page_title: Vasu Doorjamb Inscription
section_title: Date
hierarchical_section_title: Vasu Doorjamb Inscription / Date
caption_attribution_description: English: Sodasa in the Vasu doorjamb inscription
context_page_description: The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is an early 1st-century CE Sanskrit inscription in Brahmi script dedicated to the deity Vāsudeva, related to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. It is also one of the several dedicatory inscriptions from Mathura bearing the name of the Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap ruler Sodasa, which are useful as historic markers for the first half of the 1st century CE.
  The inscription was found on a red sandstone temple doorjamb dumped in an old well in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The doorjamb is about 8 feet long, 1.24 feet wide and 8 inches thick. It is intricately carved on one side while the other side is flat. On the flat side, British India era archaeologists discovered that there is a 12-line inscription, which has been named the Vasu Doorjamb Inscription. The artifact is now at the Mathura Museum and a much studied item. It mentions a 1st-century Vishnu temple, a torana and a vedika.
  The Vasu Doorjamb Inscription is another archaeological evidence about ancient Vaishnavism, providing another link about the continuity between ancient religious traditions and contemporary Hinduism.
context_section_description: According to Richard Salomon, the inscription is from the time of the Indo-Scythian Northern Satrap Sodasa, or early years of the 1st-century CE. The name of the ruler appears with his full title (Middle Brahmi script: ()  Svāmisya (Mahakṣatra)pasya Śodasa "Lord and Great Satrap Śodāsa") in the inscription. Sonya Quintanilla concurs and estimates about 15 CE, based on a combination of style, script, paleography and numismatic evidence. 
  According to Quintanilla, beyond the name, the style of the doorjamb and the carving on it is similar to that found in pieces recovered from closeby locations at the Mathura archaeological site such as the Jain Parshvanatha ayagapata and the Namdighosa ayagapata. These too are dated to the early decades of the 1st-century CE. However, Joanna Williams split-dates the Vasu Doorjamb, stating that the inscription is from early 1st-century CE but the carving may be from the 3rd-century CE because the intricate relief on Vasu doorjamb is more sophisticated, reminding one of the elegance of the early Gupta artists. Quintilla, in contrast, states that the piece was likely carved and inscribed together prior to its installation in 1st-century CE because there are stylistic differences between the Vasu Doorjamb carvings and those found in the 3rd-century pieces. She states that the similarity in Jain reliefs of the 1st-century CE suggests it more likely that the Vasu piece too was prepared and installed in the 1st-century.
caption: Gupta ashoka sho.jpgGupta gujarat daa.jpgGupta ashoka s.svg
  The name "Sodasa" (Śodāsa) in the Vasu doorjamb inscription.
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