Inscribed: "In the sixty-third year of the late Great King Aya [Azes], on the sixteenth day of the month Kartia [Kartika]; at this auspicious [?] time, Prince Indravarma [Indravarman], son of the King of Apraca, establishes these bodily relics of Lord Shakyamuni; . . . he produces brahma-merit together with his mother, Rukhunaka, daughter of Aji. . . . And these bodily relics, having been brought in procession from the Muryaka cave stupa, were established in a secure [?], safe, deep [?] depository. . . ."
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Title:Inscribed Reliquary, Donated by King Indravarman
Date:5–6 CE
Culture:Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara, Bajaur)
Medium:Schist
Dimensions:Diam. 3 5/8 in. (9.2 cm)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, 1987
Object Number:1987.142.70a, b
Inscription: Six line inscription running around lid and body, in Kharoshti:
In the sixty-third (63) year of the late Great King Aya [Azes], on the sixteenth day of the month Kartia [Karttika]; at this auspicious (?) time, Prince Idravarma [Indravarman], son of the King of Apraca, establishes these bodily relics of Lord Sakyamuni in a secure, deep, previously unestablished place; he produces brahma-merit together with his mother Rukhunaka, daughter of Ai (and) wife of the King of Apraca, with (his) maternal uncle Ramaka, with (his) maternal uncle's wife Dasaka, with (his) sisters and wife--Vasavadatta, Mahaveda, and Nika, and (his) wife Utara. And (this is done) in honor of (his) father Visnuvarma. The King of Avaca (=Apraca) 's brother, the Commander Vaga is honored, and Vijayamitra, [former] King of Avaca. (His) mother's sister, Bhagidatta is honored. And these bodily relics having been brought in procession from the Muryaka cave stupa, were established in a secure(?), safe, deep(?) depository, (in) the year twenty-five.
This translation, which takes into account the variations of all the earlier ones, is by Salomon and Schopen [pp. 108-9]. Variations occur because Kharoshti originated as an Aramaic script and was not well suited to capture the phonetics of the Indian language, as some of Aramaic's vowels and consonants were different [Bailey, pp. 3-4]. Some extrapolation is, therefore, necessary in any Kharoshti translation, but especially in that of names, for which standard forms may not exist.)
Samuel Eilenberg , New York (until 1987; donated to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection," October 2, 1991–June 28, 1992.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Pala-Sena Period," 2007.
B. N. Mukherjee. "An Interesting Kharoshthi." Journal of Ancient Indian History, 11, 1977–78.
H. W. Bailey. "Two Kharosthi Casket Inscriptions from Avaca." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1, 1978.
Bailey, H. W. "Two Kharoshti Casket Inscriptions From Avaca: papers from the 5th International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archeologists in Western Europe held in The Museum fur Indische Kunst der Staatlichen Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin." South Asian Archaeology (1979) Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1979.
Gerard Fussman. "Nouvelles Inscriptions Saka: Ere d'Eucratide, Ere d'Azes, Ere Vikrama, Ere de Kaniska." Bulletin de l'École Francaise d'Extrême-Orient, 1980.
A. D.H. Bivar. "The 'Vikrama' Era, the Indravarma Casket and the Coming of the Indo-Scythians, Forerunners of the Afghans." Acta Iranica. Deuxième série, Hommages et Opera Minora, Deuxième série, 7, no. 1, 1981.
Richard Salomon. "The Avaca Inscription and the Origin of the Vikrama Era." Journal of the American Oriental Society, 10, no. 1, January–March 1982. pp. 59–68.
Richard Salomon, and Gregory Schopen. "The Indravarman (Avaca) Casket Inscriptions Reconsidered: Further Evidence of Canonical Passages from Buddhist Inscriptions." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 7, no. 1, 1984.
Kurita Isao 栗田功. Gandara bijutsu ガンダーラ 美術 (Gandharan art). Vol.2, Budda no sekai 佛陀の世界 (The World of the Buddha) Tokyo: Nigensha, 1990, p. 270, cat. no. 820.
Martin Lerner, and Steven Kossak. The Lotus Transcendent: Indian and Southeast Asian Art from the Samuel Eilenberg Collection. Exh. cat. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991, pp. 75–76, cat. no. 38.
Behrendt, Kurt. The Art of Gandhara in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, pp. 20–23, cat. no. 19, fig. 9.
Behrendt, Kurt. How to Read Buddhist Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019, p. 27, fig. 11.
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