UpdateBot at 10:40, 12 March 2022

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{{Infobox royalty
| name =Abhiraka
| title =[[Western Satrap]]
| image= Coin of Abhiraka, from the IIRNS.jpg
| image_size =300px
| caption =The coinage of Abhiraka is similar to the coinage of [[Bhumaka]], except it has on the obverse a winged [[Nike (goddess)|Nike]] with Greek legend 'CATRAPATOY CATRAΠOY AYBIPAKOY" ("Abhiraka, Satrap of the Satraps"). The reverse, with a lion or a horse facing a wheel, with Brahmi or Kharoshthi legend, is identical in design. Photograph from the [[Indian Institute for Research in Numismatic Studies]].<ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing">{{cite book|last1=Dev Kumar|first1=Jhanjh |title=Art and History: Texts, Contexts and Visual Representations in Ancient and Early Medieval India |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89611-89-2 |pages=21–22, with coin image |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88ROEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |language=en}}</ref>
| reign = Circa 30 CE
| coronation =
| full name =
| predecessor =
| successor =[[Bhumaka]]
| spouse =
| issue =
| royal house =
| dynasty =
| father =
| mother =
}}
'''Abhiraka''' (Greek: ''AYBIPAKOY'', [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]]: 𑀅𑀪𑀺𑀭𑀓 ''Abhiraka''), also '''Aubheraka''', '''Aubhirakes''', or formerly ''' Aghudaka''', was an [[Indo-Scythian]] king and a member of the Kshaharata dynasty of the [[Western Satraps]] circa 30 CE. He was the father of [[Bhumaka]], and the grandfather of [[Nahapana]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dev Kumar|first1=Jhanjh |title=Art and History: Texts, Contexts and Visual Representations in Ancient and Early Medieval India |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89611-89-2 |page=22, with coin image |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88ROEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA22 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="RS">{{cite book |last1=Salomon |first1=Richard |last2=Willis |first2=Michael |last3=Cribb |first3=Joe |last4=Shaw |first4=Julia |title=Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India |date=2004 |pages=39 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2023815/Buddhist_Reliquaries_from_Ancient_India|quote=Page 39: "Western Satraps: A convenient and useful point of entry for a discussion of chronology is provided by the coin finds and hoards which show that there were two series of rulers who called themselves or (satrap or great satrap). One series consisted of three rulers: Aubheraka, Bhumaka and Nahapana (fig. 16).2 They used the family name Khshaharta" Date on page 44. Name "Aghudaka" on page 51, note 2}}</ref><ref name="RM">{{cite book |last1=Cribb |first1=Joe |last2=Mairs (Ed.) |first2=Rachel |title=The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World |date=29 November 2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-61028-5 |pages=657–658 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NBYHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA657 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Carrer |first1=Francesco |last2=Gheller |first2=Viola |title=Invisible Cultures: Historical and Archaeological Perspectives |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-8415-0 |page=231 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XZfWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA231 |language=en|quote="In this context remains of exceptional importance were found, such as two Indian coins, the only examples found in the Arabian Peninsula–one of the King Kaniskha I and the other of Abhiraka, Satrap of Barygaza."}}</ref>

He is known through his coins, which are found in the northern Pakistan area of [[Chukhsa]], and then later in the south, suggesting a southern migration at some point, possibly in search for trade. His coins have been found in [[Afghanistan]] and as far as [[Arab states of the Persian Gulf]].<ref>R.C. Senior, p.v</ref><ref name="RM"/> The coinage, reminiscent of the coinage of the [[Indo-Greeks]], has on the obverse a winged [[Nike (goddess)|Nike]] with Greek legend "CATRAPATOY CATRAΠOY AYBIPAKOY" ("Abhiraka, Satrap of the Satraps"), and the reverse shows a lion or a horse facing a wheel, with Brahmi or Kharoshthi legend around ''Khaharatasa Khatrapasa Abhirakasa jayatasa Abhirakasa" ("The Khsaharata Satrap Abhiraka, victory to Abhiraka").<ref name="Bloomsbury Publishing">{{cite book|last1=Dev Kumar|first1=Jhanjh |title=Art and History: Texts, Contexts and Visual Representations in Ancient and Early Medieval India |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89611-89-2 |pages=21–22, with coin image |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88ROEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |language=en}}</ref>

"Abhiraka" may also mean "member of the tribe of the [[Abhira tribe|Abhiras]]",<ref>{{cite book|first=Manomohan |last=Ghosh |title=Glimpses of Sexual Life in Nanda-Maurya India: Translation of the Caturbhāṇī, Together with a Critical Edition of Text |year=1975 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cCEPAAAAMAAJ&q=abhiraka |publisher=Manisha Granthalaya, 1975 |page=170}}</ref> and a connection between "Abhiraka" and the tribe of the Abhiras has also been proposed.<ref>{{cite book |title=Art and History: Texts, Contexts and Visual Representations in Ancient and Early Medieval India |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89611-89-2 |page=23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88ROEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 |language=en|last1=Dev Kumar|first1=Jhanjh }}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* R.C. Senior, "Indo-Scythian coins and history", Volume IV.

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| title = [[Western Satrap]]
| years = 100 CE
| before = [[Higaraka]]
| after = [[Bhumaka]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Western Satraps}}

[[Category:1st-century monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:1st-century Iranian people]]

{{MEast-hist-stub}}

Abhiraka - Revision history

UpdateBot at 10:40, 12 March 2022