In this article, I examined the ancient buddhist reliquaries with inscriptions of Apraca kingdom period in Gandhara. Although the name of “Apraca” kingdom do not appear in the historical references, many inscriptions of Buddhist reliquaries from Gandhara have the name “Apraca”. This Apraca kingdom might have been a small Saka-Parthian kingdom flourished in the Northwest part of India during the early period of the Common Era. Here I investigated fourteen sets of Buddhist reliquaries in total related with Apraca Kingdom period.
The earliest Buddhist reliquary of this period is the famous stone reliquary of King Menandros, which was made in 8/7 year B. C. by King Vijayamitra of Apraca dynasty. Another famous reliquary is made of silver in the shape of goblets donated by Prince Indravarma and his wife Utara of Apraca dynasty. Most reliquaries of Apraca kingdom period are made of stone, but some of them are made in gold, silver or crystal. Those gold and silver works show the technical similarities with the gold and silver objects in the distinctive Saka Parthian style excavated in ancient Sirkap archaeological sites of Taxila, Pakistan. It means that those Apraca royal family might have been closely related with the ruling class of Taxila region and centural Asian nomadic peoples.
Some phrases of those Buddhist reliquary inscriptions in Apraca kingdom period are related with the verses from some Buddhist cannons as Ekkotaragama or Lalitavistara in early Indian Buddhism. Also, some inscriptions mentioned the name of Brahma, Indra, or Four Great Kings of the heaven for the veneration of the Buddha’s relic cult. In addition, we can identify the early royal patronage of Buddhism in Apraca kingdom for the ritual renovation of an old Mauryan stupa which revealed the miracles of the Buddha’s relic. This means the ritual renovation of the old Asokan stupa have started in Gandharan region during the first century A. D. for the first time in the Buddhist world. These inscriptions and style of Buddhist reliquaries of Apraca kingdom period are very important material evidences to understand the early stage of Buddhism and Buddhist relic cult performed by Royal families in Northwest India and central Asian nomadic peoples.