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Shalivahana
Shalivahana (IAST: Śālivāhana) was a legendary emperor of ancient India, who is said to have ruled from Pratishthana (present-day Paithan, Maharashtra). He is believed to be based on a Satavahana king (or kings).
There are several contradictory legends about him. Most legends associate him with another legendary emperor, Vikramaditya of Ujjain, in some way. In some legends, he is presented as an enemy of Vikramaditya; in other legends, he is named as a grandson of Vikramaditya; and in a few legends, the title Vikramaditya is applied to the ruler of Pratishthana. According to some historically inaccurate legends, his birth or one of his battle victories marked the beginning of the Shalivahana calendar era, which is another name for the Saka era.
Ananta's heroic poem Viracharita (12th century CE) mentions Shalivahana as a rival of the king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. According to it, Shalivahana defeated and killed Vikramaditya, and then ruled from Pratishthana. Shudraka was a close associate of Shalivahana and his son Shakti Kumara. Later, Shudraka allied with Vikramaditya's successors and defeated Shakti Kumara. This legend is full of mythological stories.
Paramara-era legends associate the Paramara rulers with legendary kings, in order to enhance the Paramara imperial claims. In the Bhavishya Purana, the Paramara king Bhoja is described as a descendant of Shalivahana, who is named as a grandson of Vikramaditya. According to the text (3.1.6.45-7.4), the first Paramara king was Pramara, born from a fire pit at Mount Abu (thus belonging to the Agnivansha). Vikramaditya, Shalivahana and Bhoja are described as the descendants of Pramara, and thus, members of the Paramara dynasty.
Bhavishya Purana mentions that Vikramaditya ruled Bharatavarsha (India) bounded by Indus River in the west, Badaristhana (Badrinath) in the north, Kapila in the east and Setubandha (Rameswaram) in the south. A hundred years after his death, many languages and many religions had developed in the 18 kingdoms of the Aryadesha (country of the Aryas). When the outsiders such as the Śakas heard about the destruction of dharma (righteousness, law and order) in Aryadesha, they raided the country by crossing the Indus and the Himalayas. They plundered Aryas and returned to their countries with the wives of the Aryas. Shalivahana, the grandson of Vikramaditya, then subjugated the Śakas and other barbarians. He defined the maryada to distinguish the Aryans from the mlecchas, and established Indus as the border between the Aryan lands and the land of the mlecchas.
Subsequently, Shalivahana once came to a snowy mountain in the land of the Hunas. There, he met Isamasi (Jesus Christ), who had appeared because the truth had been destroyed in the land of the mlecchas. Shalivahana bowed to him and then returned home. In Aryadesha, he performed an ashvamedha sacrifice, and then ascended to the heaven. 500 years after Shalivahana, his descendant Bhoja also fought against foreign invaders including "Mahamada", a character modeled on Muhammad and possibly Mahamud Ghazanvi.
The text presents the doctrine of Jesus as consistent with the Vedic dharma, while Muhammad is presented as demonic. According to Theodor Aufrecht, the passages about Jesus were inserted by an employee of the Venkatesvara Press, which published its first printed edition of the text in 1897. According to Giorgio Bonazzoli, this part was inserted by "some clever pandit" in the 19th century.
The Chola Purva Patayam ("Ancient Chola Record"), a Tamil language manuscript of uncertain date, contains the following legend about Shalivahana (also known as Bhoja in this story):
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Shalivahana
Shalivahana (IAST: Śālivāhana) was a legendary emperor of ancient India, who is said to have ruled from Pratishthana (present-day Paithan, Maharashtra). He is believed to be based on a Satavahana king (or kings).
There are several contradictory legends about him. Most legends associate him with another legendary emperor, Vikramaditya of Ujjain, in some way. In some legends, he is presented as an enemy of Vikramaditya; in other legends, he is named as a grandson of Vikramaditya; and in a few legends, the title Vikramaditya is applied to the ruler of Pratishthana. According to some historically inaccurate legends, his birth or one of his battle victories marked the beginning of the Shalivahana calendar era, which is another name for the Saka era.
Ananta's heroic poem Viracharita (12th century CE) mentions Shalivahana as a rival of the king Vikramaditya of Ujjain. According to it, Shalivahana defeated and killed Vikramaditya, and then ruled from Pratishthana. Shudraka was a close associate of Shalivahana and his son Shakti Kumara. Later, Shudraka allied with Vikramaditya's successors and defeated Shakti Kumara. This legend is full of mythological stories.
Paramara-era legends associate the Paramara rulers with legendary kings, in order to enhance the Paramara imperial claims. In the Bhavishya Purana, the Paramara king Bhoja is described as a descendant of Shalivahana, who is named as a grandson of Vikramaditya. According to the text (3.1.6.45-7.4), the first Paramara king was Pramara, born from a fire pit at Mount Abu (thus belonging to the Agnivansha). Vikramaditya, Shalivahana and Bhoja are described as the descendants of Pramara, and thus, members of the Paramara dynasty.
Bhavishya Purana mentions that Vikramaditya ruled Bharatavarsha (India) bounded by Indus River in the west, Badaristhana (Badrinath) in the north, Kapila in the east and Setubandha (Rameswaram) in the south. A hundred years after his death, many languages and many religions had developed in the 18 kingdoms of the Aryadesha (country of the Aryas). When the outsiders such as the Śakas heard about the destruction of dharma (righteousness, law and order) in Aryadesha, they raided the country by crossing the Indus and the Himalayas. They plundered Aryas and returned to their countries with the wives of the Aryas. Shalivahana, the grandson of Vikramaditya, then subjugated the Śakas and other barbarians. He defined the maryada to distinguish the Aryans from the mlecchas, and established Indus as the border between the Aryan lands and the land of the mlecchas.
Subsequently, Shalivahana once came to a snowy mountain in the land of the Hunas. There, he met Isamasi (Jesus Christ), who had appeared because the truth had been destroyed in the land of the mlecchas. Shalivahana bowed to him and then returned home. In Aryadesha, he performed an ashvamedha sacrifice, and then ascended to the heaven. 500 years after Shalivahana, his descendant Bhoja also fought against foreign invaders including "Mahamada", a character modeled on Muhammad and possibly Mahamud Ghazanvi.
The text presents the doctrine of Jesus as consistent with the Vedic dharma, while Muhammad is presented as demonic. According to Theodor Aufrecht, the passages about Jesus were inserted by an employee of the Venkatesvara Press, which published its first printed edition of the text in 1897. According to Giorgio Bonazzoli, this part was inserted by "some clever pandit" in the 19th century.
The Chola Purva Patayam ("Ancient Chola Record"), a Tamil language manuscript of uncertain date, contains the following legend about Shalivahana (also known as Bhoja in this story):