Amshuverma

Amshuverma or Amshu Verma was a king of Nepal from around 605–621 CE. Initially a feudal lord, he rose to the position of Mahasamanta (equivalent to prime minister) in about 598 CE when Shivadeva I of the Licchavi dynasty was the ruling monarch and by 604, Shivadeva was reduced to a mere figurehead. He is considered to have died in 621 AD and was succeeded by Udaydeva, the son of Shivadeva I.

Life

Amshuverma took the title of Pashupati Bhattarak being in Shaivite majority period. The meaning of Sanskrit word Bhattaraka is leaders of religious orders in Shaivism. He is believed to have been a son of a brother of the queen of Sivadeva. He was learned, bold and farsighted ruler of Lichhavi period, he was also a lover of art, architecture and literature. He built Kailashkut Bhawan palace, which became famous as a state of the art palace south of the Himalayas in the seventh century.

The Chinese ambassador Wang Huen Che who was appointed about 640 AD makes a graphic description of its grandeur in Tang Annals of China. Acharya Kirti Tulku Lobsang Tenzin, however, states that Songstän Gampo married Bhrkuti Devi, the daughter of king "Angsu Varma" or Amshuvarma (Tib: Waser Gocha) of Nepal in 632.

According to some Tibetan legends, however, a Nepali king named Go Cha (identified by Sylvain Lévi as "Udayavarman", from the literal meaning of the Tibetan name) was said to have a daughter called Bri-btumn or Bhṛkuti. If this is accepted, it means that Narendradeva and Bhrikuti Devi were brother and sister.

It is believed that Udayadev was exiled to Tibet and his daughter, Bhrikuti, was married to the Tibet Emperor Tsrong-tsang Gompo. This event appears to have opened trade routes between Nepal and Tibet. Some early historians in Nepal had mistakenly concluded that the pictographic symbol used to name the father of Bhrikuti in Tang Annals stood for Amshu (which means the rays of the rising sun in Sanskrit, the language used in Nepal then), where as Udaya (the rise of the sun) would also be written with the same symbols. Bhrikuti could not have been Amshuverma's daughter simply because she would be too old to marry the Tibet Emperor. Bhrikuti was daughter of Udayadev and she had dispatched the Tibetan army to Nepal valley to reinstate Narendradev, her brother, as king in Nepal about 640 AD. Bhrikuti was instrumental in spreading Buddhism to Tibet and she later attained the status of Tara, the shakti in Mahayana Buddhism.

The Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang, who visited India during the 7th century, described Aṃshuvarmā as a man of many talents.

Amshuverma had been acknowledged as a person of talents devoted to the study of the Sastras. According to one inscription where he is addressed as अनिशिनिशिचानेकशास्त्रार्थविमर्शव दिता सद्दर्शन तया धर्माधिकार स्थितिकावोत्सव मनतिश्यम् मन्यमानो and अनन्य नरपति सुकरा पुगयाधिकार स्थिति निबन्धनो नीयमान समाधानो which describe Amshuverma as a person who had purified his mind by incessant pursuit of learning and debates day and night, which had enabled him to frame rules to uphold justice and virtue in the society, a fact he valued most and whose mind was at rest because he had been able to evolve rules of conduct, and maintain justice.

In his reign, a certain Bibhubarma Rajbansi, or descendant of a Rajah, having consecrated a Buddha, built an dhunge dhara (drinking fountain) with seven spouts and wrote the following on the right hand side of one of them: "By the kindness of Amshuverma, this aqueduct has been built by Bibhubarma, to augment the merit of his father." The dhunge dhara was called Nhera Hiti (seven spouts) and was uncovered in 1984 during the excavation work for a pedestrian tunnel near Rani Pokhari. The spouts are now in the National Museum of Nepal.

Pilgrimage It is usually believed that, Amshuverma was endowed with all the kingly qualities and virtues. He was a just, impartial and an able administrator. He was a true servant of the people without any political bias.

According to some inscriptions, King Shiva Deva used to say that Amshuverma was a man of universal fame and he always destroyed his enemies by his heroic nature. Some other inscriptions tell us that he had a great personality, who dispelled darkness by the light of his glory. Huen Tsang, himself a learned man and respected scholar, writes about him as a man of high accomplishments and great glory.

Amshuverma had written a book on grammar in Sanskrit. The great grammarian Chandraverma, a scholar of Nalanda University, was patronized by him. He followed Shaivism but was tolerant towards all other religions. He can rightly be compared with other great rulers of his time as regards his political outlook and impartial feelings without any religious prejudices. For the development of economic condition of the people he paid great attention to the improvement of trade and commerce of the country. Nepal had trade relations with India, Tibet and China and became the thoroughfare of India's trade with China and vice versa.

Amshuverma gave equal importance to industrial advancement and agricultural prosperity. He made every effort to help the people by providing canals to irrigate the fields. He levied a water tax, a land tax, a defense tax and a luxury tax, using the income from these sources for the development works of the country and not for his personal pleasure and luxury.

Death Amshuverma is considered to have died in 621 CE and was succeeded by Udaydeva.