First draft

Identification of Indo-Parthian King Avadagaṣa II with King Wadagos of India in

Ethiopic Book of Barlaam and Yewasef

(Muzaffar Ahmad)

Maybe it is time to identify another Indian king in Thomesine sources based on

numismatic evidence. More than a century ago, Gudnaphar of Acta Thoma was
identified with Indo-Parthian King Gadaphara or Gondophares I. Gad, name of the
brother of Gudnaphar mentioned in Acta Thoma was also found depicted on reverse
of coins of Gadaphara Gadana or in a case on reverse of a coin minted by Pakores
(Alram 1986:257 No.1181). One of the nephews (gadaphara-bhrataputra) of
Gondophares I was Avadagaṣa (Abdagases I). He could be the son of above
mentioned Gad. Cunningham identified four coins of Avadagaṣa I (Cunningham 119,
120, plate xiv).

In the last decades of first century CE, there came another Avadagaṣa /
Abdagases II. Coins of this second Avadagaṣa have Kharoshti, Greek and Aramaic
legends. He minted silver (Senior 2001:166) and Gold issues. In 1996 Grenet and
Bopearachchi discovered a coin of Avadagaṣa II in Chilas with a Parthian inscription:

After three years, both scholars found another gold coin of Avadagaṣa II with the
following Parthian inscription:

This revealed his father’s name as Sanabares son of Pakores. He was ruling
Drangiana, Arachosia, Gandhāra, and perhaps some territory in Indus region. The gold
and silver issues and a title like ‘King of Kings’ show that he was a powerful and rich
king.

The famous Book of Blauhar wa Budasaf has two main manuscript traditions. A
simple Version found in Arabic most probably translated from Pahlavi and a Christian
version. The Christian translation is commonly attributed to a monk named John from
Jerusalem who received it from people of India. The father of Yudasaf or Yewasef,
the Buddha to be, is mentioned in the story as a king in India. He is named differently
in different Western translation like Abenner, Janis etc. The Ethiopian manuscript of
the Book of Barlaam and Yewasef provides the name of the Indian king as Wadagos
and placed him several generations after Thomas visited India and established
communities of followers of the true doctrine. Parts of relevant passages from
Budges’ English translation (1923) are produced below.
 A history that is profitable both to soul and body, which a certain holy monk from
Getesemani (Gethsemane), whose name was john, brought from the country of
Hende (india) to Bet Makdas (Jerusalem).
Behold now, there hath come to me a glorious story, one that is profitable both to
the soul and to the body, and 1 will not keep silence concerning it, but will publish
it abroad openly. Certain rich men of the country of India have related it unto me,
and have interpreted to me the hidden things of a memorial that is true. Now the
country of India is very far away from the land of Egypt and it is a very large
country, and the population thereof is very great, and rivers and great streams of
water go round about through it, and men travel thither in ships from the country
of Egypt; and the desert part of it lieth near the borders of Agam and Fars. In these
countries from of old have dwelt people with the love of the worship of idols, and
the manners and customs of their lives were exceedingly corrupt; moreover their
speech was not understood.
At that time Thomas, great in holiness, one of the Company of the Twelve
Apostles, was sent to the country of Indians and he preached unto the Indians the
preaching of salvation.
And in those days there reigned over the country [of India] a certain king whose
name was Wadagos, and his riches were great and his power was mighty, and he
conquered all those who set themselves in opposition to him. And he was
victorious in war. His face and features were handsome, his stature was noble and
awe-inspiring, and he was renowned and admired for his riches in every kind of
possession of this fleeting world. He was thoughtful in mind, but incurably lazy,
and his thoughts were very evil; by race he was descended from the nation of the
Greeks. And he held in very high honour the demons who seduced him to worship
idols, and made him hold them to be gods, and to obey their behests.
And this king used to lead a life that was full of scandalous pleasures and
debaucheries. He would gather together a crowd of men and waste his time and
squander money with them in the useless and frivolous amusements of this world,
and in the gratification of wanton lusts. And he never missed an opportunity of
satisfying his heart’s desire, or in gratifying his passions in the smallest matter.
One thing alone held him in restraint in these matters, and one thing alone caused
him trouble, that is to say, the want of children, for he never had a son. And he
took the greatest pains possible in order that this fetter which bound him might be
loosed, and that he might get a son, and with this idea in his mind he used to give
away much money in alms and oblations. And thus was the king’s desire.
And the Christian people who were arrayed in splendour did not ascribe the
smallest glory to the gods of the king, and the object of his worship did not in the
least degree make them afraid, but they treated his gods as contemptible graven
images, and their hearts were carried away ever more and more by the lore of God.
And for this reason those who had chosen the ladder of monasticism rejected all
the desirable things of this world, even unto death, for the sake of Christ our Lord
(pp. 6.7).

The Aramaic ‘wd (gas) and Parakrat Avadagasa have very close resemblance with
Wadagos of Ethiopic Book of Barlaam and Yewasef. It looks like that the Ethiopian
version which is unique in recording the Kings name who ruled in Indian areas
adjacent to Ajam and Fars is the nearest copy of the original Thomesine work. Further
text excavation can reveal many other interesting features of Ethiopic translation’s
textual tradition and its origin. Here it is sufficient to conclude that earliest Thomesine
writings concerned with India have a close relation with Indian areas under Indo-
Parthian /Pahalva rule.
Bibliography

Bivar, A.D.H (Ed.Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis and Sarah Stewart) .Gondophares and the Indo-Parthians.
The Age of the Parthians.The Idea of Iran vol.2.I. B. Tauris. London. p32

Budge, E.A. Wallis. Baralam and Yewasef : the Ethiopic version of a Christianized recension of the
Buddhist legend of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva. Cambridge. 1923.

Cunningham, A. Coins of the Sakas. The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic
Society. London, 1890. Third series vol.x

Grenet, Frantz and Osmund Bopearachchi. Une monnaie en or du souverain indo-parthe Abdagases
II. Studia Iranica, Vol. 25, Nr. 2, 1996 (219-231).

Grenet, Frantz and Osmund Bopearachchi .Une nouvelle monnaie en or d'Abdagases II", Studia
Iranica 28, 1999, pp. 73-82.

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