Srughna

Srughna, also spelt Shrughna, was an ancient city of India frequently referred to in early and medieval texts. It was visited by Chinese traveller, Xuanzang (Hiuen Tsang) in the 7th century and was reported to be in ruins even then although the foundations still remained. Xuanzang described the city as possessing a large Buddhist vihara and a grand stupa dating to the time of the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka.[1] Xuanzang saw several stupas, which commemorated the visit of the Buddha or enshrined the relics of Buddhist monks Sariputra and Maudgalyayana.[2] Alexander Cunningham identified the lost city with the village of Sugh (or Sugha) situated 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Yamunanagar in the state of Haryana.[3] The city probably lost its importance after the 7th century and the name survived in a localized form.[2] Panjab University's 1965 excavation found artifacts dating from 600 BCE to 300 CE, including grey ware and red ware pottery, coins, seals, animal remains, male and female terracotta figurines, animal terracotta figurines and miscellaneous terracotta objects such as flesh rubbers, crucibles, rattle, gamesmen, stamp, seal impression, discs, frames and wheels, balls, goldsmiths heating cup, an ear ornament grooved on the exterior and a broken figurine of a headless child with writing board in lap with sunga (187 BCE to 78 BCE) period alphabets.[2] Collection of these figurines belong to Sunga, Mauryan, Kushana, Gupta and medieval period.[2]

Srughna is regularly mentioned in Panini's Ashtadhyayi, Patanjali's Mahabhashya, the Divyavadana, the Mahabharata, the Mahamayuri, the Brihatsamhita of Varahamihira, etc. Tūrghna, another location mentioned in ancient literary texts, is considered synonymous with Srughna.[3][4]

The village of Sugh is now a well known archaeological site which has yielded a trove of coins. It was excavated by Cunningham in the 19th century. Suraj Bhan partially excavated the site in 1964–65.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Cunningham 1877, p. 34.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Yamunanagar History, Gazatteer of Haryana: Yamunanagar.
  3. 1 2 3 Handa 2000, pp. 517, 518.
  4. ↑ Bharadwaj 1980, p. 192:
    "Tūrghna is apparently a scribal error for Srughna which was the region about Jagadhari with its head-quarters at the present village of Sugha situated on the Western Yumunā Canal at a distance of about 5 km to the east of Jagadhari town in district Ambala."

References

  • Cunningham, Alexander (1877). Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. Рипол Классик. ISBN 9785879911145.
  • Handa, Devendra (2000). "Minuscule Silver Coins from Sugh". East and West. 50 (1/4): 515–521. JSTOR 29757464.
  • Bharadwaj, O. P. (1980). "Gautama Buddha in Kurukṣetra". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 61 (1/4): 189–204. JSTOR 41691865.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.