The Apracharajas (Kharosthi: 𐨀𐨤𐨿𐨪𐨕𐨪𐨗A-pra-ca-ra-ja[1]), also known as Avacarajas (Kharosthi: 𐨀𐨬𐨕𐨪𐨗A-va-ca-ra-ja[2]), were an Indo-Scythian ruling dynasty of present-day western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. The Apracharaja capital, known as Apracapura (also Avacapura), was located in the Bajaur district of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Apraca rule of Bajaur lasted from the 1st century BCE to the 1st century CE.
The Indo-Scythians of the Apracharajas dynasty were successors of the Indo-Scythian king Azes. It seems that they established their dynasty from around 12 BCE.[3] Their territory seems to have centered in Bajaur and extended to Swat, Gandhāra, Taxila, and parts of eastern Afghanistan.[4]
Buddhism
The Apracharajas embraced Buddhism: they are known for their numerous Buddhist dedications on reliquaries. On their coins Hellenic designs, derived from the coinage of the Indo-Greeks, continued to appear alongside Buddhist ones.
Vijayamitra (ruled 12 BCE - 15 CE) personally dedicated in his name a Buddhist reliquary, the Shinkot casket.[5][6] Some of his coins bear the Buddhist triratna symbol.
Numerous Buddhist dedications were made by the rulers of the Apracas:
"Members of the Apraca family in the northwestern borderlands of Pakistan and Afghanistan made numerous Buddhist donations recorded in Kharosṭḥī inscriptions dated in the era of Azes. Although most of these inscriptions lack specific provenance, the domain of the Aparacas was probably centered in Bajaur and extended to Swat, Gandhāra, Taxila, and parts of eastern Afghanistan in the last half of the first century BCE and the early decades of the first century CE. Since the discovery of an inscribed reliquary casket from Shinkot in Bajaur donated by the Apraca king Vijayamitra (who evidently founded the dynasty), other inscriptions record donations of relics by at least four generations of kings, queens, and court officials. Apraca kings known from Kharosṭḥī inscriptions, coins, and seals included Indravasu, Visṇuvarman (perhaps identical to Viśpavarman), and Indravarman, but the dynastic genealogy remains uncertain."
— Neelis, Jason, Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange.[7]
A recently discovered inscription in Kharoshthi on a Buddhist reliquary, the Bajaur reliquary inscription, gives a relationship between several eras of the period and mentions several Apraca rulers:
"In the twenty-seventh year in the reign of Lord Viyeemitro, the King of the Apraca; in the seventy-third year which is called the era of Azo, in the two hundred and first - 201 - year of the Yonas (Greeks), on the eighth day of the month of Sravana; on this day was established [this] stupa by Rukhana, the wife of the King of Apraca, [and] by Viyeemitro, the king of Apraca, [and] by Iṃdravarmo (Iṃdravaso), the commander (stratega), [together] with their wives and sons."
This inscription would date to c. 15 CE, according to the new dating for the Azes era which places its inception c. 47 BCE.[11] The rulers seem to have been related to Kharaostes.[12]
^Richard Salomon, The "Avaca" Inscription and the Origin of the Vikrama Era, Journal of the American Oriental Society
Vol. 102, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1982), pp. 59-68.
^ abRichard Salomon, An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 418-452
^Greek Gods in the East, Stančo, Ladislav, Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press, 2012, p.45 [1]
^Neelis, Jason, Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange., Brill, Leiden and Boston. 2011, pp. 117-118. ISBN978 90 04 18159 5.
^"Afghanistan, carrefour en l'Est et l'Ouest" p.373. Also Senior 2003
^Neelis, Jason, Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange. Brill, Leiden and Boston. 2011, pp. 117-118. ISBN978 90 04 18159 5.
^Bopearachchi, O. (December 31, 2005). Afghanistan, ancien carrefour en l'Est et l'Ouest (in French). p. 373. ISBN978-2503516813.
^Senior, R.C. (2006). Indo-Scythian coins and history. Vol. IV. Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. ISBN978-0-9709268-6-9.
^Falk; Bennett (2009). Macedonian Intercalary Months and the Era of Azes.
^ abcSalomon, Richard (1996). "An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman". Journal of the American Oriental Society. Vol. 116, no. 3. University of Washington. p. 418. JSTOR605147.
^Loeschner, Hans."Kanishka in Context with the Historical Buddha and Kushan Chronology." In: Glory of the Kushans – Recent Discoveries and Interpretations. Edited by Professor Vidula Jayasval, Aryan Books, New Delhi, 2013, p. 142.
^An Inscribed Silver Buddhist Reliquary of the Time of King Kharaosta and Prince Indravarman, Richard Salomon, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 116, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1996), pp. 442 [4]
^A Kharosthī Reliquary Inscription of the Time of the Apraca Prince Visnuvarma, by Richard Salomon, South Asian Studies 11 1995, Pages 27-32, Published online: 09 Aug 2010 [5]
