nature of list

[Alan Entwistle]

On Fri, 11 Nov 1994, J.B. Sharma wrote:

>  The militant ascetics mentioned in a couple of recent posts is most 
> likely the Shaivite Nagas (correct me if I am wrong). I do recall 
> reading that a Naga ascetic dynasty ruled India for some time after 
> overthrowing the Buddhist Kushanas in North India (approx 2-400 AD or 
> so). Perhaps someone can shed further light on this.

Most of us are being made more and more aware of the "Hindu perspective 
on Indian history", thanks to the discussions that are and will be evoked 
by the kind of book you cite.  I hope the list does not get 
clogged up as much as it has in the past by responses to 
messages of this type, which many of us feel would be better 
posted somewhere else. 
	However, you do ask one question of "indological" interest. I've 
no idea what is meant by an "ascetic dynasty", but numismatic evidence 
and Vayupurana (99.383) do suggest Mathura was held by a succession 
of rulers who styled themselves "Naga", with names such as Ganapatinaga
and Sharvanaga, who became feudatories of the Guptas. I'm also not sure 
what is meant by "Buddhist Kushans" - The last Kushana to rule at Mathura 
was named Vasudeva.