THE RUKHUNA RELIQUARY CASKET: EPIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF INDO-SCYTHIAN RELIC VENERATION AND EARLY INSTITUTIONAL CUSTODIANSHIP(HIRR-2026-0007)

This monograph presents a critical historiographical and epigraphic analysis of the Rukhuna Reliquary Casket, utilizing the Integrated Relic Custodianship Model (IRCM). Preserved at the Musée Guimet, this schist reliquary bears a definitive Kharoṣṭhī inscription dated to the 27th regnal year of Apraca King Vijayamitra and the 201st year of the Yona era (15/16 CE). The epigraphic record explicitly documents the royal enshrinement of a Buddha tooth relic (dhātu) facilitated by a monastic master, Theomatissa. This study demonstrates that institutional state patronage of Buddha tooth relics was highly active in the Indo-Scythian Gandhāran cultural sphere during the early 1st century CE, predating and expanding upon orthodox canonical relic distribution narratives. In alignment with IRCM governance, this research strictly verifies the historical and epigraphic claims of the reliquary artifact itself, while designating the current biological status of the enshrined tooth as undocumented and unverified.