{{Short description|Deity of the Kushan dynasty}} {{Infobox deity<!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Hindu mythology--> | type = Hindu | image = CoinOfHuvishkaWithOisho.JPG | name = Oesho | caption = Three-faced Oesho on coin of Huvishka, with traditional attributes: thunder (''vajra''), trident, club (''Daṇḍa''), vase. Bactrian legend ''Οηϸο''<ref name="JMR93">{{cite book |last1=Rosenfield |first1=John M. |title=The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans |date=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |page=93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA93 |language=en}}</ref> | script_name = Bactrian script | script = ΟΗϷΟ / Οηϸο | affiliation = Shiva | siblings = | deity_of = | abode = | consort = ''Ommo'' ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā) | children = | mount = | mantra = | festivals = | member_of = | other_names = | texts = }} '''Oesho''' ({{langx|xbc|Οηϸο}}) is a deity found on coins of 2nd to 6th-century, particularly the 2nd-century Kushan era. He was apparently one of the titular deities of the Kushan dynasty. Oesho is an early Kushan deity that is regarded as an amalgamation of Shiva.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carter |first=Martha L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lk4aAAAAYAAJ&q=Oesho |title=A Treasury of Indian Coins |date=1994 |publisher=Marg Publications |isbn=978-81-85026-25-1 |language=en}}</ref>
By the time of the Kushan emperor Ooishki (Bactrian Οοηϸκι; often Romanised as Huvishka), who reigned in 140–180 CE, Oesho and the female deity Ardoksho (''Ardoxsho''; ''Ardochsho''; ''Ardokhsho'') were the only deities appearing on Kushan coins.
==Connections== Connections to several contemporaneous deities worshipped by neighbouring cultures have been suggested. * During the Kushan era, Oesho was often linked to the Hindu concept of Ishvara, which was embodied by the god Shiva;<ref>Sivaramamurti, p. 56-59.</ref> Oesho may share the same etymology as Ishvara and/or represent a variant of the word in the Bactrian language spoken by the Kushans.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Dynasty Arts of the Kushans |publisher=University of California Press |year=1967 |pages=92–93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Blurton |first=T. Richard|title=Hindu Art |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1993 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJ-lzU_nj_MC |isbn=0-674-39189-6}}</ref> * Some later representations, evidently influenced by Greco-Bactrian culture, depict Oesho with a trishula, the traditional implement of Shiva, similar to a trident that is part of Poseidon's iconography.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Vima+AND+Kadphises |title=Coins of Vima Kadphises |access-date=2010-12-05 |archive-date=2011-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514185731/http://www.coinarchives.com/a/results.php?results=100&search=Vima+AND+Kadphises |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Consort== The consort of Oesho was ''Ommo'' ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā), as shown on a coin type of Kushan ruler Huvishka with, on the reverse, the divine couple ''Ommo'' ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā) holding a flower, and ''Oesho'' ("ΟΗϷΟ", Shiva) with four arms holding attributes.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA326 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ommo-Oesho coin of Huvishka British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1888-1208-557 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}</ref>
==Depictions of Oesho== <gallery widths="200px" heights="100px" perrow="4"> File:Huvishka Oesho coin.jpg|Coin of Huvishka with deity ''Oesho'' ("ΟΗϷΟ", Shiva).<ref name="AHH326">{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA326 |language=en}}</ref> File:Huvishka with Ommo and Oesho.jpg|Coinage of Kushan ruler Huvishka with, on the reverse, the divine couple ''Ommo'' ("ΟΜΜΟ", Umā) holding a flower, and ''Oesho'' ("ΟΗϷΟ", Shiva) with four arms holding attributes. Circa 150-180 CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dani |first1=Ahmad Hasan |last2=Harmatta |first2=János |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1408-0 |page=326 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DguGWP0vGY8C&pg=PA326 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ommo-Oesho coin of Huvishka British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/C_1888-1208-557 |website=The British Museum |language=en}}</ref> File:Vasudeva I Circa CE 190-230 Oesho reverse.jpg|Oesho, with a second human face, and the head of a horned animal, on a coin of Vasudeva I Image:Coin of KanishkaII.jpg|Coin of the Kushan king Kanishka II with, on the reverse, a depiction of Oesho and the word "Oesho" in modified Greek script. Image:ShivaOeshoBactria3rdCenturyCE.jpg|Kushan worshipper with Oesho, Bactria, 3rd century CE.<ref>Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition</ref> </gallery>
==Notes== {{reflist}}
== References == * {{cite book | last = Bopearachchi | first = Osmund | author-link = Bopearachchi | title = De l'Indus à l'Oxus, Archéologie de l'Asie Centrale | year = 2003 | publisher = Association imago-musée de Lattes | location = Lattes | language = fr | isbn = 2-9516679-2-2 }}
Category:Kushan deities Category:Forms of Shiva