Yasomati Explained

Yasomati
Spouse:	Prabhakaravardhana
Issue:	3

Yasomati (died 604 or 605 or 606 CE) was an ancient Indian queen ^[1] as the chief wife of King Prabhakaravardhana of Thanesar.

Name

Yasomati is also known as Yasovati,^[2] and as Yasomati Devi^[3] ("devi" meaning 'goddess'). Since the "s" in the common English spelling of her name is pronounced "sh" (as in "fish"), her name is also spelled Yashomati.

Biography

According to a theory, Yasomati was a daughter of King Yashodharman of Malwa and a sister of King Shiladitya of Malwa.^[4]

Yasomati married Prabhakaravardhana (member of the Pushyabhuti dynasty), and she had three children with him:

• King Rajyavardhana
• King Harsha^{[5] [6]} (हर्षवर्धन)
• Rajyashri, Queen consort of Kannauj

Yasomati burnt herself to death. This is sometimes considered sati, although sati is a term usually used for the widows who died by self-immolation, whilst Yasomati killed herself before her husbandʻs death. Poet Bāṇabhaṭṭa mentioned in Harshacharita that Yasomati distributed her jewellery to the other members of the royal court shortly before she killed herself.^[7]

Bhandi, a nephew of Yasomati, was a companion of Harsha.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Although it is not known if she had an official title, she was probably a Rani
2. Bireshwar Nath Srivastava (1976). Harsha and His Times: A Glimpse of Political History During the Seventh Century A.D.
3. Epigraphia Indica Archaeological Survey of India. Published in 1971
4. Chintaman Vinayak Vaidya (1979). History of Mediaeval Hindu India: Rise of Hindu kingdoms. Yasomati is mentioned on the pages 38 and 39.
5. Abraham Eraly (2011). The First Spring: The Golden Age of India. p. 372. "Two centuries later, in another celebrated incident, Harsha's mother Yasomati committed sati..."
6. Andrea Major (2007). Sati: A Historical Anthology. Oxford University Press.
7. Jakub Pigoń, ed. (18 December 2008). The Children of Herodotus: Greek and Roman Historiography and Related Genres. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 126. .
8. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published in 1909. Cambridge University Press for the Royal Asiatic Society.