. King Moga is stated to have been issueless, hence, his nephew, Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio, was indeed the legitimate inheritor to the position as King of Kings for the kingdom of Gandhara.
Saka governor Rajuvula had married Kharaosta Kamuio's daughter, princess Aiyasi Kamuia probably to strengthen his political position and also his claim to the throne (of Taxila) .
It appears, for some reasons, that Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio (Kharaostes of the coins) did not avail the position of king of kings after Moga's death. King Moga had died while on a military expedition to Mathura .
It is notable that the real heir to Mahaksatrapa Rajuvula was his own son called Sodasa and not the Yuvaraja, Kharaosta of the Lion Capital Inscriptions.
King Kharayosta of the Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary
A recently discovered "Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary", found from Shinkot in Bajaur (Pakistan), and edited and published for the first time by Richard Saloman, in Journal of the American Oriental Society (July - September, 1996), refers to a king named Kharayosta, believed to belong to the later quarter of first century BCE. According to its editor Dr Richard Salomon (University of Washington), king Kharayosta of the "Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary", in all probability, is the same Kharaosta who finds reference as Yuvaraja Kharosta in the Mathura Lion Capital inscriptions and as Kharaostasa or Kharahostes in the coins . If this view is correct, and also, if Dr Konow's recognition of Kamuia and Kamuio of Lion Capital with Sanskrit Kambojaka or Kamboja is correct, then it can be confidently believed that the Apraca kings of Bajaur were connected with Kharaosta Kamuio, Aiyasia Kamuio and Arta Kamuio etc and, therefore, were also probably from a Kamboja lineage. Interestingly, Arta (Kamuio) of the coins also finds an indirect reference in the Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary wherein Kharayosta is addressed as son of Mahaksatrapa. This is second important, though indirect reference to Arta. In Kharaosta's coins, Arta is mentioned by name as the father of the former but no title is indicated.
On Term Kamuia or Kamuio
The term Kamuia or Kamuio appearing as family-name after the names of Yuvaraja Kharosta (Kharahostes of the coins) and princess Aiyasi--- the family members of king Maues or Moga--, is simply a dialectical variation of Sanskrit Kambojika or Kamboja . See Main Article: Kamuia.
Epilogue
Epilogue 1
The family of king Moga was apparently a Scythianised section of the Trans-Pamirian Kambojas (Parama Kambojas) who had been living in trans-Hindukush Scythian region as neighbors to the Rishikas . The vast Central Asian region lying on the north of Mt Hemodos (Hindukush/Himalayan) was known as Scythia to the classical writers . In fact, the classical writers further say that river Ganges rises in the Scythian mountains. This attests that even the Mt Himalayan lied in the Scythian belt of the classical writers .
The vast trans-Himavantam region, the Scythia of classical writers, was known as Saka-dvipa in ancient Sanskrit literature.
It is understandable that the Parama Kambojas were obviously located in Scythia of the classical writings. And therefore, they have been indiscriminately considered as part of the Scythian population both in the Greek as well as the Chinese writings.
To all probability, in the wake of the great tribal movement of second century BCE occasioned by pressure from Yuezhis, a section of these Parama Kambojas, including the family of king Moga, were displaced and consequently moved from the Parama-Kamboja of Transoxiana to south side of Hindukush in Kabol valley. The Kamboja family of king Moga immigrating from the Scythian cultural belt was obviously Irano-Scythian in culture, social customs and manners. This scenario appears to have caused confusion among scholars in attributing Saka identity to king Maues and his family who otherwise belonged to Kamboja lineage as is sufficiently attested by last name Kamuia/Kamuio born by members of Moga's family. The family relationship between Aiyasi Kamuia/Kharaosta Kamuio and king Moga or Maues has been accepted by other scholars as well .
Epilogue 2
The first five lines of the Mathura Lion Capital have been interpreted by Dr S. Konow in sense different from the older view. According to the older view, the principal donor was Nada Diaka (or Nada Siaka), the chief-queen of Mahakshatrapa Rajuvula, the daughter of Aiyasi Kamusa and mother of Yuvaraja Kharaosta. If the Yuvaraja Kharaosta is identical with Kshatrapa Kharaostes of the coins, as is almost unanimously agreed among the scholars, it follows that Arta, father of Kharaosta was first husband of Rajuvula's chief queen who married Rajuvula after Arta's death.
But this view has been ably and logically refuted by the newer view of Dr S Konow. According to view propounded by Dr S. Konow, the name of the principal donor was Aiyasi Kamuia (Kambojaka, belonging to Kambuja/Kamboja tribe) who was daughter of Yuvaraja Kharaosta, also Kambojaka and the mother of Nada Diaka (or Siaka) .
The fact that the last name 'Kamuia' (Kambojaka) has been used both by Yuvaraja Kharaosta as well as princess Aiyasi, this clearly proves that Aiyasi Kamuia was the daughter and not mother of Yuvaraja Kharaosta Kamuio (Kambojaka), since such designations are naturally inherited from the father's side and not from the mother's . Hence, Dr Konow's view is more convincing and has been accepted by numerous later scholar community.
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