|
GONDOPHARES
(OPers.
Vindafarnah-
"May
he
find
glory"),
Indo-Parthian
king
(20-46
C.E.)
in
Drangiana,
Arachosia
(qq.v.),
and
especially
in
the
Punjab.
He
is
known
from
the
apocryphal
Acts
of
Thomas,
the
Takht-i
Bahi
inscription,
and
coin-issues
in
silver
and
copper.
Thomas,
the
Christian
"apostle
to
India,"
a
carpenter,
was
after
the
crucifixion
(probably
29
C.E.)
sold
into
slavery
to
India,
where
his
purchaser
was
the
king
Gondophares
(Gudnaphar),
mentioned
together
with
his
brother
Gad.
The
apostle
was
entrusted
with
funds
for
building
a
palace,
but
spent
them
on
relief
of
the
poor.
When
called
to
account,
he
declared
he
had
built
the
king
a
palace
in
heaven,
but
was
threatened
with
severe
punishment.
Soon
afterwards,
however,
the
king's
brother
Gad,
thought
to
have
died,
had
a
vision
of
a
splendid
palace,
and
revived
to
plead
for
the
apostle's
release.
The
latter
then
reputedly
departed
to
Madras,
where
he
is
commemorated
as
a
founder
of
the
South
Indian
Christian
community,
and
a
church
is
named
in
his
honor.
The
chronology
of
Gondophares
depends
on
the
Takht-i
Bahi
KharosátÂhi
inscription,
erected
under
erjhuna
Kapa
(prince
[?]
Kapa),
probably
the
Kushan
chief
Kujula
Kadphises,
a
name
variously
spelt
in
inscriptions.
The
paramount
ruler
was
Gondophares
(gen.
maharayasa
Guduvharasa),
then
in
the
26th
year
of
his
reign,
and
the
103rd
of
an
era,
no
doubt
of
the
Indo-Scythian
emperor
Azes
I
(see
azes).
This
is
now
known
to
be
identical
with
the
current
Indian
"Vikrama"
Era,
of
which
year
1
corresponds
to
57
B.C.E.
Therefore
the
date
of
the
inscription
was
46
C.E.
(103-57);
and
the
accession
year
(for
this
area)
of
Gondophares
20
C.E.,
a
result
perfectly
supporting
the
Acts
of
Thomas.
Coins
of
Gondophares,
and
his
Indo-Parthian
successors,
including
Abdagases
(q.v.),
Orthagnes,
and
Pacores,
besides
minor
rulers,
are
widely
distributed
in
the
territories
described.
The
numismatic
sequence
suggests
that
after
the
demise
of
the
last
Indo-Scythian
emperor
Azes
II,
not
long
before
C.E.
5,
local
rulers
such
as
Indravarma
and
Sasan
in
Avacapura
(Bajaur),
Zeionises
in
Taxila,
Kharahostes,
and
the
Kushan
prince
Kujula
Kadphises
west
of
the
Indus,
were
competing
for
domination
of
Gandhara
(q.v.).
Kujula
seems,
on
the
evidence
of
one
coin-find
(Marshall,
II,
820,
nos.
258-60,
III,
Pl.
243),
to
have
penetrated
briefly
to
Taxila,
but
was
soon
expelled
by
Gondophares.
The
latter,
descending
from
Drangiana,
set
up
in
the
former
Indo-Scythia
an
Indo-Parthian
realm
which
survived
until
about
C.E.
60.
Subordinates
mentioned
on
his
coins
include
again
Gadana
(=
Gad?),
and
Sasan.
Partisans
of
Gondophares
show
on
their
coins
the
so-called
"Gondophares
symbol"
 ,
while
those
of
Kujula
use
a
different
device
 .
Ernst
Herzfeld
maintained
that
the
dynasty
of
Gondophares
represented
the
house
of
Suren,
highest
of
the
five
premier
families
of
Arsacid
Iran,
invested
with
the
hereditary
right
of
commanding
the
royal
armies,
and
placing
the
crown
on
the
king's
head
at
the
coronation.
Probably
when
around
129
B.C.E.
nomad
peoples,
especially
the
Indo-Scythians
(Sacaraucae;
OPers.
Sakaravaka
"nomadic
Saka,"
or
Saraucae)
and
the
Tochari,
attacked
the
eastern
frontier
of
Parthia,
defense
was
entrusted
by
the
Arsacid
kings
to
the
Surens;
and
the
latter
eventually
not
only
repelled
the
Indo-Scythians,
but
pursued
them
into
Arachosia
and
the
Punjab,
this
event
probably
representing
interitus
Saraucarum
"the
perishing
of
the
Sacaraucae"
of
Trogus
(Prologue
42).
Echoes
of
these
events
are
preserved
in
the
legends
of
the
Sista@n
cycle,
partly
incorporated
in
the
ˆa@h-na@ma,
but
once
also
surviving
as
independent
epics,
such
as
the
Garæa@sp-na@ma
mentioned
in
the
Ta@rikò-e
Sista@n
(p.
5),
and
the
Keta@b
al-Sakisara@n
cited
by
Mas¿udi
(Moruj,
ed.
Pellat,
secs.
541,
543).
These
related
the
deeds
of
the
hero
Garæa@sp
and
his
descendants,
Narima@n,
Sa@m,
Za@l
or
Dasta@n,
and
above
all
of
the
latter's
son
Rostam.
It
is
difficult
to
relate
the
Indo-Parthian
names
known
from
coins
and
history
to
those
of
the
epic,
which
are
possibly
honorific
titles,
since
a
recently
reported
silver
coin
describes
Gondophares
(spelt
in
Greek
script
Hyndopharres)
as
"surnamed"
Sa@m.
A
single
ruler
may
of
course
have
received
more
than
one
such
title,
and
the
historical
names
may
be
repeated
in
succeeding
generations.
Indeed,
an
interesting
case
had
been
made
that
there
were
several
kings
called
Gondophares
named
on
different
coin
issues
(MacDowall,
p.
143).
See
also
indo-parthian
and
indo-scythian
dynasties.
Bibliography:
The
Acts
of
Thomas,
Eng.
Version,
ed.
Albertus
Frederik
Johannes
Klijn,
Supplement
to
Novum
Testamentum
5,
p.
27-9;
73-9.
A.
D.
H.
Bivar,
"Gondophares
and
the
Sha@hna@ma,"
Iranica
Antiqua
16:
In
Memoriam
Roman
Ghirshman
II,
1981,
pp.
141-50.
Camb.
Hist.
Iran
III,
pp.
51,
197,
454-56,
1030.
Neilson
C.
Debevoise,
A
Political
History
of
Parthia,
Chicago,
1938;
repr.
New
York,
1968,
pp.
66-68.
Ernst
Herzfeld,
"Sakastan:
Geschichtliche
Untersuchungen
zu
den
Ausgraungen
am
Kuh-i
Khwadja,"
AMI
4,
1931-32,
p.
1-116,
esp.
pp.
91,
(Sure@n
und
Saka@
in
Sakastan),
98-102
(Datum
der
indischen
Eroberung
der
Saka),
106-9
(Gundofarr
im
Legenden
und
Sage);
Herzfeld's
chronology
is,
however,
confused
by
his
failure
to
distinguish
Azes
I
(57
to
ca.
37
B.C.E.)
from
Azes
II
(ca.
15
B.C.
to
ca.
5
C.E.).
Justi,
Namenbuch,
pp.
368-69.
Sten
Konow,
Corpus
Inscriptionum
Indicarum
II/1:
KharoshtÂhi
Inscriptions,
with
the
Exception
of
Those
of
As‚oka,
Calcutta,
1929,
57-62,
esp.
p.
62
(for
the
Takht-i
Bahi
inscription).
D.
W.
MacDowall,
"The
Dynasty
of
the
Later
Indo-Parthians,"
Numismatic
Chronicle,
7th
series,
5,
1965,
pp.
137-48.
John
Hubert
Marshall,
Taxila:
An
Illustrated
Account
of
Archaeological
Excavations,
Cambridge,
1951;
repr.
Delhi
1975,
I,
pp.
58-64
(historical
backround);
II,
pp.
785-86,
820,
nos.
258-60;
III,
Pl.
243
(for
coins
of
Kujula).
Walter
Otto,
"Hyndopherres,"
in
Pauly-Wissowa,
IX/1,
cols.
183-91.
William
Woodthorpe
Tarn,
The
Greeks
in
Bactria
and
India,
Cambridge,
1951,
pp.
343-47,
352-54,
359-60,
494,
498,
501,
503,
505.
(A.
D.
H.
Bivar)
|