Pauni

Pillar with Naga Mucalinda protecting the throne of the Buddha. Railing pillar from Jagannath Tekri. Pauni (Bhandara District). 1st century BCE. National Museum of India.[2][3]

The excavations at Pauni have shown that the area was a center of Buddhism from the Maurya[4] and Satavahana times, and coins of the early Satavahana ruler Satakarni I were discovered in connection with archaeological finds.[5] One of the excavated stupas, the Suleman Tekri stupa, had a diameter of 41.6 meters, larger than the main stupa at Sanchi.[5][6]

Jagannath Tekri Stupa. 20.7835°N 79.6357°E / 20.7835; 79.6357 There is an earthen mound to the south of Pauni, outside the fort-wall on the bank of the Balasamudra water body. A temple to Jagananath is built on the mound. Nagpur University has carried out archeological excavations around the Jagannath temple in 1969. These excavations unearthed the remains of a large stupa of the early historic period.[7] The stupa has a diameter of 38.1 meters and seems to have been worshipped from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, undergoing several waves of enlargements and renovations.[8] The excavations revealed also a number of carved pillars, some on the site, and other pieces now in the National Museum of India and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya. A number of the pieces of this railing carry Brahmi inscriptions.[9] Four gateways seemingly rather similar to those of Bharhut were also erected.[8] The majority of the inscriptions record donations to the stupa, but one inscription mentions Mucalinda, the earliest reference to this deity in India.[10]

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  Pauni sculptures on railing pillar, 1st century BCE. Prince of Wales museum ref.78.91.[3]
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  Pauni sculptures on railing pillar.
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  Pauni sculptures on railing pillar, 1st century BCE. Prince of Wales museum ref.78.91.[3]
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  Railing pillar, Pauni, 1st century BCE. Prince of Wales museum ref.78.91.[3]
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  Pauni sculptures on railing pillar.
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  Pauni Carved medallion on coping.

Sulaiman Tekri stupa in Pauni

Suleman Tekri Stupa. A second stupa was excavated by Nagpur University near the village of Chandakapur, about 600 meters south of Jagannath Tekri.[6][11] The Suleman Tekri stupa has a diameter of 41.6 meters, larger than the main stupa at Sanchi, and is dated to circa the 1st century BCE, with extensions down to the 2nd century CE.[5][6] Although monumetal, no sculptures or decorations were found from this stupa, suggesting a severe, unadorned, design.[6] Coins of Satakarni were found in association with the stupa.[6] Coins of the Western Satraps were also found.[6]

Hardolal Tekri. This is a mound outside the town. A large megalith stone was found here, inscribed in the early historic period with the name of the ruler Bhagadatta.[12] The stone is now in the collections of the Nagpur Central Museum.[13] This mound was not a stupa.[6]

Coins and pillar inscriptions of the Western Satraps were found in Pauni.

Coins were found belonging to the Satavahanas and the Western Satraps (Rudrasimha).[14][15][16] These Satavahana coins, among them coins of the early Satavahana king Satakarni, were found at the two stupa sites, confirming that ancient Vidarbha was part of the Satavahana Empire (1st century BCE - 2nd century CE).[17][18]

A few dozen donative inscriptions in the Brahmi script have been found at the site of Pauni, in a style similar to the inscriptions of Bharhut and Sanchi.[19]

Mahakshatrapa Rupiamma pillar inscription, Pauni.[20][21] Brahmi inscription:
𑀲𑀺𑀥𑀁 𑀫𑀳𑀔𑀢𑁆𑀢𑀯 𑀓𑀼𑀫𑀭𑀲 𑀭𑀼𑀧𑀺𑀅𑀁𑀫𑀲 𑀙𑀬𑀸 𑀔𑀁𑀪𑁄
Sidhaṃ Mahakhattava Kumarasa Rupiaṃmasa chayā Khambo
"Sculpted pillar of Lord Prince and Great Satrap Rupiamma".[22]

A memorial pillar with an inscription in the name of "Mahakshatrapa Kumara Rupiamma" has been recovered in Pauni,[23] and is dated to the 2nd century CE.[22] Rupiamma is probably related to the Saka Western Satraps.[22] This memorial pillar is thought to mark the southern extent of the conquests of the Western Satraps, much beyond the traditionally held boundary of the Narmada River.[22] As a "Great Satrap", Rupiamma may alternatively, or jointly, have been a feudatory or representative of the Kushan Empire, which would suggest that Kushan control also extended this far south, beyond the generally accepted southern boundary formed by the Narmada river.[24] The use of the word "Kumara" may also mean that Rupiamma was the son of a Great Satrap, rather than holding the title himself.[25]