Book Title: Political History Of Ancient India
Author(s): Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/032292/1

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Page #1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA BY HEMCHANDRA RAYCHAUDHURI, M.A., Ph.D., F.R.A.S.B. OF CAL IND VERSIT LCUTZ KANCE LEARNIN UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA 1950 Page #2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Page #3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA FROM THE ACCESSION OF PARIKSHIT TO THE EXTINCTION OF THE GUPTA DYNASTY BY HEMCHANDRA RAYCHAUDHURI, M.A., Ph.D.F.R.A.S.B. CARMICHAEL PROFESSOR AND HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANCIENT INDIAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY : AUTHOR OF "THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE VAISHNAVA SECT," ''STUDIES IN INDIAN ANTIQUITIES," JOINT-AUTHOR OF "THE GROUNDWORK OF INDIAN HISTORY, "AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA' ETC. FIFTH EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED CALCUT ulinda UNIVERSIT ADVANCE TRNING mm AINT OFTE PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA 1950 Rs. 15/ Page #5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PRINTED IN INDIA PRINTED BY S. C. GHOSE AT THE CALCUTTA PRESS LTD., 1, WELLINGTON SQUARE, CALCUTTA Reg. No. 0. P. 90-April, 1950—A Page #6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ To Sir Asutosh Mookerjee in token of grateful regard and esteem Page #7 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION A fifth edition of the Political History of Ancient India is now placed before scholars. The author, who has been in very poor health for a long time, has found the task of revision a difficult one. He is conscious of the fact that misprints and other faults justly open to censure have not been avoided. Fresh study of the subject and new discoveries have necessitated a thorough revision of soveral chapters, preparation of additional notes, omission of parts of the text and other amendments. No pains have been spared to bring the work up-to-date. Help of various kinds, including revision of Indexes, has been rendered by Mr. Durgadas Mukherji, Dr. Sudhakar Chatterji, Mr. Rabis Chandra Kar and Dr. Gola pchandra Raychaudhuri to whom the anthor's acknowledgments are due. THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA : March 1, 1950. H. C. R. C. Page #9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION In placing the fourth edition of the Political History of Ancient India in the hands of students of Indian Antiquities the author takes the opportunity of expressing his grateful thanks to scholars and explorers who have made accessible the rich stores of ancient learning and the priceless memorials of vanished glory that hitherto lay hidden beyond the ken of students and invesitgators. Suggestions and criticisms that earlier editions of the present work received in recent times, though not always of an instruc- • tive and informed character, have enabled the author to restate his position in regard to many matters treated in the volume. While unwilling to dogmatise on controversial points the writer of the following pages thinks that he has adduced fresh evidence in support of some of the views that were put forward years ago, long before certain recent notos and dissertations on kindred subjects saw the light of the day. He has also sought to incorporate new material which, it is hoped, may be of some little use to the ever-widening circle of eager inquirers who are interested in the chequered annals of this ancient land. The Cimmerian veil of darkness that enshrouds not a few obscure spaces in the spectrum of the early history of this country cannot be lifted by the wand of the magician or the trick of the conjurer. Even if such a feat were possible the author confesses that he does not possess the requisite implements. Help in the laborious task of compiling the indexes has been given by Dr. D. C. Sircar and Professor G. C. Raychaudhuri to whom the author's acknowledgments are due. Page #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE The volume that now goes forth before the public could not be made as free from mistakes as the present writer would have wished. Some of the errors and misprints bave been noted and corrected but many blunders, justly open to censure, may have escaped attention. For these the author can only crave the indulgence of readers. THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA: *** March 31, 1938. H. C. R. C. Page #11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION The Political History of Ancient India now arrives at a third edition. An endeavour has been made to make it more accurate and up-to-date. Questions connected with certain dynasties, particularly of the Scythian period, have been treated afresh and several paragraphs have been revised in the light of the new information that may be gathered from literature as wellas inscriptions discovered at Shahdaur, Maira, Khalatse, Nāgārjunikonda, Guņāigbara and other places. Footnotes and appendices have been added to explain the author's view point with regard to certain controtersial matters. A new feature of the revised edition is the insertion in certain chapters, particularly of Part II, of introductory verses from literature to bring out some salient features of those chapters and, incidentally, to show that poets and sages of Ancient India were not altogether unmindful of the political vicissitudes through which their country passed. The author craves the indul. gence of the reader for certain misprints that have crept into the text. The labour of revising the Indexes has been performed by Srijuts D. C. Raychaudburi, G. C. Raychaudhuri and Anilkumar Raychaudhuri. THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA December 13, 1931. H. C. R.C. Page #12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXTRACTS FROM THE PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION A new edition of the Political History of Ancient India from the Accession of Pariltshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty is placed before the public. The work has been out of print for some time, and need has long been felt for a fresh edition. Therefore it goes forth once more having been revised and re-written in the light of the new information that is coming in so rapidly and in such vast bulk. No pains have been spared to bring the book up-to-date and make it more attractive to students. Material emendations have been made in almost every chapter. Some of the extracts in Sanskrit have been provided with English renderings. A new feature of the present volume is the inclusion of a number of maps, and a few chronological and synchronistic tables, which, it is to be hoped, will increase the usefulness of the work. The incorporation of fresh material bas necessitated a recasting of the indexes. The present writer never intended his work to be a comprehensive survey of the political and dynastic history of every Indian province. He is chiefly concerned with those kingdoms and empires whose influence tran. scended provincial limits and bad an important bearing upon the general course of political events in the heart and nerve-centres of the Indian sub-continent. Dynasties of mere local interest (e.g., the Tamil Prachaitas of the far south, or the Himālayan Pratyantas in the far north) have received very brief notice, as these did not acquire an all-India importance till after the Gupta Page #13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ xii PREFACE period when a Jayadeva Parachakra-kāma had intimato dynastic relations with several rulers of the Indian interior, a Lalitāditya pushed his aconquests as far as Kananj, and a Rījendra Chola carried his arms to the banks of the Ganges. Further, the author does not claim for the period from Parikshit to Bimbisāra the same degree of authenticity as for the age of the Mauryas, the śātavāhanas and the Guptas. The absence of trustworthy contemporary dynastic records makes it preposterous to put forward such a proposition. In regard to the early period it has been his principal endeavour to show that the huge fabric of sacerdotal and rhapsodic legends is not based solely on the mythical fancy of mendacious priests and storytelling Diaskeuasts, that bardic tales sometimes conceal kernels of sober facts not less trustworthy than the current accounts of the dynasties immediately preceding the raid of Alexander, and that chronological relation of the national transactions before 600 B. C. is not impossible. In trying to demonstrate this he has not confined himself to literature of a particular type, but has collated the whole mass of evidence, Vedic as well as Purāņic, Brāhmaṇical as well as non-Brāhmaṇical, Buddhist as well as Jain, Indian as well as Hellenic.. The writer of these pages wishes to acknowledge with sincere thanks his indebtedness to scholars and critics who have helped him with valuable suggestions, and Lespecially to Dr. Barnett, Professor Schrader, Dr. Jarl Charpentier, Mr. H. Subbaija and Mr. Asananda Nag. He is also grateful for the kind assistance which he received in many difficulties from his friends and colleagues, among whom Mr. Sailendranath Mitra, Dr. Sunitikumar Chatterji, Mr. H. C. Ray and Mr. J. C. Chakravorti deserve especial mention. His acknowledgments are also due to Srijut Golapchandra Raychaudhuri who gave him Page #14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE xiii much valuable help in the preparation of maps and the revision of the Indexes. The author does not claim that the Indexes are exhaustive, but he has spared no pains to include all important references. THE UNIVERSITY, CALCUTTA : April 12, 1927. H. C. R. c. Page #15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION The object of the following pages is to sketch the political history of Ancient India from the accession of Parikshit to the extinction of the Gupta Dynasty. The idea of the work suggested itself many years ago from observing a tendency in some of the current books to dismiss the history of the period from the Bhārata war to the rise of Buddhism as incapable of arrangement in definite chronological order. The author's aim has been to present materials for an authentic chronological history of ancient India, including the neglected PostBhārata period, but excluding the Epoch of the Kanauj Empires which properly falls witbin the domain of the historian of Mediæval India. The volume now offered to the public consists of two parts. In the first part an attempt has been made to furnish, from a comparison of the Vedic, Epic, Purāṇic, Jaina, Buddhist and secular Brāhmaṇical literature, such a narrative of the political vicissitudes of the postPārikshita-pre-Bimbisārian period as may not be less intelligible to the reader than Dr. Smith's account of the transactions of the post-Bimbisārian age. It has also been thought expedient to append, towards the end of this part, a short chapter on kingship in the BrāhmaṇaJātaka period. The purpose of the second part is to provide a history of the period from Bimbisāra to the Guptas which will be, to a certain extent, more-up-to date, if less voluminous, than the classic work of Dr. Smith. • The greater part of the volume now published was written some years ago, and the author has not bad Page #16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE xv the opportunity to discuss some of the novel theories advanced in recent works like The Cambridge History of India, and Mr. Pargiter's Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. The writer of these pages offers bis tribute of respect to the Hon'ble Sir Asutosh Mookerjee for providing opportunities for study which render it possible for a young learner to carry on investigation in the subject of his choice. To Professor D. R. Bhandarkar the author is grateful for the interest taken in the progress of the work. His acknowledgments are also due to Messrs. Girindramohan Sarkar and Rameshchandra Raychaudhuri for their assistance in preparing the Indexes. Lastly, this preface cannot be closed without a word of thanks to Mr. A. C. Ghatak, the Superintendent, for his help in piloting the work through the Press. July 16, 1923. H. C. R. [C.] Page #17 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONTENTS PART I FROM THE ACCESSION OF PARIKSHIT TO THE CORONATION OF BIMBISĀRA PAGE CHAPTER I-INTRODUCTION Section I. Foreword , IL Sources CHAPTER 11-KURUS AND VIDEHAS. Section I. The Age of the Pārikshitas . II. The Age of the Great Janaka III. The Later Vaidehas of Mithila ,, IV. The Deccan in the Age of the Later Vaidehas ... . . ... CHAPTER III—MAHĀJANAPADAS AND KINGSHIP Section I. The Sixteen Mahājanapadas ... II. An Epic Account of the Malājanapadas III. The Fall of Kāsi and the Ascendancy of Kosala „ IV. Kingship ... 95 151 153 156 PART II FROM THE CORONATION OF BIMBISĀRA TO THE EXTINCTION OF THE GUPTA DYNASTY CHAPTER I–INTRODUCTION Section 1. Foreword , II. Local Autonomy and Imperial Unity ... 181 184 Page #19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ xviii CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER II-THE RISE OF MAGADHA 187 191 197 205 Section 1. General Character of the Period ... , II. Republics in the Age of Bimbisāra III. The Minor Principalities and Great Monarchies ... ... IV. Magadha Crescent-Bimbisāra ... V. Magadha Militant-Kīņika-Ajātasatru VI. Ajātasatru's Successors-The Transfer of Capital and the Fall of Avanti VII. Chronology of the Haryanka-Sisunāga Kings . VIII. The Nandas 210 216 .225. CHAPTER III-The Persian AND MACEDONIAN INVASIONS Section I. The Advance of Persia to the Indus ... 239 „ II. The Last of the Achæmenids and Alexander .... ... . ... 244 CHAPTER IV-TAE MAURYA EMPIRE : THE ERA OF • DIGVIJAYA Section I. The Reign of Chandragupta Maurya ... 264 II. The Reign of Bindusāra -... 296 , III. The Early Years of Asoka 302 CHAPTER V-TAE MAURYA EMPIRE : THE ERA OF DHAMMAVIJAYA AND DECLINE Section I. Asoka after the Kalinga War ... ,,. II. The Later Mauryas and the Decline of their Pover 322 349 Page #20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONTENTS XIX PAGE CHAPTER VI—THE Surga (?) EMPIRE AND THE BACTRIAN GREEKS Section 1. The Reign of Pushyamitra .... .. II. Agnimitra and his Successors III. Importance of the Baimbika-Sunga Period of Indian History vory .... 363 391 ... 397 CHAPTER VII—THE FALL OF THE MAGADHAN AND INDO GREEK POWERS Setion I. The Kāņvas, the Later Sungas and the Later Mitras ... • 398 II. The Sātavāhanas and the Chetas 403 III. The Eud of Greek Rule in North-West India ... 422 CHAPTER VIII-SCYTHIAX RULE IN NORTHERN INDIA +31 451 Section I. The Sakas ... ., II. The Pablavas or Parthians :, III. The Great Kushāns , IV The Nāgas and the Later Kushāns ... 458 180 CHAPTER IX-SCYTHIAN RULE IN SOUTHERN JAD WESTERN INDIA Section I. The Kshaharātas ... 483 II. The Restoration of the Sātavähana : Empire ... ... 1. III. The Sakas of Ujjain and Kāțhiāwār IV. Administrative Machinery of the Scythian Period ... 514 Page #21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER X-THE GUPTA EMPIRE : THE RISE OF THE GUPTA POWER Section I. The Foundation of the Gupta Dynasty ..... 527 II. Chandra Gupta I . 530 „ III. Samudra Gupta Parākramāřka ... 533 CHAPTER XI-TAL GUPTA EMPIRE (continued) : THE AGE OF THE V#RAMĀDITYAS Section I. Chandra Gupta II Vikramāditya , II. Kumāra Gupta I Mahendrāditya , III. Skanda Gupta Vikramāditya ... 553 ... 566 572 CHAPTER XII–THE GUPTA EMPIRE (continued): The LATER GUPTAS 581 Section.. Survival of the Gupta Power after Skanda Gupta ... ... ... II. Puru Gupta and Narasiuha Gupta Bālāditya III. Kumāra Gupta II Aud Vishnugupta IV. Budha Gupta .... V. Successors of Budba Gupta VI. The Line of Krishna Gupta 585 590 593 595 600 GENEALOGICAL AND SYNCHRONISTIO TABLES The Pāriksbita Family .... ........ .... 17 Succession of some Vedic Teachers ..., ... 51 Traditional Genealogy of the Pradyotas ... 221 Suggested chronological Table (of the BimbisāridSaišunāga Period) ... 228 Maurya Dynasty ... 367 Page #22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONTENTS xxi PAGE Early Śātavābanas Satraps of Mathurā Pallavas Sakas of Ujjain Vākāțakas The Early Imperial Guptas The Latest Guptas Synchronistic Table - ... 418 ... 45n 501 513 565 599 613 640 To face page APPENDICES, INDEXES ETC. Abbreviations ... ... xxii Appendix A ; The Results of Asoka's Propaganda in Western Asia 614 Appendix B: A Note on the Chronological Relation of Kanishka and Rudradāman I ... 618 Appendix C: A Note on the Later Guptas ... 623 Appendix D: The Decline of the Early Gupta Empire 626 Appendix E: Kingdoms of Trans-Vindbyan India 636 Bibliographical Index ... . ... 641 General Index ... ... 651 Additions and Corrections ... .... ... 670 58 93 MAPS 1. India in the Age of Javaka ... To face page 2. Ancient Daksbiņāpatha... 3. The Mahājanapadas of Ancient India and East Irān ... 4. Bhāratavarsha . ... 5. India in the Age of the Later Guptas ,, . Page #23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ABBREVIATIONS : A. B. ... A. G. I. ... A. H. D.... A. I. H. T. : : : : : Ait. Br. ... Alex. Ang. Ann. Bhand. Ins. Apas. Śr. Sūtra App. Arch. Rep. A. R. A. R. I. .. A. S. I. ... A. S. R. (Arch. Surv. Rep.). A. S. W. I. : After the Buddha. Ancient Geography of India. Ancient History of the Deccan. Ancient Indian Historical Tradition. Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. Plutarch's Life of Alexander: Aiguttara Nikäya. Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. Āpastainbiya Srauta Sūtra. Appendis. ! Archæological Survey Report. Annual Report. Aryan Rule in India. Archæological Survey of India. Reports of the Archæological Survey of India. Archæological Survey of Western India. Atharva-Veda. Baudhāyana Srauta Sūtra.. Baudhāyana Dharma Sūtra. Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume. Book of Kindred Sayings. Bombay Gazetteer. Brālimana. Brihat Sambitā. Brihadāranyaka Upanishad. . Buddhist India. Central A. V. Bandh. Sr. Sūtra Bau. Sūtra. : Bhand. Com. Vol. ... B. K. S. Bomb. Gaz. ... Br. Bril. S. Brih. Up. Bud. Ind. ... C. Page #24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Chap. Chh. Up.... Corpus ABBREVIATIONS : xxiii C. A. H. ... Cambridge Ancient History. Cal. Rev. ... Calcutta Review: Camb). Ed. Cambridge Edition. Camb. Hist. (Ind). Cambridge History of India (C. H. I.). (Vol. I.). Camb. Short. Hist. (The) Cambridge Short History of India. . Carm. Lec. Carmichael Lectures, 1918. Ch. Chapter. Chhāndogya Upanishad. C. I. C. A. I. Catalogue of Indian Coins, Ancient India. . C. I. I. Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum. Com. Vol. .... Commemoration Volume. Cunn.. ... Cunningbam. D. Digua Nikaya. .. Dialogues ... Dialogues of the Buddha. DP. P. N. Dictionory of Pali Proper Names (Malalasekera). 1). K. A. ... Dynasties of the Kali Age. D. U. ... Dacca University. Ed. ... Edition. . E. H. D. .. Early History of the Dekkan. ! E. H. I. .... ... Early History of India. E. H. V. S. ... Early History of the Vaishnava Sect. Ep. Ind. ..... .... Epigraphia Indica. Gandhāra (Fouc ... Notes on the Ancient Geography of Gandhāra. Gaz, ... Gazetteer. GB. . .. ...: The Greeks in Bactria and India. G. E. ... ... Gupta Era. Page #25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ xxiv POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA G. E. I. ... Gop. Br. ... G. 0. S. ... Greeks ... Haris. ... H. and F... H. F. A. I. C. Hist. N. E. Ind. Hist. Sans. Lit. H. O. S. .. Hyd. Hist. Cong. Great Epic of India. Gopatha Brāhmana. Gaekwar Oriental Series. The Greeks in Bactria and India. ... Harivališa.- Hamilton and Falconer's Tran- . slation of Strabo's Geo graphy. ... History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon. ... History of North Eastern India. ... (A) History of Sanskrit Literature. Harvard Oriental Series. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Hyderabad (1941) . Indian Historical Quarterly. Indian Antiquary. History of Indian Literature. Imperial Gazetteer. Invasion of Alexander. Inscriptions. Jātaka. Journal Asiatique. Journal of the Andhra Historical Society. Journal of the American Orien tal Society. Journal and Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Journal of the Bombay Branch ... of the Royal Asiatic Society. ... Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society. I. H. Q. ... Int. Ant. (I. A.) Ind. Lit. ... Imp. Gaz.... Iny. Alex. Ins. J. A. (Journ. As.) J. A. H. R. S. J. A. O. S. J. A. S. B. J. B. Br. R. A. S. . J. B. O.R.S. Page #26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ XXV M. . . ABBREVIATIONS J. I. H. ... .... Journal of Indian History. Journal of the Numismatic J. N. S. I. Society of India. Journal of the Royal Asiatic J. R. A. S. Society (Britain). Journal of the United Provinces J. U. P. H. S. Historcal Society. Kaush. Up. Kaushitaki Upanishad. Kaut. ... Arthaśāstra of Kautilya, Mysore, 1919. Kishk. Kishkindhyā Kānda Life ... . (The) Life of Hiuen Tsang. Majjhima Nikaya. M. A. S. I. Memoirs of the Archæological Survey of India. Mat. Matsya Purāņa. Mbh. Mahābhārata. Med. Hind. Ind. Mediæval Hindu India. Mod. Rev.... Modern Review. M. R. Minor Rock Edicts. N. Nikaya. + NHIP. ... The New History of Indian People (Vol. VI). N. Ins. ... ... (A) List of Inscriptions of North India. Num. Chron. Numismatic Chronicles. 0. S. (Penzer) The Ocean of Story. P. Purāna.. P. A. 0. S. Proceedings of the American Oriental Society. Pratijñā .... Prátijñā Yaugandharāyana. Pro. Or. Conf.... ... Proceedings of the All-India Oriental Conference. Patañjali. Rājuvula. . ... . . Pt. (Pat.) ... R. Page #27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ xxvi POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Rām. ... Rāmāyaṇa. R. D. B. R. P. V. U. R. V. Sankh. Śr. Sūtra Sans. Lit. Santi. Sat. Br. S. B. E. S. E. Sec. S. I. I. S. Ins. ... S. P. Patrikā Svapna. Tr. Up. Br. V. Vāj. Sam. Ved Ind. Vish. Vizag. Dist. Gaz Z. D. M. G. : ::: Rakhal Das Banerji Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads. Rig-Veda. Sankhayana Srauta Sūtra. Sanskrit Literature. Santiparva of the Mahābhārata. Satapatha Brahmana. Sacred Books of the East. Saka Era. Section. South Indian Inscriptions. (A) List of Inscriptions of Southern India. Vangiya Sahitya-Parisht Patrika. Svapnavasavadatta. Translation. Upanishad Brāhmaṇa. Veda. Vajasaneyi-Samhitā. Vedic Index. Vishnu Purāṇa. Vizagapatam District Gazetteer. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. Page #28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PART I Page #29 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Political History of Ancient India PARTI From the Accession of Pariksbit to the Coronation of Bimbisāra , CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. SECTION I. FOREWORD. No Thucydides or Tacitus has left for posterity a genuine history of Ancient India. But the patient investigations of numerous scholars and archæologists have opened up rich - stores of material for the reconstruction of the ancient history of our country. The first notable attempt to "sort and arrange the accumulated and evergrowing stores of knowledge” was made by Dr. Vincent Smith. But the excellent historian, failing to find sober history in bardic tales, ignored the period immediately succeeding "the famous war waged on the banks of the Jumna, between the sons of Kuru and the sons of Pāņdu," and took as his starting point the middle of the seventh century B.C. The aim of the present writer has been to sketch in outline the dynastic history of Ancient India including the neglected period. He takes as his starting point the accession of Parikshit which, according to Epic and Purāņic tradition, took place shortly after the Bhārata War. Valuable information regarding the Pāriksbita and the post-Pārikshita periods has been given by eminent scholars like-Weber, Lassen, Eggeling, Caland, Oldenberg, Jacobi, Hopkins, Macdonell, Keith, Rhys Davids, Fick, Pargiter, Bhandarkar and others. But the attempt to Page #31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 2 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA frame an outline of political history from Parikshit to Bimbisāra out of materials supplied by Brāhmaṇic as well as non-Brāhmaṇic literature is, I believe, made for the first time in the following pages. Section II. Sources. No inscription or coin has unfortunately been discovered which can be referred, with any amount of certainty, to the post-Parikshita-pre-Bimbisārian period. The South Indian plates purporting to belong to the reign of Janamejaya' have been proved to be spurious.. Our chief reliance must, therefore, be placed upon literary evidence. Unfortunately this evidence is, in the main, Indian, and is not supplemented to any considerable extent by those foreign notices which have "done more than any archæological discovery to render possible the remarkable resuscitation” of the history of the postBimbisārian epoch. The discoveries at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa no doubt constitute a welcome addition to the purely literary evidence regarding the ancient history of India. But the civilisation disclosed is possibly that of Sauvīra or Sovira (Sophir, Ophir) 2 in the pre-Parikshita period. And the monuments exhumed "offer little direct contribution to the materials for political history," particularly of the Madhyadeśa or the Upper Ganges valley. Indian literature useful for the purpose of the historian of the post-Pārikshita-pre-Bimbisārian age may be divided into five classes, viz. : I. Brāhmaṇical literature of the post-Parikshita-preBimbisārian period. This class of literature naturally contributes the most valuable information regarding the history of the earliest dynasties and comprises : 1 Ep. Ind., VII, App., pp. 162-63 ; IA, III, 268 ; IV. 333 ; 2 Cf. IA, XIII. 228 ; 1. Kings. 9, 28; 10, 11. Page #32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE EPICS (a) The last book of the Atharva Veda. (6) The Aitareya, śatapatha, Pañchaviñsa and other - ancient Brāhmanas." (c) The major part of the Brihadāranyaka, the Chhāndogya and other classical Upanishads. That these works belong to the post-Pārikshita period is proved by repeated references to Parikshit, to his son Janamejaya, to Janamejaya's successor Abhipratārin, and to Janaka of Videha at whose court the fate of the Pārikshitas was discussed by the assembled sages. That these works are in the main pre-Buddhistic and, therefore, pre-Bimbiņārian, has been proved by competent critics like Dr. Rājendralāl Mitra, 2 Professor Macdonell 3 and others. II. The second class comprises Brāhmaṇical works to which no definite date can be assigned, but large portions of which, in the opinion of scholars, belong to the post-Bimbisārian period. To this class belong the Rāmāyana, the Mahabhārata and the Purānas. The present Rāmāyaṇa consists of 24,000 ślokas or verses. But even in the first or second century A.D. the epic seems to have contained only 12,000 ślokas 5 as the evidence of the Buddhist Mahā-vibhāshā, a commentary on the Jñānaprasthāna of Kātyāyanīpåtra, suggests. It not only mentions Buddha Tathāgata, but distinctly refers to the struggles of the Hindus with mixed hordes of Yavanas (Greeks) and Śakas (Scythians), śakān 1 Of special importance are the gathās or songs in the thirteenth kända of the Sat. Br. and the eighth pañchikā of the Aitareya. 2 Translation of the Chhāndogya Upanishad, pp, 23-24. 3 History of Sanskrit Literature, pp. 189, 202-03, 226. 4 1.4.2-Chaturvimśa-sahasrāni ślokānām uktavān rishiḥ. 5 J. R. A. S., 1907, pp. 99 ff. Cf. Bunyiu Nanjio's Catalogue. No. 1263. 6 II. 109. 34. Page #33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 4 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Yavana-misritān. In the Kishkindhyā Kānda, Sugrīva places the country of the Yavanas and the cities of the Sakas between the country of the Kurus and the Madras, · and the Himālayas. This shows that the GræcoScythians at that time occupied parts of the Pañjāb. The Laikā Kānda s apparently refers to the Purāņic episode of the uplifting of Mount Mandara, or of Govardhana, Parigrihya girim dorbhyām vapur Vishnor vidambayan. As regards the present Mahābhārata, Hopkins says : 5 “Buddhist supremacy already decadent is implied by passages which allude contemptuously to the edūkas or Buddhistic monuments as having ousted the temples of the gods. Thus in III. 190.65 "They will revere edūkas, they will neglect the gods ;' ib. 67 "the earth shall be piled with edūkas, not adorned with godhouses.' With such expressions may be compared the thoroughly Buddhistic epithet, Cāturmalārājika in XII, 339. 40 and Buddhistic philosophy as expounded in the same book.” "The Greeks are described as a western people and their overthrow is alluded to...... The Románs, Romakas, are mentioned but once, in a formal list of all possible peoples, II. 51.17, and stand thus in marked contrast to Greeks and Persians, Pahlavas, who are mentioned very often ... ... The distinct prophecy that 'Scythians, Greeks and Bactrians will rule unrighteously in the evil age to 1 I. 54. 21. 2 IV. 43. 11-12. Note also the references to Vaijayantapura in the Deccan (II. 9. 12), the Drāvidas (ibid 10. 37), Malaya and Darddūra (ibid 91. 24), Murachipattana (Muziris, Cranganore, IV. 42. 3), practices of the people of the Deccan (II. 93.13). "the seven flourishing realms" of Yavadvīpa (Java), Suvarradvīpa (Sumatra) in IV. 40. 30, and Karkataka lagna (II. 15.3). 3 69. 32; cf. Matsya, 249, 53; Bhagavata, X. 25; Moh. III. 101. 15. 4 For some other Purānic allusions see Calcutta Review, March, 1922, pp. 500-02. 5 The Great Epic of India, pp. 391-93. Page #34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DATE OF THE PURANAS come' which occurs in III. 188. 35 is too clear a statement to be ignored or explained away." The Adiparva refers to king Aśoka who is represented as an incarnation of a Mahasura or great demon,2 and is described as mahaviryo'parajitaḥ, of great prowess and invincible. We have also a reference to a Greek overlord, Yavanadhipaḥ, of Sauvīra and his compatriot Dattamitra (Demetrios ?). The Santiparva presupposes the inclusion of the city of Malini, in the land of the Angas, within the realm of Magadha.* It mentions Yaska, the author of the Nirukta, Varshaganya, the Samkhya philosopher who probably flourished in the fourth or fifth century after Christ and Kamandaka, the authority on Dharma (sacred law) and Artha (polity) who is probably to be identified with the famous disciple of Kautilya. 5 The eighteen Purānas were certainly known to Alberuni (A.D. 1000), Rajasekhara (A.D. 900), and the 1 I. 67.13-14. Cf. also XII. 5.7 where Aśoka is mentioned with Satadhanvan. 2 It is interesting to note in this connection that in the Devimāhātmya of the Markandeya Purana (88.5) Maurya is the name of a class of Asuras or demons :Kalaka Daurhṛitā Mauryāḥ Kālakeyāstathāsurāḥ yuddhaya sajjā niryāntu ājñayā tvaritā mama "Let the Kalaka, the Daurhṛita, the Maurya and the Kalakeya Asuras, hastening at my command, march forth ready for battle." Note also the expression suradvisham (of the enemies of the gods i.e., Asuras), used by the Bhagavata Purana (1.3.24) in reference to people "deluded" by the Buddha. Mbh., I. 139. 21-23. 5. 1-6. 3 4 5 342. 73. 6 318. 59. 7 J. R. A. S., 1905, pp. 47-51; Keith, Samkhya system, pp 62, 63, 69. 8 Santi, 123. 11. 9 Cf. Alberuni, Ch. XII; Prachanda-Pandava ed. by Carl Cappeller, p. 5 (ashṭādasa-purāṇa-sāra-saṁgraha-kārin); Mbh. XVIII. 6. 97; Harshacharita, III (p. 86 of Parab's ed., 1918), Pavamana-prokta Purāņa, i. e., Vāyu Purāņa; Cf. Sakala-purana-rajarshi-charitabhijñaḥ (III. 87) and Hareriva Vṛishavirodhini Balacharitani (II. 77); EHVS, second ed., pp. 17, 70, 150. The fact that the collection of the essence (sara-saṁgraha) of all the eighteen Purāņas is attributed to a very ancient sage by Rajasekhara proves that the Purāņas themselves were Page #35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 6 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA latest compiler of the Mahabhārata who flourished before A.D. 500. Some of the Purāṇic chronicles are mentioned by Bīņa (A.D. 600) and earlier writers. But the extant texts which contain lists of kings of the Kali Age-eannot be placed earlier than the third or fourth century. A.D., because they refer to the so-called Andhra kings and even to the post-Andhras. It is clear from what has been stated above that the Epics and the Purānas, in their present shape, are late works which are no better suited to serve as the foundation of the history of the pre-Bimbisārian age than are the tales of the Mahāvamsa and the Asokāvadāna adapted to form the bases of chronicles of the doings of the great Maurya. At the same time we shall not be justified in rejecting their evidence wholesale because much of it is undoubtedly old and valuable. The warning to handle critically, which Dr. Smith considered necessary with regard to the Pali chronicles of Ceylon, is also applicable to the Sanskrit Epics and Purānas. In a recent work Dr. Keith shows scepticism about the historical value of these texts, and wonders at the "naïve credulity" of those who believe in the historicity of any event not explicitly mentioned in the Vedas, e.g., "a great Bhāratan war." It cannot be denied that the Epics and the Purānas, in their present shape, contain a good deal of what is untrustworthy ; but it has been rightly said that “it is absurd to suppose that fiction completely ousted the truth.” The epigraphic or numismatic records of the Sātavāhanas, Abhiras, Vākāțakas, Nāgas, Guptas and many other dynasties fully bear out the believed by him to have been composed long before the ninth century A. D. The existence of some of the texts in the sixth century A.D. is hinted at by the Nerūr Inscription of Mangaleśa (IA, VII. 161-Mänava-Purāna-Rāmāyana-Bhāratetihāsa-kuśalah... Vallabhah i.e. Pulikesi 1). The reference in the Matsya Purana, which is regarded as one of the earliest among the Purāņic works, to week days (70.46 ; 56; 72, 27 etc.) is of value in determining the upper limit. Page #36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VALUE OF PURĀNIC TRADITION observation of Dr. Smith that “modern European writers have been inclined to disparage unduly the authority of the Purānic lists, but closer study finds in them much genuine and valuable historical tradition.” As to the "great Bhārata war” we have indeed no epigraphic corroboration, because contemporary inscriptions are lacking. But, as will be pointed out in a subsequent chapter, Vedic literature contains many hints that the story of the great conflict is not wholly fictitious. Many of the figures in the Kurukshetra story, e.g., Bālhika Prātipeyal (Balbika Prātipīya), Dhritarāslţra Vaichitravīrya, Krishna Devakiputra and perhaps Sikhaņdin Yājñasena, are mentioned in some of the early Vedic texts, and we have a distinct allusion in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa to the unfriendly feeling between the first of these, a prince of the Kurus, and the Sriñjayas. It will be remembered that the great war described in the epic often takes the shape of a trial of strength between these two peoples (Kurūņām Sriñjayānām cha jigīshūnāṁ parasparam)*. In the Jaiminīya Upanishad Brāhmana 5 Kurus reproach the Dālbhyas, a clan closely connected with the Pañchālas who appear to have been among the principal antagonists of the Kuru leaders in the Bhārata War. The Chhāndogya Upanishad, as is well-known, contains a gāthū which eulogises the mare that comes to the rescue of the Kurus. Battle-songs describing the struggle of the Kurus against the Sșiñjayas and associate tribes or clans must bave been current at least as early as the fifth century B. C., because Vaisam pāyana and his version of the Mahābhārata are well-known to Âśvalāyana and Pāṇini. If, as 1 Mbh. V. 23.9. 2 Cf. also Arjuna identified with Indra in the Sat. Br. V. 4. 3. 7. and Pārtha in the Āśvalāyana Srauta Sutra, XII. 10 (Vedic Index, I. 522). -3 Vedic Index, II, p. 63, Sat. Br. XII. 9.3. 4 Mbh. VI. 45.2. 5 I. 38.1 (xii. 4). Page #37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 8 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA suggested by Vedic evidence discussed in the following pages, the "great Bhāratan war” really took place in or about the ninth century B. C., the broad outlines of the story about the conflict dating from a period not later than the fifth century B. C., cannot be dismissed as wholly unworthy of credence. Pargiter, unlike Keith, is inclined to give more weight to Purāṇic tradition than to Vedic evidence, and his conclusions have apparently been accepted by Dr. Barnett. It has recently been urged by the former? that Vedic literature lacks the bistorical sense" and “is not always to be trusted.” But do the Purānas which represent Sākya as one individual, include Abhimanyu and Siddhārtha in lists of kings, make Prasenajit the immediate lineal successor of Rāhula, place Pradyota several generations before Bimbisāra, dismiss Asoka with one sentence, make no mention of the dynastic name Śātavāhana, and omit from the list of the so called "Andhras”, princes like Siri-Kubha (Sri-Kumbha) Šātakaội whose existence is proved by the incontestable evidence of coins 3. possess the historical sense in a remarkable degree, and are “always to be trusted” ? Pargiter himself, not un-often, rejects Epic and Purāņic evidence when it is opposed to certain theories. In this connection it will not be quite out of place to quote the following observations of Mr. V. Gordon Childe.5 "The Ksatriya tradition (i.e., Epic and Purāṇic tradition)...... is hardly an unpolluted source of history. The orthodox view is not really based on the priestly tradition, as embodied in 1 Calcutta Review, Feb., 1924, p. 249. 2 Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, pp. 9 ff. 3 Mirashi in the Journal of the Numismatic Society of India, Vol. II. 4 Cf. A. I. H. T., pp. 173, n. 1 ; 299, n. 7. 5 The Aryans, p. 32. Page #38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE KAUTILĪYA ARTHASĀSTRA epexegetical works, but rather on the internal evidence of the Veda itself. The latter carries conviction precisely because the historical and geographical references in the hymns are introduced only incidentally and in a thoroughly ingenuous manner... The same cannot be said of Ksatriya tradition, which in its recorded form dates from an age (perhaps as late as 200 A.D.) when mythmaking had had many centuries to work in, and which might serve dynastic ends." Priority of date and comparative freedom from textual corruption are two strong points in favour of Vedic literature. III. The third class of literature comprises Brāhmaņical works of the post-Bimbisārian period to which a date in a definite epoch may be assigned, e.g., the Kautilîya Arthaśāstra assignable to the period 249 B. C. to c. 100 A.D.', the Mahābhūshya of Patañjali between 1 The work was known not only to Bāna, the author of the Kadambari, who flourished in the seventh century A.D., but to the Nandisutra of the Jainas which must have existed in the fifth century A. D, and probably also to the Nyāya-Bhashya of Vatsyāyana, which is criticised by Dignāga and perhaps by Vasubandhu too (1.A, 1915, p. 82 ; 1918, p. 103). According to some scholars the Arthaśāstra literature is later than the Dharmaśāstras, and dates only from about the third century A. D. But the prevalence of the study of Arthavidyā in a much earlier epoch is proved by the Junāgadh Rock Inscription of Rudradāman I, and the existence of treatises on Arthaśāstra is rendered probable by the mention of technical terms like "Pranaya," "Vishti," etc. It is interesting to note that the Kauţiliya, which purports to be a compendium of pre-existing Arthaśāstras, does not quote the views of previous Achāryas or teachers in the chapter on "Pranaya" (Bk. v. Ch. 2) It is, therefore, not unlikely that Rudradāman I, who claims to have studied the Arthavidyā, learnt the use of the term from the Kauţiliya itself and not from a pre-Kautilyan treatise. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Junāgadh epigraphs show a special acquaintance with the Arthaśāstra literature. The Junagadh Inscription of Skanda Gupta, for instance, refers to the testing of officials by upadhās-sarv-opadhābhiścha visuddhabuddhiḥ "possessed of a mind that (has heen tried and) is (found to be) pure by all the tests of honesty." The verse Nyāy-ārjane-rthasyacha kah samarthah syād-arjitasy-āpy-atha rakshane cha gopāyitasy-api cha vriddhi-hetau vriddhasya patra-pratipādanāya O.P. 90-2 Page #39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 10 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA c. 150 B.C. and 100 A.D.), etc. The value of these important works can hardly be overestimated. They form "sheet anchors in the troubled sea of Indian chronology.” Their evidence with regard to the pre-Bimbisārian age is certainly inferior to that of the Brālimanas and the Upanishads, but the very fact that such information as they contain, comes from persons assignable to a known epoch, makes it more valuable than the Epic and Purānic tradition, the antiquity and authenticity of which can always be called in question. "Who is capable both in the lawful acquisition of wealth, and also in the preservation of it, when acquired, and further in causing the increase of it, when protected, (and able) to dispense it on worthy objects, when it has been increased (Fleet), reminds us of Kaut., 1.1 Dandanitih ; alabdha-lābhārthā labdha-parirakshani, rakshita-vivardhani, vriddhasya tīrtheshu pratipadani cha. "The science of government; it is a means to make acquisitions, to preserve what is acquired, to increase what is protected and to distribute among the worthy what has been increased." Johnston (J. R. A.S., 1929, 1. January, p. 77. ff.) points out that the Kauțiliya Arthaśāstra is not separated by a great interval from Ašvaghosha, and is distinctly earlier than the Jātakamālā of Aryasūra (who flourished before 434 A. D., Winternitz, Ind. Lit., Vol. II. 276). An early date is also suggested by the absence of any reference to the Denarius in Book II. Chs. 12 and 19. But the mention of Chinabhumi and Chinapatta in Bk. II, Ch. 11, precludes the possibility of a date earlier than the middle of the third century B. C. The reference must be to the great country of the Far East (Cf. "China which produces silk," Kosmas Indikopleustes, McCrindle's Ancient India, p. 162), and not to any obscure tribe on the outskirts of India. China silk looms large in the pages of classical Sanskrit writers. The great silk-producing country (as well as Kambu, Kaut. II. 13) clearly lay outside the horizon of the early Mauryas. The name 'China' applied to the famous land can hardly be anterior to the first emperor of the Ch'in Dynasty (249-210 B. C., Mogi and Redman, The Problem of the Far East, p. 15). A post-Chandraguptan date for the Arthaśāstra is also suggested by (a) the reference to parapets of brick instead of wooden ramparts (II. 3), in connection with the royal seat, and the (b) use of Sanskrit at the Secretariat (II. 10). The imperial title Chakravarti (IX. 1) is not met with in inscriptions before Khāravela. The official designations Samāhartri and Sannidhātri find mention in epigraphs of a still later age. For recent discussions about the date of Patanjali see Indian Culture, III, 1ff; Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Third Session, pp. 510-11. Page #40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BUDDHIST AND JAINA TEXTS IV. To the fourth class belong the Budhist Suttas, Vinaya texts and the Jatakas. Several works of the Buddhist canon are noticed in votive inscriptions at Bharhut and Sanchi assigned to the second and first centuries B. C. Many of the reliefs found on the railings and gateways of Stupas of the age depict stories taken from the Jutakas. The texts of the Pali canon are said to have been committed to writing in the first century B.C. They furnish a good deal of useful information regarding the period which immediately preceded the accession of Bimbisara. They have also the merit of preserving Buddhist versions of ancient stories, and vouchsafe light when the light from Brahmanical sources begins to fail. 11 V. To the fifth class belong the sacred texts of the Jainas. Some of the works may go back to a period earlier than the second century A.D. But the canon as a whole was probably reduced to writing in the fifth or sixth century A.D.1 It gives interesting information regarding many kings who lived during the pre-Bimbisarian Age. But its comparatively late date makes its evidence not always reliable. 1 Jacobi, Pariśishta parvan, p. vii; S. B. E., Vol. XXII, p. xxxvii; XLV, p. xl. Cf. Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, Eng. trans., Vol. II. p. 432. Page #41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER II. KURUS AND VIDEHAS. SECTION I. THE AGE OF THE PĀRIKSHITAS. Janah sa bhadramedliati rūshtre rājñaḥ Parikshitah — Atharva Veda. A101Cor U16 We bave taken as our starting point the reign of Parikshit whose accession, according to tradition, took place shortly after the Bhārata War. Was there really a king named Parikshit ? True, he is mentioned in the Mahābhārata and the Purūnas. But the mere mention of a king in this kind of literature is no sure proof of his historical existence unless we have corroborative evidence from external sources. Parikshit appears in a famous laud of the Twentieth Book of the Atharva Veda Samhitāt as a king of the Kurus (Kauravya) whose kingdom (rūshtra) flowed with milk and honey. The passage runs as follows: “ Rūjno visvajaninasya yo devomartyūri ati vaiśvūnarasya sushtutimā sunotā Parikshitah parichchhinnah Ishemamakarot tama ūsanamācharan lculūyan krinvan Kauravyal patirvadati jāyayā katarat ta ū harūni dadhi manthāṁ pari śrutam jāyāh patim vi prichchhati rūshtre rūjīiah Parikshitah abhiva svah pra jihîte yavah pakva? patho bilam janah sa bhadramedhati rāshtre rājñaḥ Parikshitalı.” "Listen ye to the high praise of the king who rules over all peoples, the god who is above mortals, who is thought of by all men”, of Parikshit ! Parikshit has 1. A. V., XX. 127, 7-10. 2. For the meaning of Vaisvānara, see Brihaddevatā, II. 66. Page #42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ HISTORICITY OF PARIKSHIT 13 produced for us a secure dwelling when he, the most excellent one, went to his seat. (Thus) the husband in Kuru land, when he founds his household, converses with his wife. “What may I bring to thee, curds, stirred drink or liquor ? (Thus) the wife asks her husband in the kingdom of king Pariksbit. “Like light the ripe barley runs over beyond the mouth (of the vessels). The people thrive merrily in the kingdom of king Parikshit."" Roth and Bloomfield regard Parikshit in the Atharva Veda as a divine being. But Zimmer and Oldenberg recognize him as a human king, a view supported by the .fact that in the Aitareya and Satapatha Brūhmanas the famous king Janamejaya bears the patronymic Parikshita (son of Parikshit). The Aitareya Brāhmana, for example, inforins us that tle priest Tura Kāvasheya “anointed Janamejaya Pārikshita with the great anointing of Indra": “Etena ha vā Aindreņa mahābhishekena Tural. Kāvasheyo Janamejayain Pārikshitam abhishishecha.” Referring to king Parikshit, Macdonell and Keith observe3 : "The epic makes him grandfather of Pratiśravas and great-grandfather of Pratīpa.” Now, the epic and the Purūnas have really two Parikshits. Regarding the parentage of one there is no unanimity. He is variously represented as the son of Avīkshit, Anaśvā, or Kuru, and is further mentioned as an ancestor of Pratiśravas and Pratipa. The other Parikshit was a descendant of Pratipa and, according to a unanimous tradition, a son 1 Bloomfield, Atharva Veda, pp. 197-98, with slight emendations. 2 VIII. 21. 3 Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 494. Page #43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 14 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of Abhimanyu. We shall call the former Parikshit I, and the latter Parikshit II. Was Parikshit I of the Epic and the Purānas identical with the Vedic Pariksbit as suggested by the authors of the Vedic Index ? In support of this view it may be urged that Indrota Daivāpa Saunaka, priest of Janamejaya, son of the Vedic Parikshit, according to the “atapatha Brāhmaya, is represented in several Purūņas as chaplain of the son of Parikshit I who came before the Bhārata heroes. Indrota's son Driti was a contemporary of Abhipratārin Kākshaseni, “son of Kaksbasena," and the name of Kaksbasena actually appears among the sons of Parikshit I in a geneological list of the Mahābhārata. Further, like the Vedic Parikshit, Parikshit I had according to a Purāņic passage, four sons, viz. Janamejaya, śrutasena, Ugrasena, and Bhimasena, and the eldest son had a quarrel with the Brālımaņas. There are, however, other facts which point to an opposite conclusion. The Vedic Parikshit receives in the Atharvan laud the epithet rājā visvajanîna (universal king) and is called "a deva (god) who is above mortals.” In his days the designation Kauravya had ceased to be a mere royal patronymic and was applied to ordinary citizens in Kuru land. Kuru liad become the eponymous ancestor of the entire race. And lastly, the people throve merrily (janah sa bhadramedhati) in his realm. These particulars hardly apply to the shadowy Parikshit I of Epic and Purānic lists who is said to have been very near in time 1 Mahābhārata, Adiparva, 94, 52 and 95, 41. Regarding Parikshit I, the Matsya Purana says, 50, 23 : Kurostu dayitah putrāh Sudhanvā Jahnureva cha Parikshichcha mahātejāh pravaraś chārimardanah, 2 Vedic Index, i, 78. 3 Pargiter, AIHT, 114. 4 Vedic Index, i, 373. 5 Mbh I. 94, 54. 6 Vishnu Purūna, iv. 20.1. Page #44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 15 IDENTITY OF PARIKSHIT to Kuru himself. On the other hand the Vedic laud corresponds wonderfully, both in content and phraseology with the famous ākhyāna (story) of Pariksbit II, son of Abhimanyu, narrated in Chapters 16 to 18 of the Bhagavata Purūna. We are told that this Parikshit undertook a digvijaya, conquest of all the quarters, in the course of which he subjugated all the sub-continents (varshāni). He is called the supreme deva who is not to be regarded as the equal of ordinary men (na vai nạibhirnaradevam parūkhyam saimātum arhasi). He is further styled samrāț (emperor) and under his protection people thrive and have nothing to fear (vindanti bhadrūnyakutobhayāh prajāli). Proof of the identity of this Parikshit (son of Abhimanyu) with his Vedic namesake is also furnished by a later passage of the same Purūnawhich mentions Tura Kāvasheya as the priest of his son Janamejaya : Kūvasheyam purodhāya Turaṁ turagamedharāt samantāt prithivim sarvām jitvā yakshyati chādhvaraih. It will be remembered that the same sage appears as the priest of Janamejaya Pārikshita in the Aitareya Brālumana. The Bhāgavata Purāna is no doubt a late work. But its evidence does not stand alone. This will be made clear by an examination of the names of the sons of Pariksbit given in the Vedic texts and the Epic respectively. The Vedic Parikshit, we are told, had four sons, namely, Janamejaya, Ugrasena, Bhimasena and Śrutasena.3 The Epic Parikshit I, on the ot had only one son (Bhimasena) according to Chapter 95, 1 In the Vayu Purāna, 93, 21 and the Harivamśa, xxx. 9, Parikshit I seems to be identified with - Kuru himself as his son (Parikshita) is called Kuroh putraḥ, son of Kuru. 2 Book IX. Ch. 22, Verses 25-37.' 3 Vedic Index, Vol, I, p. 520. Page #45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 16 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA verse 42 of the Adiparva of the Mahābhārata, and seven sous (Janamejaya, Kakshasena, Ugrasena, Chitrasena, Indrasena, Sushena and Bhimasena) according to Chapter 94, verses 54-55, and among these the name of Šrutasena does not occur. Even Janamejaya is omitted in Chapter 95 and in the Java text. There is no king of that name immediately after Parikshit I, also in the Kuru-Pāndu genealogy given in the Chellur or Cocanada grant of Virachoda.? The Epic poet and the writer of the Choda inscription, which is much older than many extant manuscripts of the Mahābhārata, therefore, were not quite sure as to whether this Parikshit (I) was the father of Janamejaya and Śrutasena. On the other hand, according to the unanimous testimony of the Mahābhūrata and the Purūnas, Parikshit II had undoubtedly a son named Janamejaya who succeeded him on the throne. Thus the Mahābhārata, referring to Parikshit II, the son of Abhimanyu, says. Parikshit Ichalu Mūdravatim nūmopayeme, tvanmātaram. Tasyām bravūn Janamejaya”. “Parikshit married Mādravatī, your mother, and she gave birth to you, Janamejaya." The Matsya Purūna“ informs us that "Abhimanyoh Parikshittu putrah parapurañjayah Janamejayah Parikshitah putrah paramadhārmilah.” "Abhimanyu's son was Parikshit, the conqueror of his enemy's city. Parikshit's son was Janamejaya who was very righteous.” This Janamejaya had three brothers, namely, Srutasena, Ugrasena and Bhimasena :-"Janamejaya! Pūrilshitah 1 J.R.A.S., 1913, p. 6. 2 Hultzsch, S.L.I., Vol. I, p. 57. 3 1. 95, 85. 4 50, 57. Page #46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IDENTITY OF PARIKSHIT saha bhratribhih Kurukshetre ilirgha-satram upuste; tasya bhrātarastrayaḥ śrutasena Ugrasena Bhimasena iti." 17 "Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, with his brothers, was attending a long sacrifice at Kurukshetra. His brothers were three, namely,-Śrutasena, Ugrasena and Bhimasena." Particulars regarding the son and successor of the Vedic Parikshit agree well with what we know of the son and successor of the Epic and the Puranic Parikshit II. Janamejaya, the son of the Vedic Parikshit, is mentioned in the Satapatha Brahmana as a performer of the Asvamedha or horse-sacrifice. The priest who performed the famous rite for him was Indrota Daivapa Saunaka. On the other hand, the Aitareya Brahmana, which also mentions his Asvamedha, names Tura Kavasheya as his priest. The statements of the Satapatha and Aitareya Brahmanas are apparently conflicting, and can be reconciled if we surmise that either we are dealing with two different kings of the same name and parentage or the same Janamejaya performed two horse-sacrifices. Which Janamejaya actually did so? Curiously enough the Puranas give the information which is needed. The Matsya Purana speaking of Janamejaya, the grandson of Abhimanyu, and the son of Parikshit II, says: Dvir asvamedham ahṛitya mahāvājasaneyakaḥ pravartayitva tam sarvam rishim Vājasaneyakam vivade Brāhmaṇaiḥ sarddham abhisapto vanam yayau.2 The quarrel with the Brahmanas, alluded to in the 1 Mbh. I. 3. 1. In translating Epic passages use has been made of the renderings of Ray and Dutt. See also Puranic texts cited by Pargiter, Dynasties of the Kali Age. p. 4n*. The view that Śrutasena, Ugrasena' and Bhimasena were sons of Janamejaya (Pargiter, Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, p. 113 f.) is clearly opposed to the evidence of the Epic and several Puranas, as well as that of Harisvamin. Speaking about Parikshit, son of Abhimanyu, the Vishnu Purāṇa, for example, says (iv. 21. 1): "Yo'yam Sampratam avanipatiḥ tasyapi Janamejaya-Śrutasena-Ugrasena-Bhimasenah putrās chatvāro bhavishyanti." 2 50, 63-64. Cf. N. K. Siddhanta, The Heroic Age of India, p. 42. Q.P. 90-3 Page #47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 18 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA last line, is also mentioned in the Aitareya Brāhmana." According to that text Janamejaya's priestly opponents were the Kaśyapas. That designation hardly applies to the Gārgyas who quarrelled with the son of Parikshit 12 because the Baudhāyana Srauta Sutra: includes them in the Angiras group. On the other hand Vaišampāyana, who led the opponents of the son of Parikshit II, was undoubtedly a Kaśyapa. Parikshit II has thus a better claim than Parikshit I . to be regarded as identical with the Vedic Parikshit. It is, however, possible that Parikshit I and Parikshit II represent a bardic duplication of the same original individual regarding whose exact place in the Kuru genealogy no unanimous tradition had survived. The fact that not only the name Parikshit, but the names of most of the sons (in the Vishnu and Brahma Puranas5 the names of all the sons) are common to both, points to the same conclusion. In the case of the son and successor of each of the two Parikshits we have a strikingly similar story of a quarrel with the Brāhmaṇas. It will further be remembered that while Tura Kāvasbeya is mentioned in the Purāņic literature as a Purohita of the son of Parikshit II, Indrota Daivāpa Saunaka is represented as the priest of the son of Parikshit I. But it is clear from the Vedic texts that both the royal chaplains served the same king who was separated by five or six generùtions from Janaka, the contemporary of Uddālaka Āruņi, Yajñavalkya and Somašushma. Doubts may thus be legitimately entertained about the existence of two Parikshits each of whom had sons and successors 1 VII. 27. 2 Pargiter, Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, 114, Vāyu, 93, 22-25. 3 Vol. III, pp. 431 ff. 4 Op. cit., p. 449. 5 Vishnu, IV, 20.1 ; 21. 1 ; Brahma, XIII, 109. 6 Vāyu, 93, 22-25; Matsya, 50, 63-64 etc. Page #48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IDENTITY OF PARIKSHIT 19 with identical names, the heroes of tales of a similar character. The probability is that there was really only one Parikshit in the Kuru royal family, father of the patron of both Tura and Indrota. Did he flourish before or after the Bhārata War ?. The necessity felt for offering an explanation of the name Parikshit given to Abhimanyu's son, at the end of the Bhārata War, and the explanation itself, probably suggest that the tradition of an earlier Kuru king with the name of Parikshit had not yet come into existence when the tenth book of the Mahābhārata was written." Parikshit I was possibly invented by genealogists to account for such anachronisms as the mention of IndrotaPārikshita-samvāda as an old story by Bhishma in the twelfth book (chapter 151). The wide divergence of opinion in regard to the name of the father of the so-called Parikshit I, and his position in the list, is also to be noted in this connection. It shows the absence of a clear tradition. On the other hand there is absolute unanimity in regard to the parentage and dynastic position of the so-called Parikshit II.2 1 Mbh, X. 16, 3. "While the Kuru line will become extinct (parikshineshu Kurushu): a son will be born to you ( = Uttarā, wife of Abhimanyu). The child will, for that reason, be named Parikshit." 2 The identification of the Vedic Parikshit with the son of Abhimanyu who flourished after the Bhārata War does not seem probable to Dr, N. Dutt, the author of The Aryanisation of India, pp. 50 ff., because, in the first place, it goes against the findings of Macdonell, Keith and Pargiter who prefer to identify the Vedic Parikshit with an ancestor of the Pāņdus. As to this it may be pointed out that the existence of a Parikshit (father of Janamejaya) before the Pāņdus, rests mainly on the testimony of those very genealogies which are regarded by Keith as worthless and unreliable (cf. RPVU 21, 618). That the name of Janamejaya in this connection is an intrusion into the genealogical texts is evident from its omission from Chapter 95 of the Mahābhārata, the Java text, the Chellur grant. etc. Dr. Dutt next argues that the Vishnu Purāna makes the four brothers Janamejaya, Śrutasena, etc., sons of Parikshit I. If he had only perused a subsequent passage (IV. 21. 1.) he would have seen that the Purana makes the Page #49 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 20 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Vedic hymns throw little light on the domestic life or reign-period of Pariksbit. From the epic we learn that he married a Madra princess (Mādravatī) and ruled four brothers sons of "Parikshit II" as well, and while this later statement finds corroboration in the Mahābhārata, (I. 3. 1,) the earlier does not. Dr. Dutt next says that it is always risky to attempt identification of kings or the fixing of their dates from an examination of their teacher-priests' names, But why should it be risky if the names and order of succession be genuine ? The 'real risk lies in the rejection of such evidence without sufficient examination. It should be remembered in this connection that the identification of the Vedic Pārikshita Janamejaya with his Epic namesake (descendant of Abhimanyu) does not depend mainly on the teacher-priests' names, but on the following facts, viz, (1) absence of any cogent proof of the existence of an earlier Janamejaya Pārikshita in view of the omission of his name in the Java text, Choda inscriptions etc., and (2) agreement of particulars about the Vedic Parikshit and Janamejaya (e.g., words describing the prosperity of the Kuru realm, the performance of two Aśvamedhas, quarrel with the Kasyapas), with what we know of Parikshit and Janamejaya who were descendants cf Abhimanyu. The question of the chronological relation between the Vedic Parikshit and the Vedic Janaka is entirely independent of this identification. This relation has been determined on the strength of two different lines of evidence. Materials for one have indeed been taken from the Vamsa lists of the Brāhmaṇas. But the succession from Indrota to Somaśushma has been reconstructed from incidental notices in the Brāhmaṇa texts themselves which no critic has represented as late. Dr. Dutt adds that identity of names does not necessarily imply identity of persons. This is a truism which is not remembered only by those who identify Dhțitarāshtra Vaichitravīrya with Dhritarāshtra of Kāśi. It has never been suggested in the Political History that the Vedic and Epic Parikshits and Janamejayas are identical merely because their names are identical. . As to Dr. Dutt's contention that there could not be want of motives in later times on the part of the authors belonging to rival families and schools to associate á certain teacher-priest with a famous king of old, etc., it is not clear which particular case he has in mind in making the statement. The association of Indrota and Tura with Janamejaya, and that of Uddālaka and Yājñavalkya with Janaka is found in the Satapatha and Aitareya Brāhmanas and in the Upanishads. Is it suggested that such association is a deliberate concoction or fabrication ? But no shred of evidence has been brought forward to prove such a charge. No doubt misrepresentations are met with in the Epics and the Purānas (as pointed out by Pargiter and others). But it would not be reasonable to argue that the Brāhmanas and the Upanishads are guilty of deliberate falsification because forsooth there is confusion in the Purānas which are undoubtedly of a later date. Lastly the credibility of the Vansa lists in the Vedic texts has been assailed on the following grounds viz.,-. : (1) Silence of Commentators. Page #50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ : THE KINGDOM OF KURU 2 1 for 24 years dying at the age of sixty. Little credit, however, can be given to the bardic talės that cluster round his name. The only facts that can be accepted as historical are that he was a king of the Kurus, that the people lived prosperously under his rule, that he bad many sons, and that the eldest, Janamejaya, succeeded him. It will not be quite out of place here to say a few. words about the realm of the Kurus over which Parikshit ruled. The kingdom, according to epic traditiou, stretched from the Sarasvati to the Ganges. In the Digvijaya-parva it is taken to extend from the border of the land of the Kulindas (near the sources of the Sutlej, the Jumna and the Ganges) to that of the Sīrasenas and the Matsyas (in the Mathurā and Bairāt regions respectively), and from the frontier of Rohītaka (Rohtak in the Eastern Punjab) to that of the Pañchālas (of Rohilkhand). It was divided into three parts, Kuru (2) Discrepancy between the lists appended to the 10th and 14th books respectively of the Satapatha Brāhmana in regard to the authorship of the work and ascription of the work to different teachers. (3) Scant courtesy shown to an alleged teacher by his pupil. . As to (1), the Achārya paramparā, succession of teachers, is distinctly alluded to by the commentators. If they did not enter into a detailed explanation, it is because they considered it to be sugamam, spashtam, easily intelligible, plain. (2) There is no Vamśa list at the close of the 14th book of the Brāhmana proper excluding the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. There are no doubt lists of teachers at the end of the Upanishad. It is too much to expect that, in the various lists, the entire Brāhmana as well as the Upanishad should be ascribed to the same traditional authority. The Brāhmana and Upanishad texts are not works of single individuals. The question of discrepancy, therefore, does not arise. Reference to different traditions regarding the authorship of a particular work, or of particular portions of a work, does not necessarily vitiate any Acharyaparamparā regarding which we have substantial agreement in the texts. (3) It is too much to expect that in ancient, as in modern times, all pupils should be equally respectful to teachers. Was not Dhộishtadyumna a pupil of Droņāchārya whom he killed ? . . - 1 Mbh. I. 49. 17-26 with commentary. We learn from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (III. 3. 1.) that the Parikshita family was intimately known in the Madra country. Page #51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 22 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA jāngala, the Kurus proper and Kurukshetra. Kurujārgala, as its name implies, was probably the wild region of the Kuru realm that stretched from the Kāmyaka forest on the banks of the Sarasvati to Khāndava near (samīpatah) the Jumna.? But in certain passages it is used in a wider sense to designate the whole country (deśa, rūshtra'). The Kurus proper were probably located in the district around Hāstinapura (on the Ganges), identified with a place near Meerut. The boundaries of Kurukshetra are given in a passage of the Taittiriya Aranyakas as being Khāndava on the south, the Tūrghna on the north, and the Parīnahe on the west (lit. hinder section, jaghanārdha). The Mahābhārata? gives the following description of Kurukshetra : "South of the Sarasvati and north of the Dșishadvati, he who lives in Kurukshetra really dwells in heaven. The region that lies between Taruntuka and Marantuka or Arantuka, the lakes of Rāma and Machakruka—this is Kurukshetra which is also called Sāmantapañchaka and the northern sacrificial altar (uttara vedi) of the grandsire (i.e., Brahmā).” Roughly speaking, the Kuru kingdom corresponded to modern Thanesar, Delhi and the greater part of the Upper Gangetic Doāb. Within the kingdom flowed the rivers Aruņā (which .joins the Sarasvati near Pehoa), Amśumati, Hiranvatī, Āpayā (Apagā 1 Mh., I. 109.1; 149. 5-15 ; II. 26-32 ; III. 83. 204 ; Ptolemy. VII. i. 42. Tatah Sarasvatikule sameshu marudhanvasu Kāmyakam nāma dadrisur vanain munijanapriyam. "Then they saw before them the forest of Kāmyaka on the banks of the Sarasvati on a level and wild plain, a favoured resort to anchorites." Mbh., III. 5. 3. For the location of the Khāndava forest see I. 222. 14 ; 223. 1. 3 Cf. Mbh 1. 109. 24; viii. 1. 17. xii. 37. 23. 4 Smith, Oxford History (1919), p. 31. cf. Rām. II. 68. 13; Mbh. 1. 128. 29ff ; 133. 11 ; Pargiter DKA, 5; Patañjali, II. 1. 2. anuGangam Hāstinapuram. 5 Vedic Index 1, pp. 169-70. 6 Cf. the Parenos of Arrian (Indika, iv), a tributary of the Indus. 7 111, 83. 4; 9:15; 25 40 ; 52; 200; 204-08. 8 Machakruka, Taruntuka and Marantuka are Yaksha dvārapālas guarding the boundaries of Kurukshetra. Page #52 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE KINGDOM OF KURU 23 or Oghavatī, a branch of the Chitang), Kausiki (a branch of the Rakslī), as well as the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati or the Rakshī. Here, too, was situated Saryaņāvat, which the authors of the Vedic Index consider to have been a lake, like that known to the Satapatha Brūhmana by the name of Anyataḥplakshā. The royal residence according to the Vedic texts was apparently Āsandivat. This city may have been identical with Nāgasāhvaya or Hastinapura, the capital mentioned in the Epics and the Purūnas. But it is more probably represented by the modern Asandh near the Chitang 3 According to epic tradition the kings of Kurukshetra belonged to the Puru-Bharata family. The Paurava connection of the Kurus is suggested by the ßigvedic hymn, which refers to "Kuru-śravana” (lit. glory of the Kurus) as a descendant of Trasadasyu, a famous king of the Pūrus. The connection of the Bharatas with the Kurulaud is also attested by Vedic evidence. A Rigvedic ode speaks of the two Bhāratas, Devaśravas and Devavāta, as sacrificing in the land on the Drishadvatī, the Āpayā and the Sarasvati. Some famous gūthūs of the Brāhmaṇas? and the epic tell us that Bharata Dauḥshanti made offerings on the Jumna, the Ganges (Yamunām anu Gangāyām) and the Sarasvati. The territory indicated in 1 For the identification and location of some of the streams See Mbh III. 83. 95, 151 ; V. 151. 78 ; Cunningham's Arch-Rep. for 1878-79 quoted in JRAS, 1883, 363n ; Smith, Oxford History, 29. 2 Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 72. 3 See the map, Smith. Oxford History, p. 29. An Āsandi district is mentioned by Fleet in his Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts (Bombay Gazetteer, 1.2, p. 492). But there is no reason for connecting it with the Kuru country. 4 X. 33, 4. 5 Rigveda, IV. 38. 1 ; VIJ. 19, 3. -6 Rig. iii. 23 ; Oldenberg, Buddha, pp. 409-10. 7. Sat. Br. xiii. 5. 4. 11; Ait. Br. viii. 23 ; Mbh. vii. 66. 8. Page #53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 24 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA these landatory verses is exactly the region which is later on so highly celebrated as Kurukshetra. . In the opinion of Oldenberg “the countless small stocks of the Sainhitā age were fused together to form the greater peoples of the Brāhmana period. The Bharatas found their place, probably together with their old enemies, the Pūrus, within the great complex of peoples now in process of formation, the Kurus ; their sacred land now became Kurukshetra."! Among those kings who are mentioned in the genealogical lists of the Mahābhārata as ancestors and predecessors of Parikshit, the names of the following occur in the Vedic literature : 1 The absorption of the Bharatas by the Kurus is suggested by such passages as Kuravo nāma Bhāratah (Mbh. XII. 349. 44). In the Rām. IV.33. 11 Bharatas are still distinguished from the Kurus. It has been suggested by some scholars, e.g.. C. V. Vaidya (History of Mediaeval Hindu India, Vol. II, pp. 268 ff.) that the Bharata of Rigvedic tradition is not to be identified with Dauḥshanti Bharata, the traditional progenitor of the Kuru royal family, but rather with Bharata, the son of Rishabha, a descendant of the first Manu called Svāyambhuva. It should, however, be remembered that the story of Bharata, son of Rishabha, is distinctly late. The Bharata princes and people of Rigvedic tradition are clearly associated with the Kuru country watered by the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati and the names of their rulers, e.g., Divodāsa and Sudās occur in Purānic lists of kings descended from the son or daughter of Manu Vaivasvata and not of Manu Svāyambhuva. The Bharata priests Vaśishtha and Viśvāmitra Kausika are connected in early literature with the royal progeny of Manu Vaivasvata and his daughter, and not of Manu Svāyambhuva. For the association of Vaśishtha with the descendants of Bharata Dauḥshanti see the story of Samvarana and Tapati in the Mahābhārata, I. 94 and 171 f. Viśvāmitra Kausika's association with the PūruBharata family is, of course, well-known (Mbh. I. 94. 33). It may be argued that Bharata, ancestor of Viśvāmitra, who is called Bharata-rishabha in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, must be distinguished from the later Bharata, the son of Sakuntalā, daughter of Viśvāmitra. But there is no real ground for believing that the story of Viśvā mitra's connection with the nymphs is based on sober history. The Rigvedic Viśvāmitra belonged to the family of Kuśika. In the Mahābhārata (I. 94.33) the Kuśikas are expressly mentioned as descendants of Bharata Dauhshanti. 2 Adiparya, Chapters 94 and 95. Page #54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AIL A-KURU MIGRATION 25 Purū-ravas Aila,' Āyu, Yayāti Nahushya, Pūru,“ Bharata Dauḥshanti Saudyumni, Ajamidha, Ķiksha," Sanivaraņa, Kuru,9 Uchchaiḥýravas, 10 Pratīpa Prātisatvana or Prātisutvana,!1 Balhika Prātipiya, Samtanu,13 and Dhritarāshtra Vaichitravīrya.14 The occurrence of these names in the Vedic texts probably proves their historicity,15 but it is difficult to say how far the epic account of their relationship with one another or with Parikshit, and the traditional order of succession, are reliable. Some of the kings may not have been connected with the Kurus at all. Others, e.g., Uchchaihśravas Kaupayeya, Balhika Prātipiya and Samtanu, were undoubtedly of the same race (Kauravya) as Parikshit.16 Purū-ravas Aila, the first king in the above list, is represented in. epic tales as the son of a ruler who migrated from Bāhli in Central Asia to Mid-India.17 It may be 1 Rig Veda, X. 95; Sat. Br., 5 Sat. Br.. XIII. 5. 4. 11-12; Ait. Br. XI. 5. 1. 1. viii, 23. 2 Rig Veda I. 53. 10 ; 11. 14. 6 R. V., IV. 44. 6. 7, etc. 7 R. V. VIII. 68. 15. 3 R. V., 1. 31. 17; X. 63. 1. .8 R. V., VIII. 51. 1. (Vedic Index, 4 R. V., VII. 8. 4 ; 18. 13. II. 442). 9 Frequently mentioned in the Brāhmaṇa literature, cf. Kuru-śravaņa, RigVeda, X. 33.4. See, however, foot note 15 below. 10 Jaiminīya Upanishad Brāhmana, III. 29. 1-3. 11 Atharva-Veda, XX. 129. 2. 12 Sat. Br., XII. 9. 3. 3. 13 R. V., X. 98. 14 Kathaka Samhitā, X. 6. 15 It should, however, be noted that no individual king named Kuru is mentioned in Vedic literature. Kuru is the name of a people in the Vedic texts. 16 Jaiminiya Up. Br. III. 29.1 ; Sat. Br., XII.9. 3; Nirukta, ed. by Kshemaāja Srikrishņa Dāsa Śresthi, p. 130; Brihaddevatā, VII, 155-156 ; Studies in Indian Antiquities, pp. 7-8. . 17 Rām., VII. 103, 21-22. This Bāhli lay outside the Madhyadeśa and is associated with Kārddama kings. The reference is doubtless to Balkh or Bactria in the Oxus Valley. For a discussion about its identity see IHQ, 1933, 37-39. The Matsya Purāna, 12. 14 ff, distinctly mentions llavrita-Varsha (in Central Asia) as the realm of the parent of Purū-ravas. Mbh. (I11. 90.22-25) however seems to locate the birth place of Purū-ravas on a hill near the source of the Ganges. O.P. 90–4 Page #55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 26 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA noted in this connection that the Papañcha-sudani refers to the Kurus -the most important branch of the Ailas according to the Mahabharata and the Puranas-as colonists from the trans-Himalayan region known as Uttara Kuru.1 Bharata, another king mentioned in the epic list is described as a lineal descendant of Puri-ravas and of Puru. But this is doubtful. He is, as we have seen, definitely associated in Brahmanic and epic guthus with the land on the Sarasvati, the Ganges and the Jumna, and is credited with a victory over the Satvats. The epic tradition that he was the progenitor of the Kuru royal family is in agreement with Vedic evidence which connects him and his clansmen, Devaśravas and Deva-vāta, with the same territory which afterwards became famous as the land of the Kurus. Uchchaiśravas Kaupayeya had matrimonial relations with the royal family of the Panchalas. But Balhika Pratipiya could ill conceal his jealousy of the ruler of the Srinjayas, a people closely associated with the Panchalas in epic tales. The word Balhika in the name Balhika Pratipiya seems to be a personal designation and there is no clear evidence that it is in any way connected with the Balhika tribe mentioned in the Atharva Veda and later texts. It may, however, point to the northern origin of the Kurus of the "Middle country," a theory rendered probable by the association of the Kurus with the Mahavṛishass and the fact that a 1 Law, Ancient Mid-Indian Ksatriya Tribes, p. 16. Note the association of the Kurus with the Mahavṛishas, Vedic Index, II. 279n, and with the Bälhikas, Mbh. II. 63. 2-7. In Mbh. III. 145. 18-19 the Uttara Kurus are apparently placed near Mount Kailasa and Badari. In other texts they are located much farther to the north. The Kurus of the Madhya-deśa are called Dakshina-Kurus in Mbh. I. 109. 10. 2 Note the association of the Pratipeyas of the Kuru Assembly with the Balhikas in Mbh. ii. 63. 2-7: Pratipeyaḥ Santanava Bhimasenaḥ saBalhikāḥ...... śrinudhvam kavyaṁ vacham samsadi Kauravāṇām. 3. Vedic Index II. 279n 5; Sat Br. (Kanva text); for Balhikas and Mahāvṛishas see also Atharva Veda, V. 22, 4-8. Page #56 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ TRADITIONAL DATES OF PARIKSHIT 27 section of the Kuru people dwelt beyond the Himālayas. in the days of the Aitareya Brāhmana and the Mahābhūrata. The history of the Kuru royal line becomes more definite from the time of Samtanu who was fifth in the ascending line from Parikshit. Regardinġ the events of Parikshit's reign we have little reliable information. We only know that the drought that threatened the Kuru realm in the time of Samtanu had passed away and the people "throve merrily in the kingdom of Parikshit." The date of Parikshit is a matter regarding which the Vedic texts give no direct information. In the Aihole Inscription of Ravikirti, panegyrist of Palakesin II, dated Śaka 556 (expired)= A.D. 634-35, it is stated that at that time 3735 years had passed since the Bhārata war : Trimsatsu tri-sahasreshu Bhūratād āhavād italı saptūbda-sata-yuleteshu gateshvabdeshu pañchasu.' The date of the Bhārata war which almost synchronised with the birth of Parikshit, is, according to this calculation, and the testimony of Aryabhata (A.D. 499), 3102 B.C. This is the starting point of the so-called Kali-yuga era. But, as pointed out by Fleet, the reckoning was not founded in Vedic times. It is an invented one, devised by Hindu astronomers and chronologists for the purposes of their calculations some thirty-five centuries after the initial point which they assigned to it. As a matter of fact another school of Hindu astronomers and historians, represented by Vriddha-Garga, Varāhamihira and Kalhaņa, placed the heroes of the Bhārata war 653 years after the beginning of the Kali-yuga and 2526 years before the Saka era, i.e., in B.C. 2449.3 This last date 1 Ep. Ind., VI, pp. 11, 12. ----- 2 JRAS, 1911, pp. 479 ff., 675 ff. Āsan Maghāsu munayah sāsati prithviri Yudhishthire nripatau shad-dvika-pañcha-dviyutah Sakakālastasya rājñaścha Brih. S., XIII. 3. Cf. Rājatarangini, I. 48-56. 3 Page #57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 28 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA is as much open to doubt as the one adopted by Aryabhata and Ravikirti. The literature that embodies the VriddhaGarga tradition cannot claim any higher antiquity or reliability than the composition of the great astronomer of Kusumapura. The chronology to wliich it gives preference is not accepted by the - Aibole inscription of Ravikirti. A recent writer,' who accepts the dating of Vriddha-Garga and Varāba, cites only two late cases (op. cit. p. 401) to prove its currency in India, viz., the commentary on the Bhagavatāmpita and certain modern Alinanacs. His attempts to support this tradition by astronomical calculation based on certain Mahābhārata passages are beset with difficulties. For one thing there is a good deal of uncertainty regarding the starting point of what he calls the “Purānic” or “epic" Kaliyuga. He says (p. 399) “most likely the Mahābhārata Kaliyuga truly began from the year 2454 B.C. The year of the Bhārata battle according to his finding is however 2449 B.C. In other words the battle was fought five years after the epic Kaliyuga had already begun. But he himself points out (p. 393) that the battle was fought, according to the Mahābhūrata, when it was the junction of (antara, really interval between) Kali and Dvāpara, and 36 years before the year of Krislina's expiry (p. 399) which was the true beginning of the Kaliyuga. Thus the dates assigned to the beginning of Kali do not agree. These discrepancies demonstrate the unstable character of the ground on which the chronological edifice is sought to be built. It may be remembered in this connection that Kalhana, who places Gonarda I of Kashmir and the Bhārata War in 2449-8 B.C. fixes a date for Asoka much earlier than Gonarda III (1182 B.C.). This result is opposed to all genuine historical evidence and proves the unreliable 1 Mr. P. C. Sen Gupta, Bhārata Battle Traditions, JRASB, IV, 1938, no. 3 (Sept. 1939, pp. 393-413). Page #58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EVIDENCE OF THE PURĀŅAS 29 character of the scheme of chronology which has for its basis a belief in 2449 B.C. as the date of the Bhārata War. Some writers' try to reconcile the conflicting views presented by the schools of Aryabhata and Vriddha-Garga by suggesting that the Saka-kāla of Varāhamihira is really Sākya-Itāla, i.e., the era of the Buddha's Nirvūna. This conjecture is not only opposed to the evidence of Kalhaņa, but is flatly contradicted by Bhattotpala who explains Saka-kāla of the Brihat Samhitā passage as Saka-n?ipakūla, era of the Saka king? Varābamihira himself knew of no Saka-kāla apart from the Śakendrakāla or Śakabhupa-kūla, i.e., the era of the Saka king. A third tradition is recorded by the compilers of the Purūnas. There is a remarkable verse, found with variants in the historical Purūnas, which places the birth of Pariksbit 1050 -(or 1015, 1115, 1500 etc. according to some manuscripts), years before Mahāpadma, the first Nanda king of Magadha : Mahāpadm-ābhishekāt tu yāvajjanma Parikshitah evam varshasahasram tu : jñeyam pañchūśaduttaram. 1 HQ, 1932, 85; Mod. Rev., June, 1932, 650 ff. 2 The Brihat-Samhitā by Varāhamihira with the commentary of Bhattotpala, edited by Sudhākara Dvivedi, p. 281. 3 Brihat Samhitā, VIII, 20-21. 4 Pargiter, Dynasties of the Kali Age, p. 58. From the account of Pargiter it appears that the reading Pancha-śatottaram, finds 'no support in the Vayu and Brahmānda texts. The variant Satam pañchadasottaram occurs only in some Bhāgavata Mss. 'Panchadas-ottaram' is however unknown to the Matsya. One Matsya Ms. has "Sato trayam'. The reading generally accepted by the scribes seems to have been Panchāśad-uttaram. The biggest figure (1500) is probably obtained by the wrong inclusion within the Magadhan list of the Pradyotas of Avanti, and taking the period of Bārhadratha rule to cover 1000 instead of 723 years. 1000 (for the Bārhadrathas) + 152 (for the Pradyotas) + 360 (for the Saisunāgas) =1512 years, Page #59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 30 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA If the reading Paschāśaduttaram be correct, the verse would seem to point to a date in the fourteenth or fifteenth century B. C. for the birth of Parikshit. It is, however, doubtful if even this tradition can be regarded as of great value. In the first place the divergent readings in the different Mss. take away from the value of the chronological datum. Secondly, the Purūnas themselves in giving details about the dynasties that are supposed to have intervened between tlie Bhārata war and the coronation of Mahāpadma mention totals of reigns which when added together neither present a unanimous tradition nor correspond to the figure 1050, which alone finds general acceptance in the Matsya, the Vāyu and the Brahmānda manuscripts. The discrepancies may no doubt be partially explained by the well-known fact that the Purāņic chroniclers often represent contemporaneous lines e.g. the Pradyotas and the Bimbisārids, as following one another in regular succession. But there is another point which deserves notice in this connection. The same passage which says that “from Mahāpadma's inauguration to the birth of Parikshit, this interval is indeed 1050 years,” adds that "the interval which elapsed from the last Andhra king Pulomāvi to Mahāpadma was 836 years.” As most of the Purūnas agree in assigning a period of 100 years to Mahāpadma and his sons who were followed immediately by Chandragupta Maurya, the interval between Chandragupta and Pulomāvi, according to the Purānic chronology, will be 836-100=736 years. Now as Chandragupta could not have ascended the throne before 326 B.C., Pulomīvi, according to the calculation of the Purūnas, cannot be placed earlier than 410 A.D. But this date can hardly be reconciled with what we know about the history of the Deccan in the first half of the fifth century A.D. Contemporary records show that the territory that had acknowledged the sway of Pulomāvi Page #60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VAMSA LISTS 31 and his ancestors was at that time under the Vākāțakas and other dynasties that rose on the ruins of the so-called "Andhra," or Śātavāhana empire. This emphasizes the need of.caution in utilizing the chronological data of the Purānas.1 An attempt has been made in recent times to support the Purāṇic date for Parikshit and the Bhārata War, which is taken to correspond to c. 1400 B.C.?, by calculations based on the Vamśa lists of teachers and pupils preserved in the Vedic literature. The importance of these lists was emphasized in these very pages as early as 1923. But the data they yield have been made to square with the chronological scheme adumbrated in some of the Purāņic Mss with the help of a number of assumptions for which no cogent proofs bave been adduced. It has, for instance, been taken for granted that the Vamsa list given at the end of the BỊihadāranyaka Upanishad is virtually contemporaneous with those found in the Vamsa Brāhmana and the Jaiminīya Upanishad Brālumana, and that all the lists “must be" dated "not later than c. 550 B.C.” (op. cit. p. 70). A few pages further on (p. 77) the date of the Vamśa Brūlimana is stated to be “c. 550 B.C.” (the words "not later than” being omitted). The mere fact that the Bțihadāranyaka Upanishad and other works of the Śruti literature are generally regarded as Pre-Buddhist cannot be taken to prove that the entire lists of teachers and pupils appended to or inserted in all of them can claim equal antiquity. Scholars in assigning the period before 500 B.C. to the Vedic literature expressly exclude “its latest excrescences." Pāṇini* draws 1 See also Raychaudhuri, The Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, second edition, pp. 62ff. 2 Dr. Altekar, Presidential Address to the Archaic Section of the Indian History Congress, Proceedings of the Third Session, 1939, pp. 68-77. 3 Winternitz, A History of Indian Literature, p. 27, 4 IV. 3. 105. Page #61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 32 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA a distinction between Vedic works which, to him, are Purānaprokta and those that he does not obviously regard as equally old. The date "c. 550 B.C." has even less justification than the vague words "not later than c. 550 B.C.”. It has been stated further that the period separating the priests of Janamejaya from c. 550 B.C. is 800 years. This figure is obtained by accepting the round number 40 for the intervening generations and assigning to each generation in the guruśishya paramparà a period of 20 years. The probative value of this mode of calculation is impaired by the fact that the aetual number of teachers of the period given in the Brihadāranyaka Upanishad is 45 and not 40 (p. 70), and the true average length of a spiritual generation is, according to Jaina and Buddhist evidence, about 30 and not 20 years. Moreover, it should not be forgotten that if the lists which form the basis of calculation are really to be dated 'not later than c. 550 B.C.;' c. 1350 B.C. (550 +800) can only be regarded as a terminus ad quem. The terminus a quo still remains to be determined. The uncertainty regarding the date of the particular Vamsa lists, on which the whole chronological theory rests, lays even the lower limit open to objection. Tradition recorded in the Kathā-sarit-sagara points to a date for the Pārikshitas which is much later than that assigned to them by Purāṇic chroniclers and astronomers of the Gupta Age'. It refers to Udayana, king of Kaušāmbi (c. 500 B.C.), as fifth in lineal succession from Parikshit. The evidence is late but the text professes to embody tradition that goes back to Gunādhya who is known to Bāņa (c. 600 A.D.) and is assigned to the Sātavāhana period. 1 Jacobi, Parišishtaparvan, 2nd ed. xviii ; Rhys Davids, Buddhist. Suttas, Introduction, xlvii. 2 Kathā-sarit-sāgara, IX, 6-7 ff. Penzer, I. 95. Page #62 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ASVALAYANA AND SANKHAYANA 33 A comparatively late date, albeit not the date suggested by the Katha-sarit-sagara, can also be inferred from certain passages in the later Vedic texts. We shall show in the next section that Parikshit's son and successor Janamejaya was separated by five or six generations of teachers from the time of Janaka of the Upanishads and his contemporary Uddalaka Āruni. At the end of the Kaushitaki or Sunkhāyana Aranyaka1 we find a-vamsa or list of the teachers by whom the knowledge contained in that Aranyaka is supposed to have been handed down. The opening words of this list run thus : "Om! Now follows the vamsa. Adoration to the Brahman! Adoration to the teachers! We have learnt this text from Gunakhya Sankhāyana, Guṇākhya Sāůkhāyana from Kalola Kaushitaki, Kahola Kaushitaki from Uddālaka Āruņi.” The passage quoted above makes it clear that Guṇakhya Sankhayana was separated by two generations from the time of Uddalaka who was separated by five or six generations from the time of Janamejaya. Guṇākhya, therefore, lived seven or eight generations after Parikshit. He could not have flourished much later than Aśvalayana because the latter, or preferably his pupil, honours his guru Kahola. It is to be noted that we have no personal name prefixed to Āśvalāyana as we have in the case of Sankhayana. This probably suggests that Vedic tradition knew only of one great teacher named Aśvalayana. It is significant that both in Vedic and Buddhist literature this famous scholar is associated with one and the same locality, viz., Kosala, modern Oudh. The Prasna Upanishad tells us that Asvalayana was a Kausalya, i.e., an 1 Adhaya 15. 2 S. B. E., Vol. XXIX, p. 4 3 Aśvalayana Grihya Sutra, III. 4. 4. O.P. 90-5 Page #63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 34 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA inhabitant of Kosala, and a contemporary of Kabandhi Kātyāyana. These facts enable us to identify him with Assalāyana of Sāvatthi (a city in Kosala) mentioned in the Majjhima Nikāyal as a famous Vedic scholar, and a contemporary of Gotama Buddha-and, hence, of Kakuda? or Pakudha Kachchāyana. The reference to Gotama's contemporary as a master of kețubha, i.e., kalpa or ritual, makes it exceedingly probable that he is to be identified with the famous Āśvalāyana of the Grihya Sūtras. Consequently the latter must have lived in the sixth century B. C. Guņākhya sāúkhāyana, those teacher Kabola is honoured by the famous Grihyasūtra-Kūra, cannot be placed later than that century. That the upper limit of Guņākhya's date is not far removed from the lower one is suggested in the first place by the reference in his Aranyaka to Paushkarasādi, Lauhitya and a teacher who is styled Magadhavāsi. The first two figure in the Ambattha and Lohichcha suttas, among the contemporaries of the Buddha. The attitude of respect towards a Magadhan teacher in the Aranyaka points to an age later, than that reflected in the Srauta sūtras which mention Brāhmaṇas hailing from the locality in question in a depreciatory tone as Brahmabandhu Mūgadha-desîya. Goldstiicker points outs that Pāṇini used the word Āranyala only in the sense of a man living in the forest. It is Kātyāyana (fourth century B.C.) who vouchsafes in a Vārttika the information that the same 1 11. 147, et seq. 2 "Tinnam Vedānai pāragū sanighandu ketubhānam." 3 As to the equation kabandhi = kakuda, see IHO, 1932, 603 ff. Kabandha in the Atharva Veda, X. 2.3 means śroni and ūru (hips and thighs). According to Amara kakudmati has substantially the same meaning, 4 Vedic Index, II. 116. Isolated references to Paushkarasādi and others may not be of much value. What we have to consider is the cumulative effect of the references in the Sankhāyana Aranyaka combined with the testimony of Pāņini and Apastamba. 5. Panini, His place in Sanskrit Literature, 1914, 99, not be vedic Index, II. 116. antially the same mea Chips and thighs). Page #64 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DATE OF SANKHĀYANA 35 expression is also used in the sense of treatises "read in the forest." The silence of Pāṇini in regard to this additional meaning of the term, when contrasted with the clear statement of the later grammarian, leaves little room for doubt that Aranyaka in the sense of a forest-treatise was well known to writers traditionally assigned to the fourth century B.C., but not to Pāṇini. It may be recalled in this connection that, unlike Kātyāyana again, Pāṇini does not include the works of Yājñavalkya, a contemporary of Kahola, the teacher of Guņākhya, among the older (Purūna-prokta) Brāhmaṇas. Svetaketu, another contemporary of Kahola, teacher of Guņākhya, is mentioned in the Dharmzsūtra of Āpastamba' as an avara or modern authority. The reference to Yavanāni in the sūtrass of Pånini and the tradition recorded in the Kāvya-Mimārsūt that he made his mark in the city of Pāțaliputra (founded, as we know, after the death of the Buddha c. 486 B. C., in the reign of Udāyin), clearly suggest that he could not have flourished before the sage of the Sākyas. Profound as his knowledge is in regard to Vedic literature, Pāṇini is unaware of the existence of Āranyakas as a class of forest-treatises. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to conclude that he could not have been considerably posterior to the great masters of the Aranyakas among whom Guņākhya Sankhāyana holds an honoured place. In other words, the upper limit of the date of this teacher almost coincides with the tower. With a date for him in the sixth century B. C. all the evidence accommodates itself. We are now left with the task of attempting to measure the distance between Guņākhya and Parikshit. Professor 1 IV. 3. 105 with commentary quoted on page 106n of Goldstücker's Panini, Yajňavalkyādayo hi na chira kālā ityākhyāneshu vārtā. 2 Dharma Sutra, 1, 2, 5, 4-6. 3 IV. I. 49. 4 P. 55. Page #65 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 36 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Rhys Davids in his Buddhist Suttas assigns 150 years to the five Theras from Upāli to Mahinda. Jacobi, too, informs us that the average length of a patriarchate may be estimated at about 30 years. We may, therefore, assign 240 or 270 years to the eight or nine generations from Parikshit to Guņāklıya Sārklāyana, and place the former in the ninth century B.C. Parikshit was succeeded on the Kuru throne by his eldest son Janamejaya. The Mahābhārata refers to a great snake-sacrifice performed by this king. In this connection it is stated that the king conquered Taxila. It is clear from the Panchavimśa Brāhmana? and the Baudhāyana Srauta Sūtra3 that the epic account of the Kuru king's Sarpa-satra, cannot be regarded as having any historical basis. There is hardly any doubt that the Satra inentioned in the Vedic texts is the prototype of the famous sacrifice described in the epic. The story seems to have undergone three stages of development. The original tale is concerned with a mythical rite performed by the serpents one of whom was named Janamejaya, who served as an Adhvaryu (priest). "Through this rite the serpents vanquished death.” The next stage is reached in the Baudhāyana þrauta Sūtra. Janainejaya appears among the kings and princes of the serpents assembled for sacrifice in human shape at Khāņdavaprastha (in the Kurn country) with the object of obtaining poison. In the epic the performer of the sacrifice is identified with the Kuru king; and the object of the sacrifice is not the acquisition of immortality for the serpents, or of poison, but the extinction of these 1 Mbh. 1. 3. 20. For early references to Taxila, ee also Pāņini, IV. 3. 93 ; Vinaya Texts, pt. II. p. 174 ; Malalasekera, Dictionary, I. p. 982. 2 XXV. 15; Vedic Index, I. p. 274. 3 Vol. II, p. 298 ; XVII. 18. Page #66 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONQUESTS OF JANAMEJAYA 37 reptiles. It is impossible to find in the doings of these venomous creatures a reference to an historic strife.1 The conquest of Taxila by the Kuru king may, however, be an historical fact, because King Janamejaya is represented as a great conqueror in the Brahmanas. Thus the Aitareya Brahmana says: "Janamejayah Purikshitaḥ samantam sarvataḥ prithivīm jayan pariyāyāśvena cha medhyeneje, tadesha'bhi yajña-gathā gīyate : Asandivati dhanyūdam rukminam haritasrajam asvam babandha sarangam3 devebhyo Janamejaya iti" "Janamejaya Parikshita went round the earth completely, conquering on every side, and offered the horse in sacrifice." Regarding this a sacrificial verse is sung: "In Asandivat Janamejaya bound for the gods a black-spotted grain-eating horse, adorned with a golden ornament and with yellow garlands." In another passage of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇas it is stated that Janamejaya aspired to be a "Sarvabhūmi,” i.e., a universal sovereign : "Evamvidam hi vai mumevamvido yajayanti tasmād aham jayamyabhītvarim senām jayamyabhītvaryā senayā na mā divya na mūnushya ishava richchhantyeshyāmi sarvamayuḥ sarvabhumir bhavishyāmīti.” (Janamejaya Parikshita used to say) "Those who know thus sacrifice for me who know thus ; therefore I conquer the assailing host, I conquer with an assailing host. Me 1 Panchavimśa Brahmana, translated by Dr. W. Caland, p. 641; cf. Winternitz, JBBrRAS., 1926, 74. ff; Pargiter, AIHT, p. 285, observes that "the Nagas killed Parikshit II, but his son Janamejaya III defeated them and peace was made !" 2 VIII. 21. 3 Variant-abadhnādaśvaṁ sārangam-Śat. Br. xiii. 5. 4. 1-2. 4 Keith, Rig-Veda Brahmanas, 336; Eggeling, Śat. Br. V, p. 396. 5 VIII. 11. Page #67 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 38 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA neither the arrows of heaven nor of men reach. I shall live all my life, I shall become lord of all the earth." The possession of Taxila in the extreme north-west implies control over Madra or the central Panjab, the homeland of Janamejaya's mother Madravati.1 In this connection it may be remembered that the western frontier of the Kuru country once extended as far as the Parinah or Parenos, a tributary of the Indus. Princes of the Paurava race ruled in the territory lying between the Jhelam and the Ravi down to the time of Alexander, while Ptolemy, the geographer, expressly mentions the Pandus as the rulers of Sakala (Sialkot) in the heart of this extensive region. It was presumably after his victorious campaigns that Janamejaya was consecrated with the Punar-abhisheka and the Aindra mahabhisheka, performed two horse-sacrifices and had a dispute with Vaisampayana and the Brahmaņas. The Matsya version, which is considered by Pargiter to be the oldest, says the king made a successful stand against them for some time, but afterwards gave in and, making his son king, departed to the forest; but the Vayu version says he perished and the Brahmaņas made his son king. The broad facts of the Puranic narrative are confirmed by the evidence of the Brahmanas. The Satapatha Brahmana refers to one of the horse-sacrifices, and says that the priest who performed the rite for him was Indrota Daivapi Saunaka. The Aitareya Brahmana mentions the other sacrifice and names Tura Kāvasheya as his priest. It also contains a tale stating that at one sacrifice of his he did not employ the Kasyapas, but the Bhutaviras. Thereupon a family of the Kasyapas called Asita-mriga forcibly took away the conduct of the 1 The Bhagavata Purana (I. xvi. 2) mentions Iravati, daughter of Uttara as the mother of Janamejaya and his brothers. Page #68 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ - ROYAL SEAT OF JANAMEJAYA 39 offering from the Bhītavīras. We have here probably the germ of the Purānic stories about Janamejaya's dispute with the Brāhmaṇas. Vaišampāyana, who headed the oppoạents of Janamejaya, undoubtedly belonged to the Kasyapa clan. An allusion to the famous quarrel occurs also in the Kauţilîya Arthaśāstra (kopāj-Janamejayo Brāhmaneshu vikrāntah). The Gopatha Brāhmana narrates an anecdote of Janamejaya and two ganders, pointing out the importance of Brahmacharya, and the time which should be devoted to it. The story is obviously mythical but it shows that Janamejaya was already looked upon as a legendary hero in the time of the Gopatha Brūlimana.' Janamejaya's capital, according to a sacrificial song (yajña-gātha) quoted above, was Åsandivat to which reference has already been made. The Satapatha Brāhmaṇa affords an interesting glimpse of life in the royal palace or sacrificial hall : Samūnūutsadam ukshanti hayān kūshthabh?ito yathā pūrmūn parisrutah kumbhān Janamejayasādana' iti “Even as they constantly sprinkle the equal prizewinning steeds so (they pour out) the cups full of fiery liquor in the palace (or sacrificial hall) of Janamejaya.” “Curds, stirred drink or liquor” were favourite beverages of the Kurus already in the days of Parikshit. If the Mahābhārata is to be believed, Janamejaya sometimes held his court at Taxila, and it was at Taxila that Vaišam pāyana is said to have related to him the story of 1 Gopatha Brāhmana, ed, by R. L. Mitra and Harachandra Vidyābhūshana, pp. 25 ff. (I. 2, 5). In connection with the legend referred to above we hear of a sage named Dantābala Dhaumra who is identified by some recent writers with Dantāla Dhaumya of the faiminiya Brāhmaṇa. The conjecture lacks proof. In the Baudhāyana Srauta Sutra, Vol. III, p. 449, "Dhumras, Dhumrāyanas and Dhaumyas" find separate mention as distinct members of the Kasyapa group. 2 Sat. Br. XI. 5. 5, 13. Eggeling, V. 95. Page #69 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 40 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the great conflict between the Kurus and the Pāndus who had for their allies several peoples including the Sșiñjayas. No direct independent proof of this war is forthcoming, but allusions to the hostility of Kurus and Sriñjayas, which forms an important feature of the epic ballads, are met with in the Satapatha Brūhmaṇa.? Moreover Hopkins invites attention to a gūthū in the Chhāndogya Upanishads which alludes to the mare which saves the Kurus :Yato yata ūvartate tat tad gachchhati mūnavah ............... .kurūn aśvābhirakshati. The verse cannot fail to recall the disaster (Kurūņām vaisasam) referred to in the Mahābhārata. It may be asserted that the Pandus are a body of strangers unknown to the Vedic texts, and that, therefore, the story of their feuds with the Kurus must be postVedic. But such a conclusion would be wrong because, firstly, an argumentum ex silentio is seldom conclusive, and, secondly, the Pāndus are, according to Indian tradition, not a body of strangers but in fact scions of the Kurus. Hopkins indeed says that they were an unknown folk connected with the wild tribes located north of the Ganges. But Patañjalie calls Bhima, Nakula and Sahadeva Kurus. Hindu tradition is unanimous in representing the Pāņdavas as an offshoot of the Kuru race just as the Kurus themselves were an offshoot of the Bharatas. 1 Mbh., XVIII. 5. 34. 2 The battle of Kuru-kshetra is very often described as a fight between the Kurus and the Spiñjayas (Mbh., VI. 45. 2; 60. 29 ; 72, 15 ; 73. 41 ; VII. 20.41; 149. 40; VIII, 47. 23 ; 57.12 ; 59. 1 ; 93. 1). The unfriendly feeling between these two peoples is distinctly alluded to in the Satapatha Brāhmana XII. 9. 3. 1 ff.; Vedic Index, II, p. 63.) 3 IV. 17. 9-10; The Great Epic of India, p. 385. 4 Mbh. IX. 35. 20. 5 The Religions of India, p. 388. 6 IV. 1. 4. 7 Ind. Ant., I, p. 350. Page #70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE PARIKSHITA FAMILY 43 Pārilshitā yajamānā aśvamedhaih paro'varam ajahuḥ karmapāpakaṁ punyāh, punyena karmanā. “The righteous Parikshitas, performing horsesacrifices, by their righteous work did away with sinful work one after another." It may be presumed that the breach with the 'lords spiritual of those days was healed in this way and for the time being priests and princes in the Kuru country lived in harmony. The Purūnas state that Janamejaya was succeeded by Satānika. Satānīka's son and successor was Ašvamedha-datta. From Aśvamedha-datta was born Adhisima-ksishņa famed in the Vayu and Matsya Purānas. Adhisīma-krislıņa’s son was Nichakohu. During Nichakshu's reign the city of Hāstinapura is said to have been carried away by the Ganges, and the king is said to have transferred his residence to Kaušāmbī, or Kosam near Allahabad.2 The Vedic texts do not refer in clear terms to any of these successors of Janamejaya or to the city of Hāstinapura which figures as the principal metropolis of the Kurus in the epic and the Purāņas. The antiquity of the city is, however, clearly proved by the evidence of Pāṇini.3 As to the princes the Rig Veda no doubt mentions a (Bhārata) king named Aśvamedha," but there 1 Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 3. Cf. Mbh. XII. 152, 38. The sinful deeds of which the eldest of the Pārikshitas was guilty, according to the epic, were Brahmahatyā and bhrūnahatyā (ibid, 150 Verses 3 and 9). Cf. also Sat. Br. XIII, 5. 4. 1. 2 Gangayāpahrite tasmin nagare Nāgasāhvaye tyaktvā Nichakshu nagaram Kauśāmbyām sa nivatsyati. When the city of Nāgasāhvaya (Hāstinapura) is carried away by the Ganges, Nichakshu will abandon it and will dwell in-Kaušāmbi. S . Pargiter, Dynasties of the Kali Age, P. 5. That Hāstinapura stood on the Ganges is clear from the Rāmāyana (11. 68. 13). the Mahābhārata (1, 128), and the Mahābhāshya (anugangam Hastinapuram). 3 VI. 2, 101. 4 V. 27.4–6. Page #71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 44 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA is nothing to show that he is identical with Aśvamedhadatta. A Satānika Sātrājita is mentioned in the Aitareya Brāhmana and the Satapatha Brāhmana as a powerful king who defeated Dhritarāshtra, a prince of Kāsi, and took away his sacrificial horse. He, too, was probably a Bharata,' but the patronymic Sātrājita probably indicates that he was different from Satānika, the son of Janamejaya. The Panchavimśa Brāhmaṇa, the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brāhmana and the Chhāndogya Upanishad mention a Kuru king named Abhipratārin Kākshaseni, who was a contemporary of Girikshit Auchchamanyava, Saunaka Kāpeya and Driti Aindrota. As Dșiti was the son and pupil of Indrota Daivāpa (Daivāpi) Saunaka, the priest of Janamejaya, Abhipratārin, son of Kakshasena, appears to have been one of the immediate successors of the great king. We have already seen that Kakshasena appears in the Mahābhārata s as the name of a brother of Janamejaya. Abhipratārin was thus Janamejaya's nephew. The Aitareya Brāhmana and the sānkhāyana Srauta Sutrat refer to a prince named Vriddhadyumna Ābhipratāriņa, apparently the son of Abhipratārin. The Aitarèya Brāhmana' possibly mentions bis son Rathagritsa and priest Suchivșiksha Gaupālāyana. The Sankhāyana Śrauta Satra? informs us that Vriddhadyumna erred in a sacrifice, when a Brāhmaṇa uttered a curse that the result would be the expulsion of the Kurus from Kurukshetra. an event which actually came to pass. 1 sat, Br. XIII. 5. 4. 19-23, 2 Vamsa Brāhmana ; Vedic Index, Vol. I, pp. 27, 373. 3 I. 94, 54. 4 XV. 16. 10-13. 5 Trivedi's translation, pp. 322-23. 6 A Gaupālāyana also held the important post of the Sthapati of the Kurus (Baudh. Śr. Sutra, XX. 25 ; Vedic Index, 1. 128). His relationship with Suchivriksha is, however, not known. 7 XV. 16, 10-13, Page #72 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RECITER OF THE GREAT EPIC 41 The very name of the Great Epic betrays the Bhārata (Kuru) connection of the principal heroes and combatants. The testimony of Buddhist literature points to the same conclusion. In the Dasa-Brāhmana Jātakal a king "of the stock of Yuddhitthila” reigning "in the kingdom of Kuru and the city called Indapatta” is distinctly called “Koravya," i.e., Kauravya-belonging to the Kuru race. The polyandrous marriage of the Pāņdavas does not · necessarily indicate that they are of non-Kuru origin. The system of Niyoga prevalent among the Kurus of the Madhya-deśa was not far removed from fraternal polyandry, while the law (Dharma) of marriage honoured by the Northern Kurus was admittedly lax.3 Already in the time of Āśvalāyana’s Grinya Sutra+ Vaišampāyana was known as Mahābhāratāchārya. He is also mentioned in the Taittiriya Aranyaka5 and the Ashțādhyāyî of Pāņini. Whether the traditional reciter of the original Mahābhārata was actually a contemporary of Janamejaya or not, cannot be ascertained at the present moment. But I have found nothing in the Vedic literature itself which goes against the epic tradition. The early Vedic texts no doubt make no reference to the 1 Jataka No. 495. 2 See also my "Political History," pp. 95, 96, Journal of the Department of Letters (Calcutta University). Vol. IX; and the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, second edition. pp. 43-45. Also Mh., I, 103, 9-10; 105, 37-38; Winternitz in JRAS, 1897. 755 ff; Āpastamba, ii. 27. 3 ; Bțihaspati, xxvii. It is to be noted that in spite of the alleged family custom in the Pandu line no other wife except Draupadi was shared by the Pandava brothers, and their children had no common wife. In the epic 'Kuru' and 'Pandu' no doubt often find separate mention. In a similar way historians distinguish between the related houses of 'Plantagenet,' 'York' and 'Lancaster': 'Capet,' Valois,' 'Bourbon' and 'Orleans'; 'Chaulukya' and 'Vaghela. 3 Mbh., I. 122. 7. 4 III. 4. 5 1. 7. 5." 6 IV. 3. 104, O.P. 90—6 Page #73 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 42 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Mahabharata, but they mention Itihasas. It is wellknown that the story supposed to have been recited by Vaisampayana to Janamejaya was at first called an Itihasa and was named Jaya or song of victory, ie., victory of the Pandus, the ancestors of the king: Muchyate sarvapāpebhyo Rāhuna Chandrama yathā Jayo nametihāso' yam śrotavyo vijigīshuņā.3 "By listening to this story one escapes from all kinds of sin, like the Moon from Rāhu. This Itihasa (story, legend) is named Jaya (Victory) it should be listened to by those that desire victory.". 4 Janamejaya's brothers, Bhimasena, Ugrasena and Śrutasena, appear in the Satapatha Brahmana and the Sankhayana Śrauta Sutras as performers of the horsesacrifice. At the time of the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad their life and end excited popular curiosity and were discussed with avidity in learned circles. It is clear that the sun of the Parikshitas had set before the time of the Upanishad, and it is also clear that they had been guilty of some sinful deeds which they had atoned for by their horse-sacrifice. The Satapatha Brahmana quotes a gāthā which says: 1 A. V., XV. 6. 11-12. 2 Cf. C. V, Vaidya, Mahabharata: A Criticism, p. 2; and S. Lévi in Bhand. Com. Vol., pp. 99 sqq. 3 Mbh., Adi, 62, 20; cf. Udyoga, 136, 18. 4 XIII. 5. 4.3. 5 XVI. 9. 7. 6 Did these three brothers take part in the sacrifices of Janamejaya? Such a participation is clearly suggested by Mbh. I. 3. 1. 7 The question "Whither have the Parikshitas gone?" does not imply their extinction; Pargiter himself points out that the answer "Thither where Aśvamedha sacrificers go" suggests the opposite because such sacrifices procured great blessings. AIHT., 114. The Rāmāyaṇa, too, includes Janamejaya (II. 64. 42) in a list of kings who attained to a glorious destiny. Page #74 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENEALOGY OF THE PARIKSHITAS 47 branch of the Kuru or Bharata dynasty to Kaušāmbi is confirmed by the evidence of some of the plays attributed to Bhāsa. Udayana, king of Kaušāmbī, is described in the Svapnavāsava-datta as a scion of the Bharata or Bhārata family! : Bhāratānāṁ kule jāto vinīto jñānavāñchhuchil tannārhasi balāddhartum rūjadharmasya desikah “Thou art born in the family of the Bharatas. Thou art self-controlled, enlightened and pure. To stop her by force is unworthy of thee, who shouldst be the model of kingly duty." GENEALOGY OF THE PĀRIKSHITA FAMILY Parikshit Kakshasena - Ugrasena Janamejaya Satānika Abhipratūrin Vriddhadyumna Srutasena Bhimasena Others possibly identical with the an. cestor of epic heroes acc. to one tradition, Mbh. 95.i. 42 ff. Rathagritsa Aśvamedhadatta Adhisima-krishna Nichakshu Kings of Kaušāmbi (Purāṇic tradition) Kings of Khāndava (Indapatta)? 1 Ed. Ganapati Sastri, p. 140, Trans. V. S. Sukthankar,p. 79. Cf. PratijnaYaugandharāyana, "Vedākshara samdvāya-pravishto Bhārato Vamśah" "Bharata kulopabhuktam viņāratutm.," Act II Bhāratānām kule jāto Vatsānāmūrjitah patiḥ, Act IV. Page #75 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE AGE OF THE GREAT JANAKAO ... Sarve rājño Maithilasya Mainākasyeva parvatāḥ nikrishtabhūtā rājāno........... -Mahābhārata.1 We have seen that a series of calamities sadly crippled the Kurus. The kingdom fell to pieces and one of the princes had to leave the country. During the age which followed the Kuru people played a minor part in politics. The most notable figure of the succeeding age was Janaka, the great philosopher king of Videha, mentioned in the Vedic texts as the contemporary of Uddālaka Āruņi and Yājsavalkya. The waning power of the Kurus and the waxing 'strength of the Vaidehas are shown by the fact that while Kuru princes are styled rājan (king) in certain Brahmanas, Janaka of Videha is called samrāt (supreme king). In the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇas the samrāj is asserted to be of higher dignity than a rājan. : That the great Janaka was later than the Pārikshitas admits of no doubt. We shall show later on that he was a contemporary probably of Nichakshu (if Purāņic tradition is to be accepted), and certainly of Ushasta or Ushasti Chākrāyaṇa during whose time disaster befell the Kurus. In Janaka's time we find the notable achievements, as well as the mysterious fate, of the Parikshitas, still fresh in the memory of the people and discussed as a subject of general curiosity in the royal court of Mithilā. In the Brihad-āranyaka Upanishad 1 III. 134. 5. As all other mountains are inferior to Maināka so are kings inferior to the lord of Mithilā. 2 Ait., VIII. 14. Pañchavimśa, XIV. 1. 12, etc. 3 V, 1, 1, 12-13. Page #76 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DEVASTATION OF THE KURU COUNTRY 45 Sacrifices threatened to have serious repercussions on the fortunes of the royal family even in the days of Janamejaya. The performance of ritual in the approved form by proper persons seems to have excited as much interest in the Kuru country as philosophical discussions did at the court of Videha. Even in the fourth century B.C. the great Chandragupta Maurya had to attend to sacrifices in the midst of his pressing duties relating to war and judicial administration. A sacrificial error was not a trivial matter, especially in the ancient realm of the Kurus, which was the citadel of Brāhmaṇic ritualism. To religious indiscretions were soon added natural calamities and the effect on the people was disastrous. Mention has already been made of the Purāṇic tradition about the destruction of Hastinapura by the erosive action of the Ganges. The Chhāndogya Upanishad refers to the devastation of the crops in the Kuru country by Matachi ( hailstones or locusts ) and the enforced migration of the family of Ushasti Chākrāyaṇa, who repaired to the village of an unnamed noble or wealthy man, next to a neighbourly prince and ultimately to the court of Janaka of Videha.? • 1 Chhāndogya, 1. 10.1 ; Brihad. Upanishad, III, 4. For earlier vicissitudes, see Rigveda, X. 98 (drought in the time of Saṁtanu); Mbh. I 94 (story of Samvaraņa). The Chhāndogya Upanishad says: mațachihateshu Kurushu ātikyā sahajāyayā Ushastir ha Chākrāyana ibhya-grame pradrānaka uvāsa. "When Kuruland was devastated by hailstones or locusts, Ushasti Chākrāyana repaired with his virgin wife to a magnate's village and there lived in great distress. The plight of the Brāhmana and his wife offers a sad contrast to the condition of the Kauravya and his lady who 'throve merrily in the realm of Parikshit." Commentators took matachi to mean 'thunderbolt', 'hailstone' or 'a kind of small red bird' or 'locust.' The last meaning accords with the evidence of the Devibhāgavatam, X. 13. 110. Matachi yuthavattesham samudayāstu nirgatāh. The Kanarese word midiche has the same sense (Kittel's Dictionary: Jacob, Scraps from Shad. darśana, JRAS, 1911, 510 ; Vedic Index, II, 119; Bhand., Carm. Lec. 1918, 26-27; Bagchi, IHQ, 1933, 253). Page #77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 46 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Panchavimśa Brāhmaṇal affords a clue to the royal seat of the 'Ābhipratāriņa' branch of the Kuru family whose reign witnessed the beginning of those incidents that spelled disaster to the Kurus. We are told that Driti, apparently the priest of king Abhipratārin, son of Kakshasena, completed a sacrifice in Khāndava.? The same Brāhmana' refers to the Abhipratāriņas as the "mightiest of all their relations." The passage is significant. It suggests that the great Janamejaya was no more in the land of the living in the days of Abhipratārin and his descendants, and that the line represented by the latter far outshone the other branches of the Kuru royal family. The existence of distinct offshoots of the line is clearly implied by tradition. One of them held sway in Hāstinapura and later on moved to Kaušāmbi. This is the branch mentioned in the Purānas. Another line reigned in Ishukāra. The third and the 'mightiest branch is, as we have seen, connected with Khāndava, the far-famed region where the great epic locates the stately city of Indraprastha. The famous capital which stood close to the site of modern Delhi finds prominent mention in the Jātakas as the seat of a line of kings claiming to belong to the "Yuddhitthila gotta" (Yudhishthira's gotra or clan). The prosperity of the Abhipratāriņas was short-lived. Great calamities befell the Kurus and the disintegration of the kingdom went on apace.5 Large sections of the people, including Brāhmaṇas and princes, were apparently forced to leave the country, and to migrate to the eastern part of India. The transference of the royal seat of one 1 XXV. 3. 6. 2 XIV. 1. 12. 3 II. 9. 4, Caland's. ed., p. 27, 4 SBE, xlv. 62. 5 Cf. Jaiminiya Brāhmana, III. 156; JAOS, 26. 61. "When Abhipratarana was lying used up with old age his sons divided the inheritance and made a • great noise about it." Page #78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE DATE OF THE VEDIC JANAKA 49 Bhujyu Lāhyāyani tests Yājñavalkya, the ornament of the court of Janaka, with a question, the solution of which the former is said to have previously obtained from a being of superhuman power through the medium of a Madra girl : "Kva Parikshitā abhavan'whither have the Pārikshitas · gone ?” Yājñavalkya answers : “Thither where the performers of the horse. sacrifice abide.” From this it is clear that the Parikshitas (.sons of Parikshit ) must at that time have passed away. Yet their life and end must have been still fresh in the memory of the people, and a subject of absorbing interest to men and women in different parts of the country. It is not possible to determine with precision the exact chronological relation between Janamejaya and Janaka. Epic and Purāṇic tradition seems to regard them as contemporaries. Thus the Mahābhārata says that Uddālaka, a prominent figure of Janaka's court, and his son Svetaketu, attended the sarpa-satra (snake sacrifice) of Janamejaya : Sadasya śchābhavad Vyāsaḥ putra-sishya-sahāyavān Uddālakah Pramatakah Svetaketuscha Pingalah 3 "Vyāsa, assisted by his son and disciple, Uddālaka, Pramataka, Svetaketu, Pingala...... officiated as sadasya (priest).” 1 Brihad. Upanishad, III. 3.1, E. Roer, Brihad. Up. P. 20; 2 Weber, Ind, Lit. 126 ff. In the Journal of Indian History, April, 1936, p. 20, edited by Dr. S. Krishnasvami Aiyangar and others, appears the amazing insinuation that "Mr. Roy Choudhury has...... attempted to give Weber's thought and language (as rendered) out as his own, without any reference to Weber." A perusal of the Bibliographical Index (pp. 319, 328) appended to the first ed. of the Political History, and p. 27 of the text; the foreword to the subsequent editions, etc., will throw interesting light on the veracity of the writer of the article in question in the Journal of Indian History, 3 Mbh., Adi., 53. 7. O.P. 90-7 Page #79 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 50 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Vishnu Purāņa says that Satānīka, the son and successor of Janamejaya, learned the Vedas from Yājñavalkya. The unreliability of the Epic and the Pūrāņic tradition in this respect is proved by the evidence of the Vedic texts. We learn from the Satapatha Brāhmaṇao that Indrota Daivāpa or Daivāpi Saunaka was a contemporary of Janamejaya. His pupil was Dșiti Aindrota or Aindroti according to the Jaiminīya Upanishad and Vamsa Brāhmaṇas. Dșiti's pupil was Pulusha Prāchinayogya. The latter taught - Paulushi Satyayajña. We learn from the Chhāndogya Upanishad* that Paulushi Satyayajña was a contemporary of Buļila Āśvatarāśvi and of Uddālaka Ārupi, two prominent figures of Janaka's court.5 Satyayajña was, therefore, certainly a contemporary of Janaka of Videha. He was an elder contemporary because his pupil Somasushma Sātyayajñi Prāchinayogya is mentioned in the Satapatha Brāhmana6 as having met Janaka. As Sātyayajõi certainly flourished long after Indrota Daivāpi Saunaka, his contemporary Janaka must be considerably later than Janamejaya, the contemporary of Indrota. We should also note that in the lists of teachers given at the end of the tenth book of the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa, and the sixth chapter of the Brihad-āranyaka Upanishad, Tura Kāvasheya, the priest of Janamejaya, appears as a very ancient sage who was tenth in the ascending line from Sāñjiviputra, whereas Mājsavalkya and Uddālaka Āruņi, the contemporaries of Janaka, were only fourth and fifth in 1 Vishnu P., IV. 21.2. 2 XIII. 5. 4. 1. 3 Vedic Index, II, p. 9. 4 V. 11. 1. 2. 5 Vide Brihad-āranyaka Upanishad, V. 14. 18 : "Janako Vaideho Budilam Āśvatarāśvim, uvācha ;" and III. 7. 1. 6 XI. 6. 2. 1-3. Page #80 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ JANAMEJAYA AND JANAKA 51 the ascending line from the same teacher. The lists are given below. :Janamejaya Tura Kāvasheya Yajñavachas Rājastambāyana Kusri Kuśri Vājasravasa? Sāndilya Upavesi Vātsya Aruņa Vāmakashāyaṇa Uddalaka Aruni | Janaka Māhitthi Yājñavalkya the Great Kautsa Āsuri Māņdavya Āsurāyaṇa Māņdūkāyani Prāsnīputra Āsurivāsin Sanjiviputra Sāñjīviputra It is clear from what has been stated above that Janaka was separated by five or six generations from Janamejaya's time. Jacobi and Rhys Davids3 agree in 1 IC, III. 747. 2 It has been stated by certain recent writers that Janamejaya should be placed "only a step above Janaka." They point to the use of lan in the verb bhū in the interrogation Kva Parikshitā abhavan quoted above. They further identify Dantābala Dhaumra, a contemporary of Janamejaya according to a legend narrated in the Gopatha Brāhmana, with Dantāla Dhaumya of the Jaiminiya Brāhmana, who may be assigned to the period of Janaka. It is also suggested that Bhāllaveya of a certain Brāhmaņa passage is no other than Indradyumna, JIH., April 1936, 15 ff, etc. Apart from the fact that in the Vedic texts lan and lit are at times used alternatively to convey the same meaning (Cf. 37 ante.) it should be noted that the question 'Kva Parikshitā abhavan' with its answer was not framed for the first time at the court of Janaka. It is a murdhābhishikta (traditional)-udaharana attributed to superhuman agency-and, therefore, it cannot be regarded as establishing the synchronism of Janamejaya Parikshita and Janaka Vaideha. As to Dantābala it has already been pointed out, (p. 39 above), that the Baudhāyana śrauta sūtra mentions Dhumras and Dhaumyas as distinct members of the Kaśyapa group. Janamejaya must have passed away in the days of Driti and the Abhipratārinas.. See ante p. 46. See also IHQ, Vol. VIII, 1932. 600 ff. As to Bhallaveya, serious students should remember that it is a patronymic like Atreya, Bhāradvāja etc. In the absence of the personal name, it is uncritical to identify every Bhallaveya with Indradyumna himself as it is unreasonable to equate every Atreya with Udamaya or every Bhāradvaja with Droņa or Piņdola. :. 3 Parisishta parvam, 2nd ed. xviii and Buddhist Suttas. Introduction, p. xlvij. Page #81 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 52 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA estimating the average length of a patriarchate or generation (in lists relating to spiritual succession) at 30 years. To the five or six teachers from Indrota to Somasushma, and from Tura to Uddālaka Āruņi and Janaka, we may, therefore, assign a period of 150 or 180 years. It is, therefore, reasonable to think that Janaka flourished about 150 or 180 years after Janamejaya, and two centuries after Parikshit. If, following a Puranic tradition, we place Parikshit in the fourteenth century B. C., we must place Janaka in the twelfth century B.C. If, on the other hand, we accept a date for Gunakhya Sankhayana, the pupil's pupil of Uddālaka according to the Śānkhāyana Aranyaka, in the sixth century B.C., we must place Parikshit in the ninth century B.C., and Janaka in the seventh century B.C. The kingdom of Videha, over which Janaka ruled seems to be mentioned for the first time in the Samhitas of the Yajur Veda. It corresponds roughly to the modern Tirhut in North Bihar. It was separated from Kosala by the river Sadānīrā, usually identified with the modern Gandak which, rising in Nepal, flows into the Ganges opposite Patna. Oldenberg, however, points outs 1 It has recently been urged by critics that pupils are not necessarily younger in age than their preceptors. It may freely be admitted that in particular cases pupils may be of the same age with, or even older than, the guru. But it is idle. to suggest that in a long list of successive acharyas and śishyas the presence of elderly pupils must be assumed except where the guru is known to be the father of the pupil. Individual cases of succession of elderly śishyas do not invalidate the conclusion that the average duration of a generation is as suggested by Jacobi and Rhys Davids. 2 Vedic Index, II. 298. 3 According to Pargiter JASB, 1897, 89-"Videha comprised the country from Gorakhpur on the Rapti to Darbhanga, with Kosala on the west and Anga on On the north it approached the hills, and on the south it was bounded. by the small kingdom of Vaiśālī." the east. 4 Vedic Index II, 299. 5 Buddha, p. 398 n. Cf. Pargiter, JASB, 1897. 87. Mbh.11. 20. 27. Page #82 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MITHILA 53 tbat the Mahābhārata distinguishes the Gandaki from the Sadānīrā : "Gandaktīicha Mahāśonam Sadānīrārn tathaiva cha.” Pargiter, therefore, identifies the Sadānīrā with the Rāpti.' We learn from the Suruchi Jatakao that the measure of the whole kingdom of Videha was three hundred leagues. It consisted of 16,000 villages.3 Mithilā, the capital of Videha, is not referred to in the Vedic texts, but is constantly mentioned in the Jatakas and the Epics. It has been identified with the small town of Janakpur just within the Nepāl border north of the place where the Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts meet. It is stated in the Suruchi and Gandhāra * Jātalas that the city covered seven leagues. At its four gates were four market towns. We have the following description of the city in the Mahājanaka Jātaka : By architects with rule and line laid out in order fair to see, With walls and gates and battlements, traversed by streets on every side, With horses, cows and chariots thronged with tanks and gardens beautified, Videha's far-famed capital, gay with its knights and warrior swarms, Clad in their robes of tiger-skins, with banners spread and flashing arms, Its Brahmins dressed in Kāśi cloth, perfumed with sandal, decked with gems, Its palaces and all their queens with robes of state and diadems.? 1 If the epic enumeration of the rivers quoted above follows a geographical order as is suggested by the use of the expression kramena in the Mbh. II. 20. 27, Sadānīrā may be the Burhi Gandak which is distinguished from the Gandak proper. Cf. map in JASB, 1895 . 2 J. 489. 3 J. 406. These are apparently conventional figures. 4 J. 489 and 406. 5 }. 546. 6 No. 539 ; Cowell's Jataka, Vol, VI, p. 30. 7 For another description of Mithila, seę Mbh. iij. 206,6-9. Page #83 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 54 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA According to the Rāmāyanathe royal family of Mithilā was founded by a king named Nimi. His son was Mithi, and Mithi's son was Janaka I. The epic then continues the genealogy to Janaka II (father of Sītā) and his brother Kusad hvaja, king of Sānkāsya. - The Vayua and the Vishnu Purānas represent Nimior. Nemi as a son of Ikshvāku, and give him the epithet Videha. His son was Mithi whom both the Purānas identify with Janaka I. The genealogy is then continued to Sīradhvaja who is called the father of Sītā, and is, therefore, identical with Janaka II of the Rāmāyaṇa. Then starting from Siradhvaja the Purānas carry on the dynasty to its close. The last king is named Kriti, and the family is called Janaka-vamśa. Dhritestu Bahulāśvo' bhud Bahulāśva-sutah Kritih tasmin santishthate vaṁso Janakānāṁ mahātmanām5 The Vedic texts know a king of Videha named Nami Sāpya. But he is nowhere represented as the founder of the dynasty of Mithilā. On the contrary, a story of the satapatha Brāhmaṇa seems to indicate that the Videhan kingdom owes its origin to Videgha Mathava who came from the banks of the Sarasvati.? We are told that the fire-god went burning along this earth from the Sarasvati towards the east, followed by Māthava and his priest, Gotama Rāhūgaņa till he came to the river 1 1. 71.3. 2 88. 7-8 ; 89. 3-4. 3 IV. 5, 1, 4 Sa śāpena Vasishthasya Videhah samapadyata—Vayu P. The story of Vasistha's curse on a Videhan king is known to the Brihaddevatā (vii. 59). 5 Vayu Purāna, 89, 23, For Janaka as a dynastic designation see also Mbh. III. 133, 17 ; Rām. I. 67. 8. The use of the expressions Janakānām, Janakaiḥ etc, does not necessarily indicate that every member of the line bore the personal name Janaka. Cf. Ikshvākūnām (Rām. 1.5.3), which refers to those who were Ikshvāku-vamśa-prabhavāh (I. 1. 8), Raghūnām anvayam etc. 6 Vedic Index, I, 436. 7 Macdonell Sans. Lit., pp. 214-15; Ved, Ind., II. 298 : Sat. Br., 1, 4, 1, etc.; Oldenberg's Buddha, pp. 398-99 ; Pargiter, J.A.S.B., 1897, p. 86 et seq. Page #84 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IDENTITY OF THE GRÈAT JANAKA 55 Sadānīrā which flows from the northern (Himālaya) mountain, and which he did not burn over. No Brāhmaṇas went across the stream in former times, thinking "it has not been burnt over by Agni Vaišvānara (the fire that burns for all men)". At that time the land to the eastward was very uncultivated, and marshy, but after Māthava's arrival many Brāhmanas went there, and it was cultivated, for the Brāhmaṇas had caused Agni, the Firegod, to taste it through sacrifices. Māthava the Videgha then said to Agni, "where am I to abide ?" "To the east of this river be thy abode,” he replied. Even now. the writer of the Satapatha Brāhmana adds, this stream forms the boundary between the Kosalas and the Videhas. The name of Mithi Vaideha, the second king in the Epic and the Purāṇic lists, is reminiscent of Māthava Videgha. If Māthava Videgba was the founder of the royal line of Mithila, Nami Sāpya cannot claim that distinction. The Majjhima Nilcāya ? and the Nimi Jātala mention Makhādeva as the progenitor of the kings of Mithilā, and a Nimi is said to have been born to 'round off the royal house, “the family of hermits." The evidence of Buddhist texts thus shows that the name Nimi was borne not by the first, but probably by some later king or kings.3 As the entire dynasty of Maithila monarchs was called Janaka-vaṁśa, Varso Janakānām mahātmanām, the family of the high-souled, Fanakas, in post-Vedic literature, and there were several kings bearing the name of Janaka, it is very difficult to identify any of these with the great Janaka of the Vedic texts, the contemporary of 1 This is the territory which the Mahabharata refers to as "Jalodbhava,"i.e., reclaimed from swamp (Mbh., II. 30. 4. Pargiter, ibid, 88n). 2 II. 74-83. 3 The evidence of the Brihad-devatā (vii. 59) suggests that connection was maintained by Videhan monarchs with their old home on the banks of the Sarasvati, cf. Panchavimśa Brāhmana, XXV. 10. 16-18 (story of Nami Sāpya). Page #85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 56 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Āruņi and Yājõavalkya. But there is one fact which seems to favour his identification with Siradhvaja of the Purāṇic list, i. e., the father of Sītā. The father of the heroine of the Rāmāyana is a younger .contemporary of Aśvapati, king of the Kekayas (maternal grandfather of Bharata'), Janaka of the Vedic texts is also a contemporary of Aśvapati, prince of the Kekayas, as Uddālaka Āruņi and Buļila Āśvatarāśvi frequented the courts of both these princes. But as the name Aśvapati is also apparently given to Bharata's maternal uncle, it seems that it was possibly not a personal name but a secondary epithet or a family designation like 'Janaka." In that case it is impossible to say how far the identification of the Vedic Janaka with the father of Sitā is correct. The identification seems, however, to have been accepted by Bhavabhūti. Referring to the father of the heroine, the poet says in the Mahāvīra-charitas : Teshāmidānim dāyādo vriddah Siradhvajo nripah Yajñavalkyo muniryasmai Brahmapārāyanam jagau. It is equally difficult to identify our Janaka with any of the kings of that name mentioned in the Buddhist 1 Rāmāyana, II. 9. 22. 2 Ved Ind., II, 69 ; Chh, Up, V. 11. 1-+; Brih. Up., III. 7. 3 Rāmāyana, VII. 113. 4. 4 Against the view that Aśvapati was a family designation common to all members of the line it may, however, be urged that in the Mbh. vii 104. 7; 123. 5 Brihatkshatra,chief of the Kekayas, does not bear that epithet. 5 Act I, verse 14. 6 Cf. Act II, verse 43 ; Uttara-Charita, Act IV, verse 9. In the Mbh. 111.133.4 the contemporary of Uddālaka and Kaboda seems to be called Aindradyumni. (Cf. AIHT. 96). In Mbh. xii. 310. 4 ; 318. 95 the contemporary of Yājñavalkya is styled Daivarāti. The Satapatha Brāhmana is attributed to this Yājñavalkya (ibid xii. 318. 11f). Both Aindradyumni and Daivarāti are patronymics and hardly afford a clue to the personal name of the king in question. Page #86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE GREATNESS OF JANAKA 57 Jātakas. Professor Rhys Davids' seems to identifiy him with Mahā-Janaka of the Jātaka No. 539. The utterance of Mahā-Janaka II of that Jātaka : ‘Mithila's palaces may burn But naught of mine is burned thereby.? indeed reminds us of the great philosopher-king. - In the Mahābhārata2 we find the saying attributed to Janaka ‘Janadeva' of Mithilā. In the Jaina Uttar-ūdhyayana, however, the saying is attributed to Nami. This fact coupled with the mention of Nemi in juxtaposition with Arishţa in the Vishnu-Purānao may point to the identification of Nami or Nemi with Mahā-Janaka II whom the Jātaka represents as the son of Arittha. If Mahā-Janaka II be identical with Nami, he cannot be identified with Janaka who is clearly distinguished from Nami in the Vedic texts. One may be tempted to identify the Vedic Janaka with Mahā-Janaka I of the Jātaka. But proof is lacking. In the Satapatha Brāhmana, the Brihad-āranyaka Upanishad and the Mahābhārata 5 Janaka is called Samrāt. This shows that he was a greater personage than a mere Rājan. Although there is no clear evidence in the Vedic literature of the use of the word Samrāj as emperor in the sense of a king of kings, 1 Bud. Ind., p. 26, 2 XII. 17. 18-19; 219. 50. "Mithilayām pradiptāyām na me dahyati kiñchana." "Api cha bhavati Maithilena gitam nagaram upāhitam agnin-ābhivīkshya na khalu mama hi dahyate'tra-kiñchit svayam idam āha kila sma bhumipälah" “Seeing his city burning in a fire, the king of Mithilā himself sang of old, 'in this (conflagration) nothing of mine is burning'." 3 S. B. E., XLV. 37. 4 IV. 5. 13. 5 III. 133. 17. O.P. 90–8 Page #87 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 58 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA still the satapatha Brāhmana distinctly says that the Samrāj was a higher authority than a Rājan ; "by offering the Rājasnya he becomes king, and by the Vajapeya he becomes Samrāj ; and the office of king is the lower, and that of Samrāj the higher,"ol. In the Āśvalāyana SrautaSūtra’ Janaka is mentioned as a great sacrificer. But Janaka's fame rests not so much on his achievements as a king and a sacrificer, as on his patronage of culture and philosophy. The court of this monarch was thronged with Brāhmaṇas from Kosala, the Kuru-Pañchāla countries and perhaps Madro, e.g., Aśvala, Jāratkārava Ārtabhāga, Bhujyu Lāhyāyani, Ushasta(-i) Chākrāyaṇa, Kahoda Kaushītakeya, Gārgi Vācbaknavi, Uddālaka Āruņi and Vidagdha Śākalya. The tournaments of argument which were here held form a prominent feature in the third book of the Brihad-āranyaka Upanishad. The hero of these was Yājõavalkya Vājasaneya, who was a pupil of Uddālaka Āruņi. Referring to Janaka's relations with the Kuru-Pañchāla Brāhmaṇas, Oldenberg observes :* "The king of the east, who has a leaning to the culture of the west, collects the celebrities of the west at his court-much as the intellects of Athens gathered at the court of Macedonian princes.” The Brāhmanas and the Upanishads throw some light on the political condition of Northern India during the age of the great Janaka. From those works we learn that, besides Videha, there were nine states of considerable importance, viz. : . 1. Gandhāra 4. Usinara 7. Pañchāla 2. Kekaya . 5. Matsya 8. Kāśi 3. Madra 6. Kuru 9. Kosala 1 Šat. Br., V. 1. 1 12-13: XII, 8. 3. 4 ; XIV. 1. 3. 8. 2 X. 3. 14. 3 Brih. Up. VI. 5, 3. 4 Buddha, p. 398. Page #88 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GANDHÁRA 59 The Vedic texts seldom furnish any definite clue as to the exact geographical position of these states. For the location of most of these territories we must, therefore, turn to the evidence of later literature. The inhabitants of Gandhāra are included by epic poets among the peoples of Uttarāpatha or the northernmost region of India : Uttarāpatha-janmānah kīrtayishyāmi tān api Yauna-Kāmboja-Gāndhārāh Kirātā Barbaraih saha. The country lay on both sides of the Indus, and contained two great cities, viz., Takshasila and Pushkarāvati, alleged to have been founded by two heroes of epic fame : Gandhāra-vishaye siddhe, tayoh puryau mahātmanoh Takshasya dikshu vikhyātā ramyā Takshasilā purī Pushkarasyāpi vīrasya vikhyātā Pushkarāvatī.3 The vishaya (territory) described in these lines must have embraced the. Rāwalpindi district of the Western Pañjāb and the Peshāwar district of the North-West Frontier Province. A few miles to the north-west of Rāwalpindi and 2,000 leagues away from Benares,' stood the famous city of Takshasilā or Taxila. The remains of the great city 1 Mbh., XII. 207. 43. 2 Rāmāyana, VII. 113. 11 ; 114.11 ; Sindhor-ubhayataḥ pārśve. According to Jātaka no. 406 the kingdom of Gandhāra included Kaśmira. Hekataios of Miletus (B. C. 549-486 ) refers to a Gandaric city called Kaspapyros. Stein (JASB, 1899, extra no. 2, p 11) equates Kaspapyros with Kaspatyros of Herodotus and says that it must have been situated in that territory where the Indus first becomes navigable, i.e. in the ancient Gandhāra. Kaspatyros was the place at which the expedition under Skylax, sent by Darius to explore the course of the Indus, embarked. Stein (pp. 12-13) rejects the view according to which Kaspapyros represents the Sanskrit Kaśyapapura from which the name Kaśmir is said to have been derived. Kāśyapapura as a place-name is known to Alberuni (1.298), but he mentions-it as an original designation of Multan. Kaśyapa's traditional connection with Kaśmir is, however, clear from Rājatarangini, 1.27. 3 Vayu Purāna, 88. 189-90 ; cf. Rāmāyana, VII. 114, 11. 4 Telapatta and Susima Jātakas, Nos. 96, 163. Page #89 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 60 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA “are situated immediately to the east and north-east of Sarai-kala, a junction on the railway, twenty miles northwest of Rāwalpindi. The valley in which they lie is watered by the Haro river. Within this valley and within three and a half miles of each other are the remains of three distinct cities. The southernmost (and oldest) of these occupies an elevated plateau, known locally as Bhir-mound.” Pushkarāvati or Pushkalāvati, the Lotus City, ( Prākrit Pulclcalāoti, whence the Peukelaotis' of Arrian) is represented by the modern Prang and Chārsadda, 17 miles north-east of Peshāwar, on the Swāt river.2 Gandhāra is a later form of the name of the people called Gandbāri in the Rig Veda and the Atharva-Veda. In the ħig-Vedas the good wool of the sheep of these tribesmen is referred to. In the Atharva-Veda 4 the Gandhāris are mentioned with the Mūjavats, apparently as a despised people. The Brāhmana texts refer to Nagnajit, king of Gandhāra, and his son Svarjit. The former receives Brāhmaṇic consecration, but observations of the family on ritual are treated with contempt. In later times the 'angle of vision of the men of the Madhya-deśa (Mid-India) changed, and Gandhāra became the resort of scholars of all classes who flocked to its capital for instruction in the three Vedas and the eighteen branches of knowledge. 1 Marshall, A Guide to Taxila, pp. 1-4; AGI, 1924,120,128 f, 2 Schoff, The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, pp. 183-84 ; Foucher, Notes on the Ancient Geography of Gandhāra, p. 11; cf. V. A. Smith, JASB, 1889.111 ; Cunningham AGI, 1924. 57 f. 3 I. 126. 7, 4 V, 22. 14. cf. Mbh. VIII, 44, 46 ; 45, 8 etc. 5 Aitareya, vii. 34. Satapatha, viii, 1, 4, 10. Vedic Index, i. 432 6 Cf. Rhys Davids and Stede, Pali-English Dictionary, 76 (Vijja-tthānāni); Vaytv, 61, 79. Brahmanda 67, 82 ; Milinda I, 9. mentions 19 Sibbas ; cf. IV, 3, 26. Page #90 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ . GANDHÁRA : 61 In a significant passage of the Chhāndogya. Upanishad 1 Uddālaka Āruņi, the contemporary of the Vedic Janaka, mentions Gandhāra to illustrate the desirability of having a duly qualified teacher from whom a pupil “learns (his way) and thus remains liberated (from all worldly ties) till he attains (the Truth or Beatitude, Moksha).” A man who attains Moksha is compared to a blindfold person who reaches at last the country of Gandhāra. The passage runs as follows: “Yathā somya purusha Gandhārebhyo bhinaddhāksham ūniya tam tato' tijane visrijet, sa yathā tatra prān vā udai vādharāni vā pratyai vā pradhmāyīta-abhinaddhāksha ānīto' bhinaddhāksho visȚishțah. Tasya yathābhinahanam pramuchya prabrūyād etām disaṁ Gandhārā etām disa vrajeti. Sa grāmād grāmam prichchhan panlito medhāvī Gandhārān evopasampadyeta, evam evehāchāryavān purusho veda." "O my child, in the world when a man with blindfold eyes is carried away from Gandhāra and left in a lonely place, he makes the east and the north and the south and the west resound by crying 'I have been brought here blindfold, I am here left blindfold.' Thereupon (some kindhearted man) unties the fold on his eyes and says "This is the way to Gandhāra ; proceed thou by this way.' The sensible man proceeds from village to village, enquiring the way and reaches at last the (province) of Gandbāra. Even thus & man who has a duly qualified teacher learns (his way).”2 The full import of the illustration becomes apparent when we remember that the Uddālaka Jātaka represents Uddālaka as having journeyed to Takshasilā (Takkasilā) and learnt there of a world-renowned teacher. The 1 VI, 14, 2 Dr. R. L. Mitra's translation of the Chhāndogya Upanishad, p. 114. 3 No. 487. Page #91 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 62 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Setaketu Jātakal says that Svetaketu, son of Uddalaka, went to Takshasilā and learned all the arts. The satapatha Brāhmana mentions the fact that Uddalaka Āruni used to drive about amongst the people of the northern country. It is stated in the Kaushitaki Brūlimana 3 that Brāhmaṇas used to go to the north for purposes of study. The Jātaka tales are full of references to the fame of Taksbasilā as a university town. Pāṇini, bimself a native of Gandhāra, refers to the city in one of his Sūtras.* An early celebrity of Takshasilā was perhaps Kautilya. The Kekayas were settled in the Western Pañjab between Gandhāra and the Beas. From the Rāmāyanao we learn that the Kekaya territory lay beyond the Vipāśā or Beas and abutted on the Gandharva or Gandhāra Vishaya. The Mahābhārata? associates them with the Madras (Madrāścha saha Kekayaih). Arrian8 places the "Kekians" on the river Saranges, apparently a tributary of the Hydraotes or the Rāvi. The Vedic texts do not mention the name of its capital city, but the Rāmāyana informs us that the metropolis was Rājagriba or Girivraja : “Ubhau Bharata-Šatrughnau Kekayeshu parantapau pure Rājagrihe ramye mātāmaha-nivasane."9 “Both Bharata and Satrughna, repressers of enemies, are staying in Kekaya in the charming city of Rājagrila, the abode of (the) maternal grandfather (of the former)." 1 No. 377. . . 2 Sat. Br. XI. 4. 1. 1, et seq. Udichyānvrito dhāvayām chakāra. 3 VII. 6. Vedic Index II. 279. 4 Sūtra iv. 3, 93 ; AGI (1924), 67. 5 Turnour, Mahawanso, vol. I (1837), p. xxxix. 5 Tue 19-22 ; VII. 113-14... Kekayah. 7 VI. 61. 12 ; VII. 19. 7. Madra-Kekayāḥ. 8 Indika, iv ; Ind. Ant. V. 332 : Mc Crindle, Megasthenes and Arrian. 1926, pp. 163, 196. 9 Rām., II. 67. 7. Page #92 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KEKAYAS "Girivrajam puravaram sighram āsedur añjasā" 1 "(The messengers bound for Kekaya) quickly arrived at Girivraja, the best of cities." The journey from Ayodhya to the Kekaya capital, a distance of about 650 miles, took seven days. Videha could be reached from Ayodhya on the fourth day. The distance is about 200 miles. The slower rate is explained by Pargiter by the absence of good roads. Cunningham identifies the capital of the Kekayas with Girjak or Jalalpur on the river Jhelam.2 There was another Rajagriha-Girivraja in Magadha, while Hiuen Tsang mentions a third Rajagriha in Po-ho or Balkh.3 In order to distinguish between the Kekaya city and the Magadhan capital, the latter city was called "Girivraja of the Magadhas." "94 The Puranas tell us that the Kekayas along with the Madrakas and the Usinaras, were branches of the family of Anu, son of Yayati. The Anu tribe is frequently mentioned in the Rig-Veda. It appears from a hymn of the eighth Mandala that they dwelt in the Central Panjab, not far from the Parushņi, the same territory which we find afterwards in possession of the Kekayas and the Madrakas. The king of Kekaya in the time of the Vedic Janaka was Asvapati, a name borne also by the maternal grandfather and maternal uncle of Bharata. The Satapatha Brahmana and the Chhandogya Upanishad 10 suggest that the Kekaya monarch was a man of learning and that he instructed a number of Brahmaņas, viz. Aruna Aupavesi 1 Ram., II. 68. 22. 2 Ram., I. 69, 7; II. 71. 18. AGI, 1924, 188; JASB, 1895, 250 ff. Beal, Si-yu-kt, Vol. 1, p. 44. 3 4 S. B. E., XIII, p. 150. 5 Matsya, 48. 10-20; Vayu, 99. 12-23. 63 6 I. 108. 8, VII. 18. 14; VIII. 10. 5. 7 74. 8 9 10 Ram., II. 9, 22; VII. 113. 4. X. 6. 1. 2. V. 11. 4 et seq. Page #93 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 64 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Gautama, Satyayajña Paulushi, Mahāśāla Jābāla, Budila, Āśvatarāśvi, Indradyumna Bhāllaveya, Jana Śārkarākshya, Prāchinaśāla Aupamanyava, and Uddālaka Āruni. The reference to Aruņa Aupavesi who belongs to an older generation than Uddālaka, shows that Aśvapati was an elder contemporary of the great philosopher-king of Videha. The Jaina writers tell us that one-half of the kingdom of Kekaya was Aryan, and refer to the Kekaya city called "Seyaviyā”. A branch of the Kekayas seems to have migrated to Southern India in later times and established its authority in the Mysore country. The Madra people were divided into several sections viz., the northern Madras, the eastern Madras, the southern Madras or Madras proper etc. The northern Madras known as Uttara-Madras, are referred to in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, as living beyond the Himavat range in the neighbourhood of the Uttara-Kurus, possibly, as Zimmer and Macdonell conjecture, in the land of Kaśmir. The eastern Madras probably occupied some district to the east of Sialkot, not far from Trigartta or Kangra. The southern Madras were settled in the Central Panjab in the territory lying to the west of the river Irāvati or Rāvi. In later times the eastern limits extended to the Amritsar district which was included within the Madra-deśa in the days of Guru Govind Singh.5. The ancient capital (properly puța-bhedana) was Śākala or Sāgala-nagara (modern Śiālkot). This city 19 mentioned in the Mahabharata 1 Ind. Ant., 1891, p. 375. 2 A.H.D., 88, 101. 3 Pāṇini, IV. 2. 107-8; Cf. Association of Mādras and Trigarttas, Mbh. VI. 61 12. In I. 121. 36 the number of 'Madras' is given as four. 4 Cf. Moh., VIII. 44..17. 5 Malcolm, Sketch of the Sikhs, p. 55. 6 II. 32. 14. Tataḥ Šakalamabhyetya Madrānām putabhedanam. Page #94 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ USINARA 65 and several Jātakas1 and is probably hinted at in the name 'Sakalya,' given to a Vedic teacher who graced the court of Janaka. It stood on the banks of the Apaga2 in a tongue of land between two rivers styled the Sakala-dvipa,3 apparently corresponding to a part of the Rechna Doab. The Madras proper are represented in early postVedic works as living under a monarchical constitution. The name of the ruler of the territory in the time of Janaka is not known. It was politically not of much importance. But, like the northern realms described above, it was the home of many famous scholars and teachers of the Brahmana period such as Madragāra Saungayani and Kapya Patañchala, one of the teachers of the celebrated Uddalaka Aruni. The early epic knows the Madra royal house as a virtuous family. But in later times Madra earned notoriety as the seat of outlandish peoples with wicked customs." The country of the Usinaras was situated in the Madhya-desa or Mid-India. The Aitareya Brahmanas says "asyam dhruvāyāṁ madhyamāyām pratishṭhāyām disi, "in this firmly established middle region," lie the realms of the Kuru-Pañchalas together with Vasas and Usinaras. In the Kaushitaki Upanishad also the Usinaras are associated with the Matsyas, the Kuru-Pañchalas and the 1 E. g. Kalingabodhi Jātaka, No. 479; and Kusa Jātaka, No. 531. 2 Mbh. VIII. 44. 10; Cunn. AGL, 1924, 211f. Cunningham identifies this Apaga with the Ayak rivulet which rises in the Jammu hills and joins the Chenab. 3 Mbh. II. 26. 5. 4 Weber, Ind. Lit., 126.. 5 Brihad. Up., III. 7. 1. 6 Cf. Aśvapati and his daughter Savitri. 7 For detailed accounts of the Madras see now H. C. Ray in JASB, 1922, 257; and Law, Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India, p. 214. Mr. S. N. Mitra points out that the Paramattha-dipani on the Therigatha (p. 127) (wrongly) places Sāgala-nagara in Magadha-rättha. But the Apadana quotations on p. 131 leave no room for doubt that Madra is the correct name of the kingdom of which Śagala (Sakala) was the capital. 8 VIII. 14. O.P. 90-9 Page #95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 66 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Vaśas. They probably lived in the northernmost part of the Madhya-deśa, for in the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa the Uśīnaras and . Vaśas are mentioned just before the Udichyas or northerners :: Kuru-Panchāleshu AngaMagadheshu Kāsi-Kausalyeshu Śālva-Matsyeshu sa VasaUśīnaresh-Udichyeshu. -- The Mahābhārata speaks of 'Usinara' as sacrificing on two small streams near the Jumna. In the Kathā-saritsūgara Usīnara-giri is placed near Kanakhala, the "sanctifying place of pilgrimage at the point where the Ganges issues from the hills."3 It is, doubtless, identical with . Usira-giri of the Divyāvadāna+ and Usira-dhvaja of the Vinaya Texts.5 Pānini refers to the Usinara country in several sūtras. Its capital was Bhoja-nagara.? The Rig-Vedas mentions a queen named Usinarāni. The Mahābhārata, the Anukramanī and several Jātakas mention a king named Usinara and his son Sibi. We do not know the name of Janaka's Ušīnara contemporary. The Kaushitaki Upanishad tells us that Gārgya Bālāki, a contemporary of Ajātaśatru of Kāsi, and of Janaka of Videha, lived for some time in the Uśīnara country. Matsya is usually taken to "include parts of Alwar, Jaipur and Bharatpur," being “the kingdom of the king Virāța of the Mahābhārata, in whose court the five Pāņdava 1 Gop. Br. II. 9. 2 Mbh. III. 130. 21, 3 Edited by Pandit Durgāprasad and Kašināth Pāndurang Parab, third edition, p. 5. Kanakhala stands near Hardwar in the Saharanpur district of the United Provinces. Cf. also Mbh. V. 111. 16-23. 4 P. 22. 5 Part II, p. 39. See Hultzsch, Ind, Ant., 1905, p. 179. 6 II. 4. 20; IV. 2. 118. 7 Mbh., V, 118.2. For Ahvara, a fortress of the Usinaras, see Ind. Ant., 1885, 322. 8 X. 59. 10. 9 Mbh., XII 29. 39 ; Vedic Index, Vol. I, p. 103 ; Mahā-Kanha Jātaka, No. 469 ; Nimi Jataka, No 541 ; Maha Narada Kassapa Jataka, No. 544, etc, Page #96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MATSYA 67 brothers resided incognito during the last year of their banishment." But Alwar seems to have been the territory of a neighbouring people—the Sālvas.2 The Matsya country lay to the south of the Kurus of the Delhi region and to the west of the Śūrasenas of Mathurā. Southward it may have approached the river Chambal, westward it reached the Sarasvati. The Mahābhārata mentions a people called the Apara-Matsyas whom Pargiter places on the hill-tracts on the north bank of the Chambal. The Rāmāyaṇa has a reference to the Vira-Matsyas in connection with the. Sarasvati and the Ganges. The Matsya capital has been identified by Cunningham * with Bairat in the Jaipur State. Pargiter thinks : that the capital was Upaplavya. But according to Nilakantha, the commentator, Upaplavya was “Virātanagara-samīpastha-nagarāntaram," a city close to the metropolis, but not identical with it. The Matsyas first appear in a passage of the ħig-Veda? where they are ranged with the other antagonists of Sudās, the great Rigvedic conqueror. The Satapatha Brāhmana' mentions a Matsya king named Dhvasan Dvaitavana who celebrated the horse-sacrifice near the 1 Bhandarkar, Carmichael Lectures, 1918, p. 53. 2 Cf. Ind. Ant., 1919. N. L. Dey's Geographical Dictionary, p. ii. 3 Mbh. II. 31.2-7 ; III.24-25; IV.5.4 ; Rām 11.71.5. Pargiter points out (JASB, 1895, 250ff) that the Matsya Country lay south ward from Khāndava-prastha (Delhi region). Its position to the west of Śūrasena (Mathura district) is brought out clearly by the description of the journey of the Pāņdu princes to the court of Virāta Crossing the Jumna the heroes passed through the territory, north of the Daśārņas and south of the Panchālas and then proceeded through the countries of the Yaksillomas and the Sūrasenas to the Matsya realm. From Upaplavya, a suburb of the Matsya capital, to Hastinapura, the metropolis of the Kurus in the epic age, was less than two days' journey by chariot. Vţikasthala on the way could be reached by a traveller in the evening on the first day. 4 AGI. 1924, 387; 1. A. V. 179. For a Virata-nagara in South India, see Bomb. Gaz. I. ii. 558. 5 JASB, 1895. 252. 6 Mbh. IV. 72. 14. Cf. Ind. Ant., 1882, 327. 7 VII. 18. 6. 8 XIII. 5. 4.9. Page #97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 68 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Sarasvati. The Brahmana quotes the following gāthā (song): : Chaturdasa Dvaitavano rājā saṁgrāmajidd-hayān Indraya Vritraghne' badhnattasmad Dvaitavanam sara (iti). "Fourteen steeds did king Dvaitavana, victorious in battle, bind for Indra Vritrahan, whence the lake Dvaitavana (took its name)". The Mahabharata mentions the lake as well as a forest called Dvaitavana which spread over the banks of the river Sarasvati.1 In the Gopatha Brahmana the Matsyas appear in connexion with the Salvas, in the Kaushitaki Upanishad 3 in connexion with the Kuru-Panchalas, and in the Mahabharata in connexion with the Trigarttas of the Jalandar Doab, and the Chedis of Central India.5 In the ManuSamhita the Matsyas together with Kuru-kshetra, the Pañchalas, and the Surasenakas comprise the holy enclave of the Brahmana sages (Brahmarshi-deśa). The name of Janaka's contemporary ruler is not known. That the country was important in the time of the great philosopher-king of Videha, is known from the Kaushitaki Upanishad. The Kuru country tried to maintain its reputation as a home of Brahmaṇical culture in the age of Janaka. But scholars hailing from that region appear now in the rôle of students thirsting for philosophical knowledge rather than authorities on sacrificial ritual. This probably points to a new development in the social life of the people, a development that synchronises with the end of the period of prosperity under Parikshit and his immediate successors and the beginning of economic distress hinted at in the Chhandogya Upanishad." The 1 Mbh. III. 24-25. 5 V. 74. 16. 2 1. 2. 9. 6 II. 19. 3 IV. 1 4 Mbh., Bk. IV. 7 I. 10, 1-7. Page #98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KURU 69 time was soon to come when they would listen even to the heterodox teaching of new faiths that grew up in Eastern India. For the present Kuru Brāhmaṇas (e.g., Ushasti Chākrāyaṇa) took an active part in discussions about Brahman and ūtman at the court of Videha. The intellectual life of the eastern kingdom must have been greatly stirred by the exodus of Kurus and perhaps also of the Pañchālas that took place about this time. An exodus from Constantinople in a like manner enriched the life of the people of western Europe in the fifteenth century A.D. If the Purāņic list of Janamejaya's successors be accepted as historical, then it would appear that Nichakshu was probably the Kuru king of Hāstinapura in the time of Janaka. 1. Janamejaya ... 1. Indrota Daivāpa Saunaka 2. Satānika ... 2. Driti Aindrota (son and pupil) 3. Aśva-medha-datta 3. Pulugha Prachinayogya (pupil) 4. Adhisima-krishņa 4. Pulushi Satyayajña (pupil) 5. Nichakshu ... 5. Somaśushma Satyayajñi (pupil); Janaka's contempo rary. Curiously enough, it is Nichakshu who is represented in the Purūnas as the remover of the seat of government from Hāstinapura to Kaušāmbí. We have some indication that the city of Kaušāmbi really existed about this time. The Satapatha Brāhmana makes Proti Kaušāmbeya a contemporary of Uddālaka Āruņi who figured in the court of Janaka. It is thus clear that Kaušāmbeya was a contemporary of Janaka. Now, Harisvāmin in his commentary on the Satapatha Brāhmana understood 1 Cf. Weber. Ind. Lit., p. 123 ; Vedic Index, I, 193. Page #99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 70 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA Kaušāmbeya to mean a 'native of the town of Kausā mbi.'' It is, therefore, permissible to think that Kaušāmbi existed in the time of Janaka. and hence of Nichaksu. There is thus no difficulty in the way of accepting the Puräņic statement. According to the Purāņas the change of capital was due to the inroad of the river Ganges. Another, and a more potent, cause was perhaps the devastation of the Kuru country by Matachi. It is also possible that the attitude of the Ābhipratāriņa branch of the royal family towards sacrificial ritual had something to do with the exodus. From this time the Kurus in the homeland appear to have gradually lost their political importance. They sank to the level of a second-rate power. But the memory of the majesty and power of the Bharata dynasty survived till the time of the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa.? Panchāla comprised the Bareilly, Budaun, Furrukhabad and the adjoining districts of Rohilkhand and the Central Doab in the United Provinces. It appears to have been bounded on the east by the Gumti and on the south by the Chambal. On the west lay the Yakrillomas and the Sūrasenas of Mathura. Belts of dense forests separated it from the Ganges and the realm of the Kurus on the north-west. Northward it approached the jungles that cover the region near the source of the Ganges.3 There is no clear trace in the Vedic literature of the Epic and Jātaka division of the Panchālas into northern (Uttara) and southern (Dakshina). But it knew an eastern cf. KT XIII. 5. 4. adya Bharat.pakshābhyang 1 Kaušāmbeya may no doubt also mean "a descendant of Kuśāmba." Even then the city can hardly be dissociated from the eponymous hero of the family. cf. Kramadiśvara, p. 794-Kuśāmbena nirurittā Kausāmbi-nagari. 2 XIII. 5. 4. 11--14 ; 21—23. Mahadadya Bharatānām na pūrve nāpare janāḥ divyam martya iva pakshābhyām nodāpuh saptamānavā (iti) 3 Rig Veda V. 61. 17-19; Mbh. I. 138. 74 ; 150 f.; 166 ; IV. 5.4.; IX. 41. Page #100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PAÑCHĀLA CLANS 71 division because the Samhit-opanishad Brāhmaṇa makes mention of the Prāchya (eastern ) Pañchālas. The existence of the other two may, however, be hinted at in the expression tryanila, "threefold”, occurring in the Vedic texts. One of the ancient capitals of Pañchāla was Kāmpilya which has been identified with Kampil on the old Ganges between Budaun and Furrukhabad. Another Pañchāla town Parivakrā or Parichakrā is mentioned in the satapatha Brāhmana. It is identified by Weber with Ekachakrā of the Mahābhārata.5 The Pañchālas, as their name indicates, probably consisted of five clans--the Krivis, the Turvašas, the Kesins, the Sriñjayas and the Somakas. Each of these clans is known to be associated with one or more princes mentioned in the Vedic texts—the Krivis with Kravya Pañchāla, the Turvašas or Taurvasas with Sona Sātrāsaha, the Keśins with Kesin Dālbhya, the Sriñjayas with Daivavāta, Prastoka, Vitahavya, Suplan or Sahadeva Sārñjaya and Dush-țarītu, and the Somakas with Somaka Sāhadevya. Of the kings only the first three are definitely associated with Pañchāla. The Krivis appear in a ħigvedic hymn which also mentions the Sindhu (Indus) and the Asikni (Chenāb). But their actual habitation is nowhere clearly indicated. 1 Ved.. Ind., I. 469. Cf. also Patañjali (Kielhorn's ed. Vol. I, p. 12) and Ptolemy's Prasiake (vii. 1. 53) which included the towns of Adisdara ( ? Ahi chhatra) and Kanagora (? Kanauj). 2 Vedic Index, I. 187. . . - 3 Vedic Index I. 149 ; Cunn. in JASB, 1865, 178 ; AGI, 1924. 413. 4 XIII. 5. 4. 7. 5 Ved. Ind.. I. 494. ** • 6 According to the Purānas (Brahma P. XIII. 94 f. cf. Matsya, 50. 3) 'Mudgala,' 'Spiñjaya,' Bșihadishu,' 'Yavinara' and 'Ksimilāśva' were the constituent elements of the Panchāla Janapada. Page #101 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 72 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA They are identified with the Pañchālas in the Satapatha Brāhmana' and connected with Parivakrā. A gāthā of the same worksays, "When Sātrāsāha (king... of the Pañchālas) makes the Aśvamedha offering, the Taurvašas arise, six thousand and six (sic) and thirty clad in mail.” Sūtrāsahe yajamāne’śvamedhena Taurvašūh udīrate trayastrimśāh shatsahasrāni varmiņām. This points to a very close connextion between the Pañchālas and the Taurvašas. The fusion of the two folks does not seem to be improbable in view of the Purāṇic statement that, after Marutta, the line of Turvasu (Turvasa, Taurvasa) was merged into the Paurava line 3 of which the Pañchālas are represented as an offshoot. The line of rulers to which Sona belonged seems to be connected in later times with Ahichchhatra (in the Bareilly District).* The Keśins who are connected with the Pañchālas in Vedic literature probably dwelt on the Gumti. The Srinjayas are associated with the Pañehālas in post 1 xiii, 5, 4, 7; Krivaya iti ha vai burā Panchālān āchakshate. Vedic Index, 1. 198. According to Kasten Rönnow, Acta Orientalia, XVI, iii, 1937, p. 165. Krivis were named after a dragon-demon who was their tribal divinity. 2 Oldenberg, Buddha, p. 404 ; Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 16. H. K. Deb ( Vedic India and Mediterranean men, Verlag Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig) suggests the identification of the Turvasas with the Teresh, or Tursha, one of the allied peoples who fought against Merneptah, or Meneptah, Pharaoh of Egypt (c. 1234-25 B.C.). Breasted, however, identifies the Teresh with the Tyrsenians or Etruscans (A History of Egypt, p. 467 ). 3 A. I. H. T., p. 108. Turvasoh Pauravam vamsam praviveśa purā kila (Vāyu. 99, 4). 4 Camb. Hist. Ind. I. p. 525. 5 Ved. Ind., I. 186-187. The name Kesin Dalbhya suggests a close connexion between the Kesins and the Dālbhyas whom the Rig Veda (V, 61. 17-19) places on the Gomati. From Mbh. IX. 41. 1-3 it is clear that this Gomati connected with the Dalbhya family or clan, could not have been far away from Naimisha and the country of the Panchālas. It must, therefore, be identified with the Gumti which flows past Nimsār near Sitāpur, 6 Pargiter, Mārkandeya Purana, p. 353; Mbh., I. 138. 37; V. 48. 41. Brahmapurāņa, XIII, 94f. Page #102 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 73 PAÑCHĀLA KINGS Vedic tradition. In the Mahābhārata,' Uttamaujas is called a Pāñchālya as well as a Sriñjaya. The clan probably lived on the Jumna in epic times.2 As to the Somakas, their connection with the Pañchālas is known throughout the great epic. They occupied Kāmpilya and its neighbourhood. The royal family of the Pañchālas is represented in bardic tradition as an offshoot of the Bharata dynasty.* Divodāsa, Sudās(a) and Dru pada are included among the kings of this line. Divodāsa and Sudās also figure in the Rig-Veda where they are closely connected with the Bharatas. But they are not mentioned as Pañchāla kings. In the Mahabhārata Drupada is also called Yajñasena and one of his sons is named Sikhaṇdin. A śikhandin Yājñasena is mentioned in the Kaushitaki Brāhmana,? but it is not clear whether we are to regard him as a prince, or as a priest of Kesin Dālbhya, king of the Pañchālas. The external history of the Pañchālas is mainly that of wars and alliances with the Kurus. The Mahabharata preserves traditions of conflict between these two great peoples. We are told by the epic that Uttara-Pañchāla was wrested from the Pañchālas by the Kurus and given away to their preceptor. Curiously enough, the Somanassa Jatakao places Uttara-Pañchāla-nagara in Kururattha. The relations between the two peoples (Kurus and 1 Mbh. VIII. 11, 31 ; 75. 9. 2 Mbh. iii. 90. 7. with commentary. 3 Cf. Mbh., I. 185. 31 ; 193. 1 ; II. 77. 10: Dhrista-dyumnal Somakānām pravarhah ; Saumakir Yajñascna iti. 4 Mbh., Ādi., 94.33; Matsya, 50. 1-16; Vāyu, 99. 194-210. 5 Ved. Ind., 1, p.363 ; II., pp. 59, 454 6 Mbh., Adi., 166. 24; Bhishma, 190, et seq. 7 VIL. 4, 8 Mbh. i. 166. 9 No. 505. The union of Kuru-Pañchālas is hinted at in Jaim. Up. Br. 111. 7. 6. O. P. 90-10 Page #103 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 74 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Pañchalas) were sometimes friendly and they were connected by matrimonial alliances. Keśin Dalbhya or Darbhya, king of the Pañchalas, was sister's son to Uchchaiḥśravas, king of the Kurus. In the epic a Panchala princess is married to the Pandavas who are represented as scions of the Kuru royal family. Of the famous kings of the Panchalas mentioned in the Vedic literature Pravahana Jaivali is known definitely to have been Janaka's contemporary. This prince appears in the Upanishads as engaged in philosophical discussions with Aruni, Svetaketu, Silaka Salavatya, and Chaikitāyana Dalbhya. The first two teachers are known to have met the Vedic Janaka. The kingdom of Kasi was 300 leagues in extent.3 It had its capital at Vārāṇasi (Benares) also called Ketumati, Surundhana, Sudassana, Brahma-vaddhana, Pupphavati, Ramma, and Molini. The walls of the city were twelve leagues round by themselves." The Kasis, i.e., the people of Kasi or Kasi, first appear in the Paippalada recension of the Atharva-Veda. They were closely connected with the Kosalas and the Videhas. Jala Jātākarṇya is mentioned in the Sankhayana Śrauta Sūtra as having obtained the position of Purohita or priest of the three peoples of Kasi, Videha and Kosala in the lifetime of Svetaketu, a contemporary of Janaka. Curiously enough, a king named Janaka is mentioned in the 1 Ved. Ind., I. 84, 187, 468. Uchchaiḥ-śravas occurs as the name of a Kuru prince in the dynastic list of the Mahabharata, I. 94. 53. 2 Brihad. Up., VI. 2; Chh. Up,, 1.8.1; V. 3. 1. 3 A stock phrase, Dhajavihetha Jataka, No. 391. 4 Dialogues Part III, p. 73. Carmichael Lectures, 1918, pp. 50-51. The name Vārāṇasi is derived from two little rivers between which the city was situatedVaraṇāyāstatha ch Asya madhye Varanasi puri. (Padma, Svarga khanda, xvii. 50). 5 Tandulanali Jātaka, No. 5, 6 Ved. Ind., II, 116 n. 7 XVI, 29. 5. Page #104 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KÄSI 75 Sattubhasta Jātala 1 as reigning in Benares. This prince cannot be the Janaka of the Upanishads, for we learn from those works that, in the time of the famous Janaka, Ajātasatru was on the throne of Kāsi. Very little is known regarding the ancestors of Ajātasatru. His name does not occur in the Purāṇic lists of Kāsi sovereigns, nor does the name of Dhritarāshtra, king of Kāsi, who was defeated by Satānika Sātrājita with the result that the Kāśis down to the time of the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa gave up the kindling of the sacred fire. A clue to the lineage of Dhệitarāshtra is afforded by the Mahāgovinda-Suttanta 3 which represents "Dhataraţtha," King of Kāsi, as a Bharata prince. The Purānas represent the Kāsi family as a branch of the house of Purūravas, the traditional ancestor of the Bharatas. Of the kings mentioned in the chronicles the names of two only (Diovdāsa and his son or descendant Daivadāsi Pratardana) can be traced in the Vedic literature. But the later Vedic texts connect them with the Naimishiyas and not with Kāsi. The Jūtakas often refer to the failure of heirs at Benares (aputtalan rājakulam), or the deposition of princes in favour of more competent rulers taken from other families. It is clear that tradition does not regard the Kāsi monarchs as belonging to one and the same dynasty. Some of the kings hailed from Magadha. 5 Several others were probably of Videhan origin. Many of the princes belonging to these groups had the cognomen, 'Brahmadatta'. That Brahmadatta was not the name of one individual 1 No. 402. 2 Vayu, 92.21-74, ; Vishnu, IV. 8. 2-9. 3 Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, -Part II, p, 270. 4 Kaush. Br. xxvi. 5. 5 Cf. Jatakas 378, 401, 529. Page #105 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 76 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA ruler, has been suggested by Mr. Haritkrishna Dev.' The Matsya and Vayu Puranas refer to a group of one hundred (i. e. many) Brahmadattas : Satam vai Brahmad attānāṁ virānāṁ Kuravaḥ satam.2 The "hundred" Brahmadattas are also mentioned in the Mahabharata.3 In the Dummedha Jataka the name is borne both by the reigning king and his son (Kumāra),5 In the Gangamala Jataka king Udaya of Benares is addressed by a Pachcheka Buddha as "Brahmadatta" which is distinctly stated to be a kulanuma or family designation. The Brah madattas were not, however, all of the same extraction. The king-elect of the Darimukha Jataka was originally a Magadhan prince. Some of the other Brahmadattas were of Videhan lineage. The Matiposaka Jātaka, for instance, referring to a Brahmadatta of Kasi, has the following line : mutto'mli Kasirajena Vedehena yasassinā ti. In the Sambula Jatakas prince Sotthisena, son of Brahmadatta, king of Kasi, is called Vedehaputta: Yo putta Kasirajassa Sotthiseno ti tam vilu tassaham Sambula bhariyā, evam jānāki dānava, Vedelaputto bhaddan te vane vasati aturo. Ajataśatru, Janaka's contemporary on the throne of Kasi, may have been a Brahmadatta though his exact 1 The suggestion has been accepted by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, Carmichael Lectures, 1918, p. 56. 2 Matsya, Ch. 273, 71; Vayu, Ch. 99, 454. 3 II. 8. 23. 4 No. 50; Vol. I, p. 126. 5 Cf. also the Susima Jataka (411), the Kumma Sapinda Jataka (415), the Aṭṭhāna Jataka (425), the Lomasa Kassapa Jataka (433), etc. 6 421. 7 No. 455. 8 No. 519. Page #106 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KOSALA 77 lineage is not known. The Upanishadic evidence shows that he was a contemporary of Uddālaka. The Uddālala Jātaka tells us that the reigning king of Benares in the time of Uddalaka was Brahmadatta. Ajātasatru appears in the Upanishads as engaged in philosophical discussions with Gārgya Bālāki. In the Kaushitaki Upanishad he is represented as being jealous of Janaka’s fame as a patron of learning. The Satapatha Brāhmana? mentions a person named Bhadrasena Ajātasatrava who is said to have been bewitched by Uddālaka Āruņi. Macdonell and Keith call him a king of Kāsi. He may have been the son and successor of Ajātaśatru. The kingdom of Kosala 3 corresponds roughly to the modern Oudh. It seems to have extended northward to the foot of the Nepāl hills. In the east it was separated from Videla by the river Şadānīrā, which was for a time the limit of the Aryan world in that direction. Beyond it was an extensive marshy region, not frequented by Bräb maņas which, after Māthava Videgha's occupation, developed into the flourishing kingdom of Videha. The story of Māthava makes it clear that the Kosalas fell later than the peoples dwelling on the banks of the Sarasvati but earlier than the Videhas under the influence of Brāhmaṇical civilization. In the south Kosala was bounded by the river Sarpíkā or Syandikā4 and on the west probably by the Gumti which flowed past the famous Naimisha forest and apparently formed the boundary between the Kosalas and sundry peoples including the 1 V. 5. 5. 14. 2 S. B. E., XLI, p. 141. ** 3 The form Kośala is met with in the Gopatha Brāhmana (Vedic Index), I, 195) and later literature. 4 Rām. II. 49. 11-12 ; 50.1 ; Cf. Sundarikā, Kindred Sayings I. 209. Page #107 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 78 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Pañchālas. In the epic Kosalas proper are distinguished from the Uttara-Kosalas, the Kosalas near the Venvā (Waingangā) and the Prāk-Kosalas. The last two peoples were clearly in South India. The Pūrva-Kosalas, apparently not identical with the Prāk-Kosalas of the Deccan, dwelt between the river Sarayū and Mithilā.3 . The Vedic texts do not mention any city in Kosala. But if the Rāmāyana is to be believed the capital of Kosala (Kosalapura ) in the time of the Janakas was Ayodhyā. It stood on the banks of the Sarayū and covered twelve yojanas.* The Big-Veda mentions the river Sarayū and refers to an Aryan settlement on its banks. One of the Arya settlers bears the name of Chitraratha which occurs also in the Rāmāyana“ as the appellation of a contemporary of Dasaratha. A prince styled Dasaratha is eulogised in a Rigvedic hymn, but there is nothing to identify him with the Iksh vāku king of that name who appears in the Rāmāyana as the Kosalan contemporary of Siradh vaja Janaka. Dasaratha's eldest son, according to the epic, was Rāma who married Sitā, daughter of Janaka. The Rig Veda- mentions an Asura (powerful being) named Rāma but does not connect him with Kosala. The Dasaratha Jātaka makes Dasaratha and Rāma kings of Vārāṇasi and disavows Sītā's connection with Janaka. 1 Rām II. 68. 13; 71. 16-18 ; VII. 104. 15. (Kosalan king sacrificing in the Naimisha forest on the Gumti); cf. Mbh. XI, 355. 2 ; IX. 41. 3 (Panchālas apparently not far from Naimisha). In Rig V. 61. 17-19, the Dalbhyas, a Pañchāla people, are placed on the Gumti. 2 Mbh. II. 30. 2-3; 31. 12-13. 3 Mbh. II. 20. 28. 4 Rām., I. 55. 7. It is in the Fyzabad District of Oudh. For the name Kosalapura see Ram. II. 18. 38. 5 IV. 30. 18 6 II. 32. 17. 7 1. 126. 4. 8 X. 93. 14. Page #108 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KOSALA 79 Kosala was probably the fatherland of Janaka's hotri priest, Aśvala, who was very probably an ancestor of. Aśvalayana Kausalya1 mentioned in the Praśna Upanishad as a disciple of Pippalada and a contemporary of Sukeśā Bharadvaja and of Hiranya-nabha, a Kosalan prince. The details of Kosalan history will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. 1 Aśvalasyapatyam Afvalayanaḥ (Samkara's commentary on Praśna Upanishad, 1. 1). Page #109 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 80 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Section III. THE LATER VAIDEHAS OF MITHILA : NIMI AND KARĀLA. The Purānas give long lists of the successors of Siradhvaja Janakal vhom Bhavabhūti seems to identify with the contemporary of Yājñavalkya. With one or two exceptions none of the kings in these lists can be satisfactorily identified with the Videhan monarchs mentioned in the Vedic, Buddhist and Jaina literature. It is, therefore, difficult to say how far the lists are reliable. The identification of any of the kings named in the bardic chronicles with the Vedic Janaka is the most knotty of all problems. We have already noted the arguments that can be urged in support of the view of Bhavabhūti. The mere fact that Sīradhvaja is placed high in the Puranic lists does not necessarily prove that he actually flourished long before the extinction of the dynasty. It should be remembered in this connection that Pradyota who was in reality a contemporary of Bimbisāra, king of Magadha, is placed by the Purāṇic chroniclers or scribes some nine generations before that ruler, and Sidahārtha of the Iksh vāku list, a contemporary of Prasenajit of Kosala, is represented as the grandfather of the latter. The evidence of the Vishnu Purāna 3 suggests that there were at times several collateral lines of Janakas who ruled contemporaneously. The problem of Sīradhvaja must, therefore, be regarded as sub judice. In view of the uncertainty about the identification of this king and his proper place in the 1 Vāyu, 89. 18-23; Vishnu IV, 5. 12-13; 4th edition of this work pp. 67 ff. 2 Mahāvira-charita, I, verse 14; II, verse 43; Uttara-Rāma-Charita, IV, verse 9. 3 VI. 6. 7 ff. Cf. Rāmāyana, I. 72. 18. Page #110 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LATER VAIDEHAS 81 dynastic list, it is not easy to determine which of the Videhan kings mentioned in the Purānic chronicles actually came after the contemporary of Aruņi and Yājñavalkya. The evidence of the Jātakas, however, suggests that a king named Nimi, at any rate, ruled after the great Janaka, as he is called the penultimate sovereign of the dynasty. Pargiter places all the kings of the Purāṇic lists down to Bahulāśva before the Bhārata war, and apparently identifies his son Kriti with Kritakshana of the Mahābhārata”, a contemporary of Yudhishthira. But, as there were “Janakas” even after Yudhishthira, and as "two Purānas conclude with the remark that with Kriti ends the race of the Janakas," the identification of Kriti, the last of the race, with Kritakshaņa does not seem to be plausible. It is more reasonable to identify Kriti of the Purānas with Karāla Janaka who, as we shall see below, brought the line of Vaideha kings to an end. The only objection to this view is that Karāla is represented as the son of Nimi, whereas Kriti was the son of Bahulāśva. But the cognomen Nimi may have been borne by several kings and Babulāśva may have been one of them. An alternative theory would be to represent Kriti and Karāla as the last members of two collateral lines of Janakas. The Vedic texts mention besides Māthava and Janaka two other Vaideha kings, namely, Nami Sāpya and Para Āhlāra. Macdonell and Keith identify the latter with Para Ātņāra, king of Kosala, about whom we shall speak in a subsequent chapter. Nami Sāpya is mentioned in the Panchavissa or Tāndya Brāhmana* as a famous sacrificer. His identification with king Nami of the Uttar-ūdhyayana 1 AIHT, p. 149. 2 II.4. 27. - 3 AIHT, pp. 96, 330. 4 XXV. 10. 17-18. 0. P. 90-11 Page #111 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 82 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Sūtra, Nemi of the Vishnu Purāna, and Nimi of the Makhadeva Sutta of the Majjhima Nikāya, and the Kumbhakāra2 and Nimi Jātakas 3 is more or less problematical. In the last-mentioned work it is stated that a Nimi was the penultimate sovereign of the Maithila family, According to the Kumbhakāra Jataka and the Uttarādhyayana Sutra he was a contemporary of Dummukha ( Dvimukha ), king of Pañchāla, Naggaji ( Naggati) of Gandhāra and of Karandu (Karakaņdu) of Kalinga. This synchronism accords with Vedic evidence. Durmukha, the Pañchāla king, had a priest wamed Brihaduktha* who was the son of Vāmadeva.5 Vāmadeva was a contemporary of Somaka, the son of Sahadeva. Somaka had close spiritual relationship with Bhima, king of Vidarbha, and Nagnajit, king of Gandhāra. From this it seems very probable that Durmukha was a contemporary of Nagnajit. This is exactly what we find in the Kumbhakāra Jataka and the Uttar-ādhyayana Sutra. • The Nimi Jatala says that Nimi was "born to round off” the royal family like the hoop of a chariot wheel." Addressing his predecessor the soothsayers said, "Great king, this prince is born to round off your family. This your family of hermits will go no further." Nimi's son Kalāra Janaka 8 is said to have actually brought his line to an end. This king is apparently identical with Karāla Janaka of the Mahābhārata.' In the Arthaśāstra attributed to Kautilya it is stated that "Bhoja, 1 S.B.E., XLV. 87. 2 No. 408. 3 No. 541. 4 Vedic Index, 1. 370. " 5 Ibid, II. 71. 6 Rig Veda, IV. 15, 7-10 with Anukramani. 7 Aitareya Brāhmana, VII. 34. 8 Makhādeva Sutta of the Majjhima nikāya, II. 82; Nimi Jataka. 9 XII. 302.7. Page #112 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LATER VAIDEHAS known by the name of Dandakya, making a lascivious attempt on a Brahmana maiden, perished along with his kingdom and relations; so also Karala, the Vaideha."1 Karala, the Vaideha, who perished along with his kingdom and relations, must be identified with Kalāra (Karala) who, according to the Nimi Jataka, brought the line of Videhan kings to an end. The downfall of the Vaidehas reminds us of the fate of the Tarquins who were expelled from Rome for a similar crime. As in Rome, so in Videha, the overthrow of the monarchy was followed by the rise of a republic-the Vajjian Confederacy. There is reason to believe that the Kasi people had a share in the overthrow of the Videhan monarchy. Already in the time of the great Janaka, Ajataśatru, king of Kasi, could hardly conceal his jealousy of the Videhan king's fame. The passage "yatha Kaśyo va Vaideho vā Ugraputra ujjyam dhanur adhijyam kritva dvau vāṇavantau sapatnativyādhinau haste kritv-opatishthed" probably refers to frequent struggles between the heroes of Kasi and Videha. The Mahabharata 3 refers to the old story (itihasam puratanam) of a great battle between Pratardana, king of Kasi according to the Ramayana, and Janaka, King of Mithila. It is stated in the Pali commentary Param-attha-jotika 5 that the Lichchhavis who succeeded Janaka's dynasty as the strongest political power in North 83 1 The evidence of the Arthaśastra is confirmed by that of the Buddhacharita of Asva-ghosha (IV. 80). "And so Karāla Janaka, when he carried off the Brahmana's daughter, incurred loss of caste thereby, but he would not give up his love." 2 Brihad, Upanishad, III, 8. 2. "As the Ugra's son from Käsi or from Videha strings the slackened bow and arises with two foe-piercing arrows in his hand" (Winternitz, Ind. Lit. I. 229 wlth slight emendations). 3 XII. 99. 1-2. 4 VII, 48. 15. 5 Vol. 1, pp. 158-65. Page #113 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 84 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Bihar, and formed the most important element of the Vajjian Confederacy, were the offsprings of a queen of Kāsi. This indicates a belief in later ages that cadets from the royal family of Kāsi established themselves in Videha. Page #114 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DAKSHIŅĀPATHA . 85 85 SECTION IV. THE DECCAN IN THE AGE OF THE LATER VAIDEHAS. The expression “Dakshiņāpadā” occurs in the ĶigVedał and refers to the region where the exile goes on being turned out. In the opinion of several scholars this simply means "the south” beyond the limits of the recognised Aryan world. Dākshinātya is found in Pāṇini,2 Dakshināpatha is mentioned by Baudhāyana coupled with Surāshtra. It is difficult to say what Pāṇini or Baudbāyana exactly meant by Dakshiņātya or Dakshināpatha. In early Pāli literature the name Dakshiņāpatha is sometimes coupled with Avanti (Malwa), and in one text it is placed on the banks of the upper Godāvari. In the Nalopākhyāna of the Mahābhārata, Dakshināpatha is placed beyond Avanti and the Vindhyas, and to the south of the Vidarbhas and the ( Southern ) Kosalas. The last-mentioned peoples lived on the banks of the Wardha and the Mahānadi. In the Digvijaya-parva, Dakshināpatha is distinguished from the Pāņdyan realm in the southernmost part of the Madras Presidency. In the Gupta Age it certainly stretched from the land of the Kosalas to the kingdom of Kāñchi. In later times it embraced the whole of Trans-Vindhyan India from the Setu (Adam's Bridge) to the Narmadā.* Whatever may have been the exact denotation of the terms discussed above in the earliest times it is certain that already in the age of the later Vaidehas, Nimi and Karāla, 1 X. 61. 8. Vedic, Index, I. 337. 2 IV. 2. 98. 3 Baudh. Sutra, I. 1. 29. 4 DPPN, 1,-1050: Mbh. II. 31. 16-17; III. 61. 21-23. Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudra Gupta ; Fleet, Dynasties of the Kanarese Districts, 341 n. The Periplus distinguishes Dachinabades (Dakshiņāpatha) from Damirica (Tamil land). Page #115 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 86 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the Aryans had crossed the Vindhyas and established several kingdoms in the territory that stretched from the Revā or the Narmadā to the Godāvari. One of these realms was Vidarbha. It comprised modern Berar, the Varadātaţa of the Āin-i-Albarī, and a considerable portion of the Central Provinces lying between the Wardhā (Varadā) and the Waingangā. In the north it reached the Payoshni, a tributary of the Tāpti. Vidarbha was certainly a famous kingdom in the time of Nimi. We have already seen that the Kumbhakāra Jataka „and the Uttar-ādhyayana make him a contemporary of Nagnajit, king of Gandhāra, who is known from the Aitareya Brāhmana to have flourished about the same time as Bhima, king of Vidarbha: "Etamu haiva prochatuh Parvata-Nāradau Somakāya Sāhadevyāya Sahadevāya Sārījayāya Babhrave Daivāvridhāya Bhimūya Vaidarbhāya Nagnajite Gāndhārāya.' (This Parvata and Nārada proclaimed to Somaka Sāhadevya, Sahadeva Sārījaya, Babhru Daivāvridha, Bhima Vaidarbha ( i.e. of Vidarbha ) and Nagnajit of Gandhāra.” Vidarbha, therefore, existed as an independent kingdom in the time of Nimi. From the Purāņic account of the Yadu family it appears that the eponymous hero of the Vidarbhas, was of Yadu lineage. The country is mentioned in the Jaiminīya Brāhmaṇa. It was famous for its Māchalas, perhaps a species of dog, which killed tigerss—“Vidarbhesu mācalās sārameyā apiha śārdulān mārayanti.” The Praśna Upanishadø mentions a sage of 1 Mbh. III. 61. 22-23 ; 120. 31. 2 V11. 34. 3 Matsya Purana, 44. 36; Vāyu Purana, 95, 35-36. 4 II, 440 : Ved. Ind., II. 297. 5 JAOS, 19, 100. 6 1.1 ; II. 1. Page #116 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VIDARBHA AND KALINGA 87 Vidarbha named Bhārgava as a contemporary of Āśvalāyana. Another sage called Vidarbhi Kauņdinya is mentioned in the Brihadāranyaka Upanishad. The name Kaundinya is apparently derived from the city of Kundina, the capital of Vidarbha, represented by the modern Kauņdinya-pura on the banks of Wardhā in the Chāņdur tāluk of Amraoti.3 The association of Vidarbha with Kuņdina clearly suggests that Vidarbha of the Vedic texts lay in the Deccan, and not in some hitherto unknown region outside its boundaries as contended by a recent writer. 4 If the evidence of the Kumbhakāra Jataka has any value, then Nimi, king of Videba, mentioned in the work, Nagnajit, king of Gandhāra, and Bhima, king of Vidarbha, must be considered to have been contemporaries of Karandu of Kalinga. It follows from this that the kingdom of Kalinga, too, was in existence in the time of Nimi and his contemporaries of the Brāhmana period. The evidence of the Jataka is confirmed by that of the Uttar-ādhyayana Sutra. The Mahāgovinda Suttanta,5 makes Sattabhu, king of Kalinga, a contemporary of Reņu, king of Mithila and of Dhatarattha or Dhritarāshtra, king of Kāsi, mentioned in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa. There can thus be no doubt that Kalinga existed as an independent 1 Vedic Index, II. 297. 2 Mbh., III. 73. 1-2; V. 157. 14; Harivamsa, Vishnuparva, 59-60. 3 Gaz, Amraoti, Vol, A, p. 406. 4 Indian Culture, July, 1936, p. 12. Curiously enough, the same writer who characterises the provisional acceptance of the uncontradicted testimony of the Purānas and lexicons in locating tribes mentioned in Vedic literature as unhistorical, has no hesitation in identifying the Satvats of the Aitareya Brāhmana with the Yādavas and in placing them in the Mathurā region and adjoining districts (ibid, 15). He has not referred to any Vedic text which supports his conjecture regarding the identity of the Satvats and their association with the particular city named by him. 5 Dialogues of the Buddha, II. 270. 6 XIII. 5, 4, 22. Page #117 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 88 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA kingdom in the time of which the Brāhmanas speak. It is mentioned both by Pāṇini' and Baudhāyana. The latter regards it as an impure country but evidently not unfrequented by Aryans. According to epic tradition it comprised the whole coast from the river Vaitaraņi* in Orissa to the borders of the_Andhra territory. The southern boundary of the Janapada was not well-defined. It reached Yellamanchili and Chipurupalle in the Vizagapatam district and at times even Pishțapura or Pithapuram, north-east of the Godāyari, but not the river itself which flowed through the Andhra country. Pargiter says that Kalinga as a settled kingdom appears to have consisted properly of the plain between the Eastern Ghats (Mahendra range) and the sea. But its kings seem to have exercised suzerainty over the jungle tribes which inhabited the hills far inland, for the Amarakantaka range, in which the Narmadā rises, is said to be in the western part of Kalinga. That large tracts of the country were covered with forests appears from references to Kalingaranya in Pali texts. The windows of the capital city in the days of Kālidāsa looked out on the sea, and the deep roar of the waves drowned the sound of trumpets. In the days of Yuan Chwang Kalinga occupied a much smaller area. It is distinguished from Wu-t'u (Orissa) and Kung-yii-t'o (Kongoda in the Ganjam district) in the north, and An-to-lo (Andhra or Vergi) in the south, and seems to have embraced parts of the Ganjam and Vizagapatam districts. We learn from the Jātakas that an 1 IV. I. 170. 2 I, i. 30-31. 3 There was a considerable Brāhmaṇa population in Kalinga in the days of Asoka (cf. Edict XIII). 4 Mbh., III. 114.4. 5 Ind. Ant, 1923, 67; Ep. Ind. XII. 2; JASB, 1897, 98 ff; Kūrma P. II, 39. 9 ; Padma, Svarga-Khanda, VI. 22; Vāyu, -77. 4.13; Malalasekera, DPPN, 584 ; Raghuvamśa, vi. 56. Page #118 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ASMAKA 89. ancient capital of Kalinga was Dantapura-nagara. The Mahābhārata mentions Rājapura as the metropolis. The Mahāvastu 3 refers to another city named Simhapura. The Jaina writers mention a fourth town called Kamchanapura.4 The Mahāgovinda Suttanta refers to another southern realm, namely, Assaka. or Aśmaka on the God(b)āvari, which existed in the time of the monarchs Reņu and Dhata-rattha (Dhrita-rāshtra). It was ruled by king Brahmadatta who held his Court at Potana. The Aitareya Brāhmana alludes 6 to princes of the south who are called Bhojas and whose subjects are called 1 Cf. Ep. Ind ; XIV, p. 361, Danta-pura-vāsakāt ; Dantakūra, Mbh., V, 48, 76. Dandagula (Pliny, M'Crindle, Megasthenes and Arrian, 1926, p. 144). The name of the city probably survives in that of the fort of Dantavaktra near Chicacole in the Gañjām district. Many other Kalinga capitals stood in the same district, e, g., Simhapura (Singupuram) near Chicacole, Dubreuil, A. H. D., p. 94, Kalinga-nagara (Mukhalingam on the Vamsadharā, Ep. Ind., IV. 187; Kalingapātam is preferred in Ind. Ant., 1887, 132; J BORS, 1929, pp. 623 f. But the arguments adduced are not all plausible). 2 XII. 4. 3. 3 Senart's edition, p 432. 4 Ind. Ant., 1891. p. 375. The Bhumikhanda of the Padmapurāna (47.9) mentions Śrīpura as a city in Kalinga. 5 Sutta Nipāta, 977, SBE, X, pt, ii, 184. Cf. Asmagi (Bomb. Gas. I. 1. p. 532; Megasthenes and Arrian, 1926, 145) of classical writers. Aśmaka is also mentioned by Pāņini, IV. I. 173. As the name signifies the stony region", it can hardly refer to Aśvaka, the land of the Assakenoi in the north-west, which the Cambridge History of India, vol. I, connects with the Sanskrit aśva, and Iranian aspa, horse. The Commentator Bhattasvāmin identifies Aśmaka with Mahārāshtra. The capital was Potali or Potana (Chullakālinga Jātaka No. 301 , Assaka J. (207); D. 2. 235; Pariśishța parvan, I. 92. nagare Potanābhidhe. Bomb Gaz. I. 1. 535; Law, Heaven and Hell in Buddhist Perspective, 74; Mbh. 1. 177. 47; cf. Padana of Lüders' List, 616, and N. G. Majumder's List, 658 (Monuments, p. 365-Visākhasa Padā(in)yasa). Dr. Sukthankar points out that the Paudanya of the printed editions of the Mahābhārata is a late corruption. The older Mss. give the name as Potana or Podana. This name reminds one of Bodhan in the Nizam's dominions which-ties to the south of the confluence of the Manjirā and the Godāvari. The city of Podana is said to have been founded by a prince of the Ikshvāku family, who is the eponymous hero of the land of Aśmaka. The neighbouring people of Mülaka also claimed Ikshvāku descent (Vāyu, 88. 177-178). 6 VIII. 14. O, P. 90-12 Page #119 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 90 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Satvats : "dakshinasyāṁ disi ye ke cha Satvatāṁ rājāno Bhaujyayaiva te'bhishichyante Bhoj-etye-nān-abhishiktānlāchakshata—" "in the southern region whatever kings there are of the Satvats, they are' anointed for Bhaujya ; 'O Bhoja' they style them when consecrated in accordance with the action of the deities).” In the Satapatha, Brālmaņa " the defeat by Bharata of the Satvats, and his taking away the horse which they had prepared for an Ašvamedha or horse-sacrifice are referred to. These Satvats must have been living near Bharata's realm, i.e., near the Ganges and the Yamunā. But in the time of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa they probably moved farther to the south. They are placed in the southern region (dakshiņā diś) beyond the "fixed middle region"the land of the Kurus, Pañchālas and some neighbouring tribes. The Pañchāla realm, according to epic testimony, extended as far south as the Chambal. The Satvat people of the "southern region” mentioned in the Aitareya Brāhmana, therefore, in all probability, lived beyond that river. Their kings were called Bhojas. This account of the Satvats and the Bhojas, deduced from the Brāhmaṇic statements, accords with Purānic evidence. It is stated in the Purānas that the Sātvat(a)s and the Bhojas were offshoots of the Yadu family which dwelt at Mathurā on the banks of the Yamunā. We are further told by the same authorities that they were the kindreds of the southern realm of Vidarbha. We have evidence of a closer connection between the Bhojas and the last-mentioned territory. A place called Bhojakața, is included 1 XIII. 5. 4. 21. 2 ibid, XIII, 5. 4, 11. 3 Mbh., I. 138. 74 ; Dakshināmschāpi Pāñchālān yāvach Charmanvati nadi. 4 Matsya, 43. 48, 44, 46-48 ; Vāyu, 94. 52; 95, 18 ; 96. 1-2 ; Vishnu IV, 13. 1-6. 5 Mat.. 44.36; Vāyu, 95. 35-36, Page #120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 91 BHOJA KINGDOMS within Vidarbha both by the Mahābhāratal and the Harivansa.? The Chammak grant of the Vākāțaka king Pravarasena II makes it clear that the Bhojakata territory included the Ilichpur district in Berar, a part of ancient Vidarbha. As pointed out by Dr. Smith, the name of Bhojakața, 'castle of the Bhojas,' implies that the province was named after a stronghold formerly held by the Bhojas, an ancient ruling race mentioned in the edicts of Asoka. Kālidāsa in his Raghuvamsas calls the king of Vidarbha a Bhoja. But Vidarbha was not the only Bhoja state. The Aitareya Brāhmana refers to several Bhoja kings of the south. A line of Bhojas must have ruled Daņdaka. A passage in the Kauţiliya Arthaśāstra ' ruus thus : "Dandakyo nāma Bhojah kāmāt Brāhmaṇa-kanyām abhimanyumānas sabandhu-rāshtro vinanāśa”—a Bhoja known as Dāņdakya, or king of Dandaka, making a lascivious attempt on a Brāhmaṇa girl, perished along with his relations and kingdom. We learn from the Sarabhanga Jātaka 8 that the kingdom of Daņdaki (Daņdaka) had its capital at Kumbhavati. According to the Rāmāyana' the name of the metropolis was Madhumanta, while the Mahāvastu 10 places it at Govardhana (Nāsik). It is clear, from what has been stated above, that there were, in the age of the later Vaidehas, and the treatises called Brāhmaṇas, many kingdóms in the south, both 1 v. 157. 15-16. 2 Vishnu parva, 60. 32. 3 JRAS., 1914, p. 329. 4 In Ind. Ant., 1923, 262-263, Bhojakata is identified with Bhat-kuli in the Amraoti district. 5 V. 39-40.. 6 Cf. also Mbh., V. 48. 74 ; 157. 17 , Harivamsa, Vishnu parva, 47, 5. 7 Ed. 1919, p. 11. 8 No. 522. 9 VII. 92. 18. 10 Senart's Edition, p. 363. Page #121 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 92 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Aryan and non-Aryan, namely, the Bhoja kingdoms, one of which was Vidarbha, and another, probably, Daņdaka, as well as Aśmaka and Kalinga. With the exception of these organised states the whole of Trans-Vindhyan India was occupied by non-Aryan (dasyu) tribes such as the Andhras, Savaras, Pulindas and probably also the Mūtibas.! In the opinion of Dr. Smith the Andhras were à Dravidian people, now represented by the large population speaking the Telugu language, who occupied the deltas of the Godāvari' and the Krishņā. Mr. P. T. Srīnivās Iyengar argues that the Andhras were originally a Vindhyan tribe and that the extension of Andhra power was from the west to the east down the Godāvari and Krishņā valleys.2 Dr. Bhandarkar points out that the Serivāņij Jātaka places Andhapura, i.e., the pura or capital of the Andhras, on the river Telavāha which he identifies with the modern Tel or Telingiri. But if "Seri” or Sri-rājya 4 refers to the Ganga kingdom of Mysore, Telavāba may have been another name of the Tungabhadrā-Krishṇā, and Andhapura identical with Bezvāda or some neighbouring city. The Mayidavolu plates of the early Pallava ruler Sivaskanda-varman prove that the Andhra country (Andhrāpatha) embraced the lower valley of the Krishņa and had its centre at Dhaññakada i.e., Bezvāda, or some neighbouring city on the south bank of the 1 Ait. Br., VII. 18. 2 Ind. Ant., 1913, pp. 276-78. 3 Ind. Ant., 1918. p. 71. There is also a river called "Ter" in South India. Ep. Ind., XXII. 29. 4 Mysore and Coorg from Inscriptions, 38. 'Seri' may also refer to Sri Vijaya or Sri Vishaya ( Sumatra ? ). 5 The name Telavāha, oil-carrier, reminds one of the passages 'vikhyāta Krishna-vernā (= Krishna) taila-snehopalabdha saralatva" (1A, VIII. 17, cf. Ep. XII. 153.)-'with a smoothness caused by sesame oil of the famous (river) Krishna Page #122 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ NON-ARYAN TRIBES 93 Krishna.1 Yuan Chwang applies the name An-to-lo (Andhra) to the district round Ping-ki-lo (Vengīpura) near Ellore. In later times the Andhra-Khanda extended from the Godavari to the borders of Kalinga (arabhya Gautamanaditaṭam aKalingam) and included Piṭhāpuri (Pithapuram)2. The Savaras and the Pulindas are described in the Matsya and the Vayu Purānas as Dakshina-patha-vasinaḥ, inhabitants of the Deccan, together with the Vaidarbhas and the Dandakas : Tesham pare janapada Dakshina-patha-vasinah 柒 Kārūshūscha saha-Ishika Aṭavyaḥ Savaras tatha Pulinda Vindhya-Pushika (?) Vaidarbha Dandakaiḥ saha.3 Abhiraḥ saha cha-Ishikaḥ Aṭavyaḥ śavarascha ye Pulinda Vindhya-Mulika Vaidarbha Dandakaiḥ saha.* The Mahabharata also places the Andhras, Pulindas and Savaras in the Deccan : Dakshina-patha-janmanaḥ sarve naravarr-Andhrakaḥ Guhah Pulindaḥ śavarās Chuchukā Madrakai! (?) saha 5 The precise position and extent of the country of the Savaras in the Brahmana period cannot be shown. They are usually identified with the Suari of Pliny and the Sabarae of Ptolemy, and are probably represented by the 1 Hultzsch (Ep. Ind. VI. 85) identified the city with Amaravati, Burgess suggested Dharanikota which lies about 18 miles to the westward from Bezväḍa, on the right bank of the Krishna. Fergusson, Sewell and Watters prefer Bezvāḍa itself (Yuan Chwang, II. 216). In the days of the great Chinese pilgrim An-to-lo (Andhra) had its capital at Ping-ki-lo or Vengipura in the Krishņā district. 2 Watters; II. IA. xx; 93; Ep. Ind. IV. 357. 3 Matsya. 114. 46-48. 4 Vayu, 45. 126. 5 Mbh., XII. 207. 42. Page #123 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ " 94 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Savaralu, or Sauras of the Vizagapatam Hills, and the Savaris of the Gwalior territory.1 The capital of the Pulindas (Pulinda-nagara) probably lay to the south-east of the Daśārņas who dwelt on the river Dasan (Dhasan) in Bundelkhand.3 The location of the territory of the Mutibas, another Dasyu tribe mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana along with the Andhras, Pulindas, and Savaras, is not so certain. Pliny refers to a tribe called "Modubae," and places them along with other peoples between the "Modogalingae," who inhabited a very large island in the Ganges and the Andara (Andhras). The Modubae are associated with the Molindae and the Uberae, perhaps corresponding to the Pulindas and the Savaras of the Aitareya Brahmana. In the Sankhāyana Śrauta Sūtra 5 the Mutibas are called Muvipa or Muchipa. It is not altogether improbable that the last name is connected with that of the river Musi in the Deccan on which Hyderabad now stands.6 1 Ind. Ant., 1879, p. 282; Cunn. AGI, new ed., pp. 583, 586; The Imp. Gaz. The Indian Empire. I, 384. Śavaras are also found in the south-east portion of the district of Raipur (JASB, 1890, 289), in Sambalpur and Ganjam (ibid 1891, 33), the western part of the Cuttack district as well as the north-western portion of Vizagapatam (ibid 1897, 321). 2 Mbh., II. 5-10. 3 JASB. 1895, 253; Kalidasa places them in the Vidisa or Bhilsa region (Meghaduta, 24-25). 4 M'Crindle, Megasthenes and Arrian, 1926, p. 139-140. 5 XV. 26. 6. 6 cf. Mushikas, Pargiter, Märkandeya Purana, p. 366. Page #124 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER III. MAHĀJANAPADAS AND KINGSHIP SECTION I. The Sixteen MAHĀJANAPADAS. The Vedic texts do not throw much light on the political conditions of the period which elapsed from the fall of the Videhan monarchy, probably early in the sixth century B. C., to the rise of Kosala under Mahākosala, the fatherin-law of Bimbisāra, about the middle of that century. But we learn from the Buddhist Anguttara Nikāya that during this period there were sixteen states of considerable extent and power known as the “Solasa Mahājanapada." 1 These states were :1. Kasi 9. Kuru 2. Kosala 10. Pañchāla 3. Anga 11. Machchha (Matsya) 4. Magadha 12. Sūrasena 5. Vajji (Vriji) 13. Assaka (Asmaka) 6. Malla 14. Avanti 7. Chetiya (Chedi) 15. Gandhāra 8. Vamsa (Vatsa) 16. Kamboja These Mahājanapadas flourished together during a period posterior to Karāla-Janaka but anterior to Mahākosala, because one of them, Vajji, apparently rose to power after the fall of the Videhan monarchy, while another, namely, Kāsi, lost its independence before the time of Mabākosala and formed an integral part of the Kosalan empire in the latter half of the sixth century B.C. The Jaina Bhagavatī Sūtra? gives a slightly different list of the sixteen Mahājanapadas : 1 P. T. S. 1, 213 ; IV, 252, 256, 260. The Mahāvastu (1. 34) gives a similar list, but omits Gandhāra and Kamboja, substituting in their place sibi and Daśārņa in the Punjab (or Rajputana) and Central India respectively. A less complete list is found in the Jana-vasabha-suttanta. 2 Saya xv Uddessa I (Hoernle, the Uvāsagadasão, II, Appendix) ; W. Kirfel, Die Kosmographie Der Inder, 225. Page #125 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 96 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 1. Anga 9. Pādha (Pandya or Paundra) 2. Banga (Vanga) 10. Lādha (Laţa or Rādha) 3. Magaha (Magadha) 11. Bajji (Vajji) 4. Malaya 12. Moli (Malla) 5. Mālava (ka) 13. Kāsi (Kāsi) 6. Achchha 14. Kosala 7. Vachchha (Vatsa) -- 15. Avāha 8. Kochchha (Kachchha ?) 16. Sambhuttara (Sumhottara ?) It will be seen that Aiga, Magadha, Vatsa, Vajji, Kāsi, and Kosala are common to both the lists. Mālava of the Bhagavati is probably identical with Avanti of the Anguttara. Moli is probably a corruption of Malla. The other states mentioned in the Bhagavati are new, and indicate a knowledge of the far east and the far south of India. The more extended horizon of the Bhagavati clearly proves that its list is later than the one given in the Buddhist Anguttara. We shall, therefore, accept the Buddhist list as a correct representation of the political condition of India after the fall of the House of Janaka. Of the sixteen Mahājanapadas Kāsi was probably at first the most powerful. We have already seen that Kāsi probably played a prominent part in the subversion of the Videhan monarchy. Several Jatakas bear witness to the superiority of its capital Benares over the other cities, and the imperial ambition of its rulers. The Guttila Jatalca? says that the city of Benares is the chief city in all India. It extended over twelve leagues whereas 1 Mr. E. J. Thomas suggests (History of Buddhist Thought, p. 6) that the Jaina author who makes no mention of the northern Kambojas and Gandhāras but includes several south Indian peoples in his list, "wrote in South India and compiled his list from countries that he knew." If the writer was really ignorant of the northern peoples his Mālavas could not have been in the Pañjāb and must be located in Central India. In that case his account can hardly be assigned to a very early date. 2 No. 243. 3 "Dvādasa-yojanikam sakala-Bārānasi-nagaram"--Sambhava Jataka, No. 515 ; Sarabha-miga J., 483 ; Bhūridatta J., 543. Page #126 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EMPIRE OF KASI 97 Mithila and Indapatta were each only seven leagues in extent. Several Kāsi monarchs are described as aspirants for the dignity of the chief king of all kings (sabbarājunam aggarājā), and lord of the whole of India ( sakalaJambudīpa). The Mahāvagga also mentions the fact that Kāsi was in former times a great and prosperous realm, possessed of iminense resources : “Blitapubla blacklace Baũm asiam Balmadatto wāma Kāsirājā ahosi addho mahaddhano mahābhogo mahadbalo mahāvāhano mahāvijito paripunnakosa-leotthā gāro,"3 The Jainas also afford testimony to the greatness of Kāsi, and represent Aśvasena, king of Benares, as the father of their Tirthankara Pārsva who is said to have died 250 years before Mahāvīra, i.e., in or about 777 B.C. Already in the Brāhmaṇa period a king of Kāsi, named Dhritarāshtra, attempted to offer a horse-sacrifice, but was vanquished by Satānika Sātrājita with the result that the Kāśis down to the time of the Satapatha Brāhmana, gave up the kindling of the sacred fire. Some of the other Kāsi monarchs were more fortunate. Thus in the Brahāchatta Jātakaa king of Benares is said to have gone against the king of Kosala with a large army. He entered the city of Sāvatthi and took the king prisoner. The Kosāmbi Jātala, the-Kunāla Jātaka,” and the Mahavagga 8 refer to the annexation of the kingdom of Kosala 1 Suruchi J., 489; Vidhurapandita J., 545. 2 Bhaddasāla Jātaka, 465; Dhonesākha Jātaka, 353. 3 Mahāvagga, X2.3; Vinaya Pițakam. 1, 342. 4 Sat. Br., XIII. 5. 4. 19. . 5 No, 336. . 6 No. 428. 7 No. 536. 8 S. B. E., Vol. XIII, pp. 294-99. Q. P. 90-13. Page #127 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 98 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA by the Brahmadattas of Kāsi.' The Assaka Jataka” refers to the city of Potali, the capital of Assaka on the Godāvarī, as a city of the kingdom of Kāsi. Evidently the reigning prince of Potali was a vassal of the sovereign of Kāsi. In the Sona-Nanda Jātaka: Manoja, king of Benares, is said to have subdued the kings of Kosala, Anga and Magadha. In the Mahabharata * Pratardana, king of Kāsi, is said to have crushed the power of the Vitahavyas or Haihayas. In the absence of corroborative evidence it is difficult to say how far the account of the achievements of individual kings, mentioned in the Jātakas and the epic, is authentic. But the combined testimony of many Jātakas and the Mahāvagga clearly proves that Kāsi was at one time a great, almost an imperial power, stronger than many of its neighbours including Kosala. We learn from the Bhojājāniya Jātaka6 that "all the kings round coveted the kingdom of Benares." We are told that on one occassion seven kings encompassed Benares. Benares in this respect resembled ancient Babylon and mediæval Rome, being the coveted prize of its more warlike but less civilized neighbours. 1 The reference in the Mahābhārata (I. 105. 47. ff; 106. 2, 13; 113.43 ; 114. 3f; 126, 16; 127, 24 ) to Kāsi princesses, the mothers of Dhritarāshtra and Pāndu, as Kausalyä, possibly points to the traditional union of the two realms of Kāsi and Kosala in the period when the epic was compiled. The expression KāsiKausalya already occurs in the Gopatha Brāhmana ( Vedic Index. I. 195). 2 NO. 207. 3 No. 532. 4 XIII. 30. 5 Dr. Bhandarkar points out that several Kāsi monarchs, who figure in the Jatakas, are also mentioned in the Purānas, e.g., Vissasena of Jātaka No. 268 Udaya of Jātaka No. 458, and Bhallātiya of Jātaka No. 504 are mentioned in the Purānas as Vishvaksena, Udakasena and Bhallāta. Matsya, 49.57 et seq. Vāyu. 99. 180 et seq.; Vishnu, IV. 19. 13. 6 No. 23. 7 Jātaka, 191, Page #128 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KOSALA 99 The kingdom of Kosala, as we have seen, was bounded on the west by the Gumti, on the south by the Sarpikā or Syandikā (Sai) river, on the east by the Sadānīrā which separated it from Videha, and on the north by the Nepā] hills. It included the territory of the Kālāmas of Kesaputta, possibly on the Gumti, and that of the Sākyas of Kapilavastu in the Nepalese Tarai. In the Sutta Nipāta3 the Buddha says, “Just beside Himavanta there lives a people endowed with the power of wealth, the inliabitants of Kosala.4 They are Ādichchas 5 by family, Sākiyas by birth ; from that family I have wandered out, not longing for sensual pleasures.” The Majjhima Nikāya, too, mentions the Buddha as a Kosalan : "Bhagavā pi Kosalako aham pi Kosalako,” The political subjection of the sākyas to the king of Kosala in the latter half of the sixth century B.C. is clear from the evidence of the Aggariña Suttanta? and the introductory portion of the Bhaddasāla Jūtalca. Kosala proper contained three great cities, namely, Ayodhyā, Sāketa and Sāvatthî or Srāvasti, besides a number of minor towns like Setavyā' and Ukkattha. 10 Ayodhyā (Oudh) was a town on the river Sarayū now 1 Râm, II. 49. 11-12; 50.1; VII. 104. 15. 2 Anguttara Nikāya, I. 188 (PTS) TC. II. 808. In the Rig-veda, V, 61, the Dālbhyas, a family or clan closely connected with the Kesins (who possibly gave their name to Kesaputta), are placed on the Gumti. 3. S. B. E., X, Part II, 68-69. 4 Kosalesu niketino. As pointed out by Rhys Davids and Stede, Niketin means 'having an abode,' 'being housed,' 'living in,' cf. J. III, 432-- dumasākha-niketini. 5 Belonging to the Aditya (Solar) race (cf. Lüders, Ins., 929 i). 6 II. 124. 7 Digha Nikāya, III (P.T.S.), 83 ; Dialogues III. 80. 8. No. 465; Fausboll, IV. 145. 9 Pāyāsi Suttanta. 10 Ambattha Sutta. Page #129 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 100 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA included in the Fyzabad district. Sāketa is often supposed to be the same as Ayodhyā, but Professor Rhys Davids points out that both cities are mentioned as existing in the Buddha's time. They were possibly adjoining like London and Westminster. Sāvatthi is the great ruined city on the south bank of the Achiravati or Rāpti called Sāhēt-Māhēt, which is situated on the borders of the Gonda and Bahraich districts of the United Provinces.? In the Rāmāyana and in the Purūnas the royal family of Kosala is represented as being desended from a king named Iksh vāku. Branches of this family are represented as ruling at Kusinārā, at Mithilā4 and at Viśālā or Vaisāli. A prince named Ikshvāku is mentioned in a passage of the Ķig-Veda. In the Atharva-Veda? either this king, or one of his descendants, is referred to as an ancient hero. The Purānas give lists of kings of the Aikshvāka dynasty from Ikshvāku himself to Prasenajit, the contemporary of Bimbisāra. The names of many of these kings are found in the Vedic literature. For example : Mandhātri Yuvanāśva8 is mentioned in the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa.' Purukutsa 10 is referred to in the Rig Veda.ll 1 Buddhist India, p. 39. 2 Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, 1924, p. 469; Smith, E. H. I., 3rd ed. p. 159. The royal palace at Srāvasti overlooked the Achiravati (DPPN, II. 170n). 3 The Kusa Jataka, No. 531. The Mahāvastu (II1. 1) places an Iksh vāku king in Benares-Abhushi Rājā Ikshvāku Vārānasyāni mahābalo. 4 Vāyu P., 89, 3. 5 Rāmāyana, I. 47. 11-12. 6 X. 60. 4. 7 XIV. 39. 9. 8 Vayu, 88. 67. 9 I. 2. 10 et seq. 10 Vayu, 88, 72. 11 1, 63. 7; 112. 7. 14; 174. 2, VI. 20. 10. Page #130 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IKSHVĀKU KINGS In the Satapatha Brahmana1 he is styled an Aikshvāka.2 Trasadasyu,3 too, finds mention in the Rig-Veda.* Tryaruna is also mentioned in the same Veda. In the Panchavimsa Brahmana he is called an Aikshvāka. Trisanku is referred to in the Taittiriya Upanishad. Harischandra 10 figures in the Aitareya Brahmana 11 and is styled Aikshvāka. Rohita, the son of Harischandra 12 is also alluded to in the same Brahmana.13 Bhagiratha 14 figures prominently in the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brahmana under the slightly different name of Bhageratha 15 and is called Aikshvaka and 'Ekarat' (sole ruler ). Under the name of Bhajeratha he is probably referred to in the Rig-Veda 16 itself. Ambarisha 17 is mentioned in the same Veda.18 Rituparna 19 finds mention in a Brāhmaṇa-like passage of the Baudhayana Śrauta Sutra.20 Dasaratha and Rama1 bear names that are known to the Rig-Veda.22 But these personages and a few others mentioned above are not connected in the Vedic texts with the Ikshvāku family or with Kosala. Hiranyanabha Kausalya,23 is mentioned in the Praśna Upanishad, as a rajaputra or prince. He is undoubtedly 1 XIII. 5. 4. 5. 2 Cf. reference to the Rig-Veda, IV, 42. 8 in this connection. 3 Vayu, 88. 74. 4 5 Vayu, 88, 77. 7 XIII. 3. 12. 10 13 16 19 Vayu, 88. 117. VII. 14. Vayu, 88. 109. 11 VII. 13. 16. 14 X. 60. 2. 17 Vayu, 88. 173. 20 21 22 I. 126. 4; X. 93. 14. 23 Vayu, 88. 183-184. Vayu, 88. 207. 24 VI. 1. In the Jaim. Up. Br. II. 6. he (cf. Śankh. Śr. Sutra, XVI. 9. 13) or his son (Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 4). is styled a māhārāja. Too much significance should not be attached to the designation rajaputra (as distinguished from rājā). In the Mbh. V. 165. 18, Brihadvala is a raja of Kosala (Kausalya). In a later passage of the epic (XI. 25. 10) the same ruler is referred to as Kosalānāmadhipatim rajaputram Brihadbalam. 6 9 8 101 IV. 38. 1; VII. 19. 3, etc. V. 27. I. 10. 1. 12 Vayu, 88. 167. Vayu, 88. 171, XVIII. 12 (Vol. II, p. 357). 15 18 Vayu, 88. 119. IV. 6. 1ff. I. 100. 17. Page #131 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 102 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA connected with Para Ātņāra ( Āhlāra ), the KosalaVidehan king,, mentioned in a gāthā (song) occurring in the Satapatha Brāhmana' and the Sanlchāyana Srauta sutra, as well as a passage of Jaiminīya Upanishad Brāhmaṇa. The gāthā as quoted in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa gives to Para the patronymic 'Hairanyanābha,' while the Srauta Sūtra identifies Para with Hiranyanābha himself. It is difficult to say whether the original gātha extolling the deeds of Para Ātņāra (Ahlāra) gave to that conqueror the name 'Hiraṇyanābha' or the patronymic ‘Hairanyanābha. The Satapatha Brālimana is the older of the two works mentioning the prince's exploits and is, therefore, more likely to preserve the original text than the sūtra. According to the Praśna Upanishal, Hiranyavābha, the father, was a contemporary of Sukešā Bhārad vāja,“ who was himself a contemporary of Kausalya Āśvalāyana. If it be true, as seems probable, that Āśvalāyana of Kosala is identical with Assalāyana of Sāvatthi mentioned in the Majjhima Nikāya as a contemporary of Gotama Buddha, he must be placed in the sixth century B. C. Consequently Hiranyanābha, and his son, Hairanyanābha too, must have flourished in that century. Some of the later princes of thc Purāṇic list, e. g., Śākya, Suddhodana, Siddhārtha, Rāhula and Prasenajit, are mentioned in Buddhist texts. The exact relations of Hiraṇyanābha (and Hairanyavābha) with Prasenajit, who also flourished in the sixth century B. C., are not known. The Purāṇic chroniclers make Hiraṇyanābha an ancestor of Prasenajit, but are not sure about his position in the dynastic list. Further they refer to 1 XIII. 5. 4. 4. Atnārasya Parah putro'śvain medhyamabandhayat Hairanyanābhah Kausalyo diśah pūrņā amanhata (iti). 2 XVI. 9. 13. 3 II. 6. 4 VI. 1. 5 Praśna, I. 1. 6 II. 147 et seq. 7 AIHT., 173. Page #132 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VALUE OF PURĀNIC LISTS 103 Prasenajit as the son and successor of Rāhula, and grandson of Siddhartha (Buddha). This is absurd, because Prasenajit was of the same age as the Buddha and belonged to a different branch of the Ikshvāku line. The Tibetans represent him as the son of Brahmadatta. It is clear that no unanimous tradition about the parentage of Prasenajit and the position of Hiranyanābha in the family tree has been preserved. Hiranyanābha, or preferably his son, performed an Aśvamedha sacrifice and was apparently a great conqueror. Is this ruler identical with the "Great Kosalan” (Mahākosala) of Buddhist tradition ? If he really flourished in the sixth century B.C., he may have been identical with ‘Mahākosala,' of Buddhist texts. Pargiter admits that several Purāņic passages make Hiranyanābha ( and therefore also his son ) one of the “future" kings after the Bhārata battle. He was the only prince of antiquity who is styled in the Vedic literature both a Kausalya and a Vaideha. That description admirably fits Mahākosala whose daughter, the mother of Ajātaśatru according to Buddhist tradition, is called Kosalādevi as well as Vedehi (Vaidehi). A word may be added here regarding the value of the Purāṇic lists. No doubt they contain names of some real kings and princes. But they have many glaring defects, defects which are apt to be forgotten by writers who make these the basis of early Indian chronology. (1) Ikshvākuids of different branches and perhaps princes of other tribes e.g., Trasadasyu, king of the Pīrus, Rituparņa; king of Saphāla,* Śuddhodana of 1 Essay on Guņādhya, p. 173. 2 AIHT, 173. 3 Rig Veda, IV. 38.1 ; VH. 19. 3. 4. Baud. srautra Sūtra, XVIII. 12 (Vol. II, p. 357); Āpas. Śr. Sūtra, XXI. 20. 3. Rituparna is, however, not distinctly called an Aikshvāka. But from the rarity of the name it is possible to surmise that the epic and Purāņic king of that designation is meant. Page #133 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ shvakuids. 104 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kapilavastu and Prasenajit, king of Śrāvasti, have been mixed up in such a way as to leave the impression that they formed a continuous line of monarchs who ruled in regular succession. (2) Contemporaries haye been represented as successors and collaterals have been represented as lineal descendants, e.g., Prasenajit, king of Srāvastī, is represented as the lineal successor of Siddhārtha and Rāhula, though he was actually a contemporary of Siddhārtha, i.e., the Buddha, and belonged to a separate line of the Ikshvākuids. (3) Certain individuals have been omitted, e.g., Vedhas (father, or ancestor of Hariśchandra), Para Āțnāra (unless he is identical with Hiranyanābha), and Mahākosala. (4) Names in the list include śākya, the designation of a clan, and Siddhārtha (Buddha) who never ruled. It is not easy to find out all the kings of the Purāṇic chronicles who actually ruled over Kosala. Some of the earlier princes e.g., Purukutsa, Trasadasyu, Hariśchandra, Rohita, Rituparņa and a few others, are omitted from the list of the kings of Ayodhyā given in the Rāmāyana.' We gather from the Vedic literature that many, if not all, of these monarchs ruled over territories lying outside Kosala. The only kings or princes in the Purāṇic list who are known from the Vedic and early Buddhist texts to have reigned in Kosala, or over some outlying part of it, are Hiraṇyanābha, Prasenajit and Suddhodana. 1 I. 70. 2 In the Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4, 4-5, Hairaṇyanābha is described as Kausalyarāja, but not as an Aikshvāka. On the other hand Purukutsa Daurgaha is styled Aikshvāka-rājā but not as Kausalya, as if a distinction between Kausalyas and Aikshvākas is meant. The two terms need not refer to kings of the same dynasty ruling over exactly the same territory. As a matter of fact Trasadasyu is known to be a king of the Pūrus. An Ikshvākuid styled Vārshņa, connected with the Vțishộis (?), is mentioned in Jaim. Up. Br. 1. 5. 4. Page #134 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KOSALAN CHRONOLOGY 105 The Buddhist works mention a few other sovereigns of Kosala, but their names do not occur in the epic and Purāṇic accounts. Some of these kings had their capital at Ayodhyā, others at Sāketa, and the rest at Srāvasti. Of the princes of Ayodhyā, the Ghata Jatakal mentions Kālasena. A Kosalarāja reigning in Sāketa is mentioned in the Nandiyamiga Jātaka. Vanka, Mabākosala and many others : had their capital at Săvatthi or Śrāvasti. Ayodhyā seems to have been the earliest capital, and Sāketa the next. The last capital was Srāvasti. Ayodhyā had sunk to the level of an unimportant town in the Buddha's time,“ but Sāketa and Srāvasti were included among the six great cities of India.5 The chronology of ancient Kosala is in a state of utmost confusion. If the Purānas are to be believed, & prince named Divākara occupied the throne of Ayodhyā in the time of Adhisīma-krishna, great-great-grandson of Parikshit. But, as has already been pointed out above, the princes who are mentioned as his successors did not form. a continuous line of rulers who reigned over the same territory in regular succession. It is, therefore, a hopeless task to measure the distance separating him from the Buddha and his contemporary with the help of the tradi. tional dynastic lists alone. It is also not known when the older capitals were abandoned in favour of Srāvasti. But it must have been some time before the accession of Prasenajit, the contemporary of the Buddha, of Bimbisāra, and of Udayana of Kaušāmbi, supposed to be a descendant of Adhisima-krishņa. 1 No. 454. 2 No, 385. 3 E.g., the Kosalarāja of J. 75; Chatta (336); Sabbamitta (512); and Prasenajit. 4 Buddhist India, p. 34. 5 Mahā-parinibbāna Sutta, S.B.E., XI, p. 99, O. P. 90-14 Page #135 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 106 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA .: We learn from the Mahāvagga 1 that during the period of the earlier Brahmadattas of Kāsi, Kosala was a poor and tiny state with slender resources : Dīghiti nāma Kosalarājā ahosi daliddo appadhano- appadhogo appabalo appavāhano appavijito aparipunna-kosa-kotthāgāro. In the sixth and fifth-centuries B. C., however, Kosala was a mighty kingdom which contended first with Kāsi, and afterwards with Magadha for the mastery of the upper Ganges valley. The history of these struggles is reserved for treatment in later sections. The rivalry Magadha ended in the absorption of the kingdom into the Magadhan Empire. Anga was the country to the east of Magadha and west of the chieftains who dwelt in the Rajmahal Hills (Parvatavāsinah). It was separated from Magadha (including Modāgiri or Monghyr) by the river Champā, probably the modern Chāndan. The Aiga dominions, however, at one time included Magadha and probably extended to the shores of the sea. The Vidhura Pandita Jātaka: describes Rājagriha as a city of Anga. The śāntiparva of the Mahabharata refers to an Anga king who sacrificed on Mount Vishộupada (probably at Gayā). The Sabhāparva5 mentions Anga and Vanga as forming one Vishaya or kingdom. The Kathā-sarit-sāgara says that Vitankapur, 1 S. B. E., XVII, p. 294. 2 According to Pargiter (JASB, 1897, 95) Anga comprised the modern districts of Bhāgalpur and Monghyr, and also extended northwards up the river Kauśiki or Kośi and included the western portion of the district of Purnea. For it was on that river that Kāśyapa Vibhāndaka had his hermitage. His son Rishyaśpinga was beguiled by courtesans of Anga into a boat and brought down the river to the capital. In Mbh. ii. 30. 20-22, however, Modāgiri (Monghyr) and Kausiki-Kachchha had rulers who are distinguished from Karna whose realm (Anga) clearly lay between the Māgadhas and the Rājās styled Parvatavāsin. 3 No. 545. 4 29, 35, JASB, 1897, 94. 5 44. 9; cf VI. 18. 28. Angas and Prächyas, 6 25. 35 ; 26.115 ; 82.3-16, Page #136 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ANGA 107 a city of the Angas, was situated on the shore of the sea. The imperial glory of Anga is doubtless reflected in the songs of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇal which describe the 'worldconquest' (Samantam sarvatah prithivin jayan) of one of its ancient kings in the course of which girls of aristocratic families (athya-duhitri ) were brought as prizes from different climes. Champā, the famous capital of Anga, stood at the confluence of the river of the same name and the Ganges.3 Cunningham points out that there still exist near Bhāgalpur two villages, Champānagara and Champāpura, which most probably represent the actual site of the ancient capital. It is stated in the Mahābhārata, the Purānas and the Harivassa that the ancient name of Champā was Mālini : 4 Champasya tu puri Champā yū Maliny-abhavat purā. In the Jātaka stories the city is also called KālaChampā. The Mahā-Janaka Jātaka 5 informs us that Champā was sixty leagues from Mithilā. The same Jātaka refers to its gate, watch-tower, and walls. Down to the time of Gautama Buddha's death it was considered as one of the six great cities of India, the other five being Rājagriha, Śrāvasti, Sāketa, Kaušāmbi, and Benares. Champā was noted for its wealth and commerce, and traders sailed from it to Suvarna-bhūmi in the Trans-Gangetic region for trading purposes.? Hindu 1 Ait. Br. VIII. 22. 2 Jātaka 506. 3 Mbh, iii, 84, 163 ; 307, 26 (Gangāyāḥ Sūtavishayam Champāmanu yayau purim) : Watters, Yuan Chwang, II. 181 ; Dasakumāra Charita, II. 2. 4 Matsya, 48. 97; Vayu, 99. 105-06 : Hariv., 31. 49; Mbh., XII. 5. 6-7; XIII. 42. 16. 5 No. 539. 6 Mahā-parinibbana Sutta. 7 Jätaka, 539, Fausboll's Ed., VI, p. 34. Page #137 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 108 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA emigrants to southern Annam and Cochin China are supposed to have named their settlement after this famous Indian city. Other important cities in Anga were Assapura (Aśvapura) and Bhaddiya (Bhadrika). The earliest appearance of Anga is in the AtharvaVeda 3 in connection with the Gandhāris, Mūjavats, and Magadhas. The Rāmāyana tells an absurd story about the origin of this Janapada. It is related in that epic that Madana or Ananga, the god of love, having incurred the displeasure of the God Śiva fled from the hermitage of the latter to escape hís consuming anger, and the region where "he cast off his body (anga)” has since been known by the name of Anga. The Mahābhārata and the Purānas attribute the foundation of the kingdom to a prince named Anga. The tradition may claim some antiquity as Anga Vairochana is included in the list of anointed kings in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. The consecration of this ruler with the Aryan ritual styled the Aindra mahābhisheka causes some surprise as the Bodhāyana Dharma Sūtra groups the Angas with peoples Champā, see Eliot, the oldest Sanskrit inscentury A. D. The 1 Ind. Ant., VI. 229, Itsing, 58. Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 35. Nundolal Dey, Notes on Ancient Anga, JASB, 1914. For the Hindu colonisation of Champa, see Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol. III, pp. 137 ff, and R. C. Majumdar, Champā. The oldest Sanskrit inscription (that of Vo-can) dates, according to some scholars, from about the third century A. D. The inscription mentions a king of the family of Sri Māra-rāja, "2 Malalasekera, DPPN, 16; Dhammapada Commentary, Harvard Oriental Series, 29. 59. Cf. Bhaddiya (Bhadrika or Bhadrikā of Jaina writers). It is possibly represented by Bhadariyā, 8 miles south of Bhāgalpur (JASB, 1914, 337). 3 V. 22. 14. 4 J ASB, 1914, p. 317 ; Rām., I. 23. 14. 5 Mbh. 1. 104. 53-54 ; Matsya p. 48. 19. 6 VIII. 22 ; cf. Pargiter, JASB, 1897, 97. In connection with the gifts of the Anga King mention is made of a place called Avachatnuka : Dašanāgasahasrani dattvātreyo' vachatnuke śrāntah pārikutān praipsad danen-Angasya Brāhmanah. The epithet 'Vairochana' given to the Anga King reminds one of 'Vairochani' of the Matsya P. 48, 58. Page #138 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ANGA 109 of mixed origin, and the Mahabharata brands an Anga prince who, by the way, is distinguished from Karna, and is described as skilful in handling elephants, as a Mlechchha or outlandish barbarian. In the Matsya Purana the father of the eponymous hero of the Angas is styled Danavarshabhaḥ (chief among demons).1 About the dynastic history of Anga our information is meagre. The Mahagovinda Suttanta refers to king Dhataraṭṭha of Anga. The Buddhist texts mention a queen named Gaggara who gave her name to a famous lake in Champa. The Purūnas3 give lists of the early kings of this country. One of these rulers, Dadhivahana, is known to Jaina tradition. The Puranas and the Harivamsa represent him as the son and immediate successor of Anga, Jaina tradition places him in the beginning of the sixth century B. C. His daughter Chandana or Chandrabālā was the first female who embraced Jainism shortly after Mahāvīra had attained the Kevaliship. Śatānika, king of the Vatsas of Kausāmbi, near Allahabad, is said to have attacked Champa, the capital of Dadhivahana, and in the confusion which ensued, Chandana fell into the hands of a robber, but all along she maintained the vows of the order. Between the Vatsas and the realm of Anga lived the Magadhas, then a comparatively weak people. A great struggle was going on between this kingdom and its great 1 Bodh. Dh. S. I. 1. 29; Mbh. VIII. 22. 18-19; Mat. P. 48. 60. Note also the connection of Angas with Nishadās in Vayu, 62, 107-23. The Purāņa describes the royal family as Atrivamsasamutpanna. In the Aitareya Brahmana, however, an Atreya appears as the priest of the Anga King. For a discussion of the origin of the Angas and other kindred tribes, see. S. Lévi pre-Aryen et PreDravidien dans l'Inde," I. A. Juillet-septembre, 1923. 2 Dialogues of the Buddha, H. 270. 3 Matsya, 48. 91-108; Vayu, 99. 100-112. 4. 32. 43. 5 JASB, 1914, pp. 320-21. For the story of Chandanavala see also Ind. Culture, II. pp, 682 ff. Page #139 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 110 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA eastern neighbour. The Vidhura Pandita Jatakao describes Rājagriba, the Magadhan capital, as a city of Anga while the Mahābhārata refers to a sacrifice which an Anga king probably performed at Gayā. These details may inđícate that Anga succeeded in annexing Magadha. Its frontier tlus approached the Vatsa Kingdom - whose monarch's alarm may have been responsible for an attack on Champā. The Anga king preferred to have friendly relations with Kaušāmbi, possibly because he was threatened by the reviving power of Magadha. Sri Harsha speaks of a ruler of Anga named Dridhavarman who gave his daughter in marriage to Udayana, son and successor of Śatānikas and secured his help in regaining his throne. : The success of Anga did not last long. About the middle of the sixth century B. C. Bimbisāra Śreņika, the Crown Prince of Magadha, is said to have killed Brahmadatta, the last independent ruler of Ancient Anga. He took Champā, the capital, and resided there as his father's Viceory. Henceforth Anga becomes an integral part of the growing empire of Magadha.. Magadha corresponds roughly to the present Patna and Gayā districts of South Bihār. It seems to have been bounded on the north and the west by the rivers Ganges and the Sona, on the south by spurs of the Vindhyan range, and on the east by the river Champā which emptied itself into the Ganges near the Anga capital." Its earliest capital was Girivraja, the mountain-girt 1 Champeyya Jataka.. .2 Cowell, VI. 133. 3 Priyadarśikā, Act IV. 4 Hardy, A Manual of Buddhism, p. 163n (account based on the Tibetan Dulva). JASB, 1914, 321. 5 Mbh. II. 20. 29 ; Mahā-parinibbāna Suttanta (Dialogues ii. 94) and DPPN, I, 331 which show that the Vșiji frontier commenced from the northern bank of the Ganges as Ukkāvelā or Ukkachelā, was included within the limits of that state ; Champeyya Jātaka (506); Fleet, CII, 227 ; DPPN, 403. In the epic period the eastern boundary of Magadha proper may not have extended as far as the Champā river as Modāgiri (Monghyr) finds mention as a separate state. Page #140 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAGADHA: 111 city, or old Rājagriha, near Rājgir among the hills in the neighbourhood of Gayā. The Mahāvagga? calls it "Giribbaja of the Magadhas" to distinguish it from other cities of the same name, e.g., Girivraja in Kekaya. The Mahābhārata refers to it not only as Girivraja, but as Rājagriha, Bārbadratha-pura+ and Māgadha-pura, and says that it was an almost impregnable city, puram durūdharshain samantatah, being protected by five hills, viz. Vaihāra, the grand rock (Vipulah sailo), Varāha, Vrishabha, Rishigiri and Chaityaka with their compact bodies (rakshantīvābhisamhatya samhataigā Girivrajam). From the Rāmāyana we learn that the city had another name, Vasumati. The Life of Hiuen Tsang mentions still another name, Kušāgra-pura. Indian Buddhist writers give a seventh name, Bimbasāra-puri. In a passage of the Rig Veda 10 mention is made of a territory called Kikața ruled by a chieftain named Pra maganda. Yāskall declares that Kikata is the nanie 1 Broadley in JASB. 1872, 299. Girivraja was at one time identified with Giryek on the Panchana river about 36 miles north-east of Gayā, 6 miles east of Rajgir (Pargiter in JASB, 1897, 86). 2 S. B. E. XIII. 150.. . . . 3 Mbh. I. 113, 27; 204. 17; 11, 21. 34; III. 84, 104. 4 II. 24. 44. 5 Goratham girimāsādya dadrißur Māgadham puram, II. 20. 30; 21. 13. 6 The names given in the Pāli texts (DPPN, II. 721) are Pandava, Gijjhakūta, Vebhāra, Isigili and Vepulla (or Vankaka). The Pāli evidence may suggest that Vipula in the Mbh. verse is a name, and not an epithet In that case Dr. J. Wenger suggests Chaitykapanchakāḥ (five goodly Chaityakas) for Chaityakapanchamā. (with Chaityaka as the fifth). For a note by Keith see IHQ, 1939, 163-64, 7 I. 32. 8. 8 P. 113. Apparently named after an early Magadhan prince (Vāyu, 99, 224 ; . AIHT, 149). 9 Law, Buddhaghosha, 87 n. 10 III. 53. 14. 11. Nirukta, VI, 32. . Page #141 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 112 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of a non-Aryan country. In later works Kikata is given as a synonym of Magadha.? Like Yāska the author of the Brihad-dharma Purūna... apparently regarded Kikata as an impure country which, however, included a few holy spots : Kikațe nāma desesti Kāka-karnākhyako niipah prajānām hitakrinnityam Brahma-dveshakarastathā tatra dese Gayā nāma punyadeso' sti visrutal nadi cha Karnada nāma pitļinām svargadāyini? Kikate cha mrito' pyesha pāpablitmau na samsayah. It is clear from these verses that Kikata included the Gayā district, but the greater part of it was looked upon as an unholy region (pāpabhūmi, doubtless corresponding to the anārya-nivāsa of Yāska). Kāka-karņa of line 1, may be the same as Kāka-varna of the Saišunāga family. The name Magadha first appears in the Atharva-Vedawhere fever is wished away to the Gandhāris, Mūjavats, Angas, and Magadhas. The bards of Magadha are, how. ever, mentioned as early as the Yajur-Veda. They are usually spoken of in the early Vedic literature in terms of contempt. In the Vrātya book of the Atharva Samhitā, the Vrātya i.e., the Indian living outside the pale of Brāhmaộism, is brought into very special relation to the purschali 1 Kikateshu Gayā punya punyam Rajagriham vanam Chyāvanasyāśramam punyam nadi punya punahpunā. Cf. Vayu, 108. 73 ; 105. 23. Bhāgavata Purāna, I. 3. 24 : Buddho namnañjana-sutaḥ Kikateshu bhavishyati : ibid vii. 10.19; Sridhara Kikateshu madhye Gayā-pradese". Abhidhāna-chintamani, "Kikață Magadhāhvayān." For an epigraphic reference to Kikata see Ep. Ind. II. 222, where a prince of that name is connected with the Maurya family. See also 'Kekateyaka' (Monuments of Sanchi, I. 302) 2 Madhya-Khandam, XXVI. 20. 22. 3 XXVI. .47; cf. Vāyu p. 78.22 ; Padma Patālakhanda, XI. 45. 4 V. 22. 14. 5 vaj. Sam XXX. 5; Vedic Index, II. 116. For the connection of the Māgadhas with Magadha, see Vayu p. 62.147. 6 XV. ii. 5-Sraddhā pumíchali Mitro Māgadho...etc; Griffith II. 186. Page #142 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAGADHAN KINGS 113 (harlot) and the Māgadha. "In the eastern region (Prāchyām disi)” faith is his harlot, Mitra his Māgadha (bard or panegyrist). In the Srauta Sutras the equipment characteristic of the Vrātya is said to be given, when the latter is admitted into the Aryan Brāhmaṇical community, to the so-called Brāhmaṇas living in Magadha, Brahmabandhu Māgadhadesīya.? The Brāhmaṇas of Magadha are here spoken of in a disparaging tone as Brahmabandhu. In the Sankhāyana Aranyaka, however, the views of a Magadhavūsi Brāhmaṇa are quoted with respect. The Vedic dislike of the Magadhas in early times was due, according to Oldenbergo to the fact that the Magadhas were not wholly Brāhmaṇised. Pargiter suggests 5 that in Magadha the Aryans met and mingled with a body of invaders from the east by sea. With the exception of Pramaganda no king of Magadha appears to be mentioned in the Vedic literature. The earliest dynasty of Magadha according to the Mahābhārata and the Purāṇas is that founded by Bșihadratha, the son of Vasu Chaidya-Uparichara, and the father of Jarāsandha. Rāmāyana? makes Vasu himself the founder of Girivraja or Vasumati. A Bșihadratha is mentioned twice in the Ķig-Veda, but there is nothing to show that he is identical with the father of Jarāsandha. The Purāņas give lists of the “Brihadratha kings” from Jarāsandha's son Sahadeva to Hípuñjaya, and apparently make Senājit, seventh in descent from Sahadeva, the I Cf. Weber, Hist. Ind. Lit., pp. 112. 2 Vedic Index, II, 116. 3 Note also the expression rājānaḥ kshatra-bandhavaḥ applied to Magadhan kings in the Purāṇas (Pargiter, Dynasties of the Kali Age, p. 22). 4 Buddha, 400 n. 5 JASB, 1897, 111; J. R. A. S., 1908 pp. 851-53. Bodh. Dh. Sūtra, I, i. 29 refers to Angas and Magadhas as sankirna-yonayah, "of mixed origin". - 6 I. 63. 30. 7 I. 32, 7. 8 1. 36. 18; X. 49. 6. O. P. 90—15 Page #143 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 114 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA contemporary of Adhisima-krishņa of the Pārikshita family and Divākara of the Ikshvāku line. But in the absence of independent external corroboration it is not safe to accept the Purāṇic chronology and order of succession of the princes as authentic. Bọihadrathas and certain princes of Central India are said to have passed away when Pulika (Puņika ) placed his son Pradyota on the throne of Avanti, i.e., the Ujjain territory. As Pradyota was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, and as the Purāņic passage, “Brihadratheshwati. teshu Vitihotreshv-Avantishu, when the Brihadrathas, Vitihotras and Avantis ( or the Vītihotras in Avanti ) passed away," " suggests that the events alluded to here were synchronous, it is reasonable to conclude that the Brihadratha dynasty came to an end in the sixth century B.C. Jaina writers mention two early kings of Rājagriha named Samudra-vijaya and his son Gaya. Gaya is said to have reached perfection which had been taught by the 1 Cf. supra. pp. 80 f, 104, discussion about later Vaideha and Kosalan kings. The number of 'the future Bțihadrathas' is given as 16, 22 or 32, and the period of their rule 723 or 1000 years (DKA, 17, 68). The last King Ripuñjaya or Ariñjaya (ibid 17 n 96) reminds one of Arindama of the Pāli texts (DPPN, ii. 402). 2 Dynastics of the Kali Age, p. 18; cf., IHQ, 1930, p. 683. There is no reason to believe with the late authors of the Kathā-sarit-sāgara and certain corrupt passages of the Purānas, (IHQ. 1930, pp. 679, 691), that there was a Pradyota of Magadha distinct from Mahāseņa of Avanti who is called Pradyota by several earlier writers, Buddhist as well as Brāhmaṇical. The use of the expression 'Avantishu' (DKA, 18) in the Purāņic passage which refers to the dynastic revolution brought about by Pulika, the identity of the names of the Puranic family of Pradyota with those of the Avanti line of Mahāsena, and the mention, in reference to Pradyota of the Purānas, of epithets like 'pranatasāmanta' and 'nayavarjita' which remind one irresistibly of Chanda Pradyota Mabāsena of Avanti as described in Buddhist literaure, leave little room for doubt that the Pradyota of the Parāņas and Pradyota of Avanti cannot be regarded as distinct entities. 3 S. B. E. XLV. 86. A King named Gaya is mentioned in Mbh. vii. 64. But he is described there as a son of Amūrtarayas, Page #144 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAGADHAN KINGS 115 Jinas. But little reliance can be placed on uncorroborated assertions of this character. The second Magadhan dynasty, according to the less corrupt texts of the Purāṇas, was the Saišunāga line which is said to have been founded by a king named śiśunāga. Bimbisāra, the contemporary of the Buddha, is assigned to this family. Aśvaghosha, an earlier authority,' refers however, in his Buddha-charita, to Śrenya i.e., Bimbisāra, as a scion, not of the Saišunāga dynasty, but of the Haryanka-kula, and the Mahāvamsa makes 'Sugunāga' i.e., Siśunāga, the founder of a distinct line of rulers which succeeded that of Bimbisāra. The Purūnas themselves relate that Śiśunāga "will take away the glory of the Pradyotas” whom we know from other sources to be contemporaries of the Bimbisārids :- : Ashta-trimśachchhatam bhāvyāh Pradyotāl, pañcha te sutāli hatvā teshāin yasah kritsnaiii ģisunāgo bhavishyati, If this statement be true, then Siśunāga must be later than the first Pradyota, namely Chanda Pradyota Mahāsena, who was, judged by the evidence of the Pāli texts, which is confirmed in important details by the ancient Sanskrit poets and dramatists,' a contemporary of Bimbisāra and his son. It follows that Sisunāga, according to the last-mentioned authorities, must be later than those kings. But we have seen above that the Purānas make Siśunāga an ancestor of Bimbisāra and the progenitor of his family. This part of the Purāņic 1 Asvaghosha was a contemporary of Kanishka (C. 100 A. D.) (Winternitz, Ind. Lit. II. 257). On the other hand the Puraộic chronicles pre-suppose Gupta rule in the Ganges Valley (DKA, 53). C. 320 A. D. 2 XI. 2. 3 Vāyu Purāna, 99, 314. 4 Indian culture, VI, 411, Page #145 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 116 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA account is not corroborated by independent external evidence. The inclusion of Vārānasi and Vaiśāli within Śiśunāga’s dominions? proves that he came after Bimbisāra and Ajātaśatru who were the first to establish Magadhan rule in those regions. The Mālālankāravatthu, a Pali work of modern date, but following very closely the more ancient books, tells us that Śišunaga had a royal residence at Vaiśāli which ultimately became his capital.3 "That monarch (Śišunāga) not unmindful of his mother's origin* re-established the city of Veśali (Vaiśālī), and fixed in it the royal residence. From that time Rājagưiha lost her rank of royal city which she never afterwards recovered. The last statement indicates that śiśunāga came after the palmy days of Rājagļiha, i.e., the period of Bimbisāra and Ajātaśatru. It may be argued that the Purāņas make Girivraja, and not Vaišāli, the abode of Siśunāga (Vārānasyāṁ sutam sthāpya śrayishyati Girivrajam); and as Udāyin, son of Ajātaśatru was the first to transfer the capital from that stronghold to the newly founded city of Pāțaliputra, Siśunāga's residence in the older capital points to a date earlier than that of the founder of the more famous metropolis. But the fact that Kālāśoka, son and successor of Śiśunāga, is known to have ruled in Pātaliputra shows that he came after Udāyin, 1 We may go even further and characterise certain statements of the Purānic bards as self-contradictory. Thus (a) Prodyota is said to have been anointed when the Vitihotras had passed away, (b) Siśunāga destroyed the prestige of the Pradyotas and became king, and yet (c) contemporaneously with these Saisunāga kings 20 Vitihotras (and other lines) are said to have endured the same time. - ete sarve bhavishyanti ekakāları mahikshitah (DKA 24). 2 Dynasties of the Kali Age, 21 ; S. B. E., XI, p. xvi. 3 If the Dvātrimśat-Puttalikā is to be believed, Vaiśāli continued to be graced by the presence of the king till the time of the Nandas. 4 Sisunāga, according to the Mahāvamśaţikā (Turnour, Mahāwansa, xxxvii), was the son of a Lichchhavi rāja of Vaiśāli, He was conceived by a nagarasobhini and brought up by an officer of state. Page #146 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 112 MAGADHAN KINGS the founder of that city. The further fact of removal of capital in his , reign too—which must be regarded as a second transferl-shows that his predecessor had reverted to the older stronghold apparently as a place of refuge. The event alluded to in the words "śrayishyati" Girivrajam need not necessarily imply that Girivraja continued to be the capital uninterruptedly till the days of Siśunāga. The origin of the Haryanka line, to which Bimbisāra belonged according to Aśvaghosa, is wrapped up in obscurity. There is no cogent reason why this dynastic designation should be connected with Haryanga of Champā mentioned in the Farivamsao and the Purāṇas. Haryankakula may simply be an expression like “aulikara-lāñchhana ūtma vamsa” of a Mandasor Inscription, pointing to the distinctive mark or emblem of the family. Bimbisāra was not the founder of the line. The Mahāvamsa states that he was anointed king by his own father when he was only 15 years old. He avenged a defeat of his fathers by the Angas and launched Magadba into that career of conquest and aggrandisement wbich orrly ended when Asoka sheathed his sword after the conquest of Kalinga. 1 SBE, XI, p. xvi. 2 31, 49 ; Vāyu, 99, 108 : J. C. Ghosh in ABORI, 1938(xix), pp. i. 82. 3 Hari has the sense of yellow', 'horse', 'lion', 'snake', etc. 4 Geiger's translation, p. 12. This disposes of the view of Dr. D.R. Bhandarkar (Carm. Lec. 1918) who makes Bimbisāra the founder of his dynasty and says that he was a general who carved out a kingdom for himself at the expense of the Vajjis. 5 Turnour, N. L. Dey and others mention Bhātiya or Bhattiya as the name of the father. The Tibetans, on the other hand, call him Mahāpadma. Turnour, Mahāwamsa, I. p. 10; J. A. S. B., 1872, i 298 ; 1914, 321 ; Essay on Gunādhya. p. 173. The Puranas name Hemajit, Kshemajit, Kshetrojā or Kshatraujā as the father of Bimbisāra. If the Puranic account is correct Bhātiya or Bhattiya may have been a secondary name or epithet comparable to the names 'Seniya' and "Kūņiya of Bimbisara and Ajātaśatru respectively. But it is not safe to rely on an uncorroborated statement of the Puranas, particularly when there is hardly any unanimity with regard to the form of the name. Page #147 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 118 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Vajji (Vriji) territory lay north of the Ganges and extended as far as the Nepāl hills. On the west the river Gandak possibly separated it from the Mallas and perhaps also the Kosalas. Eastwards, it may have approached the forests that skirted the river Kosi and the Mahānandā. It is said to have included eight confederate clans (atthakula), of whom the old Videhas, the Lichchhavis, the linātņikas and the Vrijis proper were the most important. The identity of the remaining elans remains uncertain. It may, however, be noted that in a passage of the Sūtrakritānga, ttie Ugras, the Bhogas, the Aikshvūkas and the Kauravas are associated with the Jñātris and the Lichchhavis as subjects of the same ruler and members of the same assembly. The Anguttara Nikāya, too, refers to the close connection of the Ugras with Vaiśāli, the capital of the Vrijian confederation. The old territory of the Videhas had, as already stated in an earlier section, its capital at Mitbilā which has been identified with Janakpur within the Nepāl border. The Rāmāyana clearly distinguishes it from the region round Vaiśālī. But in Buddhist and Jaina texts the distinction is not always maintained and Videha is used in a wide sense to include the last-mentioned area. The Lichchhavi capital was definitely at Vaiśāli which is represented by modern Besarh (to the east of the Gandak) in the Muzaffarpur district of Bibār. It is 1 S. B. E., XLV, 339. Cf. Hoernle, Uvāsaga-dasāo, II. p, 138, n. 304. 2 I. 26; III. 49; IV. 208. 3 Ram. I. 47-48. 4 The Achāränga Sūtra (II. 15, $ 17; S. B. E., XXII, Intro.) for instance places the Sarniveśa of Kundagrāma near Vaiśāli in Videha. The mothers of Māhavira and Ajātaśatru are called Videha-dattā and Vedehi (Vaidehi) respectively. Page #148 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 119 VĶIJIAN CONFEDERACY probably identical with the charming city called Viśālā in the epic. Viśālām nagarīí ramyām divyāṁ svargopamām tadā. We learn from the introductory portion of the Ekapanna Jātakao that a triple wall encompassed the town, each wall a league distant from the next, and there were three gates with watch-towers. The Lichchhavi territory may have extended northwards as far as Nepāl where we find them in the seventh century A.D. The Jñātņikas were the clan of Siddhārtha and his son Mahāvīra, the Jina. They had their seats at Kuņdapura or Kundagrāma and Kollāga, suburbs of Vaiśāli. In the Mahā-parinibbāna Suttanta, however, the abode of the "Nādikas” (identified by Jacobi with the Ñātikas or Jñātrikas)' is distinguished from Kotigāma(Kundagrāma?). Though dwelling in suburban areas Mahāvīra and his fellow clansmen were known as "Vesālie,'' i.e., inhabitants of Vaišāli. . The Vșijis proper are already mentioned by Paņini. Kautilya? distinguishes them from the ‘Lichchhivikas'. Yuan Chwang8 too, draws a distinction between the Fu-li-chih (Vriji ) country and Fei-she-li (Vaiśāli ). It seems that Vriji was not only the name of the confederacy but also of one of its constituent clans. But the Vrijis, like the Lichchhavis, are often associated with the city of Vaiśāli (including its suburbs ) which was not only the capital of the Lichchhavi clan, but 1 Rām. Ādi, 45. 10.. . 3 Ch. 2. 4 S. B. E, XXII, Intro. 2 No. 149. 5. Hoernle Uvāsaga-dasão, 11, p. 4 n, 6 IV. 2. 131. 7. Arthaśāstra, Mysore Edition, 1919, p. 378. 8 Watters, II, 81. Cf. also DPPN, II. 814 ; Gradual sayings, III. 62 ; IV. 10. Accorindg to Smith (Watters, II. 340 ) the Vriji country is roughly equivalent to the northern part of the Darbhanga district and the adjacent Nepalese Tarāi. Page #149 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 120 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA also the metropolis of the entire confederacy.1 A Buddhist tradition quoted by Rockhill2 mentions the city proper as consisting of three districts. These districts were probably at one time the seats of three different clans. The remaining peoples of the confederacy viz. the Ugras, Bhogas, Kauravas, and Aikshvākas, resided in suburbs, and in villages or towns like Hatthigama, Bhoganagara etc.3 We have seen that during the Brahmana period Videla (Mithila) had a monarchieal constitution. The Rāmāyaṇa and the Puranas state that Visala, too, was at first ruled by "kings." The founder of the Vaiśālika dynasty is said to have been Viśāla, a son of Ikshvāku according to the Rāmāyaṇa, a descendant of Nabhaga the brother of Ikshvāku, according to the Puranas. Visala is said to have given his name to the city. After him came Hemachandra, Suchandra,/ Dhumrāśva, Sriñjaya, Sahadeva, Kuśāśva, Somadatta, Kakutstha and Sumati. We do not know how many of these Vaisalika "kings" (nripas) can be accepted as historical and 1 Cf. Majjhima Nikaya, II, 101: The Book of the Kindred Sayings, 1, (Samyutta Nikaya), by Mrs. Rhys Davids, p. 257.-"A certain brother of the Vajjian clan was once staying near Vesali in a certain forest tract". 2 Life of Buddha, p. 62. 3 For the Ugras and Bhogas see Hoernle, Uvasaga-dasão, II, p. 139(§ 210); Brih. Up. III. 8. 2; S. B. E., XLV, 7ln. In the Anguttara Nikaya, I. 26 (Nipata I. 14. 6), the Ugras are associated with Vaiśāli (Uggo gahapati Vesaliko), and in IV. 212 with Hatthigāma. A city of Ugga is mentioned in the Dhammapada commentary, Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 30, 184. Hoernle refers (Uvāsaga-dasão, II, App. III, 57) to a place called Bhoganagara, or 'City of the Bhogas'. The Maha-parinibbana Suttanta mentions Bhandgama, Hatthigāma, Ambagama, Jambugāma and Bhoganagara on the way from Vaisali to Pāvā (Digha, II, 122-26). Cf. also Sutta Nipata, 194. The association of a body of Kauravas with the Vajjian group of clans is interesting. Kuru Brahmaņas, e. g., Ushasti Chakrāyaṇa had begun to settle in the capital of Videha long before the rise of Buddhism. For the Aikshvākas of Vaisali, see Ram. I. 47, 11. 4 I. 47. 11. 17. 5 Vayu, 86. 16-22; Vishnu, IV. 1. 18. Page #150 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VAISALI AND VRIJI POLITICS 121 as having actually ruled as monarchs in North Bihar. A king named Sahadeva Sarñjaya is mentioned in the Satapatha Brahmana.1 In the Aitareya Brahmana2 he is mentioned with Somaka Sahadevya. None of these kings, however, are connected with Vaiśali in the Vedic literature. The Mahabharata speaks of a Sahadeva (son of Sriñjaya) as sacrificing on the Jumna, and not on the Gandak. The presence of Ikshvakuids as a constituent element of the Vriji confederacy, which had its metropolis at Vaiśāli, is, however, as already stated, suggested by the Sutrakritanga. ✔The The Vrijian confederation must have been organised after the decline and fall of the royal houses of Videha. Political evolution in India thus resembles closely the developments in the ancient cities of Greece where also the monarchies of the Heroic Age were succeeded by aristocratic republics. The probable causes of the transformation in Greece are thus given by Bury: "In some cases gross misrule may have led to the violent deposition of a king; in other cases if the succession to the sceptre devolved upon an infant or a paltry man, the nobles may have taken it upon themselves to abolish the monarchy. In some cases, the rights of the king might be strictly limited in consequence of his seeking to usurp undue authority; and the imposition of limitations might go on until the office of the king although maintained in name, became in fact a mere magistracy in a state wherein the real power had passed elsewhere. Of the survival of monarchy in a limited form we have an example at Sparta; of its survival as a mere magistracy, in the Archon Basileus at Athens." II. 4. 4. 3-4. 1 2. VII. 34. 9. 3 Mbh. III, 90. 7. with commentary. O. P. 90-16 . Page #151 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 122 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The cause of the transition from monarchy to republie in Mithila has already been stated. Regarding the change at Viśālā we know nothing. Several scholars have sought to prove that the Lichchhavis, the most famous clan of the Vrijan confederacy (Vajjiraṭṭhavasi hi pasattha), were of foreign origin. According to Smith they had Tibetan affinities. He infers this from their judicial system and the disposal of their dead, viz., exposing them to be devoured by wild beasts. Pandit S. C. Vidyabhushana held that the name Lichchhavi (Nichchhivi of Manu) was derived from the Persian city of Nisibis.3 The inadequacy of the evidence on which these surmises rest has been demonstrated by several writers. Early Indian tradition is unanimous in representing the Lichchhavis as Kshatriyas. Thus we read in the Maha-parinibban Suttanta: "And the Lichchhavis of Vesali heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusināra. And the Lichchhavis of Vesali sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying: "The 1: DPPN, II, 814. 2. Ind. Ant., 1903, p. 233 ff. In the case of Tibet we have only three courts as against the seven tribunals of the Lichchhavis (viz. those of the Vinichchhaya mahamattas) (inquiring magistrates), the Vohärikas (jurist-judges), Suttadharas (masters of the sacred code), the Aṭṭhakulakas, (the eight clans, possibly a federal court), the Senapati (general), the Uparaja (Viceroy or Vice-Consul), and the rajā (the ruling chief) who made their decisions according to the paveni potthaka (Book of Precedents). Further, we know very little about the relative antiquity of the Tibetan procedure as explained by S. C. Das which might very well have been suggested by the system expounded in the Aṭṭhakatha. This fact should be remembered in instituting a comparison between Tibetan and Vajjian practices. Regarding the disposal of the dead attention may be invited to the ancient practices of the "Indus" people (Vats, Excavations at Harappa, I. ch. VI.) and the epic story in Mbh. IV. 3 Ind. Ant., 1902, 143, ff; 1908, p. 78. There is very little in Vidyabhushana's surmise except a fancied resemblance between the names Nichchhivi and Nisibis. Inscriptions of the Achaemenids are silent about any Persian settlement in Eastern India in the sixth or fifth century B. C. The Lichchhavi people were more interested in Yaksha Chaityas and the teaching of Mahavira and the Buddha than in the deities and prophets of Iran. 4 Modern Review, 1919, p. 50; Law, Some Ksatriya Tribes, 26ff, Page #152 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LICHCHHAVIS 123 Exalted. One was a Kshatriya and so are we. We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Exalted One.". In the Jaina Kalpa Sūtra Trišalā, sister to Chetaka of. Vesālī, is styled Kshatriyāṇī. - Manu concurs in the view that the Lichchhavis are Rājanyas or Kshatriyas. Jhallo Mallaścha rājanyād vrūtyān Nichchhivireva cha :) Natascha Karanaśchaiva Khaso Drūvila eva cha.. It may be argued that the Lichchhavis, though originally non-Aryans or foreigners, ranked as Kshatriyas when they were admitted into the fold of Brāhmanism like the Dravidians referred to in Manu's śloka and the Gurjara-Pratīhāras of mediæval times. But unlike the Pratīhāras and Dravidas, the Lichchhavis never appear to be very friendly towards the orthodox form of Hinduism. On the contrary, they were always to be found among the foremost champions of non-Brāhmaṇical creeds like Jainism and Buddhism. Manu testifies to their heterodoxy when he brands them as the children of the Vrātya Rājanyas. The great mediæval Rājput families (though sometimes descended from foreign immigrants) were never spoken of in these terms. On the contrary, they were supplied with pedigrees going back to Rāma, Lakshmaņa, Yadu, Arjuna and others. A body of foreigners who did not observe ceremonies enjoined in the Brahmaņic code, could hardly have been accepted as Kshatriyas. The obvious conclusion seems to be that the Lichchhavis were indigenous Kshatriyas who were degraded to the position of Vrātya when they neglected Brāhmaṇic rites and showed a predilection for heretical doctrines. The Rūmāyana, as we have seen, represents 1 2 S. B. e., XXI, pp. xii, 227.* X. 22. Page #153 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 124 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the Vaiśālika rulers as Ikshvākuids. The Pāli commentary Paramatthajotikāl traces their origin to Benares. The comparison of the Lichchhavis to the “Tāvatimsa gods” hardly accords with the theory that represents them as kinsmen of snub-nosed peoples who lived beyond the Himalayas.2 “Let those of the brethren" we are told by a personage of great eminence "who have never seen the Tāvatimsa gods, gaze upon this company of the Lichchhavis, behold this company of the Lichchhavis, compare this company of the Lichchhavis--even as a company of Tāvatimsa gods." ... The date of the foundation of the Lichchhavi power is not known. But it is certain that the authority of the clan was well established in the days of Mahyāvīra and Gautama, in the latter half of the sixth century B.C., and was already on the wane in the next century. Buddhist tradition has preserved the names of eminent Lichchhavis like prince Abhaya, Otthaddha (Mahāli), generals Siha and Ajita, Dummukha and Sunakkhatta. In the introductory portion of the Ekapannat and Chulla Kalingas Jātakas it is stated that the Lichchhavis of the ruling family numbered 7,707. There was a like number of viceroys, generals, and treasurers. Too much importance should not be attached to these figures which are merely traditional and may simply point to the large number of 1 Vol. I, pp. 158-65. 2 S. B. E., XI, p. 32 ; DPPN, II, 779.. | 3 Anguttara Nikaya, Nipāta III, 74 (P. T, S., Part 1, p. 220 f.); Mahalli Sutta, Dialogues of the Buddha. Part I, p. 198, Part III, p. 17. Mahāvagga, S. B. E., XVII, p. 108; Majjhima N., I. 234 ; 68; II. 252; The Book of the Kindred Sayings, I, 295. For a detailed account of the Lichchhavis, see now. Law, Some Kșatriya Tribes of Ancient India. 4 149. 5 301. 6 Another tradition puts the number at 68,000 (DPPN, II. 781 n). The Dhaminapada Commentary (Harvard Oriental Series, 30, 168) informs us that the rājās ruled by turns. · Page #154 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GANARAJAS 125 mahallakas1 or elders in the clan. The real power of administration especially in regard to foreign affairs seems to have been vested in a smaller body of nine Ganarājās or archons. The Jaina Kalpasutra refers to the nine Lichchhavis as having formed a league with nine Mallakis and eighteen archons of Kasi-Kosala. We learn from the Nirayavala Sutra that an important leader of this alliance was Cheṭaka whose sister Trisala or Videha-datta was the mother of Mahavira, and whose daughter Chellana or Vaidehi was, according to Jaina writers, the mother of Kunika-Ajataśatru. The league was aimed against Magadha. Tradition says that even in the time of the famous Bimbisāra the Vaiśalians were audacious enough to invade their 8 1 Cf. the Vajji Mahallaka referred to in Digha, II. 74; Anguttara, IV. 19. 2 § 128. 3 Nava Mallai (Mallati) nava Lechchhai (Lechchhati) Kasi Kosalaga, (variant Kosalaka) aṭṭhārasa vi ganarayano. The Kalpasūtra of Bhadrabahu, ed. by Hermann Jacobi, 1879, Jina carita p. 65 ($128); Nirayavaliya Suttam (Dr. S. Warren), 1879, § 26; SBE, XXII, 1884, p. 266. Dr. Barua is inclined to identify the nine Lichchhavis and the nine Mallakis with the eighteen ganarajas who belonged to Kasi and Kośala. He refers in this connection to the Kalpadrumakalikāvyākhya which represents the Mallakis as adhipas (or overlords) of Kaśi-deśa, and the "Lechchhakis" as adhipas of Kośala-deśa, and further describes them as samantas or vassals of Cheṭaka, maternal uncle of Mahavira (Indian Culture, Vol. II, p. 810), It is news to students of Indian history that in the days of Mahāvīra the kingdoms of Kaśi and Kośala acknowledged the supremacy of the Mallas and Lichchhavis respectively, and formed part of an empire over which Chetaka presided. Even Dr. Barua hesitates to accept this interpretation of the late Jaina commentator in its entirety and suggests that the nine Mallas and the nine Lichchhavis... derived their family prestige from their original connection with the dynastie of Kasi and Kosala The Paramattha-jotikā (Khuddaka-patha commentary), however, connects the Lichchhavis not with the dynasty of Kosala but with that of Kasi. The divergent testimony of these late commentators shows that they can hardly be regarded as preserving genuine tradition. There is no suggestion in any early Buddhist or Jaina text that either the Lichchhavis or the Mallas actually ruled over any grama or nigama in Kasi-Kosala (see Indian Culture, II, 808). The ganarajas of Kasi-Kośala apparently refer to the Kalamas, Sakyas and other clans in the Kosalan empire. Page #155 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 126 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA neighbours across the Ganges. In the reign of Ajātaśätru the tables were turned, and the great confederacy of - Vaiśālī was utterly destroyed. * The Malla territory, ancient Malta-rattha, the Mallarāshtra of the Mahābhārata, was split up into two main parts which had for their capitals the cities of Kusāvati or Kusinārā and Pāvā. The river Kakutthā, the Cacouthes of the classical writers, identified with the modern Kuku, probably formed the dividing line. The division of the people is also known to the great epic which draws a distinction between the Mallas proper and the Dakshina or Southern Mallas. There is no agreement among scholars regarding the exact site of Kusinārā. In the Mahā-parinibbūna Suttanta it is stated that the Sāla Grove of the Mallas, the Upavattana (outskirt or suburb)? of Kusinārā, lay near the river Hiranyavati. Smith identifies the stream with the Gandak and says that Kusinagara (Kusinārā) was situated in Nepāl, beyond the first range of hills, at the junction of the Little, or Eastern Rāpti with the Gandak. He, however, admits that the discovery in the large stūpa behind the Nirvāṇa temple near Kasiā on the Chota Gandak, in the east of the Gorakhpur district, of an inscribed copper-plate bearing the words "[parini]" vāna-chaitye tāmrapaļța iti,"9 supports the old theory, propounded by Wilson and accepted by Cunningham, that the remains near Kasiā represent Kuśi-nagara... 1 Si-yu-ki, Bk. IX. 2 DPPN, 11. 781-82. 3 VI. 9. 34. * 4 Kusa Jātaka, No. 531 ; Mahā-parinibbana Suttanta, Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II, pp. 136 ff, 161-62. *** *5AGI (1924), 714. 6 Mbh. 11. 30. 3 and 12. - JRAS; 1906, -659; Digha, II. 137. 5.8 EHI, third ed., p. 159 n. 9 ASI, A: R., 1911-12; 17 ff, ; JRAS, 1913, 152, Kasia is a village that lies about 35 miles to the east of Gorakhpur (WGI, 493). Page #156 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MALLA KINGS 127 Pāvā was identified by Cunningham with the village named Padaraona, 12 miles to the N.N.E. of Kasiā, and separated from it by the Bādhi Nala ( identified with the ancient Kakutthā). Carlleyle, however, proposes to identify Pāvā with Fāzilpur, 10 miles S.E. of Kasia and separated from it by the Kuku. In the Sangiti Suttanta we have a reference to the Mote Hall of the Pāvā Mallas named. Ubbhataka: 3 "The Mallas together with the Lichchhavis are classed by Manu as Vrātya Kshatriyas. They, too, like their eastern neighbours were among ardent champions of Buddhism. Like Videha, Malla had at first a monarchical constitution. The Kusa Jātaka mentions a Malla king named Okkāka (Ikshvāku). The name probably suggests that like the Säkyas* the Malla princes also claimed to belong to the Ikshvāku family. And this is confirmed by the fact that in the Mahā-parinibbāna Suttanta they are sometimes called Vāsetthas, i.e., "belonging to the Vasishtha gotra.' 5 The Mahāsudassana Sutta mentions another king named Mahāsudassana. These rulers, Okkāka and Mahāsudassana, may or may not have been historical individuals. But the tales that cluster round their names imply that Mallarattha was at first ruled by kings. This conclusion is confirmed by the evidence of the Mahābhārata? which refers to an overlord (adhipa) of the Mallas. During the monarchical period the metropolis was a great city and was styled 1 AGI, 1924, 498. 2 Kukutthā ; AGI, 1924, 744. 3 DPPN, II. 194. 4 Cf. Dialogues, Part I. pp. 114-15. 5 Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II, pp. 162, 179, 181, Vasishtha figures in the Rāmāyana as the purohita of the Ikshväkuids. 6 S. B. E., XI, p. 248. 7 II. 30. 3. Page #157 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 128 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kusavati. Other important cities were Anupiya and Uruvelakappa.1 Before Bimbisara's time the monarchy had been replaced by republics and the chief metropolis had sunk to the level of a "little wattel and daub town," a "branch township" surrounded by jungles. It was then styled Kusinārā. The relations of the Mallas with the Lichchhavis were sometimes hostile and on other occasions friendly. The introductory story of the Bhaddasala Jataka contains an account of a conflict between Bandhula the Mallian, Commander-in-chief of the king of Kosala, and 500 elders of the Lichchhavis. The Jaina Kalpasutra, however, refers to "nine Mallakis" as having combined with the Lichchhavis, and the seigniors of Kasi-Kosala against KūņikaAjataśatru who, like Philip of Macedon, was trying to absorb the territories of his republican neighbours. The Malla territory was finally annexed to Magadha. It cer tainly formed a part of the Maurya Empire in the third century B.C. Chedi was one of the countries encircling the Kurus, paritah Kurun, and lay near the Jumna. 5 It was closely connected with the Matsyas beyond the Chambal, the Kasis of Benares, and the Karushas in the valley of the Sona," and 1 Law, Some Ksatriya Tribes, p. 149. Dialogues, Pt. III (1921), 7; Gradual Sayings, IV. 293. Anupiya stood on the banks of the river Anoma which lay thirty leagues to the east of Kapilavastu It was here that the future Buddha cut off his hair and put on the robes of the ascetics. (DPPN, I, 81, 102). 2 Cf. S. B. E., XI, p. 102; Kautilya's Arthaśastra, 1919, p. 378. 3 Kudḍa-nagaruka, ujjangala-nagaraka, sākhā-nagaraka. 4 No. 465. 5 Pargiter, JASB, 1895, 253 ff; Mbh; I. 63. 2-58; IV. i. 11. Santi ramya janapada bahvannāḥ paritaḥ Kurun Panchalas-Chedi-Matsyaścha Surasenaḥ Paṭachcharāḥ Daśārņā Navaräshṭrāścha Mallaḥ Salva Yugandharaḥ. 6 Mbh. V. 22, 25; 74. 16; 198. 2; VI. 47. 4; 54. 8. Page #158 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHEDI 129 is distinguished from the Daśārņas who lived on the banks of the Dhasan. In ancient times it corresponded roughly to the eastern part of modern Bundelkhand and some adjoining tracts. In the medieval period, however, the southern frontiers of Chedi extended to the banks of the Narmada (Mekala-sutā) :— Nadinam Mekala-sutā nṛipānāṁ Ranavigrahaḥ kavīnām cha Suranandas Chedi-mandala-mandanam3 We learn from the Chetiya Jataka that the metropolis was Sotthivati-nagara. The Mahabharata gives its Sanskrit name Suktimati, or Śukti-sahvaya. The Great Epic mentions also a river called Suktimati which flowed by the capital of Raja Uparichara of the Chedi-vishaya (district). Pargiter identifies the stream with the Ken, and places the city of Suktimati in the neighbourhood of Banda. Other towns of note were Sahajati, and Tripuri, the medieval capital of the Janapada. 1 Princesses of Dasarṇa were gven in marriage to Bhima of Vidarbha and Virabahu or Subahu of Chedi (Mbh. iIII. 69. 14-15). 2 Pargiter (JASB, 1895, 253) places Chedi along the south bank of the Jumna from the Chambal on the north-west as far as Karwi on the south-east ; its limits southwards may have been, according to him, the plateau of Malwa and the hills of Bundelkhand. 3 Attributed to Rajasekhara in Jahlana's Suktimuktavali, Ep. Ind. IV. 280. Konow, Karpuramañjarī, p. 182. 4 No. 422. 5 III. 20. 50; XIV. 83. 2; N. L. Dey, Ind. Ant., 1919, p. vii of Geographical Dictionary. 6 I. 63. 35. 7 JASB, 1895, 255, Markandeya P., p. 359. 8 Anguttara, III. 355 (P.T.S.). Ayasma Mahachundo Chetisu viharati Sahajatiyam. Sahajati lay on the trade route along the river Ganges (Buddhist India, p. 103). Cf. the legend on a seal-die of terra-cotta found at Bhita, 10 miles. from Allahabad (Arch. Expl. Ind., 1909-10, by Marshall, JRAS, 1911, 128 f.)Sahijitiye nigamaśa, in letters of about the third century B.C. JBORS, XIX, 1933, 293. see also 9 Tripuri stood close to the Nerbudda not far from modern Jubbalpore. In the Haimakosha it is called Chedinagari (JASB, 1895, 249). The city finds mention in the Mbh. III. 253. 10, along with Kosala, and its people, the Traipuras, are referred in VI. 87, 9, together with the Mekalas and the Kurubindas. O. P. 90-17. Page #159 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 130 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Chedi people are mentioned as early as the ĶigVeda. Their king Kasu Chaidya is praised in a Dānastuti (praise of gift) occurring at the end of one hymn. Rapson proposes to identify him with ‘Vasu' of the Epics. - The Chetiya Jātaka gives a legendary genealogy of Chaidya kings, taking their descent from Mabāsammata and Māndhātā. Upachara, a King of the line, had five sons who are said to have founded the cities of Hatthipura, Assapura, Sihapura, Uttara pañchala and Daddarapura.? This monarch is probably identical with Uparichara Vasu, the Paurava king of Chedi, mentioned in the Mahābhārata, whose five sons also founded five lines of kings. But epic tradition associates the scions of Vasu's family with the cities of Kaušāmbi, Mahodaya (Kanauj) and Girivraja. The Mahābhārata speaks also of other Chedi kings like Damaghosha, his son śiśupāla Sunitha, and his sons Dhộishțaketu and Sarabha who reigned about the time of the Bharata war. But the Jātaka and epic accounts of the early kings of Chedi are essentially legendary and, in the absence of more reliable evidence, cannot be accepted as genuine history. We learn from the Vedabbha Jātaka that the road from Kāśi to Chedi was. unsafe being infested with roving bands of marauders. . 1 VIII. 5. 37-39. 2 Hatthipura may be identified with Hatthinipura or Hastinapura in the Kuru country, Assapura with the city of that name in Anga, and Sihapura with the town of Lāla from which Vijaya went to Ceylon. There was another Simhapura in the Western Punjab (Wattets I. 248). Uttarapañchāla s Ahichchhatra in Rohilkhand. Daddarapura was apparently in the Himalayan region. (DPPN, I. 1054). - 3 1. 63. 1-2. 4 I. 63. 30. 5 Rāmāyana, I. 32. 6-9; Mahābhārata, I. 63. 30-33. 6 No. 48. Page #160 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VATSA 131 Vamsa or Vatsa was the country south of the Ganges 1 of which Kaušāmbi, modern Kosam, on the Jumna, near Allahabad, was the capital. Oldenberg 3 is inclined to identify the Vamsas with the Vatsas of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. But the conjecture lacks proof. The Satapatha Brāhmaṇu mentions a teacher named Proti Kaušāmbeya+ whom Harisvāmin, the commentator, considers to be a native of the town of Kaušāmbi. Epic tradition attributes the foundation of this famous city to a Chedi prince.. The origin of the Vatsa people, however, is traced to a king of Kāsi.? It is stated in the Purānas that when the city of Hāstinapura was washed' away by the Ganges, Nichakshu, the great-great-grandson of Janamejaya, abandoned it, and removed his residence to Kaušāmbi. We have already seen that the Purāṇic tradition about the Bhārata or Kuru origin of the later kings of Kaušāmbi is confirmed by two plays attributed to Bhāsa. Udayana, king of Kaušāmbi, is described in the Svapnavāsavadatta and the Pratijñā Yaugandharāyana 8 as a scion of the Bhārata-kuba. The Purāṇas give a list of Nichakshu's successors down to Kshemaka, and cite the following genealogical verse : 1 Râm. II. 52. 101. . 2 Nariman, Jackson and Ogden, Priyadarśikā, lxxvi; the Brihat Katha. A Śloka Sangraha (4. 14, cf. 8, 21) explicitly states that Kaušāmbi was on the Kālindi or Jumna. Malalasekera, DPPN, 694. The reference in one text to the position of the city on the Ganges is possibly due to its proximity to the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna in ancient times, or to a copyist's error, 3 Buddha, 393 n. 4 Sat. Br., XII. 2, 2. 13. 5 See p. 70. ante. 6 Rām., I, 32. 3-6; Mbh. I. 63. 31. 7 Harivamśa, 29. 73 ; Mbh., XII. 49. 80.' 8 Svapna, ed. Ganapati Šāstri, p. 140 ; Pratijñā, pp. 61, 121. Page #161 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 132 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Brahma-kshatrasya - yo yonir vamso devarshi-satkritah Kshemakam prāpya rūjānasit samsthāṁ prūpsyati vai kalau. “The family honoured by gods and sages (or divine sages), from which sprang Brāhmaṇas and Kshatriyas (or those who combined the Brāhmaṇa and Kshatriya status) will verily, on reaching Kshemaka, come to an end (or be interrupted) in the Kali Age." The criticism that has been offered in this work in regard to the Ikshvāku and Magadhan lists of kings applies with equal force to the Paurava-Bhārata line. Here, too, we find mention of princes (e.g., Arjuna and Abhimanyu) who can hardly be regarded as crowned nripas or monarchs. It is also by no means improbable that, as in the case of the Ikshvākus and the royal houses of Magadha and Avanti, contemporaries have been represented as successors and collaterals described as lineal descendants. There is, moreover, no unanimity in regard to the names of even the immediate predecessors of Udayana, the most famous among the later kings of the family. These facts should be remembered in determining the chronology and order of succession of the Bhārata dynasty of Kaušāmbi. The earliest king of the line about whom we know anything definite is Satānika II of the Purāṇic lists. His father's name was Vasudāna according to the Purānas, and Sahasrānīka according to Bhāsa.' Satānika himself was also styled Parantapa.? He married a princess of Videha as his son is called 1 Cf. Brahma-Kshatriyānām kula of the inscriptions of the Sena kings who claimed descent from the Lunar Race to which the Bharatas, including, the Kurus belonged. 2 Buddhist India, p. 3. Page #162 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ POST-VEDIC KURUS Vaidehiputra. He is said to have attacked Champā, the capital of Anga, during the reign of Dadhivahana.2 His son and successor was the famous Udayana, the contemporary of the Buddha and of Pradyota of Avanti and therefore of Bimbisāra and Ajataśatru of Magadha. 133 The Bhagga (Bharga) state of Sumsumāragiri, 'Crocodile Hill', was a dependency of Vatsa. The Mahabharata and the Harivamsa 5 testify to the close connection of these two territories and their proximity to the principality of a Nishada chieftain, while the Apadana seems to associate Bharga with Karusha. The evidence points to the location of Sumsumaragiri between the Jumna and the lower valley of the Sona. The Kuru realm was according to the Maha-Sutasoma Jātaka three hundred leagues in extent. The reigning dynasty according to the Pali texts belonged to the Yuddhiṭṭhila gotta, i. e., the family of Yudhishṭhira.8 The capital was Indapatta or Indapattana, i. e., Indraprastha or Indrapat near modern Delhi. It extended over seven leagues. We hear also of another city called Hatthinipura,10 doubtless, the Hastinapura of the epic, and a number of nigamas or smaller towns and villages besides 1 Svapna-vasavadatta. Act VI. p. 129. 2 JASB, 1914, p. 321. 3 Jataka, No. 353; Carmichael Lec., 1918, p. 63. 4 II. 30. 10-11. Vatsabhumiñcha Kaunteyo vijigye balavan balät Bhargaṇamadhipañchaiva Nishadadhipatim tatha. "The mighty son of Kunti (i. e. Bhimasena) conquered by force the Vatsa country and the lord of the Bhargas and then the chieftain of the Nishādas." 5 29. 73. Pratardanasya putrau dvau Vatsa-Bhargau babhuvatuh "Pratardana had two sons, Vatsa and Bharga.' 6 DPPN, II. 345 7 No. 537. 8 Dhumakari Jataka, No. 413; Dasa Brahmana Jataka, No. 495. 9 Jātaka Nos. 537, 545. 10 The Buddhist Conception of Spirits; DPPN, II. 1319. Page #163 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 134 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the capital, such as Thullakotthita, Kammāssadamma, Kundi and Vāraṇā vata. The Jātakas mention the Kuru kings and princes styled Dhanañjaya Koravya, Koravya,3 and Sutasoma.* We cannot, however, vouch_for their historical existence in the absence of further evidence. The Jaina Uttarādhyayana Sūtra mentions a king named Ishukāra ruling at the town called Ishukāra in the Kuru country. It seems probable that after the removal of the elder branch of the royal family to Kaušāmbi and the decline of the Abhipratārinas, the Kuru realm was parcelled out into small states of which Indapatta and Ishukāra were apparently the most important. "Kings" are mentioned as late as the time of the Buddha when one of them paid a visit to Ratthapāla, son of a Kuru magnate, who had become a disciple of the Śūkya Sage. Later on, the little principalities gave place to a Sangha or republican confederation." Pañchāla, as already stated, comprised Rohilkhand and a part of the Central Doāb. The Mahābhārata, the Jūtakas and the Divyāvadānas refer to the division of this country into two parts,viz, Uttara or Northern Pañchāla and Dakshiņa or Southern Pañchāla. The Bhāgirathi (Ganges) formed the dividing line. According to the 1 The epic (Mbh V. 31. 19; 72, 15 etc.) has a reference to four villages, viz., Avisthala, Vșikasthala, Mākandi, Vāraṇāvata. 2 Kurudhamma Jātaka, No. 276 ; Dhūmakāri Jātaka, No. 413 ; Sambhava Jātaka, No. 515 : Vidhura Pandita Jataka, No. 545. Dhananjaya is, as is wellknown, a name of Arjuna. 3 Dasa Brāhmana Jātaka, No. 495 ; Maha-Sutasoma Jātaka, No. 537. 4 Mahā-Sutasoma Jātaka. Cf. the Mahābhārata, 1. 95.75 where Sutasoma appears as the name of a son of Bhima. 5 S. B. E., XLV. 62. 6 DPPN, II. 706 f. 7 Arthaśāstra, 1919, 378. 8 P. 435. 9 Mbh., 1. 138.70. For divisions in Vedic times see 70 f ante. Page #164 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PAÑCHĀLA EXPANSION 135 Great Epic, Northern Pañchāla had its capital at Ahichchhatra or Chhatravati, the modern Rāmnagar near Aonlā in the Bareilly District, while Southern Pañchāla had its capital at Kāmpilya, and stretched from the Ganges to the Chambal. A great struggle raged in ancient times between the Kurus and the Pañchālas for the possession of Northern (Uttara) Pañchāla. Sometimes Uttara Pañchāla was included in Kururattha (-rāshtra)? and had its capital at Hāstinapura, at other times it formed a part of Kampilla-rattha (Kāmpilya-rāshtra). Sometimes kings of Kāmpilya-rāshtra held court at Uttara Pañchāla-nagara, at other times kings of Uttara Pañchālarāshțra held court at Kāmpilya." The history of Pañchāla from the death of Pravābaņa Jaivala or Jaivali to the time of Bimbisāra of Magadha is obscure. The only king who may perhaps be referred to this period is Durmukha (Dummukha), the contemporary of Nimi, who is probably to be identified with the penultimate sovereign of Mithilā.? In the Kumbhakāra Jataka it is stated that Durmukha's kingdom was styled Uttara Pañchala-rattha (-rāshtrā) ; his capital was not Ahichchhatra but Kampilla ( Kāmpilya )-nagara. He is represented as a contemporary of Karaņdu, king of Kalinga, Naggaji (Nagnajit), king of Gandhāra, and Nimi, king of Videha. The Aitareya Brahmana' credits him with extensive conquests and names Brihaduktha as his priest : 1 Mbh., I. 138. 73-74. 2 Somanassa Jätaka, No. 505 ; Mahābhārata, I. 138. 3 Divyāvadāna, p. 435. 4 Brahmadatta Jātaka, No. 323 : Jayaddisa Jātaka, No. 513 and Gandatindu Jataka, No. 520. 5 Kumbhakāra Jataka, No. 408. 6 Jataka, No. 408. 7 Jataka, No. 5+1. 8 VIII. 23. - Page #165 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 136 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA "Etam ha vā Aindraṁ Mahābhishekam Brihadultha Rishir Durmukhāya Pañchālāya provacha tasmādu Durmukhah Pañchālo Rajā san vidyayā samantam sarvatah prithivin jayan parīyāya.” “This great anointing of Indra Brihaduktha, the seer, proclaimed to Durmukha, the Pañchāla. Therefore, Durmukha Panchāla, being a king, by this knowledge, went round the earth completely, conquering on every side.”'l A great Pañchāla king named Chulani Brahmadatta is mentioned in the Mahā-Ummagga Jatāka,the Uttarādhyayana Sūtra, the Svapne-väsavadattat and the Rūmāyana. In the last-mentioned work he is said to have married the daughters (kanyāh) of Kušanābha who were made hump-backed (kubja) by the Wind-god. In the Jātaka, Kevatta, the minister of Brahmadatta, is said to have formed a plan for making Chulani chief king of all India, and the king himself is represented as having laid siege to Mithilā. In the Uttar-ūdhyayana Brahmadatta is styled a universal monarch. The story of this king is, however, essentially legendary, and little reliance can be placed on it. The Rāmāyaṇic legend regarding the king is only important as showing the connection of the early Pañchālas with the foundation of the famous city of Kanyākubja (Kanauj) whose name (city of the humpbacked maiden) is accounted for by the curse to which the story refers.6. 1 Keith, Rig.- Veda Brāhmanas, Harvard Oriental Series, Vol. 25. 2 546. 3 S.B.E., XLV. 57-61, 4 Act V. 5 I. 32. 6 Cf. Watters, Yuan Chwang, I. 341-42. The point seems to be missed by Ratilal Mehta, Pre-Buddhist India, 43 n. The name Kanyākubja or Kānyakubja is already met with in the Mahābhārata. I. 175. 3; V. 119. 4. Kanyakubji occurs in the Mahābhāshya IV. 1. 2. (233), along with Āhichchatri. Kannakujja appears in Pāli texts (DPPN. I. 498). Page #166 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MATSYA 137 The Uttar-ādhyayana Sūtra 'mentions & king of Kāmpilya named Sanjaya who gave up his kingly power and adopted the faith of the Jinas,! We do not know what happened after Sanjaya renounced his throne. But there is reason to believe that the Pañchālas, like the Videhas, Mallas and Kurus, established a Sangha form of government of the Raja-sabd-opajīvin type. Matsya was the extensive territory between the hills near the Chambal and the forests that skirted the Sarasvati of which the centre was Virāța-nagara or Bairāt in the modern Jaipur State. The early history of the kingdom has already been related. Its vicissitudes during the period which immediately preceded the reign of Bimbisāra of Magadha are not known. It is not included by the Kauțilīya Arthaśāstra among those states which had a Sangha or non-monarchical form of government. The probability is that the monarchical constitution endured till the loss of its independence. It was probably at one time annexed to the neighbouring kingdom of Chedi. The Mahābhārata* refers to a king named Sahaja who "reigned over the Chedis as well as the Matsyas. It was finally absorbed into the Magadhan Empire. Some of the most famous edicts of Asoka have been found at Bairāt. A family of Matsyas settled in the Vizagapatam region in mediæval times. We are told that Jayatsena, the lord of Utkala, gave to Satyamārtanda of the Matsya family in marriage his daughter Prabhāvatī, and appointed him to 1 S.B.E., XLV. 80-82. 2 Arthaśāstra, 1919, p. 378. The Elders of this type of corporations or confederations took the title of Rājā. One of these rājās was apparently the maternal grandfather of Viśākha Pañchālīputra, a disciple of the Buddha (DPPN, II. 108).. . 3 66 ff ante. 4 V. 74. 16; cf. VI. 47, 67 ; 52.9. 5 Dibbida plates, Ep. Ind., V. 108. O, P. 90-18. Page #167 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 198 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA rule over the Oddavādi country. After twenty-three generations came Arjuna who ruled in 1269 A.D. The Śūrasena country had its capital at Mathurā which, like Kaušāmbi, stood on the Jumna. Neither the country nor its metropolis finds any mention in the Vedic literature. But Greek writers refer to the Sourasenoi and their cities Methora (Mathurā ) and Cleisobora. Buddhist theologians make complaint about the absence of amenities in Mathurā. They were apparently not much interested in its kettledrums, or in the śāțakas ( garments ) and kārshāpaņas (coins ) about which Patañjali speaks in the Mahābhāshya.? A highroad connected the city with a place called Verañjā which was linked up with Śrāvasti and the caravan route that passed from Taxila to Benares through Soreyya, Sankassa ( Sānkāsya ), Kannakujja ( Kanyākubja or Kanauj ), and Payāga-Patitthāna (Allahabad). . In the Mahābhārata and the Purānas the ruling family of Mathurā is styled the Yadu or Yādava family. The Yādavas were divided into various septs, namely, the Vitihotras, Sātvatas, etc. The Sātvatas were subdivided into several branches, e.g., the Daivāvșidhas, Andhakas, Mahā-bhojas and Vșishộis. Yadu and his tribe are repeatedly mentioned in the Rig Veda. He is closely associated with Turvaša and, in one place, Druhyu, Anu and Pūru. This association is also implied by the epic and Purāņic legends which state that Yadu and Turvašu were the sons of the same parents, and Druhyu, Anu and Pīru were their step-brothers. 1 Gradual Sayings, II. 78 ; III. 188. 2 1. 2. 48 (Kielhorn I. 19). 3 Gradual Sayings, II. p. 66; DPPN. II. 438, 930, 1311, 4 Matsya, 43-44 ; Vayu, 94-96. 5 Vishnu, IV. 13. 1 ; Vāyu, 96, 1-2. 6 I. 108, 8, Page #168 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SATVATS 139 We learn from the Rig Vedal that Yadu and Turvaša came from a distant land, and the former is brought into very special relation to the Paríus or Persians. The Sātvatas or Satvats also appear to be mentioned in the Vedic texts. In the satapatha Brāhmaṇas the defeat by Bharata of the Satvats and his taking away the horse which they had prepared for an Aśvamedha sacrifice, are referred to. The geographical position of Bharata's kingdom is clearly shown by the fact that he made offerings on the Sarasvati, the Jumna and the Ganges. The Satvats must have been occupying some adjoining region. The epic and Purāņic tradition which places them in the Mathurā district is thus amply confirmed. At a later time, however, a branch of the Satvats seems to have migrated farther to the south, for in the Aitareya Brāhmanas the Satvats are described as a southern people who lived beyond the Kuru-Pañchāla area, i.e., beyond the river Chambal, and were ruled by Bhoja kings. In 1 I. 36. 18; VI. 45. 1. 2 VIII. 6. 46. Epigraphic evidence points to a close connection between Western Asia and India from about the middle of the second millennium B. C. Rig Vedic Gods like Sürya (Shurias), Marut (Maruttash), Indra, Mitra, Varura. the Nāsatyas, and even Daksha (dakash, star, CAH. I. 553) figure in the records of the Kassites and the Mitanni. 3 XIII. 5. 4. 21 Satānikah samantásu medhyam Sātrājito hayam ādatta yajñam Kašinām Bharatah Satvatāmiva. The Mbh. vii. 66. 7 (mā sattvāni vijijahi) seems to miss the import of the Brāhmanic gāthā. Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 11. Ait. Br., VIII. 23 ; Mbh., VII. 66. 8. . Ashțāsaptatii Bharato Dauḥshantir Yamunāmanu Gangāyāın Vritraghne' badhnāt pañchapañchāśatam hayān . Mahākarma (variant mahadadya) Bharatasya na pūrve năpare janäh divyam martya iva hastyābhyām (variant bāhubhyām) nodapuh pañcha mānavā (iti). So'śvamedhasateneshțvā Yamunāmanu viryavān trišatāśvān Sarasvatyāın Gangāmanu chatuḥšatān... 5 VIII. 14. 3. Page #169 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 140 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the Puranas also we find that a branch of the Satvats was styled Bhoja "Bhajina-Bhajamāna- divy- Andhaka- Devāvṛidha- Mahūbhoja-Vrishni-samjñaḥ Satvatasya putrā babhūvuḥ.. Mahabhojastvati dharmātmā tasyanvaye Bhoja-Mārtikāvatā babhuvuḥ." It is further stated that several southern states, Mahishmati, Vidarbha, etc., were founded by princes of Yadu lineage.2 Not only the Bhojas, but the Devavridha branch of the Satvatas finds mention in the Vedic literature. Babhru Daivavṛdha is mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana as a contemporary of Bhima, king of Vidarbha, and of Nagnajit, king of Gandhara. The Andhakas and Vrishnis are referred to in the Ashtadhyayi of Panini. In the Kauțiliya Arthasastra the Vrishnis are described as a Sangha, i. e., a republican corporation. The Mahabharata, too, refers to the Vrishnis, Andhakas and other associate tribes as a Sangha, and Vasudeva, the Vrishni prince, as Sanghamukhya (Elder or Seignior of the confederacy). The name of the Vrishni corporation (gana) has also been preserved by a unique coin. It is stated in the Mahabharata and the Puranas that Kainsa, like Peisistratus and others of Greek history, tried to make himself tyrant at Mathura by overpowering Krishna-Vasudeva, a scion the Yadavas, and that 1 Vishnu. IV. 13. 1-6. In Mbh. VIII. 7. 8 the Satvata-Bhojas are located in Anartta (Gujrat). 2 Mat, 43. 10-29; 44. 36; Vayu, 94. 26; 95. 35. 3 Vayu, 96. 15; Vishnu, 13. 3-5. 4 VII. 34. 5 IV. 1. 114; VI. 2. 34, 6 P. 12. 7 XII. 81. 25. 8 Majumdar, Corporate Life in Ancient India, p. 119; Allan, CCAI, pp. clvf, 281. Page #170 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VĶISHNIS 141 of the Vrishội family, killed him. The slaying of Kamsa by Krishộa is referred to by Patañjali and the Ghata Jātaka. The latter work-confirms the Hindu tradition about the association of Krishịa-Vāsudeva's family with Mathurā (Uttara Madhurā).? 1 No. 454. 2 The city is so called to distinguish it from Madura in South India. The question of the historical existence of Krishna-Vasudeva has been discussed in my Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, 1st ed., pp. 26-35; 2nd ed., pp. 51 ff. and my Political History of Ancient India, 1st ed., 1923, p. 312. Several scholars reject the identification of Krishna of the Mahābhārata and the Purānas with the historical Kțishņa of the Chhāndog ya Upanishad (III. 17). But we should remember that (a) Both the Krishņas have the metronymic Devakiputra, son of Devaki, which is rare in early times. (6) The teacher of the Upanishadic Kệishņa belonged to a family (Angirasa ) closely associated with the Bhojas (Rig Veda, III, 53. 7), the kindreds of the Epic Kệishņa (Mbh., II. 14. 32-34). (c) The Upanishadic Krishịa and his Guru Ghora Angirasa were worshippers of Sürya (the Sun-god). We are told in the Santiparva (335. 19) that the Satvata-vidhi taught by the Epic Krishọa was prāk-Sürya-mukha-nihsrita. (d) An Angirasa was the Guru of the Upanishadic Krishna. Angirasi Śruti is quoted as "Śrutināmuttamā śrutih" by the Epic Krishņa (Mbh., VIII. 69. 85). . (e) The Upanishadic Kệishna is taught the worship of the Sun, the noblest of all lights (jyotir-uttamamiti), high above all darkness (tamasaspari). This has its parallel in the Gitā (XIII. 18-jyotishāmapi tajjyotis tamasah param uchyate ; The Upanishadic Kțishna is taught to value, not any material reward (dakshinā), but rather the virtues of tapodānam ärijavam ahirsā satyavachanam. The Gita also eulogises action performed not for the material fruit thereof. Stress is laid in Gita XVI. 1-2 on the virtues enumerated in the Upanishads. The Purānas no doubt represent Sāŋdipani, and not Ghora, as the great teacher of Krishna. But it is to be remembered that according to the Vishnu Purana (V. 21. 19) Krishna went to the sage Sandipani to learn lessons in the science of arms (astraśiksha): Tataḥ Sändipanim Kāśyam Avantipuravāsinam astrārthai jagmaturvirau Baladeva-Janārdanau. The Harivainsa, too, informs us (Vishnuparva, 33,4 ff.).that the residence of Krishộa, who was already a śrutidhara, with his Guru Sāndipani was due to his desire of receiving lessons in the science of the bow (dhanurvedachikirshārtham). The Veda that he learnt from this teacher is not termed akhila Veda, or Trayi, but simply sānga-Vedam, the Veda with its auxiliary treatises. The only Veda that is expressly mentioned is the Dhanurveda (and not the Trayi) together with its four divisions (chatushpāda), etc. The compilers of the Bhāgavata and Brahma Vaivarta Puranas (Bhāg. X. 45.31 ff.; BV, Janmakhanda, 101-102) introduce Page #171 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 142 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDİA The final overthrow of the Vrishộis is ascribed to their irreverent conduct towards Brāhmaṇas. It is interesting to note that the Vrishộis and the Andhakas are branded as Vrātyas i.e. deviators from orthodoxy in the Droņa parva of the Mahābhārata. It is a remarkable fact that the Vrishņi-Andhakas and other Vrātya clans, e.g., the Lichchhavis and Mallas, are found in historical times on the southern and eastern fringe of the “Dhruvā Madhyamā dis” occupied by the Kuru-Pañchālas and two other folks. It is not improbable that they represent an earlier swarm of Aryans who were pusheď southwards and eastwards by the Pīru-Bharatas, the progenitors of the Kuru-Pañchālas. It may be remembered that the Satapatha Brāhmana actually refers to the defeat by Bharata of the Satvats— the progenitors of the Vrishại-Andhakas. And the Great Epic refers to the exodus of the Yādavas from Mathurā owing to pressure from the Paurava line of Magadha, and probably also from the Kurus. The Buddhist texts refer to Avantiputta, king of the Śūrasenas, in the time of Mahā-Kachchāna,* one of the details about the study of all the Vedas, Upanishads, treatises on law, philosophy, polity, etc., which are not found in the relevant passage of the Vishnu Purana, which, according to critics like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyāya, represents an earlier and more reliable tradition. Residence with Sandipani, therefore, does not conflict with the view that Kțishņa accepted the discipleship of Ghora for purposes of religious and philosophical studies (see EHVS, 2nd ed., pp. 73-74). Sāndipani already knew him to be a Srutidhara (versed in the Sruti or the Vedas; Harivamsa, Vishnuparva, 33, 6), Real discrepancies in regard to certain names are sometimes met with in Vedic and epic versions of several legends e.g. the story of Sunahsepa. But even these are not regarded as adequate grounds for doubting the identity of the leading character of the Vedic Akhyāna with that of the corresponding epic tale. 1 Mahābhārata, Maushala parva, I. 15-22; 2. 10; Arthaśāstra, 1919 p. 12; Jataba Eng. trans. IV. pp. 55-56, V, p. 138. Fausboll, IV. 87 ; V. 267. 2 141. 15. 1: 3 Cf. Bahu-Kurucharā Mathurā, Patañjali, IV. 1.1; GEI., p. 395 n. 4 M. 2: 83, DPPN, II. 438. Page #172 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ASSAKA 148 chief disciples of Śākyamuni, through whose agency Buddhism gained ground in the Mathurā region. The name of the king suggests relationship with the royal house of Avanti. A king named Kuvinda is mentioned in the Kāvya-Mimāṁsā. The Šīrasenas continued to be a notable people down to the time of Megasthenes. But at that time they must have formed an integral part of the Maurya Empire. Assaka '(Aśmaka) was situated on the banks of the Godāvari. Its capital, Potali, Potana or Podanas is possibly to be identified with Bodhan in the Nizam's dominions. This accords with its position between Mūlaka (district round Paithān) and Kalingao to which Pāli texts bear witness. In the Sona-Nanda Jataka we find Assaka associated with Avanti. This may suggest that Assaka included at that time Mülaka and some neighbouring districts and thus its territory approached the southern frontier of Avanti.” In the Vayu Purānaø Aśmaka and Mīlaka appear as scions of the Ikshvāku family, and the Mahābhārata speaks of the royal sage Aśmaka (Ašmako nama rājarshi) as having founded the city of Podana. This probably indicates that the Aśmaka and Mīlaka kingdoms were believed to have been founded by Ikshvāku chiefs, just 1 3rd ed. p,50. He prohibited the use of harsh conjunct consonants. 2 Sutta Nipāta, 977. 3 Chulla-Kalinga Jataka, No. 301 ; D. 2. 235; Law, Heaven and Hell in Buddhist Perspective, 74 ; Mbh. I. 177. 47. As pointed out by Dr. Sukthankar the older mss. give the name as Potana or Podana and not Paudanya. This agrees with the evidence of the Mahāgovinda Suttanta (Assakānancha Potanam) and the Pariśishta parvan (1.921-nagare Potanābhidhe. 4 Sutta Nikata, 977 ; Jataka no. 301. . 5 Cf. Bhandarkar, Carm. Lec. 1918. pp. 53-54. It appears from the Mahāgovinda Suttanta that at one time Avanti extended southwards as far as the Narmadā valley and included the city of Māhishmati which stood on the banks of the famous river. 6 88, 177-178; Müh. I. 177. 47. Page #173 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 144 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA as Vidarbha and Dandaka were founded by princes of the Yadu (Bhoja) family. The Mahāgovinda Suttanta mentions. Brahmadatta, king of the Assakas, as a contem. porary of Sattabhu, king of Kalinga, Vessabhu, king of Avanti, Bharata, king of Sovīra, Reņu, king of Videha, Dhatarattha, king of Anga and Dhatarattha, king of Kāsi. We learn from the Assaka Jātaka that at one time the city of Potali was included in the kingdom of Kāsi, and that its prince, Assaka, was presumably a vassal of the Kāsi monarch. The Chulla Kalinga Jataka mentions a king of Assaka named Aruña and his minister Nandisena, and refers to a victory which they won over the king of Kalinga. Avanti roughly corresponds to the Ujjain region, together with a part of the Narmadā valley from Māndhātā to Maheshwar, and certain adjoining districts. Late Jaina writers include within its boundaries Tumbavana or Tumain in the Guna district of the Gwalior state about 50 miles to the north-west of Eran.3 The Janapada was divided into two parts by the Vindhyas : the northern part drained by the Siprā and other streams had its capital at Ujjain and the southern part washed by the Narmadā had its centre at Māhissati or 1 Dialogues of the Buddha, Part II, p. 270. The last-mentioned prince is known to the Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 22. 2 No. 207. 3 Iha iva Jambudvipe' pāg Bhartārdha Vibhushanam Avantiriti deso 'sti svargadesiya riddhibhih tatra Tumbavanamiti vidyate sanniveśanam. Parisishtaparvan, XII. 2-3. For the position of Tumbavana, see Ep. Ind. XXVI. 115ff. Page #174 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AVANTI 145 Māhismatii usually identified with the rocky island of Māndhātā. Buddhist and Jain writers mention several other cities of Avanti, viz , Kuraraghara (“osprey's haunt”), Makkarakata, and Sudarśanapura. The Mahāgovinda Suttanta mentions Māhissati as the capital of the Avantis, and refers to their king Vessabhu. The Mahābhārata, however, distinguishes between the kingdoms of Avanti and Māhishmati, but locates Vinda and Anuvinda of Avanti near the Narmadā. The Purānas attribute the foundation of Māhishmati, Avanti, and Vidarbha to scions of the Yadù family. The Aitareya Brāhmana also associates the Satvats and the Bhojas, branches of the Yadu family according to the Purāņas, with the southern realms.5 The Purūnas style the first dynasty of Māhishmati as Haihaya. This family is already known to the Kauțiliya Arthaśāstra' and figures in the Shodaśa-rājika and other episodes of the epic. The Haihayas are said to have overthrown the Nāgas who must have been the aboriginal inhabitants of the Narmadā region. The Matsya Purāņa 1 In J. V. 133 (DPPN. I. 1050) Avanti is placed in Dakshiņāpatha. This rdly reconcilable with the view that only the southern part is meant by the expression Avanti Dakshināpatha (Bhandarkar, Carm. Lec. 54) 2 Pargiter in Mark þ. Fleet in JRAS, 1910, 444f. There is one difficulty in the way of accepting this fication Mandhātā lay to the south of the Pāriyātra Mts. (W. Vindhyas), whereas Māhismati lay between the Vindhya and the Riksha-to the north of the Vindhya and to the south of the Riksha, according to the commentator Nilakantha (Harivamsa, II. 38. 7-19). For identification with Maheśvara, once the residence of the Holkar family, see Ind. Ant, 1875. 346ff, For Māndhātā, see ibid, 1876, 53. 3 Lüders Ins. No. 469; Gradual Sayings, V. 31 ; Law, Ancient Mid-Indian Ksatriya Tribes, p. 158; DPPN, I. 193; Kathakośa, 18. 4 Narmadāmabhitah, Mbh., II.31.10. 5 Matsya, 43-44; Vayu, 95-96; Ait. Br., VIII. 14. 6 Matsya, 43. 8-29; Vāyu, 94, 5-26. 7 Arthaśāstra, p. 11; Mbh. vii. 68. 6 etc; Saundara Nanda, VIII. 45. 8 Cf. Nāgpur ; and Ind. Ant. 1884. 85; Bomb. Gaz, I. 2. 313 etc, O. P. 90-19. Page #175 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 146 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA mentions five branches of the Haihayas, namely Vitihotras Bhojas, Avantis, Kuņdikeras or Tuņdikeras and the Tālajanghæs. When the Vītihotras and Avantis (or the Vītihotras in Avanti) passed away, an amātya, minister or governor, named Pulika (Puņika), is said to have killed his master and anointed his own son Pradyota in the very sight of the Kshatriyas. In the fourth century B.C., Avanti formed an integral part of the Magadhan Empire. 3 The kingdom of Gandhāra included within its boundaries the vale of Kaśmira and the ancient metropolis of Takshasilā, which lay 2,000 leagues from Benares, but nevertheless attracted students and enquirers from the most distant provinces... The Purānas représent the Gandbāra princes as the descendants of Druhýu. This king and his people are mentioned several times in the ḥig-Veda and apparently belonged to the north-west, a fact that accords with the Purāṇic tradition. Mention has already been made of the early king, Nagnajit who is reported to have been a con=1 temporary of Nimi, king of Videha, Durmukha, king of Pañchāla, Bhima, king of Vidarbha, and "Karakandu," 143. 48-49. 2 We need not infer from this statement that the family of Punika sprang from one of the lower orders of society (e. g., cowherds). The point in the Purāņic account is that the dynastic change was brought about by an amātya, a civil functionary (not a genapati like Pushyamitra), and that the army (Kshatriyas) looked on, i.e., treated the matter with indifference or silent approval. In the time of Megasthenes soldiers ( kshatriya, khattiya-kula) and councillors (amātyas, amachcha-kula) were distinct orders of society (cf. also Fick, Ch. VI). The Tibetans, style Pradyota's father' Anantanemi. Essay on Gunādhya, p. 173. *** 3 Jataka no. 406; Telapatta Jātaka, No. 96; Susima Jātaka, No. 163. 4 Matsya, 48. 6; Vayu, 99. 9, 5 Vedic Index, I. 385. 6 Kumbhabara Jataka ; Ait. Br., VII. 34 ; Sat. Br. VIII. 1, 4, 10 ; Uttaradhyayana Sutra. A Nagnajit also appears in the Mahābharata as the Gandharian contemporary of Krishņa (V. 48. 75). But the same epic mentions Sakuni as the King of Gandhāra in the time of Krishna and the Pāndavas, Page #176 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GANDHARA 147 king of Kalinga. Jaina writers tell us that those princes adopted the faith of the Jainas. As. Parsva (777 B.C. ?) was probably the first historical Jina, Nagnajit, if he really became a convert to his doctrines, should have to be placed between 777 B.C. and cir. 544 B.C., the date of Pukkusati, the Gandharian contemporary of Bimbisara. The conversion to Jainism, however, does not accord with the story related in the Jataka about his own elevation and that of his confreres to the status of Pachcheka Buddhas, or with the interest which the king or his son Svarjit evinced in Brahmanic ritual. It is, however, to be noted that the views of the family in such matters were not treated with respect. The rival claims of different sects need not be taken too seriously. The only fact that emerges is that tradition knew the family to be interestedin religious matters and holding views that did not strictly conform to traditional Brāhmaṇism. In the middle of the sixth century B.C. the throne of Gandhara was occupied by Pukkusāti (Pushkarasarin) who is said to have sent an embassy and a letter to king Bim-" bisara of Magadha, and waged war on Pradyota of Avanti who was defeated. He is also said to have been threatened in his own kingdom by the Pandavas who occupied a part of the Pañjab as late as the time of Ptolemy. In the latter. half of the sixth century B.C. Gandhara was conquered by the king of Persia. In the Bahistan inscription of Darius, 520-518 B.C., the Gandharians (Gadara) appear among the subject peoples of the Achaemenidan or Achae menian Empire.* cir. 1 S. B. E., XLV. 87. - 2 Sat. Br., VIII. 1. 4. 10. Vedic Index, 1. 432. 3 Buddhist India, p. 28; DPPN, II. 215; Essay on Gunadhya, p. 176. 4 See "Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan Inscriptions" by Herbert Cushing Tolman, Vanderbilt Oriental Series, Vol. VI ; Old Persian Inscriptions, by Sukumar Sen; Camb. Hist. Ind. I. 334, 338. Page #177 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 148 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kamboja is constantly associated with Gandhāra in literature and inscriptions. Like Gandhāra it is included in the Uttarāpatha, i.e., the Far North of India. It should, therefore, be clearly distinguished from "Kambuja" in the Trans-Gangetic Peninsula (i.e., Cambodia), and must be located in some part of North-West India close to Gandhāra. The Mahābhārata connects the Kambojas with a place called Rājapura. "Karna Rājapuran gatvā Kāmbojā nirjitā-stvayā."5 The association of the Kambojas with the Gandhāras enables us to identify this Rājapura with the territory of that name mentioned by Yuan Chwange which lay to the south or south-east 1 Mbh., XII. 207. 43 ; Anguttara N., P. T. S., I. 213 ; 4. 252, 256, 261 ; Rock Edict V of Asoka. Quite in keeping with the association with Gandhāra, famous for its good wool (Rig. V. 1. 126. 7), is the love of Kambojas for blankets (Kambala ) to which Yāska (II. 2) bears testimony. 2 Cf. Mbh., XII. 207. 43. Rājatarangini, IV. 163-165. The chronicle does not place Kamboja to the north of Kashmir. It simply places the territory in the Uttarāpatha, and clearly distinguishes it from the land of the Tukhāras, apparently lying further to the north. 3 For the Hindu colony of "Kambuja'' see Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, III, pp. 100 ff.; B. R. Chatterji, Indian Cultural Influence in Cambodia ; R. C. Majumdar, Champā. 4 Mbh., VII. 4. 5. 5 "Karna having gone to (gatvā) Rājapura" vanquished the Kambojas. The passage can hardly imply that Karna marched to Kamboja "via Rājapura." It is also futile to suggest that Rājapura had anything to do with Rājagriha in Bactria (as is done by a writer in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Sixth Oriental Conference, Patna, p. 109). The Ram. I. 6. 22; the Mbh. VII. 119. 14. 26. and the Mudrārākshasa, II. clearly distinguishes Kamboja from Balhika (Bactria). 6 Watters, Yuan Chwang, Vol. I, p. 284. Cunningham (AGI, 1924, p. 148) identifies Rājapura with the chiefship of Rajaori to the south of Kashmir. The fact that the Mahabharata (II. 27 ) makes separate mention of Kamboja and Abhisāra (with which the Rajaori region is identified) need not mean that the two were absolutely distinct entities in all ages. Does not the Great Epic (II. 30. 24-25) distinguish between Suhma and Tāmralipti and does not the Dasakumāra-charita with equal emphasis place Dāmalipta in Suhma? The truth is that Rajaori formed only a part of Kamboja which included other areas as well. The ruling family of Rājauri (Rajaori) in later times were the Khasas (Stein in JASB 1899, Extra No. 2. 28). Page #178 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KAMBOJA. 149 of Punch. The western boundaries of Kamboja must have reached Kāfiristān. Elphinstone found in that district tribes like the 'Caumojee,' 'Camoze,' and 'Camoje whose names remind us of the Kambojas.?' Kamboja may have been a home of Brāhmaṇic learning in the later Vedic period. The Vamśa Brāhmana actually mentions a teacher named Kāmboja Aupamanyava.? The presence of Āryas (Ayyo) in Kamboja is recognised in the Majjhima Nikāya. But already in the time of Yāska the Kambojas had come to be regarded as a people distinct from the Aryans of the interior of India, speaking a different dialect. We have further changes in later ages. And in Bhuridatta Jātaka5 the Kambojas are credited with savage (Non-Aryan) customs : ete hi dhammā anariyarūpā Kambojakānam vitathā bahunnan ti.“ These are your savage customs which I hate, Such as Kamboja hordes might emulate, This description of the Kambojas agrees wonderfully with Yuan Chwang's account of Rajapura and the adjoining countries. "From Lampa to Rājapura the inhabitants are coarse and plain in personal appearance, of rude violent dispositions...they do not belong to India proper, 1 Elphinstone, An Account of the Kingdom of Kābul, Vol. II, pp. 375-377; Bomb.Gas. 1.1, 498n; JRAS., 1843,140 : JASB,1874 260n; Wilson, Vishnu p.,11. 292. With the expression assānam āyatanam, 'land of horses,' used by Pāli texts in reference to the Kambojas (DPPN, I. 526. cf. Mbh. vi. 90. 3) may be compared the names Aspasioi and Assakenoi given by classical writers to the sturdy tribes living in the Alishang and Swat valleys in the days of Alexander (Camb. Hist. Ind. 352n). 2 Vedic Index, 1. 127, 138 : Yaska, II. 2. 3 II. 149, 4 II. 2: JRAS, 1911, 801f. 5 No. 543. 6 Jātaka, VI. 208. 7 Cowell's Jātaka, VI. 110. Page #179 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 150 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA but are inferior peoples of frontier, (i,ei, barbarian ) stocks." The Kambojas in the 'Epic period had their metropolis probably at Rājapura. Dvārakā, mentioned by Rhys Davids as the capital in the early Buddhist period, was not really situated in this country, though it was connected with it by a road? A real city of the Kambojas was apparently Nandi-nagara mentioned in Liiders’ Inscriptions 176 and 472. The Vedic texts do not mentior any king of Kamboja. But, as has already been pointed out, they refer to a teacher named Kamboja Aupamanyava who was probably connected with this territory. In the Mahābhārata the Kambojas are represented as living under a monarchicalconstitution. The Epic makes mention of their kings Chandravarman and Sudakshiņa. In later times the monarchy gave place to a Saigha form of government. The Kauțiliya Arthuśāstra + speaks of the Kambojas as a "vārtā-śastr-opajivin" Sanghi, that is to say, a confederation of agriculturists, herdsmen, traders and warriors. Corporations of Kambojas (Kambojānāñcha ye gaņāh) are. also mentioned in the Mahābhārata. 1 Watters 1. 284 ; for the Kambojas see also S. Lévi : "Pré-Aryen et PréDravidien dans I, Inde," J. A., 1923. 2 DPPN, I. 526; cf. Law: "The Buddhist Conception of Spirits, pp. 80-83. 3 Cf. I. 67. 32; II. 4. 22"; V. 165. 1-3 ; VII. 90. 59, etc. 4 P. 378. 5 VII. 89. 38. Page #180 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAHAJANAPADAS IN THE EPIC SECTION II. AN EPIC ACCOUNT OF THE MAHAJANAPADAS. 151 An interesting account of the characteristics of the peoples of most of the Mahajanapadas described above is to be found in the Karna parra of the Mahabharata.1 The Kurus, Pañchalas, Matsyas, Kosalas, Kasis, Magadhas, Chedis and Surasepas receive praise. Patriots hailing from Anga include their country in this list : Kuravaḥ saha Panchālāḥ śālvā Matsyāḥ sa-Naimishāḥ 2 Kosalah Kasya' ngāścha Kālingā Māgadhāstathā Chedayaścha mahābḥāgā, dharmam jānanti śāśvatam Brahmam Panchalah Kauraveyāstu dharmam Satyam Matsyali Surasenuscha yajñam. "The Kauravas with the Panchalas, the Salvas, the Matsyas, the Naimishas, the Kosalas, the Kasis, the Angas the Kalingas, the Magadhas, and the Chedis who are all highly blessed, know what the eternal Law of Righteousness is. The Pañchalas observe the Vedic code, the Kauravas the law of righteousness, the Matsyas truth, and the Surasenas sacrificial rites." The Magadhas comprehend hints, the Kosalas understand from what they see, the Kurus and Panchalas gather the sense from half-expressed words, while the Salvas need full instruction. Ingitajñascha Magadhah prekshitajñāścha Kosalaḥ. arddhoktah Kuru-Panchalaḥ Salvaḥ kritsnāunaśāsanāḥ. 1 Mahabharata, VIII. 40. 29; 45. 14-16; 28; 34; 40. 2 The Naimishas occupied Nimsar, 20 miles from Sitapur, on the left bank of the Gumti river (Ayyar, Origin and Early History of Śaivism in South India, 91). Page #181 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 152 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Angas had their detractors and come in for a good deal of condemnation along with the Madras and the Gandharas: Āturānāṁ parityāgaḥ sadāra-suta-vikrayaḥ Angeshu vartate Karna yesham adhipatir bhavan. "The abandonment of the afflicted and the sale of wives and children are, O Karna, prevalent among the Angas whose overlord thou art." Madrakeshu cha samsrishtam saucham Gandharakeshu cha, raja-yajaka-yajye cha nashtam dattam havir bhavet. "Amongst the Madrakas all acts of friendship are lost as purity among the Gandharakas, and the libations poured in a sacrifice in which the king is himself the sacrificer and priest." The verses quoted above give a fair idea of the attitude, mainly of poets of the western part of the Madhyadesa towards most of the Mahajanapadas of Northern India. Page #182 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. THE FALL OF KĀSI AND THE ASCENDANCY OF Kosala. Kosalo nāma muditah sphīto janapado mahān -Rāmāyaṇa. The flourishing period of the sixteen Mahājanapadas ended in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. The history of the succeeding age is the story of the absorption of these states into a number of powerful kingdoms, and ultimately into one empire, namely, the empire of Magadha. Kāsi was probably one of the first to fall. The Mahāvagga and the Jatakas refer to bitter conflicts between this kingdom and its neighbours, specially Kogala. The facts of the struggle are obscure, being wrapped up in legendary matter from which it is impossible to disentangle them. The Kāśis seem to have been successful at first, but the Kosalas were the gainers in the end. In the Mahāvaggal and the Kosambi Jataka? it is stated that Brahmadatta, king of Kāsi, robbed Dighati, king of Kosala, of his realm, and put him to death. In the Kunāla Jātakawe are told that Brahmadatta, king of Kāsi, owing to his having an army, seized on the country of Kosala, slew its king, and carried off his chief queen to Benares, and there made her his consort. The Brahāchatta* and Sona-Nanda Jātakas) also refer to the victories of Kāsi monarchs over Kosala. • 1 S.B.E., XVII, 294-99. 2 No. 428. 3 No. 536. 4 No. 336. 5 No. 532. 0. P. 90-20. Page #183 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 154 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Success, however, did not remain long with the Kāśis.1 In the Mahāsīlava Jātaka2 king Mahāsilava of Kāsi is said to have been deprived of his realm by the ruler of Kosala.. In the Ghata) and Ekarāja Jātakas. Vanka and Dabbasena, sovereigns of Kosala, are said to have won for their country a decided preponderance over Kāsi. The final conquest of the latter kingdom was probably the work of Kamsa, as the epithet Barānasiggaho, i.e., "seizer of Benares” is a standing addition to his name. The interval of time between Kanisa's conquest of Kāsi and the rise of Buddhism could not have been very long because the memory of Kāsi as an independent kingdom was still fresh in the minds of the people in the Buddha's time and even later when the Anguttara Nikāya was composed. In the time of Mahākosala (about the middle of the sixth century B. C.) Kāsi formed an integral part of the Kosalan monarchy. When Mabākosala married his daughter, the lady Kosalādevī, to king Bimbisāra of Magadha, he gave a village of Kāsi producing a revenue of a hundred thousand for bath and perfume money. In the time of Mahākosala's son and successor, Pasenadi or Prasenajit, Kāsi still formed a part of the Kosalan empire. In the Lohichcha Sutta? Buddha asks a person named Lohichcha the following questions : “Now what think you Lohichcha ? Is not king Pasenadi of Kosala in possession of Kāsi and Kosala ?” Lohichcha 1 Cf. Jataka No. 100. 2 No. 51. 3 No. 355. 4 No. 303. 5 The Seyya Jataka, No. 282 ; the Tesakuna Jātaka, No. 521 ; Buddhist India, p. 25. 6 Harita Māta Jātaka, No. 239 ; Vadahaki Sükara Jataka, No. 283 7 Dialogues of the Buddha, Part I, 288-97. Page #184 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KASI AND KOSALA 155 replies, “Yes, that is so, Gotama." We learn from the Mahāvagga ? that a brother of Pasenadi acted as the viceroy of Kāsi. The Samyukta Nikāya3 speaks of Pasenadi as the head of a group of five Rūjās. One these was probably his brother, the viceroy of Kāsi. Among the remaining princes and chiefs we should perhaps include the rāja nya Pāyāsi of Setavyā mentioned in the Pāyāsi Suttanta * and the ruler of the Kālāmas of Kesaputta.5 Another Rajā of the group was apparently the Sākya chief of Kapilavāstu. His political subordination to the Kosalan monarchs appears from several texts. The ruler of Devadaha may have ranked as another notable vassal of Kosala.? It was probably during the reign of Mahākosala, that Bimbisāra was anointed king of Magadha. With the coronation of this famous ruler ends the period with which this part of the work deals. 1 Cf. Gradual Sayings, V. 40. "As far as the Kāsi-Kosalans extend, as far as the rule of Pasenadi, the Kosalan rājā, extends, therein Pasenadi, the Kosalan Rājā, is reckoned chief." 2 S.B.E., XVII, 195, 3 The Book of the Kindred Sayings, translated by Mrs. Rhys Davids, I. p. 106. 4 Cf. Milinda, IV. 4. 14; the Vimāna-vatthu commentary : Law, Heaven and Hell, 79, 83. Payāsi occurs as the name of a village in a Sabet Mahet Inscription. It has been identified with a - village close to the findspot of the record (Ray, DHNI, I. p. 521). - 5 Indian Culture, II. 808 ; Anguttara, 1, 188. 6 See Supra p. 99. 7 Kapilavastu, Devadaha and Koliya are sometimes mentioned as three distinct states (DPPN, I, 102n). The subordination of the Sakyas to the King of Kosala necessarily implies the latter's control over Davadaha which was in part, at any rate, a Sakyan city. Page #185 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION IV. KINGSHIP. We have endeavoured to give in outline the story of the political vicissitudes through which Northern India and a considerable portion of the Deccan passed from the accession of Parikshit to the coronation of Bimbisāra. We shall now attempt a brief survey of some of the institutions of the age without which no political history. is complete. We have seen that during the major part of the period under review the prevailing form of government was monarchical. The later Vedic texts and auxiliary treatises give us a few details about the rank and power of the rulers in the different parts of India, their social status, the methods of their selection and consecration, the chief members of their household, the civil and military services, the limitations of royal authority and popular participation in affairs of the state. Even when all scraps of information are pieced together, the picture is dim. The facts gleaned from Vedic sources which alone can, with confidence, be referred to the period before 500 B.C. have to be elucidated or supple-. mented by post-Vedic data embodying traditions about the heroic age that preceded the rise and growth of the Magadhan Empire. The various kinds of rulership prevalent in different parts of India are thus described in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa :: "Etasyāi Prūchyāṁ diśi, ye ke cha Prūchyānām rājānah Sāmrājyāyaiva te'bhishichyante Samrāt-ityenanabhishistānāchakshata etāmeva Devānāṁ vihitimanu. 1 VIII. 14. Page #186 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINDS OF RULERSHIP 157 Etasyam Dakshināyām disi ye ke cha Satvatam Rājāno Bhaujyayaiva te'bhishichyante Bhoj-etyenan-abhishiktanachakshata etameva Deva năm vihitimanu Etasyam Pratichyām disi ye ke cha Nichyānāṁ Rājāno ye'pachyānām Svārājyāyaiva te'bhishichyante Svarat-ityenānabhishiktanachakshata etameva Devānāṁ vihitimanu. Etasyam Udichyam disi ye ke cha parena Himavantam Janapada Uttara-Kurava Uttara-Madra iti Vairājyāyaiva te'bhishichyante Viraṭ-ityenan-abhishiktānāchakshata etameva Devanam uihitimanu. Etasyam dhruvāyāṁ Madhyamāyām pratishṭhāyāṁ disi ye ke cha Kuru-Panchālānāṁ Rājānaḥ sa VasOsinarānāṁ Rājyāyaiva te'bhishichyante Rāj-etyenānabhishiktanachakshata etameva Devanam vihitimanu." "In this eastern quarter, whatever kings there are of the eastern peoples, they are anointed for overlordship (Samrajya); 'O Overlord' they style them when anointed in accordance with the action of the gods. In the southern quarter whatever kings there are of the Satvats, they are anointed for paramount rule (Bhaujya); "O Paramount Ruler' they style them when anointed in accordance with the action of the gods. In this western quarter, whatever kings there are of the southern and western peoples, they are anointed for self-rule (Svārājya); 'O Self-Ruler' they style them when anointed in accordance with the action of the gods. In this northern quarter, the lands of the Uttara-Kurus and the Uttara-Madras, beyond the Himavat, their (kings) are anointed for sovereignty (Vairaiya); 'O Sovereign' they style them when anointed in accordance with the action of the gods. In this firm middle established quarter, whatever kings there are of the Kuru-Panchalas with the Vasas and Usinaras, they are anointed for kingship; 'king' they style them when anointed in accordance with the action of the gods." 1 Rig-Veda Brahmanas, translated by Keith, Harvard Oriental Series. Vol. 25. Page #187 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 158 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA. Several scholars assert that Vairūjya means a kingless state. But in the Aitareya Brāhmana' a king consecrated with Indra's great unction is called Virāț and worthy of Vairājya. When a king consecrated with the Punarabhisheka (renewed anointment) ascends his Āsandi or throne, he prays for attaining Vairājya as well as other kinds of royal dignity. Sāyaṇa takes the word Vairājyam to mean pre-eminence among kings, itarebhyo bhupatibhyo vaišishtyam. This is virtually the sense of the word that Dr. Keith accepts in bis translation. The sukranīti, too, understands Virāț to denote a superior kind of monarch. In the Mahābhārata Krishna is lauded as Samrūt, Virāt, Svarāt and Sura-rāja. If the Uttara-Kurus and the Uttara-Madras are to be regarded as republican, it is not because of the use of the term Vairājya, but because in their case it is not the rājan but the janapada which is said to be anointed for sovereignty. It should, however, be remembered that already in the Brāhmaṇa period Uttara-Kuru has become a devalshetra which the arms of a mortal could not reach. It is not easy to decide whether all the terms Sāmrūjya, Bhaujya, Svārājya, Vairājya and Rājya referred to essentially different forms of royal authority in the Brāhmaṇic period. But two terms at least, namely, Sāmrājya and Rājya are clearly distinguished by the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa. 1 VIII. 17. 2 B. K. Sarkar's Translation, p. 24; Kautilya (VIII.2), however, takes Vairājya to mean a system of government which comes into existence by forcible seizure of a country from the legitimate ruler for purposes of exploi tation. 3 XII. 43. 11; cf. 68.54. 4 Ait. Br. viii. 23. The existence of Ganas and of Ganajyeshthas are hinted at Rig. V. I. 23. 8;.11. 23. 1; X. 34, 12; 112. 9; Sat. Br. XIII. 2. 8. 4. etc. 5 V. 1.1. 12-13 ; cf. Kātyāyana Srauta Sūtra, XV. 1.1, 2. Page #188 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGSHIP AND CASTE 159 Rājā vai Rajasūyeneshtvā bhavati, Samrād. Vājapeyenāvaraṁ hi Rajyam param Sāmrājyam. Kāmayeta vai Rājā Samrā bhavitum avaram hi rājyam pararit Samrājyam. Na Samrāt kāmayeta Rājā bhavitum avaram hi rājyam param Sāmrajyam. "By offering the Rājasūya he becomes Rājā and by the Vajapeya he becomes Samrāj, and the office of Rājan is the lower and that of Samrāj the higher ; a Rajan might indeed wish to become Samrāj, for the office of Rājan is the lower and that of Samrāj the higher ; but the Samrāj would not wish to become a Rūjā for the office of Rājan is the lower, and that of Samrāj the higher." In the Rig Vedat and later on in the Purānas Bhoja appears as a proper name. But the Brāhmanas manas regard it as a royal designation, applicable to the consecrated inovarchs of the southern region. The word Cæsar furnishes a parallel. Originally the name of a Roman dictator and of members of his family, it is used, in later ages, as a title by Roman and German Emperors. As to Svārājya it is sometimes taken to 'mean uncontrolled dominion, and is opposed to Rājya. The king was usually, though not always, a Kshatriya. The Brāhmaṇas were considered to be unsuited for kingship. Thus we read in the Satapatha Brāhmana—“To the king (Rūjan) doubtless belongs the Rūjasūya ; for by offering the Rūjasūya be becomes king, and unsuited for kingship is the Brāhmara." 1 III. 53. 7, 2 'Bhoja' may have reference to the king or chieftain as ruler, protector or devourer of his people (Visāmatta). It appears as an official designation in several inscriptions of Southern India Ind. Ant. 1876, 177, 1877, 25-28). In Mbh. I. 84. 22. it is applied to a ruler and his family who are deprived of many of the attributes of sovereignty- (arājā Bhojaśabdam tvam tatra prāpsyasi sānvayah ).. 3 Kathaka Savhitā, xiv. 5; Maitrāyani Samhitā, 1. 11, 5, etc, Vedic Index, II. 221. 4 V. 1. I. 12; SBE, XLI ; Eggeling Sat, Br., Part III, p. 4. Page #189 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 160 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Rājña eva rājasīyam. Rājā vai rājasūyeneshtvā bhavati na vai Brāhmano rājyāyālam avaram vai rājasūyam param Vajapeyam. A Brāhmaṇa king is, however, contemplated in a passage of the Aitareya Brāhmana. We have references to Śūdra, Āyogava an even non-Aryan kings in other Vedic texts. King Jānaśruti Pautrāyaṇa is branded a Śūdra in the Chhāndogya Upanishad. King Marutta Āvikshita is styled “Āyogava” in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa. Āyogava denotes, in legal codes, a member of a mixed caste, a descendant of a Śūdra by a Vaiśya wife. Nishāda sthapatis (kings or chieftains) figure in a Srauta sūtra and the Rāmāyaṇa. In the Jaimintya Upanishad Brāhmana it is stated that even an anārya "obtains," prūpnoti, kings. This points either to non-Aryan kings or to the admission of anāryas into the dominions of Aryan rulers. The Jātakas and the Great Epic refer to kings of various castes including Brāhmaṇas. Kingship was sometimes hereditary, as is indeed shown by several cases where the descent can be traced. Mention may be made in this connection of the Parikshitas and the kings of Janaka's line ; hereditary kingship is also suggested by the expression Daśapurushamrājyama kingdom of ten generations-occurring in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa. But elective monarchy was not unknown. 1 VIII. 23 (story of Atyarātis' offer to Vāsishtha Sātyahavya). 2 IV. 2.1-5. Apparently Sūdra kings were not unknown in the age. 3 XIII. 5. 4. 6. 4 Manu-samhita, X. 12. 5 Vedic Index, I. 454 ; Rām. II. 50. 32 ; 84. 1. Jaim. Up. Br. 1. 4. 5. 6 Cf. Jatakas, 73, 132, Mbh. i. 100. 49f ; 138. 70. 7 XII, 9. 3. 1-3; cf. also the reference to the birth of an heir to the throne (Ait. Br. VIII. 9 and to the king as Rājpitā, VIII, 17. 8 Reference may be made in this connection to the passages of the Aitareya Brāhmana (e.g. VIII. 12) describing the choice and consecration of divine rulers (Ghoshal, A History of Hindu Political Theories, 1927, p. 26), and notices of royal election in post-Vedic texts looking back to an early period e.g. Moh., I. 94, Page #190 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ POPULAR CHOICE 161 The selection was made sometimes by the people and occasionally by the ministers. The choice was ordinarily limited to the members of the royal family only, as is shown by the legend in Yāskal of the Kuru brothers Devāpi and Samtanu, and the story in the Samvara Jūtaka? of the Kāsi princes Uposatha and Samvara. In the Jūtaka the councillors ask a reigning king, "When you are dead, my lord, to whom shall we give the white umbrella ?” “Friends," said the monarch, "all my. sons have a right to the white umbrella. But you may give it to him that pleases your mind.” At times, the popular choice fell on persons who did not belong to the ruling dynasty. Such may have been the case when the Sriñjayas expelled their hereditary ruler together with the Sthapati.3 Clear instances of popular preference for individuals outside the royal family are furnished by the Jātakas. The Pādañjali Jātaka," for instance, tells us that when a certain king of Benares died, his son, Pādañjali by name, an idle lazy loafer, was set aside, and the minister in charge of things spiritual and temporal was raised to the throne. The Sachchamkira Jataka, relates a story how nobles, Brāhmaṇas and all classes slew their king and anointed a private citizen. Sometimes the candidate comes from a place outside the realm. The Darīmukha and Sonaka Jātakas? tell 49-rājatve tam prajāḥ sarvā dharmajña iti vavrire. The expression kingmaker (rāja-kartri, Ait. Br. VIII. 17; Sat. Br. III. 4. 1. 7.) points to the important part played by officials including headmen of villages in the choice of the ruler. Both in the Vedic texts (Ait. Br. VIII. 12) and the epic emphasis is laid on the possession of moral qualities. The leader on whom the choice falls is ojishtha, balishtha, sahishtha, sattamah, pārayishnutama, dharmajña. In the fourth century B.C. physical beauty carried the palm in one territory (Kathaia in the Punjab according to Onesikritos). 1 Nirukta II. 10 ; Ved. Ind. II, 211. 2 No. 462. 3 Sat. Br. XII. 9. 3. 1 ff. 4 No. 247. 5 No. 73. 6 No. 378 ; cf. No. 401, 7 No. 529. 0. P. 90—21. Page #191 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 162 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA us how on failure of heir at Benares a prince of Magadha was elected king. The monarch during the Brāhmaṇa period was usually allowed to have four queens, viz., the Mahishi, the Parivriktī, the Vāvātā and the Pālāgali. The Mahishī, was the chief wife, being the first one married according to the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa. The Parivriktī was the neglected or discarded wife, probably one that had no son. The Vāvātā is the favourite, while the Pālāgali was the daughter of the last of the court officials. The Aitareya Brāhmana, however, refers to the "hundred" wives of king Hariśchandra. In the Jataka period several kings kept a bigger harem. We are told in the Kusa Jātaka+ that king Okkāko (Ikshvāku) had sixteen thousand ladies in his harem among whom Silavati was the chief (aggamahesī). The king of Benares according to the Dasaratha Jataka,5 had the same number of wives. In the Suruchi Jataka, a king of Mithilā says, "Ours is a great kingdom, the city of Mithilā covers seven leagues, the measure of the whole kingdom is 300 leagues. Such a king should have sixteen thousand women at the least.” Sixteen thousand appears to have been a stock phrase. The number is evidently exaggerated. But it indicates that the kings of the Jūtaka period were extreme polygamists who frequently exceeded the Brāhmaṇic number of four or even a hundred queens. The king was consecrated after his succession or election with an elaborate ritual which is described in several Brāhmanas, and for which the appropriate formulas. (mantras) are given in the Vedic Samhitās. Those 1 VI. 5. 3. 1. Ved. Ind., I. 478. 2 Weber and Pischel in Vedic Index, 1,478. 3VI1. 13. 4 No. 531. 5 No. 461. The Rāmāyana (II. 34. 13.) allows this king only 750 ladies besides the chief consorts, 6 No. 489, Page #192 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ROYAL INAUGURATION: 163 who 'aided in the consecration of the king were called Rājakartri or Rājakrit, i.e., “king-maker.” In the Satapatha Brāhmana? the persons meant and specified are the Sata (minstrel, chronicler or charioteer), and the Grāmanī, leader of the host or of the village. Prof. Rādhākumud Mookerji observes :3 "It is apparent from the lists of persons aiding in the royal coronation that both official and non-official or popular elements were represented in the function.” The principal ceremonies or sacrifices of royal inauguration were the Vājapeya, the Rājasūya, the Punar-abhisheka and the Aindra Mahābhisheka. The Vājapeya ( lit. "the drink of strength".) bestowed on the performer a superior kind of kingship called “Samrājya," while the Rājasūya or royal inauguration merely conferred the ordinary monarchical dignity. The Punar-abhisheka, or renewed consecration, made the king-elect eligible for all sorts of royal dignity, viz., Rajya, Sāmrājya, Bhaujya, Svārājya, Vairājya, Pārameshthya, Māhūrājya, Ādhipatya, Svāvaśya and Ātishthatva.5 The object of the Aindra Mahābhisheka (the great anointing of the king of the celestials) is thus described : "Sa ya ichchhed evamvit Kshatriyam ayam sarvä jitīrjayetāyan sarvāṁllolcān vindetāyaṁ sarveshāṁ Rājñām Šraishthyam, Atishthām, Parantátām gachchheta, Sām 1 III. 4. 1. 7; XIII, 2. 2. 18. 2 The post of Grāmani seems to have been ordinarily held by a Vaisya (Vedic Index, I. 247: II. 334 ; Camb. Hist. 131 ; Sat Br. V. 3. 1. 6.) 3 The Fundamental Unity of India, p. 83. 4 Rajya, cf. Sat. Br., V. 1. f. 12-13 ; some texts, while agreeing that the Vajapeya is a Samrātsuva, says that the Rajasūya is a Varuņa-sava, consecrated to the universal sway wielded by Varuņa. Tait. San. (V, 6, 2, 1) and Br. (11,7,6,1); Sat. Br. V. 4. 3. 2; Keith, The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, 340 ; Mahābhārata, Bk. II. 12. 11-13. etc. 5 Ait. Br. VIII. 6. For the meaning of these terms see Keith's translation quoted below. Keith's rendering of some of the expressions, e. g., Bhaujya and Vairājya, is, however, hardly satisfactory. Page #193 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 164 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA rājyam, Bhaujyam, Svārājyam Vairājyam, Pārameshthyan, Rājyam, Māhārājyam, Ādhipatyam, ayam samantaparyāyi syāt Sārvabhaumah sārvāyusha ā'ntādā parārddhāt Prithivyai samudraparyantāyā Ekarāț iti tametena Aindrena Mahābhishekena kshatriyam śāpayitvā’bhishischet." "If he who knows thus should desire of a leshatriya, ‘May he win all victories, find all the worlds, attain the superiority, pre-eminence and supremacy over all kings and overlordship, paramount rule, self-rule, sovereignty, supreme authority, kingship, great kingship and suzerainty, may he be all-encompassing, possessed of all the earth, possessed of all life, from the one end up to the further side of the earth bounded by the ocean, sole ruler ;' he should anoint him with the great anointing of Indra, after adjuring him”? The Vājapeya rites 3 include a race of 17 chariots, in which the sacrificer is allowed to carry off the palm, and from which, according to Eggeling, the ceremony perhaps derives its name. Professor Hillebrandt would claim for this feature of the sacrifice the character of a relic of an old national festival, a kind of Indian Olympic games. After the chariot race the next interesting item is the mounting of a pole, having a wheaten ring or wheelt on the top, by the sacrificer and his wife, from which homage is made to the mother earth. The Satapatha Brāhmaṇa says, "Truly he who gains a seat in the air gains a seat above others. The royal sacrificer having descended from the pole, is offered a throne-seat 1 Ait, Br. VIII. 15. 2 Keith, HOS, Vol. 25. 3 Sat. Br. V. 1. 1. 5. ff; S.B.E, xli; Vedic Index, II. 281 ; Keith, Blackyajus, cviii-cxi ; RPVU, 339f. 4 Gaudhūmam chashālam, "a wheaten headpiece (Eggeling)" "a wheel. shaped garland of meal" (S. B. E., xli, 31 ; Keith R. P. V. U. 339; Sat. Br. V 2. 1. 6). 5 Sat. Br., V.2, 1. 22. Page #194 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RẢJASŪYA 165 with a goatskin spread thereon and addressed by the Adhvaryu (priest) in the following words : “Thou art the ruler, the ruling lord (yantri, yamana) —thou art firm and steadfast (dhruva, dharuņa)(here I seat) thee for the tilling, for peaceful dwelling (Ieshema), for wealth (rayi), for prosperity (posha), i. e., for the welfare of the people, the common weal.” 1 The Rājasūya consisted of a long succession of sacrificial performances which began on the first day of Phālguna and spread over a period of upwards of two years. The rite is described at great length in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa. Besides muchmere priestly elaboration, the ritual contains traces of popular ceremonial. The popular features are chiefly these : (1) The Ratnināṁ havīnshi 4 or presents to the divi. nities of the bejewelled ones (or those possessed of the jewel offering), viz., the chief queen and court officials ; (2) The Abhishechanīyas or besprinkling ceremony ; (3) The dig vyāsthāpana 6 or the king's symbolical walking towards the various quarters as an indication of his universal rule ; (4) Treading upon a tiger skin,” thus gaining the strength and the pre-eminence of the tiger ; (5) Narration by the botri priest of the story (ākhyāna) of þunaḥsepa. - nsepa. . . 1 Sat. Br., V.2, 1. 25 : The Fundamental Unity of India, p. 80. 2. Keith, Black Yajus, pp. cxi-cxiii, RPVU, 341 ; Vedic Index, II. 219 ; SBE., xli, p. xxvi. 3 V. 2. 3. 9 (et seq.); S.B.E, xli, 42-113. 4 Sat. Br. V. 3. 1. M. Louis Renou says-''les offrandes ne sont pas faites aux ratnin mais aux divinités dans les maisons de chaque ratnin." - 5 Sat. Br. V. 3. 3-4. 6 Sat. Br. V. 4. 1. 3 ; Keith, Black Yujas, op. cit." 7 Sat. Br. V. 4. 1. 11. 8 Ait. Br. vij. 13 ff; Keith, RPVU, 341n.. . .. . Page #195 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 166 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (6) A mimic cow raid against a relativel; or a sham fight with a member of the ruling aristocracy (rājanya) ; ? (7) Enthronement ; s (8) A game of dice in which the king is made to be the victor : 4. The recipients of the sacrificial honours called “Ratninārin havinshi" were the divinities in the houses of the Ratnins, i. e., of the chief members of the royal household and of the king's civil and military service, viz.-- 1. The Senāni (Commander of the army).- 2. The Purohita (Royal Chaplain). 3. The Mahishi (Chief Queen). 4. The Sūta (Charioteer and Bard). 5. The Grāmaņi (Leader of the Host or Village Headman). 6. The Kshatt?i (Chamberlain)—forerunner of the Antarvamsilca or Superintendent of the Seraglio of later times. 7. The Sangrahitri (Treasurer)—forerunner of the Sannidhātri. 8. The Bhagadugha (Collector of the Royal Share, i.e., Taxes)—forerunner of the Samūhartri. 9. The Akshāvāpa (Keeper of the Dice). 1 RPVU, 342; cf. Sat. Br. V. 4.3. 3 et seq. .2 Cf. Taittiriya Samhitā, 1. 8.15 with commentary : Vedic Index II. 219. SBE; xli, 100, n. 1. 3 Sat. Br. V. 4.4.1. 4. Sat. Br. V. 4. 4. 6; Keith, Religion and Philosophy of the Veda, etc.p. 342. 5 Cf. Senapati in Ait. Br. viii. 23. 6 The importance of this office is shown by the cases of Sumantra and of Sañjaya who is called a Mahāmātra (Mbh., XV. 16. 4). 7. Cf. the Adhikritas appointed for grāmas or villages by the paramount ruler (Samrāt) mentioned in the Praśna Upanishad (III. 4). 8 Vidura was the Kshattri (Mbh , I. 200. 17; II. 66. 1., etc.) at the Kuru Court. For the views of different commentators see Vedic Index. I. 201. 9 Cf. the position of Kanka (Yudhisthira) at the Matsya Court. Page #196 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CORONATION 167 10. The Go-vikartana (lit. Cutter-up of Cattle, i. e., the King's Companion in the Chase). 11. The Pālāgala (Courier)—forerunner of the Dūta (Śāsanahara, etc.). The most essential part of the Rājasūya was the Abhisheka or besprinkling. It began with offerings to the deities Savitā Satyaprasava, Agni Grihapati, Soma Vanaspati, Brihaspati Vāk, Indra Jyeshţha, Rudra Pasupati, Mitra Satya and Varuņa Dharmapati. The consecration water (Abhishechanīyā Āpal) was made up of seventeen kinds of liquid including the water from the river Sarasvati, sea-water, and water from a whirlpool, a pond, a well and dew. The sprinkling was performed by a Brāhmaṇa priest, kinsman or brother of the king-elect, a friendly Rājanaya and a Vaiśya. The two most important kinds of Abhisheka were the Punar-abhishekea and the Aindra Mahābhisheka. The Punar-abhisheka or Renewed Anointment is described in the Aitareya Brāhmana.” It was intended for Kshatriya conquering. monarchs. The first interesting part of the ceremony was the king's ascent to the throne or Āsandi which was made of udumbara wood with the exception of the interwoven part (vivayana) which consist- - ed of muñja grass. Then came the besprinkling. Among other things the priest said : "Do thou become here the 1 Curiously enough, this list of the ratnins does not include the Sthapati, probably a local ruler, vassal chief, or governor who is, however, mentioned in Śat. Br. V. 4. 4. 17, in connection with the concluding ceremonies of the rājasūya. The sacrificial sword (sphya) given by the priest to the king is passed on successively to the king's brother, the sūta or the sthapati, the grāmani and finally to a tribesman (sajāta). The post of sthapati was held by Uparikas or governors of Bhuktis (provinces) in the Gupta period (Fleet, CII, p. 120). Slightly different lists of ratnins are found in the. Taittiriya texts. A group of eight vīras finds mention in the Panchavimśa Brāhmana (Camb. Hist. Ind. I. 131). In sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 6. we have reference to the Pariveshtri, the Kshattri and the Sabhā. sads in connection with a performance of the horse-sacrifice. 2 VII. 5-11. Page #197 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 168 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA overking of kings'; the great, of the great people, the supreme ruler of the people (or the peasantry)."1 "Řājñām tvam Adhirāja bhaveha ; Mahāntañ tvā mahināin Samrājam charshaṇīnām."? The king was next required to get down from the throne and make obeisance to the holy power (Brahman); "Brahmana eva tat Kshatram vašam eti tad yatra vai Brahmanah Kshatram vasam eti tad rāshtram samriddham tad vīravadāhāsmin vīro jāyate, 3 “verily thus the lordly power (Kshatra) falls under the influence of the holy power (Brahman). When the lordly power falls under the influence of the holy power, that kingdom is prosperous, rich in heroes ; in it a hero or heir (vīra) is born."4 Here there is provision for the prevention of royal absolutism. Janamejaya, the son of Parikshit, was evidently consecrated with the Punar-abhisheka.5 The Aindra Mahābhisheka or Indra's great unction consisted of five important ceremonies. In the first place, an Oath is administered by the priest to the king-elect: "From the night of thy birth to that of thy death for the space between these two, thy sacrifice and thy gifts, thy place, thy good deeds, thy life and thine ng let me take, if thou play me false."7 Next follows the Arohana or enthronement. When the king is seated on the throne we have the Utkrošana 8 or proclamation. The king-nakers should say "The Kshatriya, if not proclaimed, cannot show his strength, let us 1 Keith, HOS, 25 (slightly emended). 2 Ait. Br., VIII. 7. 3 Ait. Br., VIII. 9. 4 Keith. • 5 Ait. Br., VIII. 11, A second coronation of the Ceylonese king Devānampiya Tissa is referred to by the chronicles (Geiger's trans, of the Mahāvansa, p. xxxii). 6 Ait. Br. viii. 12-23. 7 Keith ; Ait. Br. VIII. 15. 8 Ait. Br. VIII. 17. Page #198 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ATTRIBUTES OF KINGSHIP 169 proclaim him. “Be it so” (the people reply). Him the king-makers proclaim saying: - "Him do ye proclaim, O men (janāl) as king and father of kings.... The sovereign lord of all beings (Visvasya bhūtasya adhipati) hath been born, the eater of the folk (Viśāmattā) hath been born, the destroyer of enemies (Amitrāņām hantā) hath been born, the protector of the Brāhmaṇas (Brāhmaṇānāṁ goptā) hath been born, the guardian of the law (Dharmasya goptā) hath been born." Here we have the important attributes of king ship. In the words Visvasya bhūtasya adhipati (supreme lord of all beings) we have a reference to the king's sovereignty and imperium. The expression Viśāmattā, devourer of the folk, alludes to his power of taxation. As Amitrānāṁ hantā he exercises supreme command to weed out enemies. The epithet Brāhmaṇānām goptā gives expression to his special relations with the hierarchy, while the style Dharmasya goptā points to his duties in connection with the preservation of the laws and their proper administration for the promotion of the common weal (Yoga-kshemo). When the king has been proclaimed there is an address with the formula, abhimantrana.' Varuna the Wise One Hath set him down, preserving order, ............for kingship............ Then comes the anointment fábhishechana) The following kings are said to have been consecrated with the Aindra Mahābhisheka ; Janamejaya Pārikshita, Śāryāta Mānava, Śatānika Sātrājita, Ambāshthya, Yudhāmśraushți Augrasainya, Viśyakarmā Bhauvana, Sudās Paijavana, Marutta Āvikshita, Anga Vairochana and Bharata Dauḥshyanti. 2 The first-mentioned king, 1 Ibid., VIII. 18. 2 Ibid., VIII, 21-23. O. P. 90-22. Page #199 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 170 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA and probably the third, fourth, fifth and ninth also, belonged to the post-Parikshit period. Durmukha Pāñchāla and Atyarāti Jānantapi were informed of the efficacy of the rite. The first made good use of the advice. But the latter who neglected his priest, and wanted to conquer the Uttara-Kurus, whom "no mortal man could vanquish," perished at the hands of a king of the Sibis. Closely connected with the Aindra mahābhisheka was another important ceremonial called the Aśvamedha or horse-sacrifice. All the kings who were, according to the Aitareya Brāhmana, actually consecrated with Indra's great unction are represented as "going round the earth completely, conquering on every side, and offering the horse in sacrifice” (samantaṁ sarvatah prithivim jayan parīyāyāśvena cha medhyeneje). To the list of kings and princes who performed the famous rite the satapatha Brāhmana? adds the names of the Pārikshitas (or Parikshitiyas) Bhimasena, Ugrasena and Srutasena ; the Kosalan king (Kausalyarāja) Para ātņāra Hairanyanābhá ; the Aikshvāka king Purukutsa Daurgala ; the Pāñchāla kings Kraivya, the superman of the Krivis (Krivīņām atipurusha) and Sona Sātrāsāha ; the Matsya king Dhyasan Dvaitavana, and the Śvikna king Rishaba Yājñātura. The Apastamba Śrauta Sūtra says that a paramount king (Sārvabhauma Rājā) may perform the 1 Satānika defeated Dhritarāshtra of Kāsi who, according to the Mahagovinda Suttanta, was a contemporary of Sattabhu of Kalinga and of Brahmadatta of Assaka. As the Deccan kingdoms are not referred to in pre-Pārikshita works, it is probable that Satānika and his contemporaries flourished after Parikshit. Ambāshthya and Yudhāmśraushți were contemporaries of Parvata and Nārada who were very near in time to Nagnajit, the contemporary of Nimi, probably the penultimate king of Videha. Anga was probably the immediate predecessor of Dadhivāhana who, according to Jaina evidence, flourished in the 6th century B.C. 2 XIII. 5. 4, 1-23. Page #200 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AŠVAMEDHA 171 Ašvamedhà." The Aśva or steed for a year roamed under guardianship of a hundred princes, and a hundred nobles, a hundred sons of heralds (or charioteers) and village headmen, a hundred sons of warriors and treasurers? (chamberlains ?) equipped with varions kinds of defensive and offensive weapons. If the year were successfully passed the steed was sacrificed. The features of the rite included panegyrics of the sacrificer along with righteous kings of yore by lute-players including a Rājanya who sings to the lute three songs made by himself, “such war he waged, such battle he won.” There is also a "circle of tales," Pāriplava Akhyāna 3 which lasts by series of ten days for the whole year... The kingship disclosed in Brāhmaṇic songs and ritual is not merely a "Patriarchal Presidency.". The monarch is not merely a chief noble, the first among equals, 'President of a Council of Peers.' In a famous Atharvanic laud the rājā of the Kurus, is extolled as a deva who 1 XX. i. 1. Variant readings (e. g. apyasārvabhaumah) of the relevant text seem hardly acceptable; cf. Baudh. XV. 1, Even as late as the time of Bhavabhūti (eighth century A. D.) the Aśvamedha was looked upon as "the super-eminent touchstone to test the might of warriors conquering the world and an indication of the conquest of all the warriors''-Aśvamedha iti viśvavijayinām Kshatriyāņāmūrjasvalah sarva-kshatriya-paribhāvi mahānutkarsha - nishkarshah (Uttara- Rāma-charitam, Act IV, translated by Vinayak Sadashiv Patvardhan). The sacrifice seems also to have been performed in early times to atone for sinful work. There was also a Vishņuite adaptation of the famous rite-no animals being killed on the occasion, and the oblations prepared in accordance with the precepts of the Aranyakas. Reference may be made to the story of Uparichara Vasu in the Santiparva of the Mahābhārata, Ch. 335-339 (Raychaudhuri, EHVS., 2nd ed., 132). Regarding the significance of the Aśvamedha, see also D. C. Sircar's note in Indian Culture, I, pp. 311 ff; 11. 789 ff. 2 Sat. Br. XIII. 4. 2. 5, tasyaite purastādrakshitāra upakliptā bhavanti. Rājaputrāh kavachinaḥ śatai rājanya nishanginaḥ śatam sūtagrāmanyām putrā ishuparshinaḥ śatam Kshātra Samgrahitrinām putrā dandinah śatamasvasatan nirashtam niramanam yasminnenamapisrijya rakshanti. 3 S. B. E. xliv. pp. 298 ff : Pāriplava Akhyāna in Sat. Br. XIII. 4. 3. 2; Keith, Black Yajus, pp. cxxxii f; RPVU, 343 f ; Hopkins, GEI. 365, 386. Page #201 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 172 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA surpassed mere mortals (martyas). The consecrated king is the lord of all beings. He is called "visvasya bhūtasya adhipati," and is further described as the devourer of the people—visāmattā. ! "Rājā ta ekaṁ mukham tena mukhena viso’tsi.”? He is surrounded by armed kinsmen and retainers. 3 He can "banish a Brāhmaṇa at will, mulot and overpower a Vaisya at will, and exact labour from or slay a Śūdra at will." 4 Further he claims the power of giving his kingdom away to anybody he liked. In the Brihadāranyaká Upanishad Janaka says to Yājõavalkya, “So'han Bhagavate Videhān dadāmi māñchāpi saha dāsyāyeti.' The king, however, was not an absolute despot in practice. His power was checked, in the first place, by the Brāhmanas. We have seen that the most powerful sovereigns, even those who were consecrated with the Punarabhisheka, had to descend from the throne and make obeisance to the holy power' (Brahman) that was the repository of culture and education in those days. We learn from the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, 6 and the Kauţiliya Arthaśāstra ? that even a powerful king like Janamejaya was humbled by the Brāhmaṇas. Karāla Janaka met his doom for a crime against a Brāhmaṇa maiden. The Vrishộis perished on account of their irreverent conduct towards Brāhmaṇas. This shows 1 Ait. Br., VIII. 17. 2 Kaush., Up., II. 6. 3 Ait. Br. iii. 48. "Sixty four armed warriors assuredly were his (a Kuru's) sons and grandsons." When a Panchāla King makes an offering there arise "Six thousand and three and thirty warriors clad in mail." Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 16; cf. 4. 2. 5. 4 Ait. Br. vii, 29. 5 Brih. Up., IV.4. 23. 6 VII. 27. 7 Ed. 1919, p. 11. 8 Cf. also the fate of the Vaitahavyas, Camb. Hist. 121. Page #202 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 173 CHECKS ON ROYAL AUTHORITY that not only kings, but republican corporations (Sangha), too, had to cultivate friendly relations with the Brāhmaṇas. The second check was supplied by the ministers individually or in council, and village headmen who aided in the consecration of the king and whom the king consulted on important occasions. In the Vedic texts the Suta and the Gramani are styled Rajakartṛi or Rajakrit, i.e., King-maker, "Rajakritah Suta-Grāmanyah." The very title indicates their importance in the body politic. They, as well as the other Ratnins, figure prominently in the sacrifice of royal inauguration. The existence of a Royal Council (Sabha) is clearly suggested by references to sabhasads in Vedic texts, particularly in connection with king Marutta Avikshita. 2 In the Ramayana the sabha is clearly a body in which the Rajakartris have a place along with the amatyas and the Rajapurohita (royal chaplain). The claim of the ministers and head men to be consulted is recognised in Pali texts while dealing with the period down to the time of Bimbisara. The Mahavagga says, "King Brahmadatta of Kasi, O Bhikkhus, having entered Benares, convoked his ministers and counsellors (Amacce Parisajje sannipātā petvu) and said to them : 'If you should see, my good sirs, young Dighavu, the son of king Dighiti of Kosala, what would you do to him ?" " The Maha assaroha Jataka refers to a king who by beat of drum through the city gathered together his councillors (amachcha, amatya). The Chulla-Sutasoma Jataka refers to the eighty 1 Śat. Br., III. 4. 1, 7; XIII. 2. 2. 18; In Rām. II. 67. 2; 79. 1. the Kingmakers are dvijatayah. 2 Ait. Br. viii. 21; Sat. Br. XIII. 5. 4. 6, 3 II. 67. 2-4. 4 S.B.E;, XVII 304; Vinayapiṭakam (Oldenberg), I (1879), p. 348. Cf. Rām, II, 79, Samatyah Saparishadah. 5 No, 302, Page #203 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 174 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA thousand councillors of a king headed by his general, (Senāpati pamukhāni asiti amachcha sahassāni). The power of councillors (amātyas) to depose a prince and elect a king is recognised in the Pādañjali, Samvara, and Sonaka Jātakas respectively. There is evidence regarding special gemots of village headmen. We are told that “when Seņiya Bimbisāra, the king of Magadha, was holding an assembly of the eighty thousand Grāmikas (village headmen) he sent message to śoṇa Kolivisa." Another check was supplied by the general body of the people (Jana,Mahājana) who were distinct from the ministers and Grāmanīs, or Grāmikas, and who used to meet in an assembly styled Samiti or Parishad in the Upanishads.3 In the Utkrośana passage of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* the people (Janāh) are clearly distinguished from the Rājakartārah among whom, according to the Katapatha Brāhmana5 were included the Sata and the Grāmanī. That the Samiti or Parishad was an assembly of the whole people, is apparent from such expressions as “bhūyishthāh Kuru-Pañchālāssāgatā bhavitūralı...”,7 “Paschūlānāṁ Samitim eyāya”, “Pañchālānāṁ Parishadam ājagāma," "samaggā Śivayo hutvā”. The Chhāndogya Upanishads mentions the Samiti of the Pañchāla people presided over by king Pravāhaņa Jaivali, svetaketurk 1 Cowell's Jataka, v, p. 97. (No, 525) ; 'eighty thousand' is a stock number and should not be taken too literally. 2 Mahāvagga, S.B.E. XVII, p. 1. 3 In the Jaim. Up. Br. II. 11. 4. we find a reference to the Parishad, the Sabha and the Samsad. It is not clear, if these are distinct institutions. The sabhā and the samiti are, however, distinguished in the Atharva-Veda. 4 VIII, 17; cf. Sat. Br. V. 33. 12. 5 III, 4.1.7; XIII. 2. 2. 18. 6 For Mahājana, see Jatāka (525) Vol. V. p. 187 : Jatakas (542, 547), Vol. VI. p. 156, 489 etc.; cf. Sat. Br. V. 3. 3. 12. 7' "Most of the Kuru-Pañchalas shall be assembled together," Jaim. up. Br. III. 7.6. 8 V. 3. 1. Page #204 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHECKS ON ROYAL AUTHORITY 175 Āruneyah Panchālānām : Samitim eyāya ; tam ha Pravāhano Jaivalir uvācha.” The Brihadāranyaka Upanishad' uses the term Parishad instead of Samiti, “svetaketur hoa vā Āruneyah Panchālānāri Parishadamājagāma." The analogy of the Lichchhavi Parisha and of similar assemblies mentioned in Buddhist works shows that the functions of the Kuru and Pañchāla Parishads were not necessarily confined to philosophical discussions only. The Jaiminīya Upanishad Brāhmana? refers to disputations (samvāda) and witnesses (upa- . drashtri) in connection with popular assemblies, and informs us that the procedure among the Kurus and the Pañchalas was different from that of Śūdras. The people took part in the ceremony of royal inauguration.3 The Dummedha Jātaka * refers to a joint assembly of ministers, Brāhmaṇas, the gentry, and the other orders of the people. That the people actually put a curb on royal absolutism is proved by the testimony of the AtharvaVeda“ where it is stated that concord between king and assembly was essential for the former's prosperity. We have evidence that the people sometimes expelled and even executed their princes together with unpopular officials. Thus it is stated in the Satapatha Brāhmaṇa, "Now Dush-tarītu Paumsāyang had been expelled from the kingdom which had come to him through ten generations, and the Sriñjayas also expelled Revottaras Pāțavá i VI. 2. 1. 2 111. 7. 6. 3 Ait. Br., VIII. 17. 4 No. 50 ; cf. Vessantara sātaka (No. 547), Vol. VI, pp. 490 ff. The whole Sivi people assembled to discuss a matter of public importance, to give advice to the King and to inflict punishment on a prince. 5 VI. 88. 3. 6 XII. 9. 3. 1 et seq. ; Eggeling, V. 269. Page #205 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 176 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Chākra Sthapati.”] The Aitareya Brāhmana? refers to personages who were expelled from their kingdoms (rāshtras) and who were anxious to recover them with the help of the Kshatriya consecrated with the Punarabhisheka. Such persons were the Indian counterparts of the French 'emigrants” who sought to reclaim revo. lutionary France with the help of the troops of the Hapsburgs and the Hohenzollerns. We learn from the Vessantara Jātaka * that the king of the Sivis (Sibis) was compelled to banish prince Vessantara in obedience to "the people's sentence" (Sivinam vachanatthena samhā ratthā nirajjati). The king was told : “Sache tvam na karissasi Sivinam vachanam idai marine tam saha puttena. Sivihatthe larissare ti" The bidding of the Sivi folk if you refuse to do The people then will act, methinks, against your son and you. The king replied : “Eso che Sivīnam chhando chhandai na panudāmase” Behold the people's will, and I that will do not gainsay. The Padakusalamānava Jatakab tells a story how the town and the country folk of a kingdom assembled (janapadā negamā cha samāgatā), beat the king and priest to death as they became a source, not of weal, but of woe (lit. fear, yato khemam tato bhayam), and anointed a good man as king. A similar story is told in the Sachchan kira Jātaka. We are told in the Khandahāla Jātaka? that 1 For the designation 'Sthapati', see ante, p. 167. 2 VIII. 10. 3 Cf. Lodge, Modern Europe, p. 517. 4 No. 547 : Text VI. 490-502. The Sibis are known to Ait. Br. viii. 23. 5 No. 432. 6 No. 73. 7 No. 542 Page #206 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHECKS ON ROYAL AUTHORITY 177 the people of one kingdom killed the minister, deposed the king, made him an outcaste and anointed a prince as king. The ex-king was not allowed to enter into the capital city. Fick points out that in the Telapatta Jātaka a king of Takshasilā says that he has no power over the subjects of his kingdom. This is in striking contrast with the utterance of Janaka quoted above. 2 Evidently the royal power had declined appreciably, at least in some of the north-western Janapadas, since the days of Janaka.3 1 The Social Organisation in North-East-India, trans. by Dr. S. K. Maitra, pp. 113-114. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar follows him in Carmichael Lectures, 1918, 134f. 2 P. 172, "Bhagavate Videhān dadāmi". 3 Note the references to elected Kings (e. g. amongst the Kathaioi) and autonomous folks by the historians of Alexander in the fourth century B.C. The Ambashthas had a strong monarchy in the Brāhmaṇa period (Ait. Br. viii 21.) In the days of Alexander (Inv. Alex. 252) the constitution was democratic. O, P. 90–23. Page #207 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #208 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PART II Page #209 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #210 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Political History of Ancient India PART II From the Coronation of Bimbisāra to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. SECTION I. FOREWORD. The following pages deal with the political history of India from the time of Bimbisāra to that of the Guptas. For this period we are fortunately in possession of authentic historical materials in addition to literary tradition to which reference has already been made in the first part of the book. These materials are derived principally from the following sources : inscriptions, coins, accounts left by foreign observers and works of Indian authors of known date and authenticity. Inscriptions engraved on stone and copper undoubtedly form the most copious and important source. Hardly less important are the coins which constitute almost the sole evidence of the history of certain dynasties and republican communities of the second and first centuries B. C. Foreign accounts, especially the records of Greek diplomats and navigators and of Chinese annalists and pilgrims, are especially valuable in connection with the vexed question of Indian chronology. Works of Indian writers of known epochs, that illumine the darkness of our period, and afford interesting glimpses of political history, are extremely rare and comprise the Mahābhāshya (Great Commentary) of Patañjali, the Page #211 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 182 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kalpanāmanditikā of Kumāralāta, the Life of Vasubandhu by Paramārtha and the Harsha-charita (Deeds of Harsha) by Bāṇabhatta. For the history of the period from Bimbisāra to Asoka the writer of these pages cannot claim much originality. The subject has been treated by Rhys Davids and Smith, and a flood of new light has been thrown on particular dynasties by Geiger, Bhandarkar, Rapson, Jayaswal, Jackson, Herzfeld, Hultzsch and others. Use has been made of the information contained in their works, and it has been supplemented with fresh data gathered mainly from epical, Jaina, Buddhist and classical sources. As instances it may be pointed out that attention to the name Haryanka, given to the Bimbisārid family by Ašvaghosha, was first drawn in these pages. The tradition recorded in the Harsha-charita and Jaina works regarding the tragic end of Siśunāga's line and origin of the Nandas has been collated with the evidence of the Graeco-Latin writers. Epic data have been used largely to locate tribes like the Kambojas and the Pulindas who figure in the Asokan edicts, and to explain expressions like stryadhaksha, vihārayātrā, anusamyāna etc. Old materials have also been presented in many cases in a new shape, and the author's conclusions are often different from those of former writers. In the chapter on the Later Mauryas the author has examined the causes of the dismemberment of the Maurya Empire, and has tried to demonstrate the unsoundness of the current theory that "the fall of the Maurya authority was due in large measure to a reaction promoted by the Brāhmaṇs. The treatment of the history of the Early PostMauryan and Scythian periods, though not entirely 1 The Chapter on the Later Mauryas was published in the AJSB., 1920 (No. 18, pp. 305 ff.). Page #212 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ FOREWORD 183 original, is different in many respects from that of previous authors. It has not been possible to accept the current views with regard to the lineage of Pushyamitra and the history and chronology of several dynasties, notably of the Early Satavahanas, the Greeks of Sakala, and the Saka-Pallavas of the Uttarapatha or North-West India. As early as 1923 the writer of these pages assigned to the Nāgas of the Jumna valley and Eastern Malwa and the the Bhārasivas their proper place in the history of the post-Kushan period, a fact which has been ignored in some recent publications. In the account of the Gupta period use has been made of the mass of fresh materials accumulated since the publication of the works of Bühler, Fleet, Smith and Allan. The notices of the most famous ruling family of the age in early epigraphs and literature, which are sometimes overlooked, have received due attention, its relations with southern dynasties like the Vakaṭakas have been discussed, and an attempt has been made to present a connected history of the so-called 'Later Guptas.'1 1 The Chapter on the so-called Later Guptas was published in the JASB., 1920 (No. 19, pp. 313 ff). Page #213 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. LOCAL AUTONOMY AND IMPERIAL UNITY. The chief interest of the political history of the postBimbisarian Age lies in the interplay of two opposing forces, one centrifugal, the other centripetal, viz., the love of local (Janapada) autonomy and the aspiration for imperial unity. The former ideal is best expressed in the words of Manu-sarvam paravasam duḥkham, sarvam atmavasam sukham, "subjection to others is full of misery, subjection to self leads to happiness." The predilection for local self-rule was in part fostered by geographical conditions. The intersection of the land of India by deep rivers and winding chains of mountains flanked by dreary deserts or impenetrable forests, developed a spirit of isolation and cleft the country asunder into small political units whose divergences were accentuated by the infinite variety of local conditions. But the vast riparian plain of the north and the extensive plateau in the interior of the Deccan Peninsula, decked with green by the life-giving streams that flow from the majestic heights of the Himalayas and the Western Ghats, fostered an opposite tendency-an inclination towards union and coalescence. The sands which choked the Sarasvati, the floods that swelled the Lauhitya, the dangers that lurked in the Mahāṭavi proved no effective bar to unity. The five hills of Girivraja could not permanently withstand the conquering heroes who were charged with an imperial mission. The head of the Vindhya bent in reverence before the sage who was bringing the culture of the Ganges valley to the banks of the Godavari and the Tamraparņi. 1 Manusamhita, IV. 160. Page #214 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IMPERIAL UNITY 185 The desire for union under one political authority became manifest as early as the Brāhmaṇa period and found expression in passages like the following : "May he (the king) be all-encompassing, possessed of all the earth, possessed of all life, from the one end up to the further side of the earth bounded by the ocean, sole ruler (ekarāt).” The ideal persists throughout our period and inspired poets and political philosophers who spoke of the thousand yojanas (leagues) of land that stretch from the Himālayas to the sea as the proper domain of a single universal emperor (chakravarti-kshetra) and enlogised monarchs who protected the earth decked with the Ganges, as with a pearl necklace, adorned with the Himavat and the Vindhya, as with two earrings, and robed with a swinging girdle in the shape of the rocking oceans. The imperial ideal had to contend with the centrifugal tendencies of Jānapada (provincial and tribal) autonomy. The two forces operated in successive epochs almost with the regularity of the swing of the pendulum. The aspiration for a unity that transcended local boundaries owed its success not a little to the presence of another factor in Indian politics—the danger threatening from foreign invaders. It was only when the earth was harassed by the barbarians” (Mlechchhairudvejyamānā) that she sought refuge in the strong arms of Chandra Gupta Maurya, the first great historical emperor of India—whose dominions undoubtedly overstepped the limits of Āryāvarta. Among the early empire-builders of_the-south was a prince who rid his country of the Scythians, Greeks and Parthians (Saka-Yavana-Pahlava-nishādana). And the rulers who revived the imperial glory of the Gangetic Provinces in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., were warriors who humbled the pride of the Scythian “Son of Heaven” and 0. P. 93—24. : Page #215 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 186 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA braved the wrath of the saka king in his own city. According to sacred legends Vishņu in the shape of a Boar had rescued the earth in the aeon of universal destruction. It is significant that the worship of the Boar Incarnation became widely popular in the GuptaChalukya period. The poet Višākhadatta actually identifies the man in whose arms the earth found refuge when harassed by the Mlechchhas, who "shook the yoke of servitude from the neck" of his country, with the Vārāhitanu (Boar form) of the Self-Existent Being. Powerful emperors both in the north and the south recalled the feats of the Great Boar and the mightiest ruler of a dynasty that kept the Arabs at bay for centuries actually took the title of Adivarāha or the Primeval Boar. The Boar Incarnation then symbolized the successful struggle of Indians against the devastating floods issuing from the regions outside their borders that threatened to overwhelm their country and civilisation in a common ruin. Page #216 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER II THE RISE OF MAGADHA Sarvamūrddhābhishiktānāmesha mūrddhni jvalishyati prabhūharo’yam sarveshāṁ jyotishāmiva bhāskarah enamāsūdya rājānal samriddha-balavāhanā Vināśamupayāsyanti salabhā iva pūvakam. - Mahābhārata. SECTION I. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE PERIOD C. 544 B. C. to 324 B. C. The most remarkable feature of the age that commenced with the coronation of Bimbisāra c. 545—44 B.C., and ended with the retirement of Alexander from India and the accession of Chandra Gupta Maurya (324 B. C.), is the rise of a New Monarchy in the Eastern part of the Indian sub-continent which is already heralded by a Brāhmana passage cited above : "In this eastern quarter (prāchyāi diśi), whatever kings there are of the eastern peoples, they are anointed for overlordship (Sāmrājya) ; '0 Overlord' (Samrāt) they style them when anointed.” The eastern peoples fprächyas) are not enumerated in the same manner as those of the southern, the northern and the central regions. But it may be safely assumed that the name used in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa stands for the Prasii of the Graeco-Roman writers. The most famous nations of the east in the Brāhmana-Upanishad period were the Kāśis, the Kosalas and the Videhas. But a new star was 1 2 3 II. 19. 10-11. See below, Section VII. Pp. 156-7. Page #217 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 188 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA soon in the ascendant. Under the vigorous kings of the race of Bimbisāra and Nanda Magadha played the same part in ancient Indian politics as Wessex did in...preNorman England and Prussia in Hohenzollern Germany. Several circumstances contributed to the pre-eminence of the new aspirant for imperial power-its position of vantage between the upper and lower parts of the vast riparian plain of Northern India, the possession of an almost unassailable stronghold amidst five hills, and another at and near the confluence of several rivers, the arteries of commerce and navigation in those days, a superbly rich and fruitful soil, and resources including a powerful elephant corps which greatly impressed the classical writers and Kautilya. But strategic position and material wealth cannot suffice to raise a nation to greatness. As Burke says, it is the quality and spirit of the people that give all their life and efficacy- to them'. As in several Atlantic lands, so in Magadha, we have a fusion of folks and cultures. Kikatas mixed here with enterprising clans coming from upper India as Celts did with Latins and Teutons in Mediaeval France and some adjoining territories. It is not difficult to find out two strands in the cultural-no less than the racial-texture of the population. The same nation that produced relentless fighters and 'exterminators of kings and clans like Jarāsandha of epic legend, Ajātaśatru, Mahāpadma, Chandāśoka (the ruthless conqueror of Kalinga) and perhaps Samudra Gupta, hearkened at the same time to the devout teachings of Madhyama Prātibodhiputra, Varddhamāna Mahāvīra, and Gautama Buddha, and played a conspicuous part in the propagation of a world religion as it did in the establishment of an empire embracing nearly the whole of India. The birth of Ajātasatru and the enlightenment of the Buddha took place in the same country and the same age, and they met in Rājagriha as Charles V and Page #218 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL CHARACTER . 189 Martin Luther did at Worms. The symbol of aggressive imperialism stood face to face with the preacher of piety and morality, leader of a movement that was destined to convulse a continent. The two ideologies did not long remain apart. They were harmonised and the magician who worked the miracle was Dharm-āsoka who combined in himself the imperial tradition of his forbears as well as the spiritual fervour of the sage of the Sākyas. • A characteristic of the people of Magadha was an elasticity of social behaviour which was absent in the system which developed on the banks of the Sarasvati and the Drishadvati. In their country Brāhmaṇas could associate with Vrātyas, the Rājanya could admit the Śūdra girl to the harem, the Vaiśya and even the Yavana could be promoted to gubernatorial office, hereditary rulers of aristocatic lineage could be expelled to make room for the offspring of a nagara-sobhini, and the "royal throne of kings” was not beyond the reach of a barber. .. Magadhan rulers and chancellors like Vassakāra and Kautilya, were not over-scrupulous in their methods. Tradition credits some of them with the use of Machiavellian diplomacy in disintegrating kingdoms and republics, and invention of engines of destruction which worked with deadly effect. But they had the sagacity to evolve an administrative system in which princes royal, ministers of state as well as leading men of villages had their due share. Foreign diplomats and pilgrims in the fourth century B.C., as well as the fifth and seventh centuries A. D. speak of their sense of justice, their hospitals, charitable institutions and public works. They believed in ceaseless endeavour with the object of realising the dream of a united Jambudvipa (Greater India) integrated by political as well as spiritual ties. In the Māgadha bards, the rulers of Girivraja and Pāțaliputra had a body of devoted men who could rouse popular Page #219 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 190 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA enthusiasm in a cause in which they believed. These singers and chroniclers have left a legacy which is invaluable to the student of ancient history. The rise of Magadha synchronised with, and may have been a contributory cause of an exodus of people from the Madhya-desa to the outlying parts of India, notably the west and the south. The displacement of the Yādavas in antiquity is vouched for by epic tradition. It is well-known that the Vộishộis and cognate clans of Dvārkā in Kāthiāwār and several peoples of the Deccan claimed Yadu lineage. It was in the period under review that the Far South of India comes definitely within the geographical horizon of the grammarians and foreign diplomats some of whom graced the Durbar of Magadhan Kings. SaptaSindhu had at last developed into Jambudvīpa. And the time was not distant when a notable attempt would be made to impress the stamp of unity on it in the domain of culture and politics. In making their prowess felt throughout the vastsub-continent of India the great men of Magadha had at first to face three problems, viz., those presented by the republics mainly on their northern frontier, the monarchies that grew up on the Rāptī, the Jumna and the Chambal, and the foreign impact that made itself felt in the Punjab. We turn first to the republics. Page #220 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. REPUBLICS IN THE AGE OF BIMBISĀRA. It was Rhys Davids who first drew pointed attention to the survival, side by side with the monarchies, of a number of small aristocratic republics in the age of the Buddha and of Bimbisāra. The most important amongst these states were the Vrijians of North Bihār and the Mallas of Kusinārā (Kusinagara) and Pāvā. An account of both these peoples has already been given. Among the smaller republics we find mention of the Sākyas of Kapilavastu, the Koliyas of Devadaha and Rāmagāma, the Bhaggas (Blargas) of Sumsumāra Hill, the Bulis of Allakappa, the Kālāmas of Kesaputta, and the Moriyas of Pipphalivana. The sākyas were settled in the territory bordered on h the north by the Himālayas, on the east by the river Rohiņi, and on the west and south by the Rāpti. * Their capital, Kapilavastu, stood close to the western bank of the Rohiņi, some eight miles to the west of the famous Lumbinivana, the place of the Buddha's nativity, the site of which is marked by the Rummindei pillar of one of the greatest of his followers. The city is possibly mentioned in the Tirthayātrā section of the Mahābhārata? under the name of Kapilāvața. It was connected by roads with the capitals of the Kosalas and 1 Buddhist India, p. 1. 2 Supra pp. 1188, 126ff. 3 A tributary of the Rāpti (Oldenberg, Budaha, p. 96). Cunningham (AGI, new ed. 476) identifies it with the Kohāna. 4 Rapson Ancient India, p. 161 ; Oldenberg, Buddha, pp. 95-96. 5 AGI. (new) 476. 6 Kapilavastu is sometimes identified with Piprāwā in the north of the Basti district, or Tilaura Kot and neighbouring ruins in the Tarāi about 10 miles to the N.W. of Piprāwā. (Smith, EHI, third ed., p. 159.) 7 III. 84. 31. Page #221 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 192 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the Vrijikas, and through them with the other great cities of the age. The sākyas had a town called Devadaba which they appear to have shared with their eastern neighbours, the Koliyas. They acknowledged the suzerainty of the king of Kosala and, like him, claimed to belong to the solar (Aditya) race and Ikshvāku family. The Koliyas claim to have been cadets from the royal house of Benares. Tradition connects them with the cities of Rāmagāma and Devadaha. The river Rohiņi separated their capital from tbat of the sākyas, and helped to irrigate the fields of both the clans.2 "Once upon a time in the month of Jetthamūla when the crops began to flag and droop, the labourers from amongst both the peoples assembled together.” Then followed a scramble for water. Bloodshed was averted by the mediation of the Buddha. From the mutual recriminations in which they indulged, we learn that the Śākyas had the custom of marrying their own sisters. Cunningham places the Koliya country between the Kohāna and Aumi (Anomā) rivers. The Anomā seems to have formed the dividing line between the Koliyas on the one hand and the Mallas and Moriyas on the other. The Bhaggas (Bhargas) are known to the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* and the Ashțādhyayi of Paņini." The former work refers to the Bhārgāyaṇa prince Kairiši Sutvan. In the latter half of the sixth century B.C., the Bhagga state wag a dependency of the Vatsa kingdom ; for we learn from the preface to the Dhonasākha Jataka, that prince Bodhi, the son of Udayana, king of the Vatsas, dwelt 1 DPPN, I. 689. The Koliya capital stood close to the eastern bank of the Rohini. 2 The Kunāla Jātaka (introductory portion). 3 DPPN, 1.690, Cunn. AGI (new) 477 ; 491 ff. 4 VIII. 28. 5 iv. i. 111, 177. 6 No. 353. Page #222 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BULIS AND KĀLĀMAS 193 in Sumsumāragiri and built a palace called Kokanada. The Mahābhārata and the Harivamsa also testify to the close connection between the Vatsas and the Bhargas (Bhaggas) and their proximity to the Nishādas. The testimony of the epic and the Apadāna seems to locate them in the Vindhyan region between the Jumna and the Son. Regarding the Bulis and the Kālāmas we know very little. The Dhammapada commentary” refers to the Buli territory as the kingdom of Allakappa, and says that it was only ten leagues in extent. From the story of its king's intimate relationship with king Vethadipaka it may be presumed that Allakappa lay not far from Vethadīpa, the home of a famous Brāhmaṇa in the early days of Buddhism, who made a cairn over the remains of the Buddha in his native land. The Kālāmas were the clan of the philosopher Ālāra, a teacher of Gautama before he attained to Sambodhi. The name of their nigama (town) Kesaputta, reminds us of the Keśins, a people mentioned in the Satapatha Brāhmanas and probably also in the Ashtādyāyī of Pāṇini, and connected with the Pañchālas and Dālbhyas who appear in the Rig-Veda," as settled on the banks of the Gomati. Kesaputta itself seems to have been annexed to Kosala, 8 and no doubt acknowledged the suzerainty of the king of that powerful state. 1 Mbh., 11. 30. 10-11; Hariv., 29. 73. DPPN, II. 345 ; Supra p. 133. 2 Harvard Oriental Series, 28, p. 247. 3 Majumdar Šāstri connects Vethadipa with Kasia (AGI, 1924, 714) : cf. Fleet in JRAS, 1906, p. 900n : Hoey suggests that Vethadipa is Bettiah in the Champaran District of Bihār. 4 Buddhacharita, XII, 2.-- 5 Yed. Ind., Vol. I, p. 186. 6 VI. 4. 165. 7 V. 61, 8 The Anguttara (P. T. S., 1, 188 ; Nipāta II1, 65). 0. P. 90—25. Page #223 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 194 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Moriyas (Mauryas ) were the same clan which gave Magadha its greatest dynasty. They are sometimes spoken of as of Sākyan origin, but the evidence is late. Earlier evidence distinguishes between these two clans. The name is derived, according to one tradition, from mora (māyārā) or peacock. The place where they settled down is said to have always resounded with the cries of these birds. Pipphalivana, the Moriya capital, is apparently identical with the Nyagrodhavana or Banyan Grove, mentioned by Hiuen Tsang, where stood the famous Embers Tope. Fa Hien tells us that the Tope lay four yojanas to the east of the river Anomā, and twelve yojanas (probably some 54 miles) to the west of Kusinārā. - It will perhaps not be quite out of place to say here a few words about the internal organisation of the republics. Space, however, forbids a detailed treatment of the subject. They fall mainly into two classes, viz., those that were constituted by the whole or a section of a single clan (Kula) e.g., the sākyas, the Koliyas, the Mallas of Kusinārā the Mallas of Pāvā etc., and those that comprised several clans like the Vrijis (Vajjis) and the Yādavas. The distinguishing feature of a state of this type is the absence of one single hereditary monarch who exercised full control over it. The Basileus, if he survived at all, must have done so as a mere magistracy or as a dignified 1 "Then did the Brāhmaṇa Cānakka anoint a glorious youth, known by the name Candagutta, as king over all Jambudipa, born of a noble clan, the Moriyas." Geiger, Mahāvamsa, p. 27; DPPN, II. 673. 2 Mahaparinibbānau Sutta. 3 Rhys Davids, Buddhist Suttas, p. 135; Watters Yuan Chwang. II, pp. 23-24 ; Cunningham, AGI., new ed., pp. 491f, 496f. 4 AGI (new) 491, Legge, Fa Hien, p. 79; Watters, I, 141 ; cf. JRAS., 1903. As Kasia (Kusinārā, Kusinagara ) lay 35 miles to the east of Gorakhpur (AGI, 493), the Moriyan city could not have been situated very far from the last-mentioned town. The Moriyas seem also to have been close neighbours of the Koliyas beyond the Anomā and the Mallas of Anupiyā on the banks of that river. Page #224 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ORGANISATION OF REPUBLICS 195 part of the constitution. The efficient part comprised a president (chief gaṇapati, ganajyestha, ganarāja, samghamukhya) and a council of archons taken from the ruling class. Such a president was Chetaka of Vaišāli and Akouphis of Nysa in later times, the terrestrial counterpart of Indra, in his capacity as the Jyeshtha of the Marud-gana.” According to a Jaina tradition the number of members of the supreme executive in charge of foreign and military affairs was in some states nine 3 There were functionaries like uparājās and senāpatis who exercised judicial and military functions. All these Elders possibly answer to the Mahallakas of Pāli texts and Mahattaras of the Vayu Purāna,+ whom it was the duty of the citizens to respect and support. Some of the clans had an elaborate system of judicial procedure with a gradation of officers. Others, notably the Koliyas, had a police force which earned notoriety for extortion and violence. Reverence for tradition, especially for traditional religion with its shrines and ministers, was a feature that recalls the part that ancestral religion played in ancient Babylonia and modern Nippon. Perhaps the most important institution of the free republics was the Parishā, the popular assembly, where young and old held frequent, meetings, made their decisions and carried them out in concord. Kettledrums 6 were used by an officer (styled sabhāpāla in the epic) to 1 CE, the case of Ugrasena among the Yādavas. 2 Rig-veda I. 23. 8 ; cf. II. 23. 1. 3 Nava Mallai, Nava Lechchhai etc. supra p. 125. In Nysa the governing body consisted of 300 members. The number of "leading men of cities and provinces" entrusted by the Kshudrakas with power to conclude a treaty is not definitely stated. 4 Vayu. 96.35. 5 DPPN. I. 690. 16 Kindred Sayings. II. 178 (reference to keftledrum of the Dasārhas; cf. Mbh., I. 220. 11. Page #225 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 196 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA bring the people to the Mote Hall, called Santhāgāra in the Pali texts. The procedure is perhaps analogous to that followed in the Kuru-Pañchāla assembly mentioned in the Jaiminiya Upanishad Brāhmana, in a palaver in Sakra's heaven described in the Mahāgovinda Suttanta, or in formal gatherings of the Chapters of the Buddhist Order referred to in the Vinaya texts. Members "are seated in a specified order. After the president has laid the proposed business before the assembly, others speak upon it, and recorders take charge of the unanimous decision arrived at." I If there is any disputation (savāda) the matter is referred to a committee of arbitrators. It is possible that technical expressions like āsana-prajñāpaka (seat-betokener), ñatti (jñapti, motion), salākā-gāhāpaka (ballot-collector), gana-pūraka (whip), ubbūhikā (referendum) found in the Rules of the Order, were adopted from those in use in the assemblies of the free tribes or clans. 1 faim. Up. Br. III. 7. 65. Camb. Hist. Ind, 1. 176 ; cf., Carm. Lec. 1918. 180ff. Page #226 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. The Minor PRINCIPALITIES AND THE GREAT MONARCHIES. An important feature of Indian history throughout the ages is the presence of numerous petty Rājās holding their courts either in some forest region, mountain fastness, or desert tract away from the main currents of political life, or in a riparian or maritime district, each separated from his neighbour by a range of hills, a stream, a forest or an expanse of sandy waste. It is impossible to enumerate all such tiny states that flourished and decayed in the days of Bimbisāra. But a few deserve notice. Among these were Gandhāra ruled by Paushkarasārin or Pukkusāti, a remote predecessor of Āmbhi, Madra governed by the father of Khemā, a queen of Bimbisāra, Roruka (in Sauvīra or the Lower Indus Valley) under the domination of Rudrāyana,' Surasena ruled by Avantiputta (either a successor of, or identical with, Subāhu), and Anga under the sway of Dridhavarman and Brahmadatta. It is difficult to say anything about the ethnic affiliation of these rulers. The form of the names indicates that they were either Aryans themselves or had come under the influence of Aryan culture. But there were certain principalities which were definitely styled Nishāda in the epic, and Ālavaka, (forest-folk, of Yaksha-infested land) in the Pāli texts and were doubtless of non-Aryan origin. One of these, the realm of Alavaka, demands some notice as the relic of a past that was fast disappearing. This little state wag situated near the Ganges and was probably identical with the Chanchu territory visited by Yuan i 1 Divyāvadāna, p. 545. 2 Sutta Nipata, S.B.E., X, II. 29-30. Page #227 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 198 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Chwang (Hiuen Tsang). Cunningham and Smith identify it with the Ghāzipur region. The name is derived from the capital Álavia (Sanskrit Ațavi, cf. Āțavika) or Alabhiyā) which stood close to a large forest that doubtless suggested the particular nomenclature. In the Abhidhānappadipilcā Ālavi finds a place in a list of twenty famous cities : Bārāṇasī, Sāvatthi, Vesäli, Mithila, Alavi, Kosambhi, Ujjeni, Takkasilā, Champā, Sāgala, Sunignaragira, Rajagara, Kapilavatthu, Saketa, Indapatta, Ukkattha, Pāțaliputtaka, Jettuttara, Samkassa? and Kusinārā. The Chullavaggas mentions the Aggālave shrine at Ālavi which the Buddha honoured by his visits, as it lay on the way between the capitals of Kosala and Magadha. In the Uvāsaga-dasūo the king of Alabhiyā is named Jiyasattā (Jita-śatru, conqueror of enemies). But Jiyasattu seems to have been a common designation of kings like the epithet Devūnampiya of a later age. The name is given also to the rulers of Sāvatthi, Kampilla, Mithilā, Champā, Vāņiyagāma, Bārāṇasi and Polasapura, 1 Watters, Yuan Chwang, II, pp. 61, 340. 2 Sutta Nipāta ; The Book of the Kindred Sayings, Vol. I. p. 275: . 3 Uvāsaga-dasão II. p. 103 ; Appendix, pp. 51-53. 4 Cf. The Book of the Kindred Sayings, Vol. I. p. 160. The derivation of the name of the country from ațavi was suggested by Hoernle who also pointed out the reference in the Abhidhānappadipikā. Cf. also the references to forest peoples and kingdoms in the inscriptions of Asoka and Samudra Gupta. • 5 A town in the Kingdom of Kosala (Dialogues of the Buddha, I, 108). ** 6 Near Chitor (N. L. Dey). . 7. Sanskrit Sankāsya or Kapishikā which is identified by Cunningham with Sankisa on the Ikshumati river, in the Farukhabad District, U. P. (Cunn. AGI, new ed. pp. 422f, 706). 8 VI 17; cf. also Gradual Sayings, IV. 147; DPPN, I. 295. ... .. 9 Cf. Amitranāin hantā of the Ait. Br. The Essay on Guņádhya (189 mentions Hatthālavaka as the king of Alavi. 10 In Babylon, however, the style "favourite of the gods' is found as early as the age of Hammurabi (Camb. Anc. Hist. I. p 511 ; 1. C., April-June, 1946. p. 241). Page #228 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ FOUR GREAT KINGDOMS 199 who were all contemporaries of Mahāvīra.! Buddhist writers refer to other “Yakkha" principalities besides Ālavaka. 2 The most important factors in the political history of the period were, however, neither the republics nor the forest principalities but the four Great Kingdoms of Kosala, Vatsa, Avanti and Magadha.. In Kosala king Mahākosala had been succeeded by his son Pasenadi or Prasenajit. As already stated, the Kosalan monarchy had spread its tentacles over a vast area extending perhaps from the Gumti to the Little Gandak and from the Nepalese Tarāi to the Ganges, possibly even to the eastern part of the Kaimur range. It counted amongst its vassals several rājās, including, doubtless, the rulers of the Kāśis, the sākyas and the Kālāmas. Among its officials were two Mallas, Bandhula and his nephew Dirgha Chārāyaṇa,+ who must have helped their sovereign to secure influence in the tiny state beyond the Little Gandak from which they came. "Nine Mallakis" appear as allies of the rulers of Kāsi-Kosala in Jaina texts. Friendship with the “Visālikā Lichchhavi” and with Seniya Bimbisāra, 5 the master of Magadha, must have favoured peaceful penetration in the east and left the king free to organise his kingdom and dealing drastically with robbers and savages who menaced the road from 1 Cf. Hoernle, Uvāsaga-dasão, II, pp. 6, 64, 100, 103, 106, 118, 166. In the Arya Manjusri Mula Kalpa (ed. G. Šāstri p. 645), a king of Gauda is styled "Jitaśatru". It is absurd to suggest, as does Hoernle (p. 103 n), that Jiyasattū, Prasenajit and Chedaga were identical. Cf. Indian Culture, II, 806. 2 Cf. Sutta Nipāta, S.B.E., Vol. X. ii. p. 45... 3 For the identification of the Rajās, see Part I ante, 155f. 4 Majjhima N. IL-P-118. He is probably identical with the person of that name mentioned in the Kauțiliya Arthaśāstra and inscriptions (nitivijita Chārāyanah, Ep. Ind. III. 210) as a writer on polity, and by Vātsyāyana as an authority on Erotics. 5 Majjhima, N. II. p. 101. Page #229 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 200 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Sāketa to Sāvatthi, and interfered with the peaceful life of the monks. The character of such a man, one of the leading figures of the age, who had received his education at Taxila, and became a friend of the Buddha, deserves study and we have an admirable exposition by Mrs. Rhys Davids. "He is shown combining like so many of his class all the world over, a proneness to affairs of sex with the virtues and affection of good 'family man', indulgence at the table with an equally natural wish to keep in good physical form, a sense of honour and honesty, shown in his disgust at legal cheating, with a greed for acquiring wealth and war indemnities, and a fussiness over lost property, a magnanimity towards a conquered foe with a callousness over sacrificial slaughter and the punishment of criminals. Characteristic also are both his superstitious nervousness over the sinister significance of dreams due, in reality, to disordered appetites, and also his shrewd politic care to be on good terms with all religious orders, whether he had testimonials to their genuineness or not."2 The family life of the king had its bearing on affairs of the state. He married a Magadhan princess which must have cemented his friendship with Bimbisāra, who got a Kosalan wife in return. Another queen of Pasenadi (Prasenajit) was the famous Vāsabhakkhattiyā, daughter of Mahānāman, the Sākyan, by a slave girl. The issues of this marriage were å son, Viļūdabha (Viduratha), who rose to be his father's senāpati (general), and 1 Mahāvagga, SBE, XIII, pp. 220, 261. Among the marauders was the notorious Angulimāla. 1:2 Sage and king in Kosala-Samyutta, Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume, p. 134. 3 DPPN, II. 171 ; 857. 4 For the employment of princes as Senāpati, see Kautilya (Mysore edition, 1919, p. 34 ; cf. 346. Page #230 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ FOUR GREAT KINGDOMS 201 afterwards his successor,' and a daughter Vajiră or Vajiri Kumari? who became the queen of Ajātasatru, the successor of Bimbisāra on the throne of Magadha. The careers of the prince and the princess are bound up with memorable events viz., the war of the Kosalan king with Ajātaśatru, the loss of his throne as a result of his son's revolt, and the terrible vengeance that the latter wreaked on the Sākyas for sending the offspring of a slave woman to the Kosalan harem to become the mother of the prince. When the Magadhan war brought di king's arms he married Mallikā, daughter of the chief of garland-makers, who sweetened his days till her death, and made herself famous by her benefactions. Among these was a garden, the Mallikārama, which was set apart for religious discussions. She leaned towards the Buddha and his order, though her husband, with great insight, extended his patronage to Brāhmaṇas as well. Mallikā and Sumanā, the king's sister,5 remind one of Kāruvāki and Rājyaśrī, famous for their charity and interest in Buddhist teaching in the days of Asoka and Harsha respectively. The internal organisation of the kingdom of Kosala presents some interesting features. There was a body of ministers at the centre, but they had little control over the 1 Viļūdabha's name is generally omitted in Parāṇic manuscripts. The Purāpas, however, mention a king named Suratha. Pargiter points out (D. K. A., 12, n 63) that one manuscript of the Vishnu Purana gives the name Viduratha instead of Suratha. But that prince is represented as the great-grandson of Prasenajit. Similarly, the Purāņas represent Udāyin as the grandson of Ajātaśątra. These instances emphasize the need for a critical bandling of the Purānic lists. 2 Majjhima, II, p. 110. 3 DPPN. II. 455-7. A more famous place, Jetavana, is said to derive its name from a son of Prasenajit. 4 Dialogues of the Buddha, I. pp. 108, 288. For Pasenadi's benefactions to the Buddha and his followers see Gagga Jātaka, no. 155. For preparations for a great sacrifice, see Kindred Sayings, 1. 102. 5 DPPN. II. 168 ff, 172, 1245. Q. P. 90-26. Page #231 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 202 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA king's whims. Those specifically mentioned by tradition were Mrigadhara, Ugga, Siri-Vaddha, Kāla and Junha. The generals included the Crown Prince and some. Malla chiefs. Police duties on roads were performed by soldiers, Portions of the royal domain were granted to Brāhmaṇas like Pokkharasādi, with power over them as if they were kings. The weakness of the system soon became apparent, and led to the downfall of the king. Ministers, who were lavish in their charity, were preferred to those who approved of a more economical policy, and one of the favourites is said to have actually been allowed to rule over the kingdom for seven days. The large powers granted to Brāhmana donees must have promoted centrifugal tendencies, while the infidelity of some of the generals including the Crown Prince, and the cruel treatment by the latter, when he became king, of vassal clansmen contributed to the eventual downfall of the monarchy. . In the Vatsa kingdom which, probably at this time, extended along the southern frontier of Kosala, king Satānika Parantapa was succeeded by his son Udayana who rivals Sri Ramachandra, Nala and the Pandavas in being the hero . of many romantic, legends.2. The commentary on the Dhammapada gives the story of the way in which Vāsuladattā or Vāsavadattā; the daughter of Pradyota, king of Avanti, became his queen. It also mentions two other consorts of the Hoerale, Uvāsaga-dasão. II, Appendix, p. 56. DPPN, I, 332, 572, 960 ; 11. 1146. 2 For a detailed account of the legends, see "Essay on Gunādhya and the Brihatkathā," by Prof. Félix Lacote, translated by Rev. A. M. Tabard. See also Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 1920-21 ; Gane, "Pradyota; Udayana, and Śrenika-A Jaina Legend" ; J. Sen, "The Riddle of the Pradyota Dynasty" (I. H.Q., 1930, pp. 678-700); Nariman, Jackson and Ogden, Priyadaršikā, Ixii ff. ; Aiyangar Com. Vol., 352 ff ; Malalasekera, DPPN, 1. 379-80 ; 11. 316, 859, Page #232 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VATSA KINGDOM . i 203 Vatsa king, viz., Māgandiyā, daughter of a Kurú Brāhmaṇa, and Sāmāvati, the adopted child of the treasurer Ghosaka. The Milindapañho refers to a peasant woman named Gopāla-mātā who also became his wife.? The Svapna-Vasavadatta attributed to Bhāsa, and some other works. mention another queen named Padmāvati who is represented as sister to king Darsaka of Magadha. The Priyadarsikā speaks of Udayana's marriage with Āraṇyakā, the daughter of Dridhavarman, king of Anga. The Ratnāvali tells the story of the love of the king of Vasta and of Sāgarikā, an attendant of his chief queen Vāsavadattā. Stories about Udayana were widely current in Avanti in the time of Kālidāsa as we learn from the Meghaduta : "prāpy-Āvantim Udayana-kathākovida grāmavriddhān." The Jātakas throw : some sidelight on the character of this king. In the preface to the Matanga Jātaka it is related that in a fit' of drunken rage he had Pindola Bhāradvāja tortured by having a nest of ants tied to him. The Kathā-sarit-sāgara of Somadeva, a writer of the eleventh century A.D, contains a long account of Udayana's Digvijaya. The Priyadarśikā of Sri Harsha* speaks of the king's victory over the lord of Kalinga, and the restoration of his father-in-law Driąhavarman to the throne of Anga. It is difficult to disentangle the kernal of historical truth from the husk of popular fables. It seems that Udayana was a great king who really made some conquests, and contracted matri. monial alliances with the royal houses of Avanti, Anga -and Magadha. But his career was meteoric. He left no worthy successor. Bodhi, his son by the chief queen, preferred à quiet life amidst the sylvan surroundings of • 1 Cf. Anupamā, Divyāvadāna, 36. 2 IV. 8. 25; DPPN, 1. 379.80. 3 Tawney's Translation, Vol. 1, pp. 148 ff. 4 Act IV. Page #233 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 204 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Sumsumaragiri to the troubles of imperial adventure. The kingdom, harassed by various wars, was at last over. come by its ambitious neighbour on the south-west, viz., Avanti, and was governed by a prince of the royal line of Ujjain.1 42 The throne of Avanti was, in the days of Udayana, occupied by Chanda Pradyota Mahasena whose daughter, Vasavadatta, became the chief queen of the lord of the Vatsas. Regarding the character of Pradyota the Mahavagga says that he was cruel. The Puranas observe that he was "nayavarjita", i.e., destitute of good policy and add that he will indeed have the neighbouring kings subject to him-sa vai pranata-samantaḥ". He had at one time made the Vatsa king a captive and had a close relation on the throne of Mathura. The terror that he struck among his neighbours is apparent from a statement of the Majjhima Nikaya3 that Ajatasatru, son of Bimbisara, fortified Rajagriha because he was afraid of an invasion of his territories by Pradyota. He also waged war on Pushkarasarin, the king of Taxila.* 2 1 Cf: story of Maniprabha from Avaśyaka-Kathanakas. Jacobi, parisishtaparvan, 2nd ed. xii, Tawney, Katha-sarit-sagara, II. p. 484. According to the Avasyaka-Kathanaka IV, reproduced by Bhadreśvara in his Kahāvali, Maniprabha, great-grandson of Pradyota ruled at Kausambi, while his brother Avantisena exercised sway at Ujjain (Avanti). 2 S.B.E., XVII, p. 187. 3 III. 7. 4 Pradyota was unsuccessful in this war and was only saved from disaster by the outbreak of hostilities between Pushkarasarin and the Pandavas (Essay on Gunadhya, 176). Page #234 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION IV. MAGADHA CRESCENT-BIMBISARA. According to Jaina legend Pradyota went forth to attack Rajagriha even during the lifetime of Bimbisāra.1 The last-mentioned prince, the real founder of Magadhan imperial power in the historic period, was the son of a petty chief of South Bihar, whose very name seems to have been forgotten. Tradition tried to fill the lacuna possibly by an imaginary nomenclature. An early authority describes the family to which the prince belonged as the Haryanka-kula. As we have already seen, there is no reason to discard this evidence in favour of the later tradition of the Puranas. Young Bimbisara, who also bore the name or epithet of Seniya (Śreņika), is said to have been anointed king by his own father when he was only fifteen years old. The momentous event cannot fail to recall a solemn ceremony that took place some nine hundred years later when another king of Magadha clasped his favourite son in arms in the presence of the princes royal and ministers, in council assembled, and exclaimed, "Protect the entire land". JKOWĄ 30 The new ruler had a clear perception of the political situation of his time. The military power of the Vriji Confederation was growing in the North. Aggressive monarchies under ambitious rulers were following a policy of expansion from their bases in Śrāvasti, and Ujjain. The cruel and unscrupulous ruler of the ...M slang 1 He was foiled by the cunning of Prince Abhaya (Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 1920-21, 3; cf. DPPN. 1. 128). 2 Among the names given by various late writes we find the following: Bhatiyo (Bhattiya, Bodhisa), Mahāpadma, Hemajit,. Kshemajit, Kshetroja or Kshetrauja. 01 3 Supra p. 115ff, 4 Mahāvamsa (Geiger's trans.) p. 12. Page #235 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 206 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA last-mentioned city engaged in hostilities with Pushkarasārin of Taxila. The king of Taxila harassed by numerous enemies including the mysterious Pāņdavas who are known to have been in possession of Sākala (in the Punjab) in the days of Ptolemy, turned to the king of Magadha for help. Though ready to oblige his Gandhārian friend by receiving an embassy, Bimbisāra, who had to liquidate the long-standing feud with his eastern neighbour across the Chainpā, was in no mood to alienate Pradyota or any of the other military chiefs of the age. When the king of Avanti was suffering from jaundice he sent the physician Jivaka. He also pursued a policy of dynastic marriages like the Hapsburgs and Bourbons of Europe and contracted alliances with the ruling families of Madra," Kosala’ and Vaiśāli. These measures were of great importance. They not only appeased the most formidable militarists of the age, but eventually paved the way for the expansion of the kingdom both westward and northward. Bimbisāra's Kosalan wife brought a Kāsi village producing a revenue of a hundred thousand for bath and perfume money.3 The Vaišālian connection produced momentous consequences in the next reign. 1 Khemā, the princess of sākala (Madra) is said to have been the chief consort of Bimbisāra. Was she connected with the Pandavas who are found in Sākala as late as the age of Ptolemy? 2 According to the Dhammapada commentary (Harvard, 29, 60; 30, 225) Bimbisāra and Pasenadi were connected by marriage, each having married a sister of the other. : 3 Jataka, Nos. 239, 283, 492. According to the Thusa Jātaka (338) and the Mūshika Jātaka (373) the Kosalan princess was the mother of Ajātasatru. The preface to the Jātakas says, "At the time of his (Ajātasatru's) conception there arose in his mother, the daughter of the king of Kosala, a chronic longing to drink blood from the right knee of king Bimbisāra". In the Samyukta Nikāya (Book of Kindred Sayings, 110) Pasenadi of Kosala calls Ajātasatru bis nephew. In Vol. I. page 38 n of the Book of the Kindred Sayings, however, Maddā (Madrā) appears as the name of Ajātasatru's mother. A Tibetan writer, calls her Vāsavi (DPPN I. 34.). The Jaina writers represent Chellaņā, daughter of Chetaka of Vaiśāli as the mother of Kūņika-Ajātaśatru. The Nikāyas call Ajātasatru Vedehiputta Page #236 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIMBISĀRA 207 sources The shrewd policy of Bimbisara enabled him to devote his undivided attention to the struggle with Anga which he annexed after defeating Brahmadatta. The annexa tion of Anga by Bimbisara is proved by the evidence of the Mahāvagga and that of the Sonadanda Sutta of the Digha Nikaya in which it is stated that the revenues of the town of Champa have been bestowed by King Bimbisara on the Brahmaṇa Sonadanda. We learn from Jaina that Anga was governed as a separate province under the Magadhan Crown Prince with Champā as its capital. The king himself resided in Rajagriha-Girivraja.* Thus by war and policy Bimbisara added Anga and a part of Kasi to the Magadhan dominions, and launched Magadha to that career of conquest and aggrandisement which only ended when Aśoka sheathed his sword after the conquest of Kalinga. We learn from the Mahavagya that Bimbisāra’s dominions embraced 80,0005 townships. The victories of Bimbisara's reign were probably due in large measure to the vigour and efficiency of his administration. He exercised a rigid control over his (Vaidehiputra) i.e, son of the Videhan princess. This is taken to confirm the Jaina tradition because Vaiśāli was situated in Videha. Buddhaghosha, however, resolves "Vedehi" into Veda-Iha, Vedena Ihati or intellectual effort (BKS, Vol. I. 109n) and seems to suggest that the expression Vedehiputta simply means "Son of the accomplished Princess". We should moreover remember that the Kosalan monarch Para Aṭnāra, had the epithet Vaideha and the name Kausalya was applied to several Kasi princesses in the epic. The appellation Vaidehiputra, therefore, does not necessarily disprove the Kosalan parentage of the mother of Ajātaśatru. The matter is obscure and we must await fresh discoveries. 1 JASB., 1914, p. 321. 2 SBE., XVII, p. 1. 3 Hemchandra, the author the Pärisistha parvan VII. 22; cf. also the Bhagavati Sutra and the Nirayavali Sutra (ed. Warren, p. 3). King (rāyā) Kuniya, son of King Seniya by Chellanadevi, ruled in Champa-nagari in Bharatavarsha, which is in Jambudvipa. 4 Sutta Nipata, SBE., X, ii. 67. 5 Apparently a stock number. Page #237 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 208 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA High Officers, dismissing those who advised him badly and rewarding those whose advice he approved of. The result of the 'purge' was the emergence of the type of official represented by Vassakara and Sunitha. The High Officers (Rajabhata) were divided into several classes; viz., (1) Sabbatthaka (the officer in charge of general affairs), (2) Sena-nayaka Mahamattas (generals), and (8) Voharika Makāmattas (judges). 2 The Vinaya texts afford us a glimpse of the activities of these Mahāmātras, and the rough and ready justice meted out to criminals. Thus we have reference not only to imprisonment in jails (kūrā), but also to punishment by scourging (kasā), branding, beheading, tearing out the tongue, breaking ribs, etc. There seems to have been a fourth class of mahāmātras who were responsible like the village syndic and headmen (gramabhojaka or gramakuṭa) for the levy of the tithe on produce.R 1 # In provincial administration a considerable degree of autonomy was allowed. We hear not only of a sub-king at Champa, but of mandalika rājās corresponding perhaps to the earls and counts of mediaeval European polity. But Bimbisāra, like William the Conqueror, sought to check the centrifugal tendencies of the system by a great gemote of village headmen (gramikas) who are said to have assembled from the 80,000 townships of the realm. Measures were taken for the improvement of communications and the foundation of a new royal residence. Yuan Chwang (Hiuen Tsang) refers to Bimbisara's road and causeway, and says that when Kuśāgrapura I Chullavagga of the Vinaya pitaka, VII. 3. 5. See also Vinaya, I. 73; 74 f. 207, 240. -2 Another judicial officer mentioned in Pali texts, (Kindred Sayings, II. 172) is the Vinichchay-amachchs. 3 Camb. Hist. I. 199. 4 DPPN, II. 898. Page #238 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIMBINARA 209 (old Rājagļiha) was afflicted by fires, the king went to the cemetery and built a new city. Fa Hien, however, gives the credit for the foundation of New Rājagriha to Ajātaśatru. The patronage of Jivaka shows that medical arrangements were not neglected. In one respect Bimbisāra was unfortunate. Like Prasenajit he was possibly the victim of the malevolence of the Crown Prince whom he had appointed to the vice-royalty of Champā,' and had perhaps even admitted to royalty, following the precedent of his own father.” The ungrateful son, who is variously called Ajātasatru, Kūņika and Aśokachanda 3 is said to have put his father to death. The crime seriously affected the relations of Magadha with Kosala. Dr. Smith regards the story of the murder as 'the product of Odium theologicum,' and shows excessive scepticism in regard to the evidence of the Pāli canon and chronicles. But the general credibility of these works has been maintained by scholars like Rhys Davids and Geiger whose conclusions seem to be confirmed directly or indirectly by the testimony of independent classical and Jaina writers. 1 Bhagavati Sutra, Nirayāvali Sutra, Parisistaparvan IV. 1-9; VI 22. and the Kathākośa, p. 178. 2 Chullavagga, VII. 3. 5, Bimbisāra seems to have sought the assistance of other sons, too, in the work of government. One of these, Abhaya (son of Padmāvati of Ujjain or of Nandā) helped his father to foil the machinations of Pradyota. Other children, recorded by tradition were Vimala Kondañña by Ambapāli, Halla and Vehalla by Chellanā, Kala, Silavat, Jayasena and a girl Chundi by other wives. 3 Kathākosa. The Aupapātia sūtra styles him Devānupiya (1A, 1881. 108) a title possibly identical with Devānampiya of inscriptions of the third century B.C. 4 Cf. the Jaina attempt to whitewash Kūnika from the stain of intentional parricide (Jacobi referring to the Nirayāvali Sūtra in his Kalpa Sutra of Bhadravāhu, 1879, p. 5). Q. P. 90—27. Page #239 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ , SECTION V. MAGADHA MILITANT KŪNIKA-AJĀTAŚATRU. Whatever may have been the mode by which he acquired the throne, Kūņika-Ajātasatru proved to be an energetic ruler. The defences of the realm were strengthened by fortifications at Rajagriha and the foundation of a new stronghold at Pāțaligrama near the junction of the Son and the Ganges. Like Frederick II of Prussia he carried out the policy of a father with whom his relations were by no means cordial. His reign was the highwater mark of the power of the Haryanka dynasty. He not only humbled Kosala and permanently annexed Kāsi, or a part of it, but also absorbed the state of Vaiśāli. The traditional account of his duel with Kosala is given in Buddhist texts. It is said that when Ajātaśatru murdered Bimbisāra, his father, the queen Kosalā Devi died of love for him. Even after her death the Magadhan King continued to enjoy the revenues of the Kāsi village which had been given to the lady for bath money. But Prasenajit, the sovereign of Kosala, determined that no parricide should have a village which was his by right of inheritance. War followed, sometimes the Kosalan monarch got the best of it, and sometimes the rival king. On one occasion Prasenajit fled away in defeat to his capital Srāvasti ; on another occasion he took Ajātasatru prisoner but spared his life as he was his nephew. He confiscated the army of the captive prince but sought to appease him by the offer of the hands of his daughter Vajirā. The princess was dismissed with the 1: The Book of the Kindred Sayings, I. pp. 109.-110. The Samyutta Nikāya and the Haritamāta, Vaddhaki-Sukara, Kummā Sapinda, Tachchha Sükara and the Bhaddasāla Jātakas, Page #240 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ WAR WITH VAIŠALI 211 Kasi village in question, for her bath money. Her father could not enjoy the fruits of peace for more than three years. During his absence in a country town, Digha Chārāyaṇa, the Commander-in-Chief, raised prince Vidūdabha to the throne.2 The ex-king set out for Rajagriha, resolved to take Ajataśatru with him and capture Viduḍabha. But he died from exposure outside the gates of the Magadhan metropolis. The traditional account of the war with Vaiśāli is preserved in part by Jaina writers. King Seniya Bimbisara is said to have given his famous elephant Seyanaga (Sechanaka, the sprinkler), together with a large necklace of eighteen strings of jewels, to his younger sons Halla and Vehalla born from his wife Chellana, the daughter of Raja Cheṭaka of Vaisāli. His eldest son Kuniya (Ajātaśatru), after usurping his father's throne, on the instigation of his wife Paūmāvai (Padmavati), demanded from his younger brothers the return of both gifts. On the latter refusing to give them up and flying with them to their grandfather Cheṭaka in Vaiśāli, Kūņiya, having failed peacefully to obtain the extradition of the fugitives, commenced war with Cheṭaka. According to Buddhaghosha'a commentary the Sumangala-vilasini, the cause of the war was breach of trust on the part of the Lichchhavis in connection with a mine of precious gems or some fragrant 4 5 3 1 DPPN, II. 172. 2 Bhaddasala Jātaka. a 3 The appellation Padmavati is of so frequent occurrence in connection with Magadhan royalty that it seems to be an epithet rather than a personal name. The mother of prince Abhaya, a queen of Ajatasatru, and a sister of Darśaka, all have this name according to tradition. Cf. the name Padmini applied to the most commendable type of women. It is also not improbable that the name belongs to the domain of mythology, 4 Uvāsaga-dasão, II, Appendix, p. 7; cf. Tawney, Kathakośa, pp. 176 ff. 5 Burmese Edition, Part II, p. 99. See now B. C. Law, Buddhistic Studies p. 199; DPPN, II. 781. Page #241 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 212 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA material near a port on the Ganges over which a condominium was exercised by Ajātaśatru and his northern neighbours. . The preliminaries to the struggle between Magadha and Vaišāli are described in several Pāli texts. In the Mahāvagga it is related that Sunidha and Vassakāra, two ministers of Magadba, were building a fort at Pāțaligrāma in order to repel the Vajjis (Vrijis). The Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta says : "The Blessed One was once dwelling in Rāja gaha on the hill called the Valture's Peak. Now at that time Ajātasattu Vedehiputta, the king of Magadha, was desirous of attacking the Vajjians; and he said to himself, 'I will root out these Vajjians, mighty and -powerful though they be, I will destroy these Vajjians, I will bring these Vajjians to utter ruin”. "So he spake to the Brāhmaṇa Vassakāra, the prime minister of Magadha, and said, 'Come now, Brāhmaṇa, do you go to the Blessed One, and....tell him that Ajātasattu... has resolved, 'I will root out these Vajjians'. Vassakāra hearkened to the words of the king...” (and delivered to the Buddha the message even as the king had commanded). In the Nirayāvali Sūtra (Nirayāvaliyā-Sutta) it is related that when Kūņika (Ajātasatru) prepared to attack Chetaka of Vaišāli the latter called together the eighteen Ganarājas? of Kāsi and Kosala, together with the Lichchhavis and Mallakis, and asked them whether they would satisfy Kūņika's demands, or go to war with him. The good relations subsisting between Kosala and Vaišāli are referred to in the Majjhima Nikāya. There is thus no reason to doubt the authenticity of the Jaina statement Negarding the alliance between Kāsi-Kosala on the one 2 3 SBE, XI, pp. 1-5; XVII. 101 ; Gradual Sayings IV. 11. etc. Chiefs of republican clans. Vol. II, p. 101. Page #242 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ANTI-MAGADHAN CONFEDERACY 213 hand and Vaisali on the other. It seems that all the enemies of Ajataśatru including the rulers of Kasi-Kosala and Vaisali offered a combined resistance. The Kosalan war and the Vajjian war were probably not isolated events but parts of a common movement directed against the establishment of the hegemony of Magadha. The flames fused together into one big conflagration. 1 We are reminded of the tussle of the Samnites, Etruscans and Gauls with the rising power of Rome. In the war with Vaiśāli Kūniya-Ajataśatru is said to have made use of the Mahasilakanṭaga and ra(t)hamusala. The first seems to have been some engine of war of the nature of a catapult which threw big stones. The second was a chariot to which a mace was attached and which, running about, effected a great execution of men." The ra(t)hamusala may be compared to the tanks used in the great world wars. The war is said to have synchronised with the death of Gosala Mankhaliputta, the great teacher of the Ajivika sect. Sixteen years later at the time of Mahavira's death the anti-Magadhan confederacy is said to have been still in existence. We learn from the Kalpa Sutra that on the death of Mahavira the confederate kings mentioned in the Nirayavali Sutra instituted a festival to be held in memory of that event. The struggle between the Magadhan king and the powers arrayed against him thus seems to have been protracted for more than sixteen years. The 1 We are told that even Pradyota of Avanti made preparations to avenge the death of his friend Bimbisara (DPPN, I. 34). 2 Uvāsaga-dasão, Vol. II, Appendix, p. 60; Kathakośa, p. 179. 3 S.B.E., xxii, 266 (para. 128). As pointed out by Jacobi (The Kalpasūtra of Bhadravahu, 6 ff.), the traditional date of Mahavira's Nirvana is 470 years before Vikrama (58 B.C.) according to the Svetambaras, and 605 according to the Digambaras. It is suggested that Vikrama of the Digambaras is intended for Śali vahana (78 A.D.). A different tradition is, however, recorded by Hemchandra who says that 155 years after the liberation of Mahavira Chandragupta became king: Page #243 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 214 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Atthakatha gives an account of the Machiavellian tactics 1 adopted by Magadhan statesmen headed by Vassakara to sow the seeds of dissension among the Vaišalians and thus bring about their downfall.2 The absorption of Vaisali and a part at least of Kasi as a result of the Kosalan and Vajjian wars probably brought the aspiring ruler of Magadha face to face with the equally ambitious sovereign of Avanti. We have already referred to a statement of the Majjhima Nikaya that on one occasion evam cha śri Mahavira mukter varshaśate gate pañchapanchaśadadhike Chandragupto'bhavan nṛipaḥ. Sthaviravalicharita, Parisishṭaparva, VIII. 339. As Chandragupta's accession apparently took place between 326 and 312 B. C., the tradition recorded in Hemchandra's Parisishṭaparvan would place the date of Mahavira's death between 481 and 467 B.C. But early Buddhist texts (Dialogues, III, pp. 111, 203; Majjhima, II, 243) make the famous Jaina teacher predecease the Buddha, and the latest date assigned by reliable tradition to the Parinirvāna of the Sakya sage is 486 B.C. (Cantonese tradition, Smith, EHI, 4th ed.,. 49). According to Ceylonese writers, Sakyamuni entered into nirvana in the eighth year of Ajataśatru (Ajatasattuno vasse aṭṭhame muni nibbute, Mahāvamsa, Ch. II). This would place the accession of the son of Bimbisara in 493 B.C., if the Cantonese date for the nirvana of the Buddha is accepted. Jaina writers put the interval between Kūņika's accession and the death of their master at 16 and 'x' years. According to Buddhist chroniclers the interval would be less than 8 years as Mahavira predeceased the Buddha. The divergent data of the Jaina and Buddhist texts can only be reconciled if we assume that the former take as their starting point the date of the accession of Kuņika as the raja of Champā, while the Buddhists begin their calculation from a later date when Ajataśatru mounted the throne of Rajagriha. According to Buddhist tradition Vassakāra's visit to the Buddha in connection with the Vṛijian incident took place a year before the parinirvana. The destruction of the Vriji power took place some three years later on (DPPN, I. 33-34) i.e. c. 484 B.C. Too much reliance cannot, however, be placed on the traditional chronology. 1 Diplomacy (upalapana) and disunion (mithubheda), DPPN, II. 846; JRAS, 1931. Cf. Gradual Sayings, IV. 12. "The Vajjians cannot be overcome in battle, but only by cunning, by breaking up their alliance." 2 Cf. Modern Review, July, 1919, pp. 55-56. According to the Arya Manjuśri-Mula-Kalpa (Vol. I, ed. Ganapati Sastri, pp. 603 f) the dominions of Ajätasatru embraced, besides Magadha, Anga, Vārāṇasi (Benares), and Vaisali in the north. In the opinion of Dr. Jayaswal the Parkham statue is a contemporary portrait of king Ajataśatru. But this view has not met with general acceptance. Page #244 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AJĀTASATRU Ajataśatru was fortifying his capital because he was afraid of an invasion of his dominions by Pradyota. We do not know whether the attack was ever made. Ajataśatru does not appear to have succeeded in humbling Avanti. The conquest of that kingdom was reserved for his 215 successors. It was during the reign of Ajātaśatru that both Mahāvira and Gautama, the great teachers of Jainism and Buddhism respectively, are said to have entered nirvana. Shortly after the death of Gautama a Council is said to have been held by the monks of his Order for the recitation and collection of the Doctrine. Page #245 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION VI. AJATASATRU'S SUCCESSORS-THE TRANSFER OF CAPITAL AND THE FALL OF AVANTI Ajatasatru was succeeded according to the Puranas by Darsaka. Geiger considers the insertion of Darsaka after Ajataśatru to be an error, because the Pali Canon indubitably asserts that Udayi-bhadda was the son of Ajatasatru and probably also his successor. Jaina tradition recorded in the Kathakosa and the Parisishṭaparvan 2 also represents Udaya or Udayin as the son of Kūņika by his wife Padmavati, and his immediate successor. Though the existence of Darśaka, as a ruler of Magadha and a contemporary of Udayana, is rendered probable by references in the Svapna-Vasavadatta attributed to Bhasa, yet in the face of Buddhist and Jaina evidence it cannot be confidently asserted that he was the immediate successor of Ajataśatru on the imperial throne of Magadha. He may have been one of the mandalika rājās like the father of Visakha Pañchālīputra. His inclusion among Magadhan suzerains is possibly paralleled by that of Suddhodana in the main list of the Ikshvākuids. Certain writers identify him with Naga- Dāsaka who is represented by the Ceylonese Chronicles as the last king of Bimbisara's line. The Divyāvadāna, however, 5 1 P. 177. 2 P. 42. 3 Buddhist writers represent Vajira, daughter of Prasenajit, as the mother of Udayi. 4 e. g. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar. In this connection mention was made in earlier editions of a passage in the Si-yu-ki, (Beal's Trans, II.p. 102): "To the south-west of the old Sanghārama about 100 li is the Sanghārama of Ti-lo-shi-kia... It was built by the last descendant of Bimbisāra rāja." The name of the second Sanghārāma was sought to be connected with that of Darśaka who was here represented as the last descendant of Bimbisāra. But I now think that the connection of the monastery with the name of Darśaka is extremely doubtful. See Watters II. p. 106f. 5 P. 369. Page #246 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ UDAYIN 217 omits this name altogether from the list of the Bimbisārids. There was thus no unanimity even among Buddhists about the lineage and position of the king. Udāyin : Before his accession to the throne Udāyin or Udāyi-bhadda, the son of Ajātasatru, seems to have acted as his father's Viceroy at Champā.1 The Pariśishtaparvan informs us that he founded a new capital on the banks of the Ganges which came to be known as Pataliputra. This part of the Jaina tradition is confirmed by the testimony of the Gārgi Samhitās and the Vāyu Purāņa according to which Udāyin built the city of Kusumapura (Pāţaliputra) in the fourth year of his reign. The choice of the place was probably due to its position in the centre of the realm which now included North Bihār. Moreover, its situation at the confluence of two large rivers, the Ganges and the Son and close to other streams, was important from the commercial as well as the strategic point of view. In this connection it is interesting to note that the Kautilīya Arthaśāstra recommends a site at the confluence of rivers for the capital of a kingdom. The Pariśishtaparvan - refers to the king of Avanti as the enemy of Udāyin. This does not seem to be improbable in view of the fact that his father had to fortify his capital in expectation of an attack about to be made by Pradyota, ruler of that country. The fall of Anga and Vaiśāli and the discomfiture of Kosala had left Avanti the only important rival of Magadha. This last kirgdom had absorbed all the monarchies and republics of Eastern India. On the other hand, if the Kathā-sarit-sāgara and the Āvaśyaka kathānakas5 are to be believed, the kingdom 1 Jacobi, Pariśishțaparvan, p. 42. 2 V1.34 ; 175-180. 3 Kern, Brihat Samhitā, 36. 4 Pp. 45-46. Text VI, 191. Abhūdasahanonityam Avantiśo' py-Udāyinah 5 See Supra sec. III. p. 204. O. P. 90-28. Page #247 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 218 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of Kaušāmbi was at this time annexed to the realm of Pālaka of Avanti, the son of Pradyota and was governed by a prince belonging to his family. The two kingdoms, Magadha and Avanti, were brought face to face with each other. The war of nerves between the two for ascendancy probably began, as we have seen, in the reign of Ajātaśatru. It must have continued during the reign of Udāyin. The issue was finally decided in the time of Śišunāga, or of Nanda as Jaina tradition seems to suggest. Udāyin's successors in the Purānas are Nandivardhana and Mahānandin. According to the Jainas he left no heir. The Ceylonese chroniclers place after Udāyi the kings named Anuruddha, Munda and NāgaDāsaka, This tradition is partially confirmed by the 1 For a traditional account of the conflict between Udayin and the king of Avanti, see IHQ, 1929, 399. In the opinion of Dr. Jayaswal one of the famous "Patna Statues" which, at the time of the controversy, stood in the Bhārhut Gallery of the Indian Museum (Ind. Ant., 1919, pp. 29ff.), is a portrait of Udāyin. According to him the statue bears the following words: Bhage ACHO chhonidhise. He identifies ACHO with king Aja mentioned in the Bhāgavata list of saišunāga kings, and with Udāyin of the Matsya, Vāyu and Brahnānda lists. Dr. Jayaswal's reading and interpretation of the inscription have not, however, been accepted by several scholars including Dr. Barnett, Mr. Chanda and Dr. R. C. Majumdar. Dr. Smith, however, while unwilling to dogmatize, was of opinion that the statue was pre-Maurya. In the third edition of his A soka he considers Dr. Jayaswal's theory as probable. The characters of the short inscription on the statue are so difficult to read that it is well-nigh impossible to come to a final decision. For the present the problem must be regarded as 'not yet definitely solved. Cunningham described the statue as that of a Yaksha. According to him the figure bore the words "Yakhe Achusanigika," Mr. Chanda's reading is : Bha (?) ga Achachha nivika (the owner of inexhaustible capital, i. e., Vaisravana). See Indian Antiquary, March, 1919. Dr. Majumdar reads : Gate (Yakhe?) Lechchhai (vi) 40. 4. (Ind. Ant., 1919). 2 Ind. Ant., II. 362. 3 Parisishtaparvan, VI. 236. Page #248 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ŚIŚUNĀGA 219 Anguttara Nikāya which alludes to Muņda, 1 King of Pāțaliputra. The Divyāvadāna, too, mentions Munda but omits the names of Anuruddha and Nāga-Dāsaka. The Anguttara Nikāya by mentioning Pāķaliputra as the capital of Munda indirectly confirms the tradition regarding the transfer of the Magadhan metropolis from Rājagļiha to Kusumapura or Pāšaliputra before his reign. The Ceylonese aver that all the kings from Ajātaśatru to Nāga-Dāsaka were parricides. The citizens drove out the family in anger and raised an amātya (official) to the throne. Susunāga or Siśunāga, the new king: seems to have been acting as the Magadban Viceroy at Benares. The employment of amātyas as provincial governors or district officers need not cause surprise. The custom continued as late as the time of Gautamīputra Śātakarņi and Rudradāman I. The Purāṇas tell us that "placing his son at Benares he will repair to (the stronghold of) Girivraja”. He had a second royal residence at Vaiśāli which ultimately became his capital.4 "That monarch (Śiśunāga), not unmindful of his mother's origin, 5 re-established the city of Vesāli (Vaiśāli) and fixed in it the royal residence. From that 1 Ang. III. 57. "The venerable Nārada dwelt near Pāțaliputta in the Cock's Park. Now at that time Bhaddā, the dear and beloved queen of king Munda died." The king's grief was intense. The queen's body was placed in an oil vessel made of iron. A treasurer, Piyaka, is also mentioned. (Gradual Sayings, III. 48). 2 The violent death of Kūņika (Ajātasatru) is known to Jain tradition (Jacobi, Parisishțaparvan, 2nd ed. p. xiii). 3 The question of the relative merits of Purāņic and Ceylonese accounts of this king and his place in early Magadhan lists of kings have been discussed in Part. I. p. supra, 115 ff. 4 SBE, XI, p. xvi. If the Dvātrimsat puttalikā is to be believed Vesāli - (Vaiśāli) continued to be a secondary capital till the time of the Nandas. 5 Sisunāga, according to the Mahāvansaţika (Turnour's Mahāvamsa, xxxvii), was the son of a Lichchhavi rājā of Vaiśāli. He was conceived by a nagara-sobhini and brought up by an officer of state. Page #249 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 220 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA time Rājagaha (Rājagņiha-Girivraja) lost her rank of royal city which she never afterwards recovered". The most important achievement of Siśunāga seems to have been the destruction of the 'glory' of the Pradyota dynasty of Avanti. Pradyota, the first king of the line, had been succeeded, according to tradition, by his sons Gopāla and Pālaka after whom came Višākha and Āryaka, The name of Gopāla is omitted in the Purānas with the possible exception of the k Vishņu manuscript, where it finds mention instead of Pālaka. The accession of the latter synchronised, according to Jaina accounts, with the passing away of Mahāvīra.' He is reputed to have been a tyrant. Višākha-bhūpa (i.e., king Višākha, called Višākha-yūpa in most Purānic texts) may have been a son of Pālaka. The absence of any reference to this prince in non-Purāṇic accounts that have hitherto been available, may suggest that he ruled in some outlying district (Māhishmati), or was set aside in favour of Aryaka who occupied the throne, as a result of a popular outbreak, almost immediately after the fall of Pālaka. The Purāņas place after Aryaka or Ajaka a king named Nandivardhana, or Vartivardhana, and add that Siśunāga will destroy the prestige of the Pradyotas and be king. Dr. Jayaswal identifies Ajaka and Nandivardhana of the Avanti list with Aja-Udāyin and Nandivardhana of the Purāṇic list of Saišunāga kings. Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, on the other hand, says that Āryaka or Ajaka was the 1 Essay on Guņādhya, 115; Gopāla and Pālaka find mention in the BrihatKathā, Svapna-Vasavadatta, Pratjñā-Yaugandharāyana, Mrichchha katika etc. A prince named Kumārasena is known to the Harsha-charita. According to the Nepalese Brihatkathā (cf. Kathā-sarit-sāgara XIX. 57) Gopāla succeeds Mahasena (Pradyota) but abdicates in favour of his brother Palaka. Pālaka renounces the crown in favour of Avantivardhana, son of Gopāla. In the Avaśyaka Kathānakas (Parisishța parvan, 2nd ed, xii) Avantisena is mentioned as a grandson of Pālaka. 2 DKA., 19 n29. The Kalki Purāna (1. 3. 32f.) mentions a king named Visakha-yüpa who ruled at Māhiśmati near the southern frontier of ancient Avanti. Page #250 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KĀLĀSOKA-KĀKAVARŅA . 1 son of Gopāla, the elder brother of Pālaka. 1. 'Nandi. vardhana' and 'Vartivardhana' are apparently corruptions of Avantivardhana, the name of a son of Pālaka according to the Kathā-sarit-sāgara, 2 of Gopāla according to the Nepalese Brihat-kathā,3 or possibly identical with Avantisena, a grandson of Pālaka according to the Āvaśyaka Kathānakas.* The Pradyota dynasty must have been humbled by · Siśunāga in the time of king Avantivardhana. The Magadhan victory was doubtless facilitated by the revolution that placed Āryaka, a ruler about whose origin there is hardly any unanimity, on the throne of Ujjain. Siśunāga 5 was succeeded according to the Purāṇas by his son Kākavarna, and according to the Ceylonese chronicles by his son Kālāśoka. Jacobi, Geiger and Bhandarkar agree that Kālāśoka, “the black Aśoka" and Kākavarņa, "the crow-coloured” are one and the same 1 Carm. Lec. 1918, 64f. But J. Sen rightly points out (IHQ, 1930, 699) that in the Mrichchhakațika Aryaka is represented as a cow-boy who was raised to the throne after the overthrow of the tyrant Pālaka. 2 Tawney's translation, 11, 485. Cf. Camb. Hist. Ind., I, 311. 3 Essay on Gunādhya, 115. 4 Pariśishța parvan, 2nd ed. p. xii. TRADITIONAL GENEALOGY OF THE PRADYOTAS. . Puņika (Anantanemi) Chanda Pradyota Mahāsena Kumārasena Gopāla Pālaka Vasavadattā=U dayana Āryaka (?) Avantivardhana (2) (possibly Viśākha (?) son only a king of Māhishcow-boy) mati Avantisena Maņiprabha king of Ujjain King of Kaušāmbi 5 The Kāvya Mimārsā (3rd ed. p. 50) contains an interesting notice of this king and says that he prohibited the use of cerebrals in his harem. Page #251 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 222 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA individual. The conclusion accords with the evidence of the Aśokāvadāna which places Kākavarnin after Muņda, and does not mention Kālāsoka. The new king already served his apprenticeship in the art of government possibly at Benares and in the district of Gayā. The two most important events of his reign are the meeting of the second Buddhist Council at Vaiśāli, and the final transfer of the capital to Pāțaliputra. Bāņa in his Harsha-charita? gives a curious legend .concerning his death. It is stated that Kākavarņa Saišunāgi had a dagger thrust into his throat in the vicinity of his city. The story about the tragic fate of this king is, as we shall see later on, confirmed by Greek evidence. The traditional successors of Kālāsoka were his ten sons who are supposed to have ruled simultaneously. Their names according to the Mahābodhivamsa were Bhadrasena, Korandavarna, Mangura, Sarvañjaha, Jālika, Ubhaka, Sanjaya, Koravya, Nandivardhana and Pañchamaka.3 Only one of these names viz, that of Nandivardhana occurs in the Purānic lists. This prince attracted some attention in recent years. His name was read on a Patna statues and in the famous Hāthigumphā inscription of Khāravela. He was sought to be identified with Nandarāja of Khāravela’s record on the strength of Kshemendra's reference to Pūrvananda (Nanda the Elder) who, 1 Divyāvadāna, 369; Geiger, Mahāvamsa, p. xli. 2 K. P. Parab, 4th ed. 1918. p. 199. 3 The Divyāvadāna (p. 369) gives a different list of the successors of Kākavarnin: Sahālin, Tulakuchi, Mahāmandala and Prasenajit. After Prasenajit the crown went to Nanda. 4 Bhandarkar, Carm. Lec. 1918, 83. 5 Dr. Jayaswal opined that the headless "Patna statue" which stood, at the time when he wrote, in the Bhārhut Gallery of the Indian Museum, was a portrait of this king. According to him the inscription on the statue runs as follows: Sapa (or Sava) khate Vata Namdi. Page #252 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 223 NANDIVARDHANA we are told, should be distinguished from the Navanandah or New (Later) Nandas, and taken to answer to a ruler of the group represented by Nandivardhana and Mahanandin of the Puranas.1 In the works of Kshemendra and Somadeva, however, Pūravananda (singular) is distinguished, not from the Navanandah, but from Yogananda (Pseudo-Nanda ), the re-animated corpse of He regarded Vața Namdi as an abbreviation of Vartivardhana (the name of Nandivardhana in the Vayu list) and Nandivardhana. Mr. R. D. Banerji in the June number of the Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1919, said that there cannot be two opinions about the reading Vata Namdi. Mr. Chanda, however, regarded the statue in question as an image of a Yaksha and read the inscription which it bore as follows: Yakha sa (?) roața namdi. Dr. Majumdar said that the inscription might be read as follows: Yakhe sam vajināṁ 70. a He placed the inscription in the second century A. D., and supported the Yaksha theory propounded by Cunningham and upheld by Mr. Chanda. He did not agree with those scholars who concluded that the statue was a portrait of Śaisunaga sovereign simply because there were some letters in the inscription un der discussion which might be construed as a name of a Śaisunaga king. Referring to Dr. Jayaswal's suggestion that the form Vața Namdi was composed of two variant proper names (Vartivardhana and Naṁdivardhana)-he said that Chandragupta II was also known as Devagupta, and Vigrahapala had a second name Śūraṛāla; but who had ever heard of compound names like Chandra-Deva, or Deva-Chandra, and Śūra-Vigraha or Vigraha-Śūra? (Ind. Ant., 1919). Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasad Sastri took Vața Namdi to mean Vratya Namdi and said that the statue had most of the articles of dress as given by Katyayana to the Vratya Kshatriyas. In the Puranas the Siśunaga kings are mentioned as Kshattrabandhus, i. e., Vratya Kshatriyas. The Mahamahopadhyaya thus inclined to the view of Dr Jayaswal that the statue in question. was a portrait of a Saiśunaga king (JBORS., December, 1919). Mr. Ordhendu Coomar Gangoly, on the other hand, regarded the statue as a Yaksha image, and drew our attention to the catalogue of Yakshas in the Mahamayuri and the passage "Nandi cha Vardhanas chaiva nagare Nandivardhane" (Modern Review, October, 1919). Dr. Barnett was also not satisfied that the four syllables which might be read as Vata Namdi mentioned the name. of a Saiśunaga king. Dr. Smith, however, in the third edition of his Asoka admitted the possibility of Dr. Jayaswal's contention. We regard the problem as still unsolved. The data at our disposal are too scanty to warrant the conclusion that the inscription on the "Patna statue" mentions a Śaisunaga king. The script seems to be late. 1 Jayaswal (supported by R. D. Banerji); The Oxford History of India, Additions and Corrections; JBORS, 1918, 91, Page #253 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 224 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA king Nanda. The Purānic as well as the Ceylonese, chroniclers know of the existence of only one Nanda line and agree with Jaina tradition in taking nava to moan nine (and not new ).2 They represent Nandivardhana as a king of the Saišunāga line-a dynasty which is sharply distinguished from the Nandas. The Purūnas contain nothing to show that Nandivardhana had anything to do with Kalinga.3 On the contrary, we are distinctly told that when the saišunāgas and their predecessors were reigning in Magadha 32 kings ruled in Kalinga synchronously. "It is not Nandivardhana but Mahāpadma Nanda who is said to have brought ‘all under his sole sway' and 'uprooted all Kshatriyas.' So we should identify Naņdarāja of the. Hāthigumphā inscription who held possession of Kalinga either with the all-conquering Mahāpadma Nanda or one of his sons." 1 Cf. Kathā-särit-sāgara, Durgāprasād and Parab's edition, p. 10. 2 Cf. Jacobi, Parisishtaparva, VIII. 3 ; App. p. 2 : 'Namdavamse Navamo Namdarāyā. 3 Chanda, Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 1, p. 11. . Page #254 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION VII. CHRONOLOGY OF THE HARYANKASAISUNAGA KINGS. There is considerable disagreement between the Puranas and the Ceylonese chronicles regarding the chronology of the kings of the Bimbisarian (or Haryanka) and Saisunaga dynasties. Even Smith and Pargiter are not disposed to accept all the dates given in the Puranas.1 According to Ceylonese tradition Bimbisara ruled for fifty-two years, Ajatasatru for 32 years, Udayi for 16 years, Anuruddha and Munda for 8 years, Naga-Dāsaka for 24 years, Śiśunaga for 18 years, Kalasoka for 28 years and Kālāśoka's sons for 22 years. Gautama Buddha died in the eighth year of Ajatasatru,2 i.e., in the (52+8=) 60th year (ie., a little more than 59 years) after the accession of Bimbisāra. The event happened in 544 B.C. according to a Ceylonese reckoning, and in 486 B.C. according to a Cantonese tradition of 489 A.D., based on a 'dotted record' brought to China by Samgha-bhadra. The date 544 B.C. can, however, hardly be reconciled with a gathā transmitted in the Ceylonese chronicles which states that Priyadarsana (Aśoka Maurya) was consecrated 218 years after the Buddha had passed into nirvāņa. 3 This fact and certain Chinese and Chola 1 Pargiter (AIHT pp. 286-7) reads the Matsya Purana as assigning the Śiśunāgas 163 years, and further reduces the number to 145 allowing an average of about 14 years for each reign. He places the beginning of the Śiśunāgas (among whom he includes the Bimbisarids) in B.C. 567 and rejects (287n) the traditional figures for the reigns of Bimbisara and his son. Cf. also Bhandarkar, Carm. Lec, 1918, p. 68. 'A period of 363 years for ten consecutive reigns' ie, 36. 3-years for each 'is quite preposterous.' 2 Mahavamsa, Ch, 2 (p. 12 of translation). 3 Dve satani cha vassāni aṭṭhārasa vassāni cha Sambuddhe parinibbute abhisitto Piyadassano. O. P. 90-29. Ibid p. xxiii. (Cf. Dip. 6. 1). Page #255 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 226 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA synchronisms led Geiger and a few other scholars to think that the era of 544 B.C. is a comparatively modern fabrication and that the true date of the death of the Buddha is 483 B.C.—a result closely approaching that to which the Cantonese tradition leads us. The Chola synchronisms referred to by these scholars are, however, not free from difficulties, and it has been pointed out by Geiger himself that the account in Chinese annals of an embassy which Mahānāman, king of Ceylon, sent to the emperor of China in 428 A.D., does not speak in favour of his revised Chronology. The traditional date of Menander which is 500 A.B., works out more satisfactorily with a Nirvāna era of 544 B.C., than with an era of 483 or 486 B.C. In regard to the Maurya period, however, calculations based on the traditional Ceylonese reckoning will place the accession of Chandragupta Maurya in 544—162 = 382 B.C., and the coronation of Asoka Maurya in 544—218= 326 B.C. These results are at variance with the evidence of Greek writers and the testimony of the inscriptions of Asoka himself. Classical writers represent Chandragupta as a contemporary of Alexander (326 B.C.) and of Seleukos (312 B.C.). Ašoka in his thirteenth Rock Edict speaks of certain Hellenistic kings as alive. As one at least of these rulers died not later than 258 B.C. (250 B.C. according to some authorities) and as rescripts on morality began to be written when Aśoka was anointed twelve years, his consecration could not have taken place after 269 B.C. (261 B.C. according to some). The date cannot be pushed back beyond 277 B.C., because his grandfather Chandragupta must have ascended the throne after 326 B.C., as he met Alexander in that year as an ordinary individual and died after a reign of 24 1 Ibid, Geiger, trans. p. xxviii; JRAS, 1909, pp. 1-34. Page #256 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EARLY MAGADHAN CHRONOLÓGY 227 years, and the next king Bindusāra, the father and immediate predecessor of Asoka, ruled for at least 25 years. 326 B.C.—49 = 277 B.C. Aśokas coronation, therefore, took place between 277 and 261 B.C., and as the event happened, according to the old Gatha recorded by the Ceylonese chroniclers, 218 years after the parinirvāṇa of the Buddha, the date of the Great Decease should be placed between 495 and 479 B.C. The result accords not with the Ceylonese date 544 B.C., but with the Cantonese date 486 B.C., and Geiger's date 483 B.C., for the parinirvāṇa. The Chinese account of embassies which King Meghavarņa sent to Samudra Gupta, and King Kia-Che (Kassapa) sent to China in 527 A.D., also speaks in favour of the date 486 B.C. or 483 B.C., for the Great Decease. Geiger's date, however, is not explicitly recognised by tradition. The same remark applies to the date (Tuesday, 1 April, 478 B.C.) preferred by L. D. Swami Kannu Pillai. The Cantonese date may, therefore, be accepted as a working hypothesis for the determination of the chronology of the early dynasties of Magadha. The date of Bimbisāra's accession, according to this reckoning, would fall in or about 486 + 59 = 545 B.C., which is very near to the starting point of the traditional Ceylonese Nirvāṇa era of 544 B.C. "The current name of an era is no proof of origins.' It is not altogether improbable that the Buddhist reckoning of Ceylon originally started from the coronation of Bimbisāra and was later on confounded with the era of the Great Decease. In the time of Bimbisāra Gandhāra was an independent kingdom ruled by a king named Paushkarasārin (Pukkusāti). By B.G.-519 at the latest it had lost its independence and had become subject to Persia, as we 1 An Indian Ephemeris, 1, Pt. 1, 1922, pp. 471 ff. Page #257 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 228 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA learn from the inscriptions of Darius. It is thus clear that Paushkarasārin and his contemporary Bimbisāra lived before B.C. 519. This accords with the chronology which places his accession and coronation in or about B.C. 545-44. SUGGESTED CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE (APPROXIMATE DATES) Year B.C. Event 565 Birth of the Buddha. 560 Birth of Bimbisāra. c. 553 Accession of Cyrus the Achaemenid. 545-44 Accession of Bimbisāra. Epoch of a Ceylonese Era. 536 The Great Renunciation (of the Buddha). 530 Enlightenment. 530-29 The Buddha's visit to Bimbisāra. 527 Traditional Epoch of the era of Mahāvira's Nirvana 522 Accession of Darius I. 493 Accession of Ajātasatru. 486 Cantonese date of the Parinirvāṇa of the Buddha. The death of Darius I. Council of Rājagņiha. 461 Accession of Udãyibhadraka.. Foundation of Pāțaliputra (Kusumapura). 445 Aniruddha (Anuruddha) and Munda. 437 Nāga-Dāsaka (omitted in the Divyāvada na and Jaina texts). 413 Siśunāga. 395 Kālāsoka (Kākavarņa). 386 Council of Vaisāli. 367 Sons of Kālāsoka, and de facto rule of Mahāpadma Nanda. 345 End of the Saisunāga dynasty. 457 Page #258 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Section. VIII. THE. NANDAS. The Saišunāga dynasty was supplanted by the line of Nanda. With the new family we reach a stage of East Indian history when the indubitable evidence of inscriptions becomes available to supplement the information gleaned from traditional literary sources. The famous Hāthigumplā record of Khāravela, of the second or first century B.C., twice mentions Namda-rāja in connection with Kalinga. Panchame cedāni vase Naidarāja-ti-vasa sata-oghāțitañ Tänasuliya-vātā panādi(m) nagaram pavesa (yati)....... "And then, in the fifth year, (Khāravela) caused the canal opened out by King Nanda three hundred years ? 1 According to Jaina tradition Nanda was proclaimed king after Udāyin's assassination, and sixty years after the Nirvana of Varddhamāna (Parisishta P. VI. 243). 2 This interpretation of 'tivasasata' accords substantially with the Purānic tradition, regarding the interval between the Nandas and the dynasty to which śātakarni, the contemporary of Khāravela in his second regnal year, belonged (137 years for the Mauryas + 112 for the Sungas' + 45 for the Kāņvas=294). If the expression is taken to mean 103 years ( as is suggested by some scholars ), Khāravela's accession must be placed 03 - 5=98 years after Nandarāja. His elevation to the position of Yuvarāja took place 9 years before that date i.e., 98-9=89 years after Nanda i.e., not later than 324 - 89 -235 B.C. Khāravela's senior partner in the royal office was on the throne at that time and he may have had his predecessor or predecessors. But we learn from Aśoka's inscriptions that Kalinga was actually governed at that time by a Maurya Kumāra, (and not by a Kalinga-adhipati or chakravarti) under the suzerainty of Asoka himself. Therefore, tivasasata should be understood to mean 300 and not 103 years. S. Konow (Acta Orientalia, 1.22-26) takes the figure to express not the interval between Nanda and Khāravela, but a date during the reign of Nanda which was reckoned from some pre-existing era. But the use of any such era in the particular country and epoch is not proved." Khāra vela himself, like Asoka, uses regnal years. The agreement with Purāņic traditio n speaks in favour of the view adopted in these pages. Page #259 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 230 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT İNDİA back to be brought into the capital from the Tanasuliya road." Again, in connection with the twelfth year of Khāravela's reign, we have a reference to Nadarāja-jita Kalinga-jana-sam (n) i (ve) saṁ (or, according to another reading, Namda-rājanītań Kalimga Jina saṁnivesain), i.e., a station or encampment, or a Jaina shrine, in Kalinga acquired by king Nanda. The epigraphs, though valuable as early notices of a line known mainly from literature, are not contemporaneous. For contemporary reports we must turn to Greek writers. There is an interesting reference, in the Cyropaedia of Xenophon, who died some time after 355 B.C., to "the Indian king, a very wealthy man". This cannot fail to remind one of the Nandas whom the unanimous testimony of Sanskrit, Tamil, Ceylonese and Chinese writers describe as the possessors of enormous wealth. Clearer information about the ruling family of Magadha 1 Barua, Hāthigumpha Inscription of Khāravela (IHQ. XIV. 1938 pp. 259ff). Sanniveśa is explained in the dictionaries as an assemblage, station, seat, open space near a town etc. (Monier Williams). A commentator takes it to mean 'a halting place of caravans or processions'. Kundagrāma was a sanniveśa in Videha (SBE, XXII, Jaina Sūtras, pt. I. Intro.). The reference in the inscription to the conquest of a place, or removal of a sacred object from Kalinga by Nandarāja disposes of the view that he was a local chief (Camb. Hist. 538). 2 Dr. Barua (op. cit. p. 276n) objects to a Nanda conquest (or domination) of any part of Kalinga on the ground that the province "had remained unconquered (avijita) till the 7th year of Asoka's reign". But the claim of the Maurya secretariat is on a par with Jahāngir's boast that "not one of the Sultans of lofty dignity has obtained the victory over it'i.e., Kangra, Rogers, Tücuk, II. 184). Kalingas appear in the Purāṇas among the contemporaries of the Saišunāgas who were overpowered by Nanda, the Sarva-Kshatrāntaka. 3 III. ii. 25 (trans. by Walter Miller). 4 Cf. the names Mabāpadmapati and Dhana Nanda. The Mudrārākshasa refers to the Nandas as 'navanavatiśatadravyakoțiśvarāḥ' (Act III, verse 27), and 'Artharuchi' (Act. I.) A passage of the Kathā-sarit-sāgara says that King Nanda possessed 990 millions of gold pieces. Tawney's Translation Vol., 1, p. 21. Dr. Aiyangar points out that a Tamil poem contains an interesting statement regarding the wealth of the Nandas "which having accumulated first in Pätali, Page #260 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAHAPADMA 231 (c. 326 B.C.) is supplied by the contemporaries of Alexander whose writings form the bases of the accounts of Curtius, Diodoros and Plutarch. Unfortunately, the classical writers do not mention the family name 'Nanda'. The reading “Nandrum' in the place of 'Alexandrum' in the account of Justin is absolutely unjustifiable.. For a detailed account of the dynasty we have to rely on Indian tradition. Indian writers seem to be mainly interested in the Nanda age partly as marking an epoch in a social upsurge and the evolution of imperial unity, and partly as accessory to the life-sketch of Jaina patriarchs and to the Chandragupta-kathā of which we have fragments in the Milindapañho, the Mahāvaṁsa, the Purāṇic chronicles, the Brihat-Kathā and its later versions, the Mudrā-rākshasa and the Arthaśāstra. The first Nanda was Mahāpadma or Mahāpadmapati? according to the Purānas and Ugrasena according to the Mahābodhivaṁsa. The Purāṇas describe him as a son of the last Kshatrabandhu (so-called Kshatriya) king of the preceding line by a šūdrā mother. (Sūdrā-garbh-odbhava). The Jaina Parisishțaparvan, on the hid itself in the floods of the Ganges." Beginnings of South Indian History, p. 89. According to Ceylonese tradition "The youngest brother (among the sons of Ugrasena) was called Dhana Nanda, from his being addicted to hoarding treasure. ...He collected riches to the amount of eighty koțis-in a rock in the bed of the river (Ganges) having caused a great excavation to be made, he buried the treasure there... Levying taxes among other articles even on skins, gums, trees, and stones he amassed further treasures which he disposed of similarly." (Turnour, Mahā. vamsa, p. xxxix). Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, refers to "the five treasures of King Nanda's seven precious substances." i 'Sovereign of an infinite host' or 'of immense wealth' according to the commentator (Wilson, Vishnu P. Vol. IX, 184n). A city on the Ganges, styled Mahāpadmapura, is mentioned in Mbh. XII. 353. 1. 2 P. 46. Text VI, 231-32 Page #261 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 232 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA other hand, represents Nanda as the son of a courtesan by'a barber. The Jaina tradition is strikingly confirmed by the classical account of the pedigree of Alexander's. Magadhan contemporary who was the predecessor of Chandragupta Maurya. Referring to this prince (Agrammes) Curtius says,1 "His father was in fact a barber, scarcely staving off hunger by his daily earnings, but who, from his being not uncomely in person, had gained the affections of the queen, and was by her influence advanced to too, near a place in the confidence of the reigning monarch. Afterwards, however, he treacherously murdered his sovereign, and then, under the pretence of acting as guardian to the royal children, usurped the supreme authority, and having put the young princes to death, begot the present king.” The barber ancestry of Agrammes, recorded by the classical writers is quite in keeping with the Jaina story of the extraction of the Nanda line. That the Magadhan contemporary of Alexander and of young Chandragupta was a Nanda king is not disputed. The real difficulty is about his identity. He could not possibly have been the first Nanda himself. The words used in reference to Agrammes, "the present king," i.e., Alexander's contemporary in Curtius' narrative, make this point clear. He (Agrammes) was born in purple to one who had already Susurped supreme authority” having secured the affections of a queen. That description is scarcely applicable to the .founder of the dynasty who was, according to Jaina testimony, the son of an ordinary courtesan (ganikā) by a barber apparently without any pretensions to supreme power in the state. The murdered sovereign seems to have been KālāśokaKākavarṇa who had a tragic end as we learn from the 1 McCrindle, The Invasion of India by Alexander, P. 222, Page #262 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAHĀPADMA 233 Harsha-charita. Kākavarņa Śaisunāgi, says Bāņa, had a. dagger thrust into his throat in the vicinity of his city. The young princes referred to by Curtius were evidently the sons of Kālāśoka-Kākavarņa. The Greek account of the rise of the family of Agrammes fits in well with the Ceylonese account of the end of the Saišunāga line and the rise of the Nandas, but not with the Purāṇic story which represents the first Nanda as a son of the last Saišunāga by a Śūdra woman, and makes no mention of the young princes. The name Agrammes is probably a distorted form of the Sanskrit Augrasainya, "son of Ugrasena”. Ugrasena is, as we have seen, the name of the first Nanda according to the Mahābodhivamsa. His. son may aptly be termed Augrasainya which the Greeks corrupted into Agrammes and later on into Xandrames. The Purānas call Mahāpadma, the first Nanda king, the destroyer of all the Kshatriyas (sarva-Kshatrāntaka) and the sole monarch (ekarāt) of the earth which was under his undisputed sway, which terms imply that he finally overthrow all the dynasties which ruled contemporaneously with the Saišunāgas, viz., the Ikshvākus, Pañchālas, Kāśis, Haihayas, Kalingas, Asmakas, Kurus, 1 "Augrasainya" as a royal patronymic is met with in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa, viii. 21. 2 The identification of Xandrames taken to answer to Sanskrit Chandramas), the Magadhan contemporary of Alexander, with Chandragupta, proposed by certain writers, is clearly untenable. Plutarch (Life of Alexander, Ch. 62) clearly distinguishes between the two, and his account receives confirmation from that of Justin (Watson's tr., p. 142). Xandrames or Agrammes was the son of a usurper born after his father had become king of the Prasii, while Chandragupta was himself the founder of a new sovereignty, the first king of his line. The father of Xandrames was a barber who could claim no royal ancestry. On the other hand, Brāhmaṇical and Buddhist writers are unanimous in representing Chandragupta as a descendant of a race of rulers, though they differ in regard to the identity of the family and its claim to be regarded as of pure Kshatriya stock. Jaina evidence clearly suggests that the barber usurper is identical with the Nāpitakumāra or Napitasū (Pariśishța, VI. 231 and 244) who founded the Nanda lipe, Q. P. 90—30. Page #263 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 234 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA • Maithilas, Śūrasenas, Vitihotras, etc. The Jainas, too, allude to the wide dominion of Nanda.? The Indian account of the unification of a considerable portion of India under Nanda's sceptre is corroborated by several classical writers who speak of the most powerful peoples who dwelt beyond the 'extensive deserts' (apparently of Rājputāna) and the Ganges in the time of Alexander, viz., the Prasii (Prāchyas) and the Gangaridae ( people of the lower Ganges Valley ) as being under one sove. reign who had his capital at Palibothra (Pătaliputra). 1 Conquest of some of the territories occupied by the tribes and clans named here by former kings of Magadha does not necessarily mean the total extinction of the old ruling families, but merely a deprivation of their glory (yasah) and an extension of the suzerainty of the conqueror. Extirpation cannot be meant unless-it is definitely asserted as in the case of Mahāpadma Nanda's conquest, or that of Samudra Gupta in Āryāvarta. It may also sometimes be implied by the appointment of a prince of the conquering family as viceroy. Allowance, however, must be made for a good deal of exaggeration. Even the Vajjians were not literally 'rooted out' by Ajātaśatru, as the most important of the constituent clans, viz., the Lichchhavis, survive till the Gupta Age. A branch of the Iksh vākus may have been driven southwards as they are found in the third or fourth century A.D. in the lower valley of the Krishņā. The Kāśis overthrown by Nanda may have been the descendants or successors of the prince whom Siśunāga had placed in Benares. The Haihayas occupied a part of the Narmadā valley. Conquest of a part of Kalinga by Nanda is suggested by the Hāthigumphā record, that of Aśmaka and part of the Godāvari valley by the city called 'Nau Nand Dehra' (Nander, Macauliffe, Sikh Religion, V. p. 236). Vitihotra sovereignty had terminated before the rise of the Pradyotas of Avanti. But if the Purānic statement (DKA, 23, 69) "Contemporaneously with the aforesaid Kings (Śaisunāgas etc.) there will be............ Vitihotras" has any value, the Saiśunāgas may have paved the way for a restoration of some scion of the old line in Avanti. According to the evidence of the Purānas (Vāyu, 94. 51-52) the Vitihotras were one of the five ganas of the Haihayas, and the survival of the latter is well attested by epigraphic evidence. The Maithilas apparently occupied a small district to the north of the Vajjian dominions annexed by Ajātaśatru. The Pañchālas, Kurus, and the Śūrasenas occupied the Gangetic Doāb and Mathurā and the control of their territories by the King of Magadha c. 326 B.C. accords with Greek evidence. 2 Samudravasanesebhya āsmudramapiśriyah upāya hastairākrishya tatah so' krita Nandasāt Pariśishta Parvan, VII. 81. 3 Inv. Alex, 221, 281 ; Megasthenes and Arrian by McCrindle (1926) pp. 67, 141, 161. Page #264 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PRE-EMINENCE OF THE NANDAS 235 Pliny informs us that the Prasii surpass in power and glory every other people in all India, their capital being Palibothra (Pāțaliputra), after which some call the people itself Palibothri, nay, even the whole tract of the Ganges. The author is referring probably to conditions in the time of the Mauryas, and not in that of the Nandas. But the greatness that the Prasii (i.e, the Magadhans and other eastern peoples) attained in the Mavrya Age would hardly have been possible but for the achievements of their predecessors of which we have a record by the historians of Alexander. The inclusion of the Iks hvāku territory of Kosala within. Nanda’s dominions seems to be implied by a passage of the Kathā-saritsāgara 2 which refers to the camp of king. Nanda in Ayodhyā. Several Mysore inscriptions state that Kuntala, a province which included the southern part of the Bombay Presidency and the north of Mysore, was ruled by the Nandas. But these are of comparatively modern date, the twelfth century, and too much cannot be built upon their statements. More important is the evidence of the Hāthigumphā inscription which mentions the constructive activity' of Nandarāja in Kalinga and his conquest (or removal) of some place (or sacred object) in that country. In view of Nanda's control over parts of Kalinga, the conquest of Aśmaka and other regions lying further south does not seem to be altogether improbable. The existence on the Godavari of a city called "Naú Nand Dehra” (Nander)* also suggests that the Nanda dominions may have embraced a considerable portion of the Deccan, 1 Megasthenes and Arrian (1926) p. 141. 2 Tawney's Translation, p. 21. 3 Rice, Mysore, and Coorg from the Inscriptions, p. 3 ; Fleet, Dynasties of the Kanarese Distriots, 284. n. 2. 4. Macauliffe's Sikh Religion, V, p. 236. .. . Page #265 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 236 POLITIČAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Matsya Purāna assigns 88 years to the reign of the first Nanda, but 88 (Ashțāśīti) is probably a mistake for 28 (Ashtūvimšati), as the Vayu assigns only 28 years. According to Tāranāth Nanda reigned 29 years. The Ceylonese accounts inform us that the Nandas ruled only for 22 years. The Purāņic figure 28 is probably to be taken to include the period when Nanda was the de facto ruler of Magadha before his final usurpation of the throne. Maliāpadma-Ugrasena was succeeded by his eight sons who were kings in succession. They ruled for twelve years according to the Purāṇas. The Ceylonese Chronicles, as we have already seen, give the total length of the reign-period of all the nine Nandas as 22 years. The Purāņas specify the name of one son of Mahāpadma, viz., Sukalpa.? The Mahābodhivaṁsa gives the following names : Paņduka, Pandugati, Bhūtapāla, Rāshtrapāla, Govishāņaka, Daśasiddhaka, Kaivarta and Dhana. The last king is possibly identical with the Agrammes or Xandrames of the classical writers. Agrammes is, as we have seen, probably a distortion by the Greeks of the Sanskrit patronymic Augrasainya. The first Nanda left to his sons not only a big empire but also a large army and, if tradition is to be believed, á full exchequer and an efficient system of civil govern. ment. Curtius tells us that Agrammes, king of the Gangaridae and the Prasii, kept in the field for guarding the approaches to his country 20,000 cavalry and 200,000 infantry, besides 2,000 four-horsed chariots, and what was the most formidable force of all, a troop of elephants 1 Ind. Ant., 1875, p. 362. 2 The name has variants. One of these is Sahalya. Dr. Barua makes the plausible suggestion that the prince in question may be identical with Sahalin of the Divyāvadāna (p. 369 ; Pargiter, DKA, 25 n 24 ; Bauddha Dharma Kosha, 44). The evidence of that Buddhist work in regard to the relationship between Sahalin and Kākavarna can, however, hardly be accepted. The work often errs in this respect. It makes Pushyamitra a lineal descendant of Asoka (p. 433). Page #266 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ FALL OF THE NANDAS... 237 which, he said, ran up to the number of 3,000. Diodoros and Plutarch give similar accounts. But they raise the number of elephants to 4,000 and 6,000 respectively. The name of one of the generals, Bhaddasāla is preserved by Buddhist tradition. The immense riches of the Nandas have already been referred to. The family may also be credited with irrigation projects in Kalinga and the invention of a particular kind of measure (Nandopakramāṇi mānāni). The existence of a body of capable ministers is vouched for both by Brāhmaṇical and Jaina tradition. But in the end they proved no match for another traditional figure whose name is indissolubly linked up with the fall of the Nandas and the rise of a more illustrious race of rulers. - No detailed account of this great dynastic revolution has survived. The accumulation of an enormous amount of wealth by the Nanda kings probably implies a good deal of financial extortion. Moreover, we are told by the classical writers that Agrammes (the Nanda contemporary of Alexander) "was detested and held cheap by his subjects as he rather took after his father than conducted himself as the occupant of a throne." 3 The Purāṇic passage about the revolution* stands as follows : Uddharishyati tān sarvān Kautilyo vai dvijаrshabhah 1 Milinda-Pañho, SBE, xxxvi, pp. 147-8. - 2 S. C. Vasu's trans. of the Ashțādhyāyi of Paņini, rule illustrating sutra II. 4. 21. 3 McCrindle, The Invasion of India by Alexander, p. 222. Cf. Jaina Pariśishța parvan, vi. 244. tataścha kechit samantā madenandham bhavishnavan Nandasya na natin chakrurasau nāpita sūriti. 4 The dynastic change is also referred to by the Kautilya Arthaśāstra, the Kämandakiya Nitisara, the Mudrārākshasa, the Chanda Kausika, the Ceylonese Chronicles etc. Page #267 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 238 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kautilyas-Chandraguptam tu tato rājye bhishekshyati.1 The Milinda-Panho' refers to an episode of the great struggle between the Nandas and the Mauryas. : “There was Bhaddasāla, the soldier in the service of the royal family of Nanda, and he waged war against king Chandagutta. Now in that war, Nāgasena, there were eighty Corpse dances. For they say that when one great Head Holocaust has taken place (by which is meant the slaughter of ten thousand elophants, and a lac of horses and five thousand charioteers, and a hundred kotis of soldiers on foot), then the headless corpses arise and dance in frenzy over the battle-field.” The passage contains a good deal of mythical embellishment. But we have here a reminiscence of the bloody encounter between the contending forces of the Nandas and the Mauryas. 3 1 Some Mss. read dvirashtabhih in place of dvijаrshabhah. Dr. Jayaswal (Ind. Ant. 1914, 124) proposed to emend it to Virashtrābhih. Virashtrās he took to mean the Arattas and added that Kautilya was helped by the Ārattas "the band of robbers' of Justin. Cf. Cunningham, Bhilsa Topes, pp. 88, 89. Pargiter, however, suggests, (Dynasties of the Kali Age, p. 26, 35) that dvijarşabhah (the best among the twice-born, i.e., Brāhmaṇas) may be the correct reading instead of "dvirashtabhih." 2 IV. 8. 26. Cf. SBE, xxxvi. pp. 147-48. 3 Cf. Ind Ant., 1914, p. 124n. Page #268 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER III. THE PERSIAN AND MACEDONIAN INVASIONS. SECTION I. THE ADVANCE OF PERSIA TO THE INDUS. While the kingdoms and republics of the Indian interior were gradually being merged in the Magadhan Empire, those of North-West India (including modern Western Pākistān) were passing through vicissitudes of a different kind. In the first half of the sixth century B.C., the Uttarāpatha (northern region) beyond the Madhyadeśa (Mid-India, roughly the Ganges-Jumna Doāb, Oudh and some adjoining tracts), like the rest of India, was parcelled out into a number of small states the most important of which were Kamboja, Gandhāra and Madra. No sovereign arose in this part of India capable of welding together the warring communities, as Ugrasena-Mabāpadma had done in the East. The whole region was at once wealthy and disunited, and formed the natural prey of the strong Achaemenian monarchy which grew up in Persia (Irān). Kurush or Cyrus (558-530 B.C.?) the founder of the Persian Empire, is said to have led an expedition against India through Gedrosia, but had to abandon the enterprise, escaping with seven men only. But he was more successful in the Kābul valley. We learn from Pliny that he destroyed the famous city of Kāpisi, at or near the confluence of the Ghorband and the Panjshir. Arrian informs 183 that “the district west of the river Indus as far as the river Cophen (Kābul) is inhabited by the Astacenians 1 550-529 B.C. according to A Survey of Persian Art, p. 64, 2 H. and F., Strabo, III, p. 74. 3 Chinnock, Arrian's Anabasis, p. 399, Page #269 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 240 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (Āshtakas) and the Assacenian (Ašvakas), Indian tribes. These were in ancient times subject to the Assyrians, afterwards to the Medes, and finally they submitted to the Persians, and paid tribute to Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, as ruler of their land." Strabo tells us that on one occasion the Persians summoned the Hydraces (the Kshudrakas) from India (i.e., the Pañjāb) to attend them as mercenaries. ** In the Bebistun or Bahistān inscription of Dārayavansh or Darius I (c. 522-486 B.C.) the third sovereign of the Achaemenian dynasty, the people of Gandhāra (Gadāra) appear among the subject peoples of the Persian Empire. But no mention is there made of the Hidus (Hindus, people of Sindhu or the Indus Valley) who are explicitly referred to in the Hamadan Inscription, and are included with the Gandhārians in the lists of subject peoples given by the inscriptions on the terrace at Persepolis, and around the tomb of Darius at Naqsh-i-Rustum. From this it has been inferred that the "Indians” (Hidus) were conquered at some date between 519 B.C. (the probable date of the Behistun or Bahistān inscription), s and the end of the reign of Darius in 486 B.C. The preliminaries to this conquest are described by Herodotus :5 "He (Darius) being desirous to know in what part the Indus, 1 Patañjali (IV. 2. 2) refers to “Ashtakam nāma dhanva ;" (cf. Hashtnagar, and Athakanagara, Lüders, 390). 2 Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan Inscriptions by H. C. Tolman ; Rapson, Ancient India ; Herzfeld, MASI, 34. pp. 1 ff. 3 In the opinion of Jackson (Camb. Hist. India, I, 334) the Bahistān Rock Inscription is presumably to be assigned to a period between 520 and 518 B.C. with the exception of the fifth column, which was added later. Rapson regarded 516 B.C. as the probable date of the famous epigraph, while Herzfeld prefers the date 519 B.C. (MASI, No. 34, p. 2). 4 Herzfeld is, however, of the opinion that reference to the 'Thatagush' in early Persian epigraphs shows that (part of the Pañjāb, like Gandhāra, was Persian from the days of Cyrus the Great. 5 McCrindle, Ancient India as described in classical Literature, pp. 4-5. Page #270 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE ADVANCE OF PERSIA TO THE INDUS 241 which is the second river that produces crocodiles, discharges itself into the sea, sent in ships both others on whom he could rely to make a true report and also Scylax of Caryanda. They accordingly setting out from the city of Caspatyrus? and the country of Paktyike (Pakthas ?) a sailed down the river towards the east and sunrise to the sea ; then sailing on the sea westwards, they arrived in the thirtieth month at that place where the king of Egypt despatched the Phoenicians, to sail round Libya. After these persons had sailed round, Darius subdued the Indians and frequented the Sea.” Herodotus tells us that "India" constituted the twentieth and the most populous satrapy of the Persian Empire, and that it paid a tribute proportionately larger than all the rest, -360 talents of gold dust, equivalent to £1,290,000 of the pre-war period. There is no reason to believe that all this gold came from Bactria or Siberia. Gold deposits are not unknown in several tracts of the North-West Frontier, and quantities of gold are recovered from the alluvium of rivers. A small quantity of the precious metal used to be imported by Bhotiya traders from the Tibetan Hills.3 Gandhāra was included in the seventh satrapy. The details regarding "India" left by Herodotus leave no room for doubt that it embraced the Indus Valley and was bounded on the east by the desert of Rājaputāna. "That part of India towards the rising sun is all sand ; for of the people with whom we are acquainted, the Indians live the furthest towards the east and the sunrise, of all the inhabitants of Asia, for the Indians' 1 Camb. Hist. Ind., I, 336. The city was probably situated in ancient Gandhāra. 12 Ibid, 82, 339. Paktyike is apparently the ancient name of the modern Pathan country on the north-west borderland of the sub-continent of India. 3 Crooke, The North-Western Provinces of India, 1897, p. 10; Amrita Bazar Patrika, 19-7-39, p. 6; cf. Watters, Yuan Chwang, I. 225, 239. O. P. 90—31. Page #271 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 242 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA country towards the east is a desert by reason of the sands." The organisation of the empire into Satrapies served as a model to several succeeding dynasties, and was given a wider extension in India by the Sakas and the Kushāns in the centuries immediately preceding and succeeding the Christian era. The Desa-goptri of the Gupta Age was the lineal successor of the Satrap (Kshatra-pāvan) of earlier epochs. The Persian conquerors did much to promote geographical exploration and commercial activity. At the same time they took from the country not only an enormous amount of gold and other commodities such as ivory and wood, but denuded it of a great portion of its man-power. Military service was exacted from several tribes. Contact between the East and the West became more intimate with important results in the domain of culture. If the Achaemenians brought the Indian bowmen and lancers to Hellenic soil, they also showed the way of conquest and cultural penetration to the peoples of Greece and Macedon. Khshayārshā or Xerxes (486-465 B.C.), the son and successor of Darius I, maintained his hold on the Indian provinces. In the great army which he led against Hellas both Gandhāra and "India” were represented. The Gandbārians are described by Herodotus as bearing bows of reed and short spears, and the "Indians” as being clad in cotton garments and bearing cane bows with arrows tipped with iron. One of the newly discovered stone-tablets at Persepolis records that Xerxes "by Ahuramazda's will” sapped the foundations of certain temples of the Daivas and ordained that "the Daivas shall not be worshipped”. 1 The Illustrated London News, Feb. 22, 1936, p. 328. Sen, Old Persian Inscriptions, 152 Page #272 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELICS OF PERSIAN DOMINION 243 Where the Daivas had been worshipped, the king worshipped Ahuramazda together with Řtam (divine world order). India' may have been among the lands which witnessed the outcome of the religious zeal of the Persian king. Among interesting relics of Persian dominion in India mention is sometimes made of a Taxila inscription in Aramaic characters of the fourth or fifth century B.C. 1 But Herzfeld points out 2 that the form Priyadarśana occurs in the record which should be referred to the reign of Asoka, and not to the period of Persian rule. To the Persians is also attributed the introduction of the Kharoshthi alphabet, the "Persepolitan capital” and words like "dipi” (rescript) and “nipishta” (“written'') occurring in the inscriptions of Asoka. Persian influence has also been tracted in the preamble of the Asokan edicts. 1 JRAS., 1915, I p. 340-347. 2 Ep. Ind., XIX. 253. Page #273 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE LAST OF THE ACHEMENIDS AND ALEXANDER. The Persian Empire rapidly declined after the death of Xerxes. After a period of weak rule and confusion, the crown went to Darius III Codomannus (335-330 B.C.). This was the king against whom Alexander, the great king of Macedon led forth his famous phalanx. After several engagements in which the Persian forces suffered repeated defeats, the Macedonian conqueror rode on the tracks of his vanquished enemy and reached the plain watered by the river Bumodus. Three distinct groups of Indians figured in the army which mustered under the banner of the Persian monarch in that region. "The Indians who were conterminous with the Bactrians as also the Bactrians themselves and the Sogdianians had come to the aid of Darius, all being under the command of Bessus, the Viceroy of the land of Bactria. They were followed by the Sacians, a Scythian tribe belonging to the Scythians who dwell in Asia. These were not subject to Bessus but were in alliance with Darius... Barsaentes, the Viceroy of Arachotia, led the Arachotians and the men who were called Mountaineer Indians. There were a few elephants, about fifteen in number, belonging to the Indians who live this side of the Indus. With these forces Darius had encamped at Gaugamela, near the river Bumodus, about 600 stades distant from the city of Arbela." The hold of the Achaemenians on the Indians in the various provinces on the frontier had, however, grown very feeble about this time, and the whole of north-western India was parcelled out into innumerable kingdoms, principalities and 1 Chinnock, Arrian's Anabasis, pp. 142-143. Page #274 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE KINGDOMS OF THE AŠVAKAS 245 republics. A list of the more important among these is given below : 1. The Aspasian territory (Alishang-Kūnar-Bajaur valley): It lay in the difficult hill country north of the Kābul river watered by the Khoes, possibly the modern Alishang, and the Euaspla, apparently the Kīnar. The name of the people is derived from the Irānian "Aspa," i.e., the Sanskrit “Ašva” (horse ) or Ašvaka. The Aspasians were thus the western branch of the Aśvakas (Assakenians). The chieftain, hyparch, of the tribe dwelt in a city on or near the river Euaspla, supposed to be identical with the Kūnar, a tributary of the Kābul. Other Aspasian cities were Andaka and Arigaeum. 2 2. The country of the Guraeans : It was watered by the river Guraeus, Gauri, or Pañj. kora, and lay between the land of the Aspasians and the country of the Assakenians. 3. The Kingdom of Assakenos (part of Swat and Buner) : It stretched eastwards as far as the Indus and had its capital at Massaga, a "formidable fortress probably situated not very far to the north of the Malakand Pass but not yet precisely identified." The name of the Assakenians probably represents the Sanskrit Aśvaka land of horses', not Asmaka, land of stone'. The territory occupied by the tribe was also known in different ages as Suvāstu, Udyāna and, according to some, Oddiyāna. The Aśvakas do not appear to be mentioned by Pāṇini unless we regard them as belonging to the same stock as the Asmakas 3 of the south 1 Camb. Hist Ind., 352. n. 3. 2 Chinnock's Arrian pp. 230-231. 3 IV. I. 173. Page #275 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 246 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA for which there is no real ground. They are placed in the north-west by the authors of the Mārkandeya Purāna and the Brihat Samhitā. The Assakenian king had a powerful army of 20,000 cavalry, more than 30,000 infantry and 30 elephants. The reigning king at the time of Alexander's invasion is called by the Greeks Assakenos. His mother was Kleophis. Assakenos had a brother who is called Eryx by Curtius and Aphrikes by Diodoros. There is no reason to believe that these personages had any relationship with king Sarabha, whose tragic fate is described by Bāna and who belonged apparently to the southern realm of the Asmakas in the valley of the Godāvari. 4 Nysa : This was a small hill-state which lay at the foot of Mt. Meros between the Kophen or Kābul river and the Indus. 3 It had a republican constitution. The city was alleged to have been founded by Greek colonists long before the invasion of Alexander. 4 Arrian says, 5 "The Nysaeans are not an Indian race, but descended from the men who came to India with Dionysus.” Curiously enough, a Yona or Greek state is mentioned along with Kamboja in the Majjhima Nikāyao as flourishing in the time of Gautama Buddha and Assalāyana : "Yona Kambojesu dveva vannā Ayyo c'eva Dāsoca (there are only 1 Invasion of Alexander, p. 378. 2 He led the flying defenders of the famous fortress of Aornos against the Greeks (Camb. Hist. Ind., I. 356). Aornos is identified by Sir Aurel Stein with the height of Una between the Swat and the Indus (Alexander's Campaign on the Frontier, Benares Hindu University Magazine, Jan., 1927). The southern side of the stronghold was washed by the Indus (Inv. Alex.,271.) 3 Inv. Alex., 79, 193. 4 McCrindle, Invasion of Alexander, p. 79; Hamilton and Falconer, Strabo, Vol. III. p. 76. Dr. K. P. Jayaswal informed me that he referred to the Nysaean Indo-Greeks in a lecture delivered as early as 1919. 5 Chinnock's Arrian, p. 399. 6 II. 149. Page #276 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGDOMS OF GANDHĀRA 247 two social grades among the Yonas and the Kambojas, viz., Aryan and Dāsa).” According to Holdich the lower spurs and valleys of Kohi-Mor in the Swat country are where the ancient city of Nysa once stood. At the time of Alexander's invasion the Nysaeans had Akouphis for their President. They had a Governing Body of 300 members. 2 5. Peukelaotis (in the Peshāwar District) : It lay on the road from Kābul to the Indus. Arrian tells us 3 that the Kābul falls into the Indus in the land called Peukelaotis, taking with itself the Malantus, Soastus and Guraeus. Peukelaotis represents the Sanskrit Pushkarāvati. It formed the western part of the old kingdom of Gandhāra. The people of the surrounding region are sometimes referred to as the "Astakenoi” by historians. The capital is represented by the modern Mir Ziyārat and Chārsadda, about 17 miles N. E. of Peshāwar, on the Swat river, the Soastus of Arrian, and the Suvāstu of the Vedic texts. The reigning hyparch at the time of Alexander's invasion was Astes * identified with Hasti or Ashtaka. He was defeated and killed by Hephaestion, a general of the Macedonian king. 6. Taxila or Takshasilā (in the Rāwalpindi District) : Strabo says "between the Indus and the Hydas pes (Jhelum) was Taxila, a large city, and governed by good laws. The neighbouring country is crowded with inhabitants and very fertile.” The kingdom of Taxila formed the eastern part of the old kingdom of Gandhāra. 1 Smith, EHI, 4th ed. p. 57. Camb. Hist., I, p. 353. 2 Invasion of Alexander, p. 81. 3 Chinnock's Arrian's Anabasis of Alexander and Indica, p. 403. 4 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 228. 5 H. and F.'s. tr., III, p. 90, Page #277 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 248 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA "In B. C. 327 the Taxilian throne was occupied by a hyparch, or basileus, whom the Greeks called Taxiles. When Alexander of Macedon arrived in the Kābul valley he sent a herald to the king of Taxila to bid him come and meet him. Taxiles accordingly did come to meet the conqueror, bringing valuable gifts. When he died his son Mopbis or Omphis (Sanskrit Āmbhi) succeeded to the government. Curiously enough, the reprited anthor of the Kautilīya Arthaśāstra, himself a native of Taxila according to the Mahāvamsa Tikā, refers to 4 school of political philosopher's called Ambhiyas, and Dr. F. W. Thomas connects them with Taxila. 7. The kingdom of Arsakes : The name of the principality represents the Sanskrit Uraśā, which formed part of the modern Hazāra District. It adjoined the realm of Abisares, and was probably, like the latter, an offshoot of the old kingdom of Kamboja. Uraśā is mentioned in several Kharoshthi inscriptions, and, in the time of the geographer Ptolemy, absorbed the neighbouring realm of Taxila. 8. Abhisāra : Strabo observes2 that the kingdom was situated among the mountains above the Taxila country. The position of this state was correctly defined by Stein who pointed out that Dārvābhisāras included the whole tract of the lower and middle hills lying between the Jhelum and the Chenāb. Roughly speaking, it corresponded to the Punch and some adjoining districts in Kaśmīra with a part at least of the Hazāra District of the North-West Frontier Province. It was probably an offshoot of the old kingdom of Kamboja. Abisares, the contemporary of Alexander, 1 Būrhaspatya Arthaśāstra. Introduction, p. 15. 2 H. & F.'s tr., III, p. 90. 3 Cf. Mbh. VII. 91., 43. Page #278 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE REALM OF THE PAURAVA 249 was a shrewd politician of the type of Charles Emanuel III of Sardinia. When the Macedonian invader arrived in Taxila he informed him that he was ready to surrender himself and the land which he ruled. And yet before the battle which was fought between Alexander and the famous Poros, Abisares intended to join his forces with those of the latter. 9. The kingdom of the Elder Poros : This territory lay between the Jhelum and the Chenāb and roughly corresponded to parts of the modern districts of Guzrāț and Shāhpur. Strabo tells us that it was an extensive and fertile district containing nearly 300 cities. Diodoros informs us that Poros had an army of more than 50,000 foot, about 3,000 horse, above 1,000 chariots, and 130 elephants. He was in alliance with Embisaros, i.e., the king of Abhisāra. Poros probably represents the Sanskrit Pūru or Pau. rava. In the Rig-Veda the Pūrus are expressly mentioned as on the Sarasvati. In the time of Alexander, however, we find them on the Hydaspes (Jhelum). The Brihat Samhitā,5 too, associates the 'Pauravas', with ‘Madraka' and 'Mālava.' The Mahābhārata, also, refers to a "Puran Paurava-rakshitam”, city protected by the Pauravas, which lay not far from Kaśmira. It is suggested in the Vedic Index? that either the Hydaspes was the earlier home of the Pūrus, where some remained after the others had wandered east, or the later Pūrus, represent a successful onslaught upon the west from the east. 1 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 276. Inv. Alex, 112. 2 It apparently included the old territory of Kekaya. 3 H. & F.'s tr., III. p. 91. + Invasion of Alexander, p. 274. 5 XIV. 27. 6 IT. 27, 15-17. 7 Vol. II, pp. 12-13. Q. P. 90—32. Page #279 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 250 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 10. The country of the people called Glauganikai (Glauganicians) by Aristobulus, and Glausians by Ptolemy : This tract lay to the west of the Chenāb and was conterminous with the dominion of Poros. It included no less than seven and thirty cities, the smallest of which had not fewer than 5,000 inhabitants, while many contained upwards of 10,000. 11. Gandaris (in the Rechna Doāb): This little kingdom lay between the Chenāb and the Rāvi and (if Strabo has given the correct name of the territory) probably represented the easternmost part of the old Mahājanapada of Gandhāra. It was ruled by the Younger Poros, nephew of the monarch who ruled the country between the Jhelum and the Chenāb. 12. The Adraistai (in the Bari Doāb) : They dwelt on the eastern side of the Hydraotes or the Rāvi, and their main stronghold was Pimprama. 13. Kathaioi or Cathaeans (probably also in the Bari Doāb): Strabo points out that "some writers place Cathaia and the country of Sopeithes, one of the nomarchs, in the tract between the rivers (Hydaspes and Acesines, i.e., the Jhelum and the Chenāb); some on the other side of the Acesines and of the Hydarotis, i. e., of the Chenāb and the Rāvi, on the confines of the territory of the other Poros, the nephew of Poros who was taken prisoner 1 With the second part of the name anika, troop or army, may be compared that of the Sanakānikas of the Gupta period. Dr. Jayaswal, who, doubtless following Weber in IA, ii (1873), p 147, prefers the restoration of the name as Glauchukāyanaka, does not apparently take note of this fact. 2 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 276. Inv. Alex. 112. The country was subsequently given to the elder Poros to rule. 3 But see Camb. Hist. Ind., I, 370, n. 4; the actual name of the territory in olden times was, however, Madra. 4 Adrijas? Mbh., VII. 159.5. Yaudheyān Adrijan rājan Madrakan Malavān api. 5 H. & F.'s tr., III, p. 92. Page #280 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SAUBHŪTI THE NOMARCH 251 by Alexander.” The Kathaioi probably represent the Sanskrit Katha, Kāthaka," Kantha2 or Krātha. They were the most eminent among the independent tribes dwelling in the area of which the principal centre was Sangala (Sānkala). This town was probably situated in the Gurudāspur district, not far from Fathgarh. Anspach locates it at Jandiāla to the east of Amritsar.5 The Kathaians enjoyed the highest reputation for courage and skill in the art of war. Onesikritos tells us that in Kathaia the handsomest man was chosen as king. 14. The kingdom of Sophytes (Saubhūti), probably along the banks of the Jhelum : In the opinion of Smith, the position of this kingdom is fixed by the remark of Strabo? that it included a mountain composed of fossil salt sufficient for the whole of India ; Sophytes was, therefore, according to him, the “lord of the fastness of the Salt Range stretching from the Jhelum to the Indus." But we have already seen that the classical writers agree in placing Sophytes' territory east of the Jhelum. Curtius tells us 8 that the nation ruled by Sopeithes (Sophytes), in the opinion of the "barbarians,” excelled in wisdom, and lived under 'good laws and customs. They did not acknowledge and rear children according to the will of the parents, but as the officers entrusted with the medical inspection of infants might direct, for if they 1 Jolly, SBE., VII. 15; Ep. Ind., III. 8. 2 Cf., Pāṇini, II. 4. 20. 3 Mbh., VIII. 85. 16. 4 JRAS., 1903, p. 687. 5. Camb. Hist. Ind., I, 371. 6 McCrindle, Ancient India as described in Classical Literature, p. 38. 7 H. & F.'s tr., III, p. 93. 8 Invasion of India by Alexander, p. 219. . Page #281 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 252 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA remarked anything deformed or defective in the limbs of a child they ordered it to be killed. In contracting marriages they did not seek an alliance with high birth 'but made their choice by the looks, for beauty in the children was highly appreciated. Strabo informs us that the dogs in the territory of Sopeithes (Sophytes) were said to possess remarkable courage.. We have some coins of Sophytes bearing on the obverse the head of the king, and on the reverse the figure of a cock. According to Smith the style is suggested probably by the "owls” of Athens. Strabo calls Sophytes a nomarch which probably indicates that he was not an independent sovereign, but only a viceroy of some other king. 15. The kingdom of Phegelas or Phegeus (in the Bari Doāb): It lay between the Hydraotes (Rāvi) and the Hyphasis (Bias). The name of the king, Phegelas, probably represents the Sanskrit Bhagala–the designation of a royal race of Kshatriyas mentioned in the Ganapātha.5 16. The Siboi (in the lower part of the Rechna Doāb) : They were the inhabitants of the Shorkot region in Jhang district below the junction of the Jhelum 1 H. & F., III, p. 93. 2 Whitehead(Num. Chron., 1943, pp. 60-72) rejects the identification of Sophytes with Saubhūti. He thinks that "Saubhūti is a philologist's creation. There is no historical evidence that Saubhūti existed" (p. 63). Subhūti (from which Saubhūti is apparently derived) is a fairly common name in Indian literature (The Questions of King Milinda, Part II, SBE, XXXVI, pp. 315, 323; Geiger, the Mahāvamsa., tr., 151n, 275). It is by no means improbable that a Hindu Rajah should strike a piece bearing a Hellenized form of his name, as the Hinduised Scythian rulers did in later ages. 3 Was it the Great King of W. Asia or some Indian potentate? Among other nomarchs mention may be made of Spitaces, a nephew and apparently a vassal of the elder Poros (Camb. Hist. Ind, 36, 365, 367). 4 Inv, Alex, P. 281, 401. 5 Invasion of Alexander, p. 401. Cf. Kramadiśvara, 769. Page #282 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ REALM OF THE SIVIS 253 4 and the Chenab. They were probably identical with the Siva people mentioned in a passage of the RigVeda where they share with the Alinas, Pakthas, Bhalanases, and Visanins the honour of being defeated by Sudas. The Jatakas mention a Sivi country and its cities Ariṭṭhapura and Jetuttara.5 It is probable that Śiva, Śivi, Sibi, and Siboi were one and the same people. A place called Siva-pura is mentioned by the scholiast on Panini as situated in the northern country. It is, doubtless, identical with Sibipura mentioned in a Shorkot inscription edited by Vogel. In the opinion of that scholar the mound of Shorkot marks the site of this city of the Sibis." The Siboi dressed themselves with the skins of wild beasts, and had clubs for their weapons. The Mahabharta refers to a rashtra or realm of the Sivis ruled by king Usinara, which lay not far from the Yamuna. It is not altogether improbable that the Usinara country 10 was at one time the home of the Sivis. We find them also in Sind, in Madyamikā (Tambavati nagari ?) near Chitor in Rajputana,11 and, in the Dasa-kumara-charita, on the banks of the Kaveri.12 1 Inv. Alex., p, 232. 2 VII. 18. 7. 3 Vedic Index. Vol. II, pp. 381-382. A 'Saibya' is mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana (VIII. 23; Vedic Index, 1.31). 4 Ummadanti Jataka, No. 527; cf. Panini, VI. 2. 100. 5 Vessantara Jataka, No. 547. See also ante, p 198, n 6. 6 Patanjali, IV, 2. 2; Ved. Ind., II, p. 382. IHQ, 1926, 758. 6 7 Ep. Ind., 1921, p. 16. 8 III. 130-131. 9 Cf. Siba (Cunn. AGI., revised ed., pp. 160-161). 10 Vide pp. 65, 66 ante. 11 Vaidya, Med. Hind. Ind., 1, p. 162; Carm. Lec., 1918, p. 173. Allan, Coins of Anc. Ind. cxxiii. 12 The southern Śivis are probably to be identified with the Chola ruling family (Kielhorn, List of Southern Inscriptions, No. 685), Page #283 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 254 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA. 17. The Agalassoi : This people lived near the Siboi, and could muster an army of 40,000 foot and 3,000 horse. · 18. The Sudracae or Oxydrakai : The accounts of Curtius and Diodorost leave the impression that they lived not far from the Siboi and the Agalassoi, and occupied part of the territory below the confluence of the Jhelum and the Chenāb. At the confluence Alexander garrisoned a citadel and thence came into the dominions of the Sudracae and the Malli (Mālavas). The former may have occupied parts of the Jhang and Lyallpur districts. The name of the Sudracae or the Oxydrakai represents the Sanskrit Kshudraka. They were one of the most numerous and warlike of all the Indian tribes in the Pañjāb. Arrian in one passage refers to the "leading men of their cities and their provincial governors” besides other eminent men. These words afford us a glimpse into the internal condition of this and similar tribes. 19. The Malloi : They seem to have occupied the right bank of the lower Hydraotes (Rāvi) and are mentioned as escaping across that river to a city of the Brāhmaṇas. The Akesines (Chenāb) is said to have joined the Indus in their territory. Their name represents the Sanskrit Mālava. According to Weber, Āpisali (according to Jayaswal, Kātyāyana), speaks of the formation of the compound "Kshaudraka-Malavāh." Smith points out that the Mahābhārata couples the tribes in question as forming 1 Inv. Alex. 233-4. 286-7. 2 Mbh., II. 52. 15; VII. 68.9. 3 Megasthenes and Arrian (2nd ed.) 196. The accuracy of this statement may be doubted. The Malloi territory seems to have included part of the Jhang district, besides a portion of South Lyallpur, West Montgomery, and perhaps North Multan. Page #284 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE AMBASHTHAS 255 part of the Kaurava host in the Kurukshetra war.1 Curtius tells us that the Sudracae and the Malli had an army consisting of 90,000 foot soldiers, 10,000 cavalry and 900 war chariots. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar informs us that Panini refers to the Malavas as living by the profession of arms.3 In later times they are found in Rajputāna, Avanti and the Mahi valley. 20. The Abastanoi: Diodoros calls them the Sambastai, Arrian Abastanoi, Curtius Sabarcae, and Orosius Sabagrae. They were settled on the lower Akesines (Chenab) apparently below the Malava country, but above the confluence of the Chenab and the Indus. Their name represents the Sanskrit Ambashtha or Ambashṭha. The Ambashṭhas are mentioned in several Sanskrit and Pali works. An Ambashṭha king is mentioned in the Aitareya Brahmana whose priest was Narada. The Mahabharata" mentions the Ambashṭhas along with the Sivis, Kshudrakas, Mälavas and other north-western tribes. The Puranas represent them as Anava Kshatriyas and kinsmen of the Sivis. In the Burhaspatya Arthasastra, the Ambashṭha country is mentioned in conjunction with Sind : 6 Kasmira-Hun-Ambashṭha-Sindhavaḥ. 1. EHI., 1914. p. 94n.; Mbh., VI. 59. 135. 2 Invasion of Alexander, 234. 3 Ind. Ant., 1913, p. 200. 4 Invasion of Alexander, p. 292. 5 Dr. Surya Kanta draws a distinction between Ambashṭha and Ambashṭha, regarding the former as a place-name, and the latter as the name of a particular class of people, an elephant-driver, a Kshatriya, a mixed caste'. (B. C. Law Vol. II. pp. 127ff). To us the distinction seems to be based upon philological conjectures.. 6 VIH. 21. 7 II. 52. 14-15. 8 Pargiter, AIHT., pp. 108. 109. 9 Ed. F. W. Thomas, p. 21. Page #285 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 256 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA a In the Ambaṭṭha Sutta, an Ambaṭṭha is called Brāhmaṇa. In the Smrti literature, on the other hand, Ambashṭha. denotes a man of mixed Brahmana and Vaisya parentage. According to Jataka IV. 363, the Ambaṭṭhas were farmers. It seems that the Ambashṭhas tribe clan who were or at first mainly a fighting race, but some of whom took to other occupations, viz., those of priests, farmers and, according to Smrti writers, physicians (Ambashṭhānam chikitsitam). were In the time of Alexander, the Ambashṭhas were a powerful tribe having a democratic government. Their army consisted of 60,000 foot, 6,000 cavalry and 500 chariots.3 a In later times the Ambashṭhas are found in SouthEastern India near the Mekala range, and also in Bihar and possibly in Bengal.* 1 Dialogues of the Buddha, Part 1. p. 109. 2 Manu, X. 47. Dr. Surya Kanta suggests the reading (Law Volume, II, 134) cha hästinam. In his dissertation he speaks of the possibility of Ambashṭha being a Sanskritized form of a Celtic word meaning 'husbandman, tiller of the ground'. It is also pointed out that the word may be 'an inasmuch as 'ambhas' exact parallel to 'mahamatra' means of large measure', 'an elephant', so that Ambashtha would mean 'one sitting on the elephant', i.e., a driver, a keeper, a samanta, or a Kshatriya. They lived on warfare, presumably as gajarohas, and banner-bearers. A distinction is drawn between Ambashṭha and Ambashṭha. The lastmentioned expression is considered to be a place-name, based on the plant name Amba. For other notes on the subject see Prabasi, 1351 B. S; I, 206; JUPHS, July-Dec, 1945, pp 148 ff; History of Bengal (D. U.), pp. 568 ff. 3 Invasion of Alexander, p 252. 4 Cf. Ptolemy, Ind. Ant., XIII, 361; Brihat Samhita: XIV. 7; Mekhalamushta of Markandeya P., LVIII. 14, is a corruption of Mekal- Ambashṭha. Cf. also the Ambashtha Kayasthas of Bihar, and the Vaidyas of Bengal whom Bharata Mallika classes as Ambashtha. This is not the place to discuss the authenticity or otherwise of the tradition recorded by Bharata and some of the Purāņas. The origin of the Vaidyas, or of any other caste in Bengal, is a thorny problem which requires separate treatment. What the author aims at in these pages is to put some available evidence, early or late, about the Abastanoi. That some Ambashthas, and Brahmaṇas too, took to the medical profession is clear from the evidence of Manu and Page #286 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGDOMS IN THE LOWER INDUS VALLEY 257. 21-22. The Xathroi and the Ossadioi : The Xathroi are according to McCrindle 1 the Kshatri of Sanskrit literature mentioned in the Laws of Manu as an impure tribe, being of mixed origin. V. de Saint-Martin suggests that in the Ossadioi we have the Vaśāti of the Mahābhārata, a tribe associated with the Sibis and Sindhu-Sauvīras of the Lower Indus Valley. Like the Abastanoi, the Xathroi and the Ossadioi seem to have occupied parts of the territory drained by the lower Akesines (Chenāb) and situated between the confluence of that river with the Rāvi and the Indus respectively. 23-24. The Sodrai (Sogdoi) and the Massanoi : They occupied Northern Sind with contiguous portions of the Pañjāb (Mithan-kot area) and the Bahawalpur state, below the confluence of the Pañjāb rivers. The territories of these two tribes lay on opposite banks of the Indus. The Sodrai are the Śūdra tribe of Sanskrit literature, a people constantly associated with the Ābhiras who were settled near the Sarasvati." Their royal seat (basileion) stood on the Indus. Here another Alexandria was founded by the Macedonian conqueror. Atri (Samhita, 378) and Bopadev. It is equally clear that the Vaidya problem cannot be solved in the way it has been sought to be done in some recent publications. Due attention should be given to historical evidence bearing on the point like that of Megasthenes and of certain early Chalukya, Pandya, and other epigraphs, e.g. the Talamañchi plates, Ep. Ind. IX. 101 ; Bhandarker's List 1371. 2061' etc. 1 Invasion of Alexander, p. 156 n, 2 VII. 19. 11 ; 89.37; VIII. 44 49. 3 "Abhishāhāh Śūrasenāh Sivayo'tha Vaśātayah" (Mbh., VI. 106. 8). "Vaśāti Sindhu-Sauvirā itiprāyo' tikutsitah," "Gandhārāh Sindhu-Sauvīrāḥ Sivayo'tha Vaśātayah "(Mbh., VI. 51.14). 4 Patañjali, 1. 2.3 ; Mbh., VII. 19.6 ; IX. 37. 1. 0. P. 90-33, Page #287 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 258 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 25. The kingdom of Mousikanos : 1 This famous state included a large part of modern Sind. Its capital has been identified with Alor in the Sukkur district. The characteristics of the inhabitants of the realm of Mousikanos as noticed by Strabo are given below : "The following are their peculiarities ; to have a kind of Lacedæmonian common meal, where they eat in public. Their food consists of what is taken in the chase. They make no use of gold nor silver, although they have mines of these metals. Instead of slaves, they employed youths in the flower of their age, as the Cretans employ the Aphamiotæ, and the Lacedæmonians the Helots. They study no science with attention but that of medicine ;3 for they consider the excessive pursuit of some arts, as that of war, and the like to be committing evil. There is no process at law but against murder and outrage, for it is not in a person's own power to escape either one or the other ; but as contracts are in the power of each individual, he must endure the wrong, if good faith is violated by another ; for a man should be cautious whom he trusts, and not disturb the city with constant disputes in courts of justice.” From the account left by Arrian it appears that the “Brachmans,” i.e., the Brāhmaṇas exercised considerable influence in the country. They were the instigators of a revolt against the Macedonian invader. 4 1 Bevan in Camb. Hist. Ind. p. 377, following Lassen (Inv. Alex. 157 n) restores the name as Mūshika. Dr. Jayaswal' in his Hindu Polity suggests Muchukarna. Cf. Maushikāra (Patañjali, IV. i. 4). 2 H. & F., III, p. 96. 3 This trait they shared with the Ambashthas (cf. Manu, X.47). 4 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 319. Cf. Strabo, xv. i. 66,-"Nearchos says that the Brachmans engage in the affairs of the state and attend the king as councillors," Page #288 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGDOMS IN THE LOWER IN DUS VALLEY 259 26. The principality of Oxykanos : Curtius calls the subjects of Oxykanos the Praesti (Proshthas ?). 1 Oxykanos himself is styled both by Strabo and Diodoros Portikanos. Cunningham places his territory to the west of the Indus in the level country around Larkhāna.? 27. The principality of Sambos :3 Sambos was the ruler of a mountainous country adjoining the kingdom of Mousikanos, with whom he was at feud. His capital, called Sindimana, has been identified, with little plausibility, with Sehwan, a city on the Indus. According to Diodoros 'a city of the Brāhmaṇas' (Brāhmaṇavāța ?) had to be stormed whilst the operations against Sambos were going on.5 28. Patalene : It was the Indus delta, and took its name from the capital city, Patala, probably near the site of Bahmaṇābād. Diodoros tells us that Tauala (Patala) had a political constitution drawn on the same lines as the Spartan ; for in this community the command in war was vested in two hereditary kings of different houses, while a Council of Elders ruled the whole state with paramount authority. One of the kings in the time of Alexander was called Moeres. The states described above had little tendency to unity or combination. Curtius tells us that Āmbhi, ruler of 1 Mbh., VI. 9. 61. 2 Invasion of Alexander, p. 158, AGI, Revised ed. 300. 3 Sambhu, according to Bevan (Camb. Hist. Ind., 377). Šāmba is a possible alternative. 4 McCrindle, Invasion of Alexander, p. 404 ; AGI, Revised ed., 302 f. 5 Diod. XVII. 103. 1 ; cf. Alberuni (I. 316; II. 262). 6 Inv. Alex., p. 296. 7 Inv, Alex. p. 256. cf. Maurya. 8 Inv. Alex., p. 202. Page #289 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 260 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Taxila, was at war with Abisares and Poros. Arrian informs us that Poros and Abisares were not only enemies of Taxila but also of the neighbouring autonomous tribes. On one occasion the two kings marched against the Kshudrakas and the Mālavas. Arrian further tells us that the relations between Poros and his nephew were far from friendly. Sambos and Mousikanos were also on hostile terms. Owing to these feuds and strifes amongst the petty states, a foreign invader had no united resistance to fear; and he could be assured that many among the local chieftains would receive him with open arms out of hatred for their neighbours. The Nandas of Magadha do not appear to have made any attempt to subjugate these states of the Uttarāpatha (North-West India). The task of reducing them was reserved for a foreign conqueror, viz., Alexander of Macedon. The tale of Alexander's conquest has been told by many historians including Arrian, Q. Curtius Rufus, Diodoros Siculus, Plutarch and Justin. We learn from Curtius that Scythiads and Dahae served in the Macedonian army. The expedition led by Alexander was thus a combined Saka-Yavana enterprise. The invader met with no such general confederacy of the native powers like the one formed by the East Indian states against Kūnika-Ajātasatru. On the contrary he obtained assistance from many important chiefs like Āmbhi of Taxila, Sangæus (Sanjaya ?) of Pushkarāvati, Kophaios or Cophæus (of the Kābul region ?), Assagetes (Aśvajit ?), and Sisikottos (Saśīgupta) who got as his reward the satrapy of the Assakenians. The only princes or peoples who thought of combining against the invader were Poros and Abisares, and the Mālavas (Malloi), Kshudrakas 1 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 279. 2 Inv. Alex., p. 208. 3 Inv. Alex.. p. 112. Page #290 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE INVASION OF ALEXANDER 261 (Oxydrakai), and the neighbouring autonomous tribes. Even in the latter case personal jealousies prevented any effective results. Alexander met with stubborn resistance from individual chiefs and clans, notably from Astes (Hastī or Ashtaka ?), the Aspasians, the Assakenians, the elder Poros, the Kathaians, the Malloi, the Oxydrakai, and the Brāhmaṇas of the kingdom of Mousikanos. Massaga, the stronghold of the Assakenians, was stormed with great difficulty, Poros was defeated on the banks of the Hydaspes (B. C. 326), the Malloi and the Oxydrakai were also no doubt crushed. But. Alexander found that his Indian antagonists were different from the effete troops of Persia. Diodoros informs us that at Massaga, where Alexander treacherously massacred the mercenaries, "the women, taking the arms of the fallen, fought side by side with the men." Poros, when he saw most of his forces scattered, his elephants lying dead or straying riderless, did not flee-as Darius Codomannus had twice fled—but remained fighting, seated on an elephant of commanding height, and received nine wounds before he was taken prisoner. 2 The Malloi almost succeeded in killing the Macedonian king. But all this was of no avail. A disunited people could not long resist the united forces of the Hellenic world led by the greatest captain of ancient Europe. Alexander succeeded in conquering the old Persian provinces of Gandbāra and "India," but was unable to try conclusions with Agrammes king of the Gangaridae and the Prasii, i.e., the last Nanda king of Magadha and the other Gangetic provinces in Eastern India. Plutarch informs us that the battle with Poros depressed the spirits of the Macedonians and made them very unwilling to advance further into India. Moreover they were afraid of the "Gandaritai and the Praisiai" who 1 Inv. Alex., p. 270. 2 Cf. Bury, History of Greece for Beginners, pp. 428-29. Page #291 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 262 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA were reported to be waiting for Alexander with an army of 80,000 horse, 200,000 foot, 8,000 war-chariots and 6,000 fighting elephants. As a matter of fact when Alexander was retreating through Karmania he received a report that his satrap Philippos, governor of the Upper Indus Province, had been murdered (324 B.C.). Shortly afterwards the Macedonian garrison was overpowered. The Macedonian satrap of Sind had to be transferred to the north-west borderland beyond the Indus and no new satrap was appointed in his place. The successors of Alexander at the time of the Triparadeisos agreement in 321 B.C., confessed their inability to remove the Indian Rājās of the Pañjāb without royal troops under the command of some distinguished general. One of the Rājās, possibly Poros, was treacherously slain by an officer named Eudemos. The withdrawal of the latter (cir. 317 B.C.) marks the ultimate collapse of the first serious attempt of the Yavanas to establish an empire in India. The only permanent effect of Alexander's raid seems to have been the establishment of a number of Yavana settlements in the Uttarāpatha. The most important of these settlements were : 1. The city of Alexandria (modern Charikar or Opian ?)? in the land of the Paropanisadae, i.e., the Kābul region. 2. Boukephala, on the spot whence the Macedonian king had started to cross the Hydaspes (Jhelum), 3. Nikaia, where the battle with Poros took place, 4. Alexandria at or near the confluence of the Chenāb and the Indus, to the north-east of the countries of the Sodrai, or Sogdoi, and Massanoi, and 1 According to Tarn (The Greeks in Bactria and India, 462) Alexandria stood on the west bank of the united Panjshir-Ghorband rivers near the confluence facing Kāpisa on the east bank. It is represented by the modern Begram. Page #292 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RESULT OF ALEXANDER’S INVASION 263 5. Sogdian Alexandria,' below the confluence of the Pañjāb rivers. Asoka recognised the existence of Yona (Yavana) settlers on the north-western fringe of his empire, and appointed some of them (e.g., the Yavana-rāja Tushāspha) to high offices of state. Boukephala Alexandria flourished as late as the time of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.3 One of the Alexandrias (Alasanda) is mentioned in the Mahāvaṁsa. Alexander's invasion produced one indirect result. It helped the cause of Indian unity by destroying the power of the petty states of north-west India, just as the Danish invasion contributed to the union of England under Wessex by destroying the independence of Northumbria and Mercia. If Ugrasena-Mahāpadma was the precursor of Chandragupta Maurya in the east, Alexander was the · forerunner of that emperor in the north-west. 1 Inv. Alex, pp. 293, 354 ; Bury, History of Greece for Beginners, p. 433.; Camb. Hist. Ind., 1.376f. 2. For the nationality of Tushāspha and significance of the term "Yavana," see Raychaudhuri, Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, 2nd Ed., pp. 28f, 3 Schoff's tr., p. 41. 4 Geiger's tr., p. 194. Page #293 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER IV. THE MAURYA EMPIRE : THE ERA OF DIGVIJAYA SECTION I. THE REIGN OF CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA. Mlechchhairudvejyamānā bhujayugamadhunā samśritā rājamūrtteh Sa Śrímadbandhubhịtyaśchiramavatu mahim pārthivas-Chandraguptah. -Mudrārākshasa. In B.C. 326 the flood of Macedonian invasion had overwhelmed the Indian states of the Pañjāb, and was threatening to burst upon the Madhyadleśa. Aġrammes was confronted with a crisis not unlike that which Arminius had to face when Varus carried the Roman Eagle to the Teutoburg Forest, or which Charles Martel had to face when the Saracens carried the Crescent towards the field of Tours. The question whether India was, or was not, to be Hellenized awaited decision. Agrammes was fortunate enough to escape the onslaught of Alexander. But it is doubtful whether he had the ability or perhaps the inclination to play the part of an Arminius or a Charles Martel, had the occasion arisen. But there was at this time another Indian who was made of different stuff. This was Chandragupta, the Sandrokoptos ( Sandrokottos etc. ) of the classical writers. The rise of Chandragupta is thus described by Justin :1 "India after the death of Alexander had shaken, as it were, the yoke of servitude from its neck and put his governors to death. The author of this liberation was 1 Watson's tr., p. 142 with slight emendations, Page #294 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE RISE OF CHANDRA GUPTA Sandrocottus. This man was of humble origin, but was stimulated to aspire to regal power by supernatural encouragement; for, having offended Alexander1 by his boldness of speech and orders being given to kill him, he saved himself by swiftness of foot; and while he was lying asleep, after his fatigue, a lion of great size having come up to him, licked off with his tongue the sweat that was running from him and after gently waking him, left him. Being first prompted by this prodigy to conceive hopes of royal dignity he drew together a band of robbers, and solicited the Indians to support his new sovereignty. 3 Sometime after, as he was going to war with the generals of Alexander, a wild elephant of great bulk presented itself before him of its own accord and, as if tamed down to gentleness, took him on its back and became his guide in the war and conspicuous in fields of battle. Sandrocottus thus acquired a throne when Seleucus was laying the foundations of his future greatness." The above account, shorn of its marvellous element, amounts to this, that Chandragupta, a man of nonmonarchical rank, placed himself at the head of the 265 1 Some modern scholars propose to read 'Nandrum' (Nanda) in place of 'Alexandrum.' Such conjectural emendations by modern editors often mislead students who have no access to original sources and make the confusion regarding the early career of Chandragupta worse confounded (cf. Indian Culture, Vol. II, No. 3, p. 558; for 'boldness of speech', cf. Grote XII. 141, case of Kleitus, and pp. 147 ff, case of Kallisthenes) 2 The original expression used by Justin has the sense of 'mercenary soldier' as well as that of 'robber'. And the former sense is in consonance with Indian tradition recorded by Hemachandra in the Parisishṭaparvan (VIII, 253-54): Dhatuvadoparjitena dravinena Chaniprasuḥ chakrepattyadi samagrim Nandamuchchhettumudyataḥ. i.e., Chanakya gathered for Chandragupta an army with wealth found underground, (lit 'with the aid of mineralogy') for the purpose of uprooting Nanda. 3 According to the interpretation accepted by Hultzsch-instigated the Indians to overthrow the existing government.' Q. P. 90-34, Page #295 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 266 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Indians who'chafed under the Macedonian yoke, and after Alexander's departure defeated his generals and "shook the yoke of servitude from the neck" of India. The verdict of the Hydaspes was thus reversed.** The ancestry of Chandragupta is not known for certain. Hindu literary tradition connects him with the Nanda dynasty of Magadha.? Tradition recorded in Mediaeval inscriptions, however, represents the Maurya family (from which he sprang) as belonging to the solar race. "From Māndhātri, a prince of that race, sprang the Maurya line." In the Rājputāna Gazetteer," the Moris (Mauryas) are described as a Rājput clan. Jaina tradition recorded in the Parisishţaparvans represents Chandragupta as the son of a daughter of the chief of a village of peacock-tamers (Mayūra 1 The anti-Macedonian movement led by Chandragupta, and those who co-operated with him, probably began in Sind. The Macedonian Satrap of that province withdrew before 321 B.C. Ambhi and the Paurava remained in possession of portions of the Western and Central Pañjāb and some adjoining regions till sometime after the Triparadeisos agreement of 321 B.C. 2 The Mudrārākshasa calls him not only Mauryaputra (Act II, verse 6) but also Nandānvaya (Act IV). Kshemendra and Somadeva refer to him as Purvananda-sūta, son of the genuine Nanda, as opposed to Yoga-Nanda. The commentator on the Vishnu Purāna (IV, 24-Wilson IX, 187) says that Chandragupta was the son of Nanda by a wife named Murā, whence he and his descendants were called Mauryas. Dhundirāja, the commentator on the Mudrārākshasa, informs us on the other hand that Chandragupta was the eldest son of Maurya who was the son of the Nanda king Sarvārthasiddhi by Murā, daughter of a Vrishala (Śūdra ?). 3 Ep. Ind.; II. 222. The Mahāvansaţikā also connects the Mauryas with the sākyas who, as is well-known, claimed to belong to the race of Aditya (the Sun): Cf. also Avadānakalpalatā, No. 59. 4 II A, the Mewar Residency, compiled by Major K. D. Erskine (p. 14). 5 Page 56 ; VIII. 229f. Page #296 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE MAURYAS OF PIPPHALIVANA 267 poshaka). The Mahavamsa calls him a scion of the Khattiya clan styled Moriya (Maurya). In the Divyāvadāna3 Bindusara, the son of Chandragupta, claims to be an anointed Kshatriya, Kshatriya Murdhabhishikta. In the same work Aśoka, the son of Bindusara, calls himself a Kshatriya. In the Mahaparinibbana Sutta 5 the Moriyas are represented as the ruling clan of Pipphalivana, and as belonging to the Kshatriya caste. As the Mahaparinibbāna Sutta is the most ancient of the works referred to above, and forms part of the early Buddhist canon, its evidence should be preferred to that of later compositions. It is, therefore, practically certain that Chandragupta belonged to a Kshatriya community, viz., the Moriya (Maurya) clan. In the sixth century B. C. the Moriyas were the ruling clan of the little republic of Pipphalivana which probably lay between Rummindei in the Nepalese Tarai and Kasia in the Gorakhpur district. They must have been absorbed into the Magadhan empire along with the other states of Eastern India. Tradition avers that they were reduced to great straits in the fourth century B. C., and young Chandragupta grew up among peacock-tamers, herdsmen and hunters in the Vindhyan forest. The classical notices of his encounter with a lion and an 1 Buddhist tradition also testifies to the supposed connection between the expressions Moriya (Maurya) and Mora or Mayura (peacock)-see Turnour, Mahavamsa (Mahawansa). xxxix f. Aelian informs us that tame peacocks were kept in the parks of the Maurya Palace at Pataliputra. Sir John Marshall points out that figures of peacocks were employed to decorate some of the projecting ends of the architraves of the east gateway at Sanchi (A Guide to Sanchi, pp. 44, 62). Foucher (Monuments of Sanchi, 231) does not regard these birds as a sort of canting badge for the dynasty of the Mauryas. He apparently prefers to imagine in them a possible allusion to the Mora Jātaka. 2 Geiger's Translation, p. 27. Moriyanam Khattiyanam vamse jäta. 3 Cowell and Neil's Ed., p. 370. 4 Page 409. 5 SBE., XI, pp. 134-135. .. Page #297 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 268 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA elephant accord well with his residence amidst the wild denizens of that sequestered region. During the inglorious reign of Agrammes, when there was general disaffection amongst his subjects, the Moriyas evidently came into prominence, probably under the leadership of Chandragupta. These clansmen were no longer rulers and were merely Magadhan subjects. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that Justin calls Chandragupta a man of humble origin. Plutarch, as well as Justin, informs us that Chandragupta paid a visit to Alexander. Plutarch says 1 "Androkottus himself, who was then a lad, saw Alexander himself and afterwards used to declare that Alexander might easily have conquered the whole country, as the then king was hated by his subjects on account of his mean and wicked disposition." From this passage it is not unreasonable to infer that Chandragupta visited Alexander with the intention of inducing the conqueror to put an end to the rule of the tyrant of Magadha. His conduct may be compared to that of Rānā Samgrāma Simha who invited Babur to put an end to the regime of Ibrahim Lūudi. Apparently Chandragupta found Alexander as stern a ruler as Agrammes, for we learn from Justin that the Macedonian king did not scruple to give orders to kill the intrepid Indian lad for his boldness of speech. The young Maurya apparently thought of ridding his country of both the oppressors, Macedonian as well as Indian. With the help of Kautilya, also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, son of a Brāhmaṇa of Taxila, he is said to have over 1 Life of Alexander lxii. 2 Regarding the conduct of Samgrama Simha, see Tod's Rajasthan, vol, I, p. 240, n. (2). Anne Susannah Beveridge, the Babur-nama in English, Vol. II, p. 529. 3 As already stated the substitution of 'Nanda' for Alexander cannot be justified. Page #298 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAURYA EXPANSION IN THE SOUTH 269 thrown the infamous Nanda. Traditional accounts of the conflict between Chandragupta and the last Nanda are preserved in the Milindapañího, the Purāņas, the Mudrārākshasa, the Mahāvamsa Tīlcā and the Jaina Parišishțaparvan. The Milindapañho 1 tells us that the Nanda army was commanded by Bhaddasāla. The Nanda troops were evidently defeated with great slaughter, an exaggerated account of which is preserved in the Milindapañho. "Sometime after” his acquisition of sovereignty, Chandragupta went to war with the prefects or generals of Alexander 2 and crushed their power. The overthrow of the Nandas, and the liberation of the Pañjāb were not the only achievements of the great Maurya. Plutarch tells us 3 that he overran and subdued the whole of India with an army of 600,000 men. Justin also informs us that he was "in possession of India.” In his Beginnings of South Indian History, 4 Dr. S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar says that Māmulanār, an ancient Tamil author, makes frequent allusions to the Mauryas in the past having penetrated with a great army as far as the Podiyil Hill in the Tinnevelly district. The statements, of this author are said to be supported by Parañar or Param Korranār and Kallil Āttiraiyanār. The advanced party of the invasion was composed of a warlike people called Kožar. The invaders advanced from the Konkan, passing the hills Elilmalai, about sixteen miles north of Cannanore, and entered the Kongu (Coimbatore) district, ultimately going as far as the Podiyil Hill (Malaya ?). 1 SBE., Vol XXXVI, p. 147. 2 Cf. Smith, Asoka, third edition, p. 14 n. For the relative date of the assumption of sovereignty and the war with the prefects see Indian Culture, II, No. 3, pp 559 ff. - 3 Alex. LXII. . 14 Chap. II, cf JRAS, 1924, 666. 5 For the Kośar see Indian Culture, I, pp. 97 ff. Ci Kośakāra. Page #299 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 270 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Unfortunately the name of the Maurya leader is not given. But the expression Vamba Moriyar, or Maurya upstarts, would seem to suggest that the first Maurya, i.e., Chandragupta, and his adherents were meant. Certain Mysore inscriptions refer to Chandragupta's rule in North Mysore. Thus one epigraph says that Nāgarkhanda in the Shikārpur Tāluq was protected by the wise Chandragupta, "an abode of the usages of eminent Kshatriyas.” 3 . This is of the fourteenth century and little reliance can be placed upon it. But when the statements of Plutarch, Justin, Māmulanār, and the Mysore inscriptions referred to by Rice, are read together, they seem to suggest that the first Maurya did conquer a considerable portion of trans-Vindliyan India. Whatever we may think of Chandragupta's connection with Southern India, there can be no doubt that he pushed his conquests as far as Surāshțra in Western India. The Junāgadh Rock inscription of the Mahākshatrapa Rudradāman refers to his Rāshtriya or High 1 Beginnings of South Indian History, p. 89. Cf. Maurye nave rājani (Mudrārākshasa, Act IV). ** 2 Barnett suggests (Camb. Hist. Ind., I. 596) that the 'Vamba Moriyar' or 'Bastard Mauryas' were possibly a branch of the Konkani Mauryas. But there is hardly any genuine historical record of the penetration of the Mauryas of the Konkan deep into the southern part of the Tamil country. For other suggestions, see TRAS., 1923, pp. 93-96. Some Tamil scholars hold that "the Moriyar were not allowed to enter Tamilakam, and the last point they reached was the Venkata hill" (IHQ., 1928, p. 145). They also reject Dr. Aiyangar's statement about the Košar. But the view that the arms of Chandragupta possibly reached the Pandya country in the Far South of India which abounded in pearls and gems receives some confirmation from the Mudrārākshasa, Act III, verse 19, which suggests that the supremacy of the first Maurya eventually extended from the lord of mountains (the Himālayas), cooled by showers of the spray of the divine stream (Ganges) playing about among its rocks, to the shores of the southern ocean (Dakshiņārnava) marked by the brilliance of gems flashing with various colours." The description, however, may be purely conventional. 3 Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, p. 10. Fleet, however, is sceptical about the Jaina tradition (Ind. Ant, 1892, 156 ff.). Cf. also JRAS, 1911, 814-17. Page #300 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE SELEUKIDAN WAR Commissioner, Pushyagupta, the Vaisya, who constructed the famous Sudarsana Lake.1 271 Reference has already been made to an Aramaic Inscription from Taxila which mentions the form Priyadarśana, a well-known epithet of Aśoka Maurya. But it is well to remember that in the Mudrarakshasa Piadamsana is used as a designation of Chandasiri or Chandragupta himself. Further, in Rock Edict VIII of Asoka, his ancestors, equally with himself, are styled Devanampiya. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to conclude that, like his famous grandson, Chandragupta, too, was known as 'Devanampiya Piyadasi' (or 'Priyadarśana'), and it is not always safe to ascribe all epigraphs that make mention of Priyadarsana, irrespective of their contents, to Asoka the Great. The Seleukidan War. We learn from Justin that when Chandragupta acquired his throne in India Seleukos (Seleucus), a general of Alexander, was laying the foundations of his future greatness. Seleukos was the son of Antiochos, a distinguished general of Philip of Macedon, and his wife Laodike. After the division of the Macedonian Empire among the followers of Alexander he carried on several. wars in the east. He first took Babylon, and then his 1 The subjugation of the whole of Northern India (Udichi) from the Himalayas to the sea is probably suggested by the following passage of the Kauṭiliya Arthaśāstra (IX, 1) traditionally ascribed to a minister of Chandragupta, "Deśaḥ Prithivi; tasyam Himavat Samudrāntaram Udichinam yojanasahasra parimanam atiryak Chakravarti-Kshetram." Cf. Mudrarakshasa, Act III. Verse 19. 2 Act VI. 3 Watson's tr., p. 143. 4 Seleukos obtained the satrapy of Babylon first after the agreement of Triparadeisos (321 B.C.) and afterwards in 312 B.C. from which year his era is dated. In 306 B.C., he assumed the title of king (Camb. Anc. His., VII, 161 Camb. Hist. Ind., I, 433). Page #301 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 272 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA strength being increased by this success, subdued the Bactrians. He next made an expedition into India. Appianus says that he crossed the Indus and waged war on Chandragupta, king of the Indians, who dwelt about it, until he made friends and entered into relations of marriage ? with him. Justin also observes that after making a league with Chandragupta, and settling his affairs in the east, Seleukos proceeded to join in the war against Antigonos (301 B. C.). Plutarch supplies us with the information that Chandragupta presented 500 elephants to Seleukos. More important details are given by Strabo who says :3 "The Indians occupy (in part) some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians : Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements (or provinces) of his own. But Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus in consequence of a marriage contract, and received in turn 500 elephants.” “The Indians occupied a larger portion of Ariana, which they had received from the Macedonians.”* It will be seen that the classical writers do not give us any detailed record of the actual conflict between Seleukos and Chandragupta. They merely speak of the results. There can be no doubt that the invader could not make much headway, and concluded an alliance which was cemented by a marriage contract. In his Asoka: Dr. Smith observes that the current notion that the Syrian 1 Syr. 55; Ind. Ant., Vol VI. p. 114, Hultzsch, xxxiv. 2 Appianus uses the clear term kedos (connection by marriage), and Strabo (XV) only an epigamia. The cession of territory in consequence of the marriage contract clearly suggests that the wedding did take place. 3 H. & F., III, p. 125. 4 Ibid, p. 78. Tarn, Greeks in Bactria and India 100, 5 Third Ed., p. 15. Page #302 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MEGASTHENES 273 king 'gave his daughter in marriage' to Chandragupta is not warranted by the evidence, which testifies merely to a 'matrimonial alliance. But the cession of territory “in consequence of the epigamia” may rightly be regarded as a dowry given to a bridegroom. The Indian Emperor obtained some of the provinces situated along the Indus which formerly belonged to the Persians. The ceded country comprised a large portion of Ariana itself, a fact ignored by Tarn. In exchange the Maurya monarch gave the "comparatively small recompense of 500 elephants”. It is believed that the territory ceded by the Syrian king included the four satrapies : Aria, Arachosia, Gedrosia and the Paropanisadai, i.e., Herat, Kandahār, Makrān and Kābul. Doubts have been entertained about this by several scholars including Tarn. The inclusion of the Kābul valley within the Maurya Empire is, however, proved by the inscriptions of Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, which speak of the Yonas and Gandhāras as vassals of the Empire. And the evidence of Strabo probably points to the cession by Seleukos of a large part of the Iranian Tableland besides the riparian provinces on the Indus. Megasthenes We learn from the classical writers that after the war the Syrian and Indian Emperors lived on friendly terms. Athenaiog tells us, that Chandragupta sent presents including certain powerful aphrodisiacs to the Syrian monarch. Seleukos sent an envoy to the Maurya court, whose name was Megasthenes. Arrian tells 1 Inv. Alex., p. 405. Cf. Smith, EHI, 4th ed., p. 153. The treaty between Chandragupta and Seleukos ushered in a policy of philhellenism which bore fruit in the succeeding reigns. In the days of Bindusāra and Asoka there was not only an exchange of embassies with the Hellenistic powers of the West, but the services of Greek philosophers and administrators were eagerly sought by the imperial government. Q. P. 90-35. Page #303 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 274 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA ugthat Megasthenes originally lived with Sibyrtios, the satrap of Arachosia. He was sent from thence to Pātaliputra where he often visited the Maurya Emperor; and wrote a history on Indian affairs. The work of Megasthenes has been lost. The fragments that survive in quotations by later authors like Strabo, Arrian, Diodoros and others, have been collected by Schwanbeck, and translated into English by McCrindle. As Professor Rhys Davids observes, Megasthenes possessed very little critical . judgment, and was, therefore, often misled by wrong information received from others. But he is a truthful witness concerning matters which came under his personal observation. The most important piece of information supplied by him is, as Rhys Davids pointed out, the description of Pāțaliputra which Arrian quotes in Chapter X of his Indica : "The largest city in India, named Palimbothra, is in the land of the Prasians, where is the confluence of the river Erannobaos ? and the Ganges, which is the greatest of rivers. The Erannobaos would be third of the Indian rivers................. Megasthenes says that on the side where it is longest this city extends 80 stades (91 miles) in length, and that its breadth is fifteen (1. miles); that the city has been surrounded with a ditch in breadth 6 plethra (606 feet), and in depth 30 cubits; and that its wall has 570 towers and 64 gates." There were many other cities in the empire besides Pāțaliputra. Arrain says, "It would not be possible to record with accuracy the number of the cities on account of their multiplicity. Those which are situated ...1 Chinnock's tr., p. 254. 2. Erannobaos = Hiranyavāha, i.e., the soņa (Harshacharita, Pārab's ed., 1918, p. 19). Cf. Anušonam Pāțaliputram" (Patañjali, II, 1.2). For references to "Pāțaliputra in a Tamil classic" see Aiyangar Com. Vol. 355 ff. 3 Cf. Patañjali, IV. 3.2: "Pataliputrakāḥ prāsādāh Pāšaliputrakāḥ prākārā iti." Page #304 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PALACE OF CHANDRAGUPTA 275 near the rivers or the sea are built of wood; for if they were built of brick they could not long endure on account of the rain and because the rivers overflowing their banks fill the plains with water. But those which have been founded in commanding places, lofty and raised above the adjacent country, are built of brick and mortar." The most important cities of Chandragupta's empire besides the metropolis, were Taxila, Ujjain, Kausambi and possibly Pundranagara.1 2 Elian gives the following account of the palace of Chandragupta. "In the Indian royal palace where the greatest of all the kings of the country resides, besides much else which is calculated to excite admiration, and with which neither Susa, nor Ekbatana can vie (for, methinks, only the well-known vanity of the Persians could prompt such a comparison 3), there are other wonders besides. In the parks tame peacocks are kept, and pheasants which have been domesticated; there are shady groves and pasture ground planted with trees, and branches of trees which the art of the woodsman has deftly interwoven ; while some trees are native to the soil, others are brought from other parts, and with their beauty enhance the charms of the landscape. Parrots 1 Pundranagara has been identified with Mahasthanagarh in the Bogra District of Bengal. The identification seems to be confirmed by an inscription, written in early Mauryan Brahmi character, which has recently been discovered at Mahasthāna. The record makes mention of Pumḍanagala and its storehouse filled with coins styled Gandakas, Kakanikas, etc, and refers to a people called Saḍvargikas. (Barua, IHQ, 1934, March, 57 ff; D. R. Bhandarkar, Ep., Ind., April, 1931, 83 ff.; P. C. Sen, IHQ., 1933, 722 ff.) Dr. Bhandarkar reads Sa(m)va(m)giya in the place of Sadvargika which is more plausibly suggested by Dr. Barua. If the record really belongs to the early Maurya period the reference to coins is interesting. Dr. K. P. Jayaswal thinks that coins of the Maurya age bear certain symbols that can be recognized (cf. JRAS, 1936, 437 ff.). 2 The "Suganga" palace was the favourite resort of Chandragupta (JRAS., ́ 1923, 587.) 3 The statement should be remembered by those modern writers who find traces of Persian influence in Maurya architecture. Page #305 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 276 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA are natives of the country, and keep hovering about the king and wheeling round him, and vast though their numbers be, no Indian ever eats a parrot. The Brachmans honour them highly above all other birds-because the parrot alone can imitate human speech. Within the palace grounds are artificial ponds in which they keep fish of enormous size but quite tame. No one has permission to fish for these except the king's sons while yet in their boyhood. These youngsters amuse themselves while fishing in the unruffled sheet of water and learning how to sail their boats." I The imperial palace probably stood close to the modern village of Kumrahār. The unearthing of the ruins of the Maurya pillar-hall and palace near Kumrahār, said to have been built on the model of the throne-room and palace of Darius at Persepolis, led Dr. Spooner to propound the theory that the Mauryas were Zoroastrians.3 Dr. Smith observed that the resemblance of the Maurya buildings with the Persian palace at Persepolis was not definitely established. Besides, as Professor Chanda observes, "Ethnologists do not recognize high class architecture as test of race, and in the opinion of experts the buildings of Dariug and Xerxes at Persepolis are not Persian in style, but are mainly dependent on Babylonian models and bear traces of the influence of ot and Asia Minor." We learn from Strabo* that the king usually remained within the palace under the protection of female guards! Gree 1 MoCrindle, Ancient India as described in Classical Literature, pp. 141-42. 2 Smith, The Oxford History of India p. 77. Macphail, Asoka. pp. 23-25. 3 J.R.A.S., 1915, pp. 63 ff, 405 ff. ; 4 H. & F.'s Tr., Vol. III, p. 106 ; cf. Smith, EHI., 3rd ed., p. 123. 5 The same writer tells us that these women were bought from their parents, In view of this statement it is rather surprising that Megasthenes is quoted as saying that none of the Indians employed slaves. Note also the story narrated by Page #306 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHANDRÁGUPTA'S GOVERNMENT 277 (cf. strî ganair dhanvihhih of the Arthaśāstra) and appeared in public only on four occasions, viz., in time of war ; to sit in his court as a judge ; to offer sacrifice and to go on hunting expeditions. Chandragupta's Government Chandragupta was not only a great soldier and conqueror, he was a great administrator. Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador at his court, has left detailed accounts of his system of government. The edict of his grandson Asoka, and the Arthaśāstra attributed to his minister, Kautilya, confirm in many respects the particulars of the organisation of the empire given by the distinguished envoy. The Arthaśāstra certainly existed before Bāņa (seventh century A.D.) and the Nandisātra of the Jainas (not later than the fifth century A.D.). But it is doubtful if, in its present shape, it is as old as the time of the first Maurya. Reference to Chinapatta China silk, whicb, be it remembered, occurs frequently in classical Sanskrit literature, points to a later date, as China was clearly outside the horizon of the early Mauryas, and is unknown to Indian epigraphy before the Nāgārjunikonda inscriptions. Equally noteworthy is the use of Sanskrit as the official language, a feature not characteristic of the Maurya epoch. A date as late as the Gupta period is, however, precluded by the absence of any reference to the Denarius in the sections dealing with weights and coins. Quite in keeping with this view is the reference to the Arthaśāstra contained in Jaina canonical works that were reduced to writing in the Gupta age. We have already adduced grounds for believing that the Arthaśāstra probably existed before the second century A.D. Though Athenaios that Amitrochates (i.e., Bindusāra) begged Antiochos Soter to buy and send him a professor (Monahan, The Early History of Bengal, pp. 164, 176, 179). 1 P. 9 f. ante. Page #307 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 278 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA a comparatively late work, it may be used, like the Junāgadh' Inscription of Rudradāman, to confirm and supplement the information gleaned from earlier sources. The Supreme Government consisted of two main parts : 1. The Rājā, and 2. The Councillors” and “Assessors” (Mahāmā tras, and Amātyas or Sachivas). The Rājā or sovereign was the head of the state. He was considered to be a mere mortal, though a favoured mortal, the beloved of the deities. The possession of the material resources of a great empire and control over a vast standing army gave him real power. But there was a body of ancient rules, Porāņā pakitī, which even the most masterful despot viewed with respect. The people were an important element of the state. They were looked upon as children for whose welfare the head of the state was responsible, and to whom he owed a debt which could only be discharged by good government. There was a certain amount of decentralisation, notably in the sphere of local government, and there was usually at the imperial headquarters, and also at the chief centres of provincial government, a body of ministers who had a right to be consulted specially in times of emergency. Nevertheless the powers of the king were extensive. He had military, judicial, legislative, as well as executive functions. We have already seen that one of the occasions when he left his palace was war. He considered plans of military operations with his Senāpatį or Commander. in-Chief. 1 Cf. ante 198n 10. 2. Cf. Strabo, XV. i ; and Kautilya Bk. X. 3. Kaut., p. 38. In the last days of the Maurya empire we find the Senāpati Overshadowing the king and transferring to himself the allegiance of the troops. Page #308 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE MAURYA KINGSHIP 279 He also sat in his court to administer justice. "He remains there all day thus occupied, not suffering himself to be interrupted even though the time arrives for attending to his person. This attention to his person consists of friction with pieces of wood, and he continues to listen to the cause, while the friction is performed by four attendants who surround him."1 The Kautiliya Arthasastra says, "when in the court, he (the king) shall never cause his petitioners to wait at the door, for when a king makes himself inaccessible to his people and - entrusts his work to his immediate officers, he may be sure to engender confusion in business, and to cause thereby public disaffection, and himself a prey to his enemies. He shall, therefore, personally attend to the business of gods, of heretics, of Brahmanas learned in the Vedas, of cattle, of sacred places, of minors, the aged, the afflicted, the helpless and of women ;-all this in order (of enumeration) or according to the urgency or pressure of those works. All urgent calls he shall hear once." at As to the king's legislative function we should note that the Kautilîya Arthasastra calls him "dharma-pravartaka," and includes Rājaśāsana among the sources of law. As instances of royal "Sasanas" or rescripts may be mentioned the Edicts of Aśoka, the famous grandson of Chandragupta. Among executive functions of the king, our authorities mention the posting of watchmen, attending to the accounts of receipts and expenditure, appointment of ministers, priests and superintendents, correspondence with the Mantriparishad or Council of Ministers, collection 1 H. & F., Strabo III, pp. 106-107. 2 Shamasastry's translation, p. 43. 3 Bk. III, Chap. I. Page #309 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 280 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of the secret information gathered by spies, reception of envoys, etc. 1 It was the king who laid down the broad lines of policy and issued rescripts for the guidance of his officers and the people. Control was maintained over the most distant officials by an army of secret reporters and overseers and, in the days of Chandragupta's grandson, by itinerant judges. Communication with them was kept up by a network of roads, and garrisons were posted at strategic points. Kautilya holds that Rajatva (sovereignty) is possible only with assistance. A single wheel can never move. Hence the king shall employ Sachivas and hear their opinion. The Sachivas or Amātyas of Kautilya correspond to the "seventh caste" of Megasthenes which assisted the king in deliberating on public affairs. This class was small in numbers, but in wisdom and justice excelled all the others.3 The most important amongst the Sachivas or Amātyas were undoubtedly the Mantrins or High Ministers, probably corresponding to the Mahāmātras of Aśoka's Rock Edict VI and the "advisers of the king" referred to by Diodoros.* They were selected from those Amūtyas whose character had been tested under all kinds of allurements. They were given the highest salary, viz., 48,000 paņas per annum. They assisted the king in examining 1 Kautilya, Bk. 1, Ch. xvi; xvii; Bk. VIII, Ch. i. Cf. Asoka's Rock Edicts III (regulation about alpa vyayatā and alpa bhāndatā). V (appointment of high officials), VI (relations with the Parishad, and collection of information from the Pațivedakā), and XIII (diplomatic relations with foreign powers). 2 Cf. Manu, VII. 55. 3 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 413. 4 II, 41. 5 Sarvopadhā śuddan Mantrinah kuryāt.-Arthaśāstra, 1919, p. 17. For upadhā see also the Junāgadh Rock Inscription of Skanda Gupta. 6 Kautilya, p. 247. According to Smith (EHI, 4th ed., p. 149) the value of a silver pana may be taken as not far from a shilling, Page #310 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE MAURYA MINISTERS 281 5 the character of the Amatyas who were employed in ordinary departments. All kinds of administrative measures were preceded by consultation with three or four of them.2 In works of emergency (atyayike karye) they were summoned along with the Mantriparishad.3 They exercised a certain amount of control over the Imperial Princes. They accompanied the king to the battle-field, and gave encouragement to the troops. Kautilya was evidently one of those Mantrins. Another minister (or Pradeshtri ?) was apparently Maniyatappo, a Jațilian, who helped the king to "confer the blessings of peace on the country by extirpating marauders who were like unto thorns."6 That there were at times more than one Mantrin is proved by the use of the plural Mantrinah. In addition to the Mantrins there was the Mantriparishad, i.e., Assembly of Counsellors or Council of Ministers. The existence of the Parishad as an important element of the Maurya constitution is proved by the third and sixth Rock Edicts of Asoka." The members of the Mantriparishad were not identical with the Mantrins. In several passages of Kautilya's Arthasastra the Mantrins are sharply distinguished from the Mantriparishad. The latter evidently occupied an inferior position. Their salary was only 12,000 panas, whereas the salary of a Mantrin was 48,000. They do not appear to have been consulted on ordinary occasions, but were summoned 1 Ibid, p. 16. 2 Ibid, pp. 26, 28. 3 Ibid, p. 29 Cf. Aśoka's Rock Edict VI. 4 Ibid, p. 333. 5 Ibid, p. 368. Cf. the Udayagiri Inscription of Śaba. 6 Turnour's Mahāvamsa, p. xlii. The evidence is late. 7 Note also Pliny's reference to noble and rich Indians who sit in council with the king (Monahan, The Early History of Bengal, 148); cf. Mbh. iii, 127. 8. Amatyaparshad; xii, 320, 139 Amatya Samiti. - 8 Cf. pp. 20, 29, 247. O. P. 90-36. Page #311 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 282 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA along with the Mantrins when Ātyayika kārya, i.e., works of emergency had to be transacted. The king was to be guided by the decision of the majority (Bhūyishthāh). They also attended the king at the time of the reception of envoys. From the passage "Mantriparishadam dvādaśāmātyān kurvita”_"the Council of Ministers should consist of twelve Amātyas,” it appears that the Parishad used to be recruited from all kinds of Amātyas (not necessarily from Mantrins alone). From Kautilya's denunciation of a king with a "Kshudraparishad," a small council, his rejection of the views of the Mānavas, Bārhaspatyas and the Aušanasas, his preference for an "Akshudra-parishad," a council that is not small, and his reference to Indra's Parishad of a thousand ķishis, it may be presumed that he wanted to provide for the need of a growing empire. Such an empire was undoubtedly that of Chandragupta who may have been prevailed upon by his advisers to constitute a fairly big assembly. Besides the Mantrins and the Mantriparishad, there was another class of Amātyas who filled the great administrative and judicial appointments. The Kauțiliya Arthaśāstra says that the "dharmopadhāśuddha" Amatyas, officers purified by religious test, should be employed in 1 Arthāśāstra, 29. Cf. Mbh, iv. 30, 8. Asoka's R. E. VI. 2 Arthaśāstra, p. 45. 3 P. 259. 4 The Divyāvadāna (p. 372) refers to the five hundred councillors (Pañchāmātyaśatāni) of Bindusāra, son and successor of Chandragupta Maurya. Patañjali refers to Chandragupta Sabha. But we have no indication as to its constitution. 5 Cf. the Karma-Sachivas of the Junagadh Rock Inscription of Rudradāman 1. 6 P. 17. Cf. McCrindle, Megasthenes and Arrian, 1926, 41, 42. Page #312 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAURYA ADMINISTRATORS AND JUDGÈS 283 civili and criminialcourts ; the "arthopadhāśuddha" Amātyas, officers purified by money-test, should be employed as Samāhartri (“Chancellor of the Exchequer and Minister of the Interior") and Sannidhātri (High Treasurer and Keeper of Stores);: the "kāmopadhāsuddha” Amātyas, officials purified by love-test, should be appointed to superintend the pleasure grounds, the "bhayopadhūśuddha” Amātyas, officers purified by feartest, should be appointed to do work requiring immediate attention (āsanna kārya), while those who are proved to be impure should be employed in mines, timber and elephant forests, and manufactories. Untried Amātyas were to be employed in ordinary or insignificant departments (sāmānya adhikarana). Persons endowed with the qualifications required in an Amātya (Amātyasampadopeta) were appointed Nisrishțārthāh or Ministers Plenipotentiary, Lekhakas or Ministers of Correspondence, and Adhyakshas or Superintendents. The statements of the Kauțilīya Arthaśāstra regarding the employment of Amātyas as the chief executive and judicial officers of the realm, are confirmed by the classical writers. Strabo, for example, observes, “the seventh caste consists of counsellors and assessors (Symbouloi and Synedroi) of the king. To these persons belong the offices of state, tribunals of justice, and the whole 1 Civil (Dharmasthiya) Courts were established "in the cities of Sangra. hana (in the midst of a collection of ten villages), Dronamukha (in the centre of four hundred villages), Sthaniya (in the centre of eight hundred villages) and at places where districts met (Janapada-sandhi ; ?union of districts ;)," and consisted of three Dharmasthas (judges versed in the sacred law) and three Amātyas. 2 A Criminal (Kantakaśodhana) Court consisted of 3 Amātyas, or 3 Pradeshtris. The functions of the latter will be described later on. 3 For the duties of these officers see Kautilya's Arthaśāstra, Bk. II, 5-6, 35; Bk. IV, 4; Bk. V, 2. For the revenue system under the Mauryas, see Ghoshal, Hindu Revenue System, pp. 165 ff. 4 Cf. Nāgavana of Pillar Edict V. 5 H. & F., Vol. III, p. 103. Cf. Diodoros, II. 41. . Page #313 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 284 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA administration of affairs." Arrian also says, "from them are chosen their rulers, governors of provinces, deputies, treasurers, generals, admirals, controllers of expenditure, and superintendents of agriculture." The Adhyakshas who formed the pivot of the Kauţiliyan administration, are evidently referred to by Strabo as Magistrates in the following passage: "Of the Magistrates, some have the charges of the market, others of the city, others of the soldiery. Some1 have the care of the rivers, measure the land, as in Egypt, and inspect the closed reservoirs from which water is distributed by canals, so that all may have an equal use of it. These persons have charge also of the hunters, and have the power of rewarding or punishing those who merit either. They collect the taxes, and superintend the occupations connected with land, as wood-cutters, carpenters, workers in brass, and miners. They superintend the public roads, and place a pillar at every ten stadia to indicate the byways and distances. Those who have charge of the city (astynomoi) are divided into six bodies of five each. Next to the Magistrates of the city is a third body of governors, who have the care of military affairs. This class also consists of six divisions each composed of five persons." 1 One class of Adhyakshas, those in charge of women, are referred to in the Aśokan inscriptions. 2 "District" according to the Cambridge History of India, I, 417. 3 Cf. the Durga-rashtra-danda-mukhyas of Kautilya, Bk. XIII, Chs. III and V. 4 .e., the district officials (Agronomoi). 5 Each body was responsible for one of the following departments, viz., (1) the mechanical arts, (2) foreign residents, (3) registration of births and deaths, (4) trade, commerce, weights and measures, (5) supervision and sale of manufactured articles and (6) collection of tithes on sales, In their collective capacity they looked after public buildings, markets, harbours and temples. Prices were regulated by them. 6 Each division or Board was responsible for one of the following departments, viz., the navy, transport and commissariat (cf. Vishți karmani of Page #314 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BOARDS OF FIVE 285 The Magistrates in charge of the city and those in charge of military affairs are evidently the same as the Nagarādhyakshas and Balādhyakshas of the Arthaśāstra. 1 Dr. Smith remarks, "the Boards described by Megasthenes as in charge of the business of the capital and the army are unknown to the author (Kautilya), who contemplated each such charge as the duty of a single officer. The creation of the Boards may have been an innovation effected by Chandragupta personally.” But the historiary overlooks the fact that Kautilya distinctly says : "Bahumukhyam anityam chādhikaranam sthāpayet," "each department shall be officered by several temporary heads ;3 "Adhyakshāh Sankhyāyalca-Lekhaka-RūpadarśakaNivigrāhak-Ottarādhyaksha-salchāḥ karmūni kuryuh, “the Superintendents shall carry on their duties with the assistance of accountants, scribes, coin-examiners, stock-takers and additional secret overseers.” Evidently Dr. Smith notices only the Adhyakshas but ignores the existence of the Uttarādhyakshas and others. As in regard to the Arthaśāstra Smith notices only the Adhyakshas, so in regard to the classical accounts he takes note only of the Kautilya, Bk. X, Ch. iv), the infantry, the cavalry, the chariots and the elephants. In the śāntiparva of the Mahābhārata the divisions are stated to be six (CIII. 38) or eight (LIX. 41-42) : Rathā Nāgā Hayaśchaiva Pādātāśchaiva Pandava Vishțir Nāvas Charāśchaiva Deśikā iti chashtamam Angānyetāni Kauravya prakāśāni balasya tu "Chariots, elephants, horses, infantry, burden-carriers, ships, spies with local guides as the eighth-these are the open "limbs'' of a fighting force, O descendant of Kuru." The Raghuvainsa (IV, 26) refers to Shadvid ham balam. Cf. Mbh. V. 96. 16. 1 Mysore Ed., 1919, p. 55. Nagara-Dhānya-Vyāvahārika-KārmāntikaBaladhyakshäþ. Cf. Balapradhānā and Nigamapradhānāḥ of Mbh., V. 2. 6. 2 EHI, 1914, p. 141, - Cf. Monahan, Early History of Bengal, pp. 157-64, Stein, Megasthenes und Kautilya, pp. 233 ff. 3 Arthaśāstra, 1919, p. 60. On page 57 we have the following passageHasty-asva-ratha-padatam-aneka-mukhyam-avasthāpayet, i.e., elephants, cavalry chariots, and infantry shall each be placed under many chiefs. Page #315 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 286 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDİA Boards, but ignores the chiefs who are expressly mentioned in two passages, viz. "One division is associated with the Chief Naval Superintendent," "another (division) is associated with the person who has the charge of the bullock-teams." The Chief Naval Superintendent and the Person in Charge of the Bullock-teams, doubtless, correspond to the Nāvadhyaksha and the Go'dhyaksha of the Arthaśāstra. It is a mistake to think that the Nāvadhyaksha of the early Hindu period was a purelycivil official, for he was responsible for the destruction of Himsrikās (pirate ships ?) and the Mahabhārata2 clearly refers to the navy as one of the angas or limbs of the Royal Forces. The civil duties of the Navadhyaksha have their counterpart in those of Megasthenes’ Admiral relating to the “letting out of ships on hire for the transport both of passengers and merchandize.''3 Central popular assemblies like those that existed among the Lichchhavis, Mallas, Sākyas and other Sanghas had no place in the Maurya constitution. The custom of summoning a great assembly of Grāmikas or Village Headmen seems also to have fallen into disuse. The royal council gradually became an aristocratic body attended only by nobles and rich men. ... Administration of Justice At the head of the judiciary stood the king himself. Besides the royal court there were special tribunals of justice both in cities (nagara) and country parts (janapada) presided over by Vyāvahārika Mahāmātras and Rājūkas respectively. Greek writers refer to judges who listened 1 H. & F., Strabo, III, p. 104. 2- XII. lix, 41-42. 1.3 Strabo, XV, 1. 46. 4 Pliny quoted in Monahan's Early History of Bengal, 148.... Page #316 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PROVINCES OF THE EMPIRE = 287. to cases of foreigners. Petty cases in villages were doubtless decided by the headmen and the village elders. All our authorities testify to the severity of the penal code. But the rigours of judicial administration were sought to be mitigated by Asoka, grandson of Chandragupta, who meted out equal justice to all and instituted the system of itinerant Mahāmātras to check maladministration in the outlying provinces. Considerable discretion. was, however, allowed to the Rājukas. We are informed by Greek writers that "theft was a thing of very rare occurrence” among Indians. They express their surprise at this for they go on to observe that the people “have no written laws but are ignorant of writing, and conduct all matters by memory." The assertion about the Indians" ignorance of writing is hardly correct. Nearchus and Curtius record that Indians use pieces of closely woven linen and the tender bark of trees for writing on. Strabo: tells us that a philosopher who has any useful suggestion to offer, commits it to writing. Attention may also be invited to the marks on Mauryan pillars intended to show the by-roads and distances. Provincial Government The Empire was divided into a number of provinces which were subdivided into āhāras or vishayas (districts), because “No single „administration could support the Atlantean load.” The exact number of provinces in Chandragupta's time is unknown. In the time of his grandson, Asoka, there were at least five, viz. : : 1 1. Uttarāpatha ? capital, Taxila 2. Avantiraţtha 3 Ujjayini 1 Monahan, Early History of Bengal, pp. 143, 157, 167 f. 2 Divyāvadāna, p. 407. 3 The Questions of King Milinda, pt. II, p. 250n. Mahāvamsa, Ch. X III; Mahābodhivamsa, p. 98. Page #317 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 288 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA | 3. Dakshiņāpatha capital, Suvarnagiri (?) 4. Kalinga , Tosali 5. Prāchya, Prāchina (Prasii) ... Pāšaliputra. : Of these only the first two and the last one can be said, with any amount of certainty, to have formed parts of Chandragupta's Empire. But, it is not altogether improbable that Dakshiņāpatha, too, was one of Chandragupta's provinces. The outlying provinces were ruled by princes of the blood royal who were usually styled Kumāras. We learn from the Kautiliza Arthaśāstrathat the salary of a Kumāra was 12,000 paņas per annum. The Home Provinces, i.e., Prāchya and the Madhyadeśa (Eastern India and Mid-India), were directly ruled by the Emperor himself with the assistance of Mahāmātras or High Officers stationed in important cities like Pataliputra, Kaušāmbi, etc. Besides the Imperial Provinces Maurya India included a number of territories which enjoyed a certain amount of autonomy. Arrian refers to peoples who were autonomous and cities which enjoyed a democratic Government.The Kauțălîya Arthaśāstra* refers to a number of Sanghas, i.e., economic, military or political corporations or confederations evidently enjoying autonomy in certain matters, e.g., Kamboja, Surāshtra, etc. The Kambojas find prominent mention as a unit in the Thirteenth Rock Edict of Asoka. R. E. V. alludes to various nations or peoples on the western border (Aparātā) in addition to those named specifically. It is not improbable that Surāshtra was included among these nations which, judged by the title of its local rulers, enjoyed a . 1 Cf, the Questions of Milinda, II. 250n. 2 P. 247. 3 Monahan, The Early History of Bengal, 150; Chinnock, Arrian, 413. 4 P. 378. 5 I. H. 9. 1931, 631. Page #318 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE RĀSHTRIYA IN MAURYA INDIA 289 considerable amount of autonomy. The commentary on the Petavatthu refers to one of the local Rājas named Pingala, the contemporary of Asoka. Another contemporary, the Yavana-rāja Tushāspha finds mention in Rudradāman's inscription at Junāgadh. The Yavana-vāja was probably a Greek chief of the North-West who was appointed to look after the affairs of Surāshtra by Asoka, just as Rājā Mān Singh of Amber was appointed Subadār of Bengal by Akbar. His relations with Aśoka may also be compared to that subsisting between the Rājā of the sākya state and Pasenadi. In the time of the first Maurya Surāshtra had an officer named Pushyagupta, the Vaisya, who is described as a Rāshtriya of Chandragupta. In the Bombay Gazetteer, 3 the word Rāshtriya was taken to mean a brother-in-law. Kielhorn, however, in the Epigraphia Indica, 4 took the term to mean a provincial Governor. This rendering does not seem to be quite adequate because we have already seen that Surāshtra had possibly its group of Rājās in the Maurya Age and could not be regarded as an Imperial Province under a bureaucratic governor of the ordinary type. The Rāshtriya of the inscription seems to have been a sort of Imperial High Commissioner, 5 and the position of Pushyagupta in Surāshtra was probably like that of Lord 1 Law, Buddhist Conception of Spirits, 47 ff. 2 Attempts in recent times to assign Tushāspha to the post-Asokan period lack plausibility. In the Jupāgadh epigraph the name of the suzerain invariably accompanies that of the local ruler or officer. There is no reason to think that the relationship between Asoka and Tushāspha was different from that between Chandragupta and Pushyagupta, or between Rudradāman and Suviśākha. 3 Vol. I, Part I, p. 13. 4 Vol. VIII, p. 46. 5 Cf. the type met with in the Near East after the First World War. The High Commissioner acted for the defacto paramount power. His office does not preclude the possibility of the existence of a local potentate or potentates. Note also Wendel Wilkie's observations (One World, p. 13) on the British "ambassador" to Egypt who is "for all practical purposes its actual ruler." 0. P. 90—37. Page #319 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 290 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Cromer in Egypt. Neither the Arthasastra nor the edicts of Aśoka mention clearly any class of officials called Rashtriya.1 It is, however, probable, that the Rashtriya was identical with the Rashtrapala whose salary was equal to that of a Kumara or Prince.2 A hereditary bureaucracy does not seem to have come to existence in the early Maurya period at least in the territory of Surashtra. The assumption of the title of Raja by local rulers and the grant of autonomy to the Rajukas in the days of Asoka ultimately let loose centrifugal forces which must have helped in the dismemberment of the empire. Overseers and Spies The classical writers refer to a class of men called Overseers (Episkopoi) who "overlook what is done throughout the country and in the cities, and make report to the king where the Indians are ruled by a king, or the magistrates where the people have a democratic Govern 1 The Aśokan inscriptions however, mention the Rathikas and the Pali English Dictionary edited by Rhys Davids and Stede compares Raṭṭhika with Rashtriya. 2 Arthaśāstra, p. 247. For Rashtriya see also Mbh., XII. 85, 12; 87. 9. According to Amara (V. 14) a Rashtriya is a rajaśyala (brother-in-law of the king). But Kshirasvamin says in his commentary that except in a play a Rashtriya is a Rashṭradhikrita, i.e., an officer appointed to look after or supervise the affairs of a rashtra, state or province. Cf., the Macedonian episkopos. Note the position of Eudamos in relation to the Indian Rājās of the Panjab, and that of Pratipāra Tantrapālas of the tenth century A.D. Dr. Barua draws attention (in IC, X, 1944, pp. 88 ff.) to several texts including Buddhaghosha's statement that during a royal state-drive the place assigned to the Rashtriyas 'was just between the Mahāmātras and Brahmins shouting the joy of victory. They themselves were gorgeously dressed holding swords and the like in their hands. This may well be true. But the texts cited by him are not adequate enough to prove that in the days of Chandragupta Maurya the Rashṭrika or Rashtriya was nothing more than the foremost among the bankers, business magnates etc. who functioned as Mayors, Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace. The analogy of Tushaspha and Suvisakha mentioned in the same epigraph suggests that the Rashtriya here was a more exalted functionary, and that the evidence of Kshirasvamin cannot be lightly brushed aside. Page #320 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OVERSEERS AND SPIES 291 ment." 1 Strabo calls this class of men the Ephori or Inspectors. "They are," says he, "intrusted with the superintendence of all that is going on, and it is their duty to report privately to the king... The best and the most faithful persons are appointed to the office of Inspectors." 2 The Overseer of Arrian and the Inspector of Strabo may correspond to the Rashtriya of the Junagadh Inscription or to the Pradeshtri or the GudhaPurushas (secret emissaries) of the Arthasustra. Pradeshtri may be derived from Pradiś which means 'to point,' 'to communicate.' 3 Strabo speaks of different classes of Inspectors. He tells us that the City Inspectors employed as their coadjutors the city courtesans ; and the Inspectors of the Camp, the women who followed it. The employment of women of easy virtue as spies is also alluded to by the Kauṭiliya Artha sastra. According to that work there were two groups of spies, viz. : 1. Samsthaḥ, or stationary spies, consisting of secret agents styled Kāpaṭika, Udāsthita, Grihapatika, Vaidehaka and Tapasa, i.e., fraudulent disciples, recluses, householders, merchants and ascetics. 2. Sanchārāḥ or wandering spies, including emissaries termed Satri, Tikshna and Rashada, i.e., class-mates, firebrands and poisoners and certain women described as Bhikshukis (mendicants), Parivrājikās (wandering nuns), Mundas (shavelings) and Vrishalis. It is to the last class, viz., the Vrishalis that Strabo evidently refers. We 1 Chinnock, Arrian, p. 413. 2 H. and F., Strabo. III, p. 103. 3 Cf., Thomas, JRAS., 1915, p. 97. 4 Cf. Lüders, Ins. No. 1200. 5 A Vṛishali is taken to mean á ganika or courtesan by the author of the Bhagavadajjukiyam (p. 94). Page #321 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 292 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA have also explicit references to courtesan (punschali, veśyā, rūpājīvā) spies in the Arthaśāstra. " Care of Foreigners It is clear from the accounts of Diodoros 2 and Strabo 3 that the Maurya government took special care of foreigners. "Among the Indians officers are appointed even for foreigners, whose duty is to see that no foreigner is wronged. Should any one of them lose his health, they send physicians to attend him, and take care of him otherwise, and if he djes they bury him, and deliver over such property as he leaves to his relatives. The judges also decide cases in which foreigners are concerned with the greatest care and come down sharply on those who take unfair advantage of them.” 4 • Village Administration The administrative and judicial business of villages was, in Ancient India, carried on by the Grāmikas, Grāmabhojakas op Āyuktas who were, no doubt, assisted by the village elders. The omission of the Grāmika from the list of salaried officials given in the Arthaśāstra? is significant. It probably indicates that in the days of the author of the treatise the Grāmika was not a salaried 1 Pp. 224, 316 of the Arthaśāstra (1919). 2 II. 42, 3 XV. I. 50. 4 McCrindle, Megasthenes and Arrian, 1926, p. 42. 5 Fick, Social Organisation, 162 ; Arthaśāstra, pp. 157. 172. Cf. Lüders, Ins. Nos. 48, 69a, The Kalinga Edicts refer to Ayuktas who helped the princely viceroys and Mahāmātras in carrying out Imperial Policy. In the early PostMauryan and Scythian Age they are distinctly referred to as village officials (Lüders' List, No. 1347). In the Gupia Age the designation is applied to various functionaries including district officers. 6 Grāma-viddhas, Artha, pp. 48, 161, 169, 178. Cf Lüders, Ins., No. 1327. Rock Edicts, V and VIII refer to Mahālakas and Vriddhas. 7 Bk V, Ch. III. Page #322 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE 293 servant of the crown, but an elected 1 official of the villagers. The king's servant in the village was the Grāmabhritakaor Grāma-bhojaka.? Above the Grāmika the Arthaśāstra places the Gopa,4 who looked after 5 or 10 villages, and the Sthānika who controlled one quarter of a janapada or district. The work of these officers was supervised, according to that treatise by the Samāhartri with the help of the Pradeshtris. 5 Rural administration must have been highly efficient. We are told by Greek observers that the tillers of the soil received adequate protection from all injury and would devote the whole of their time to cultivation. Revenue and Expenditure The cost of civil and military administration even at the centre must have been enormous. The chief sources of revenue from villages were the Bhāga and the Bali. The Bhāga was the king's share of the produce of the soil which was normally fixed at one-sixth, though in special cases it was raised to one-fourth or reduced to one-eighth. Bali seems to bave been an extra impost from the payment of which certain tracts were exempted. According to Greek writers husbandmen paid, in addition to a fourth part of the produce of the soil, a land tribute because, according to their 1 There is, however, evidence to show that in early times adhikritas were appointed for villages by the paramount ruler (Praśna Upanishad, III. 4). 2 Artha, pp. 175, 248. 3 The Grāmabhojaka of the Jātakas was an amatya of the king (Fick, Social Organization in NE Ind. p. 160). 4 The Gopas proper do not find mention in early epigraphs, but Lüders' Ins. No. 1266, mentions "Senā-gopas." 5 Artha, pp. 142, 217. We do not know how far the system described in the treatise on polity applies to the early Maurya period. In the days of Asoka the work of supervision was done largely by special classes of Mahāmātras (cf. R.E.V. and the Kalinga Edicts), Pulisā (agents) and Rājukas (Pillar Edict. IV). Page #323 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 294 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA belief, "all India is the property of the crown and no private person is permitted to own land." Taxes on land were collected by the Agronomoi who measured the land and superintended the irrigation works. Other state dues included tribute and prescribed services from those who worked at trades, and cattle from herdsmen. In urban areas the main sources of revenue included birth and death taxes, fines and tithes on sales. The Mahabhashya of Patanjali has an interesting reference to the Mauryas' love of gold which led them to deal in images of deities. The distinction between taxes levied in rural and in fortified areas respectively is known to the Arthasastra which refers to certain high revenue functionaries styled the Samahartri and the Sannidhātri. No such officials are, however, mentioned in Maurya inscriptions. Greek writers, on the other hand, refer to 'treasurers of the state' or 'superintendents of the treasury'. army. A considerable part of the revenue was spent on the The artisans, too, received maintenance from the Imperial exchequer. Herdsmen and hunters received an allowance of grain in return for clearing the land of wild beasts and fowls. Another class which benefited from royal bounty were the philosophers among whom were included Brahmanas as well as Śramanas or ascetics. Vast sums were also spent for irrigation, construction of roads, erection of buildings and fortifications, and establishment of hospitals in the days of Chandragupta's grandson. The Last Days of Chandragupta Jaina tradition recorded in the Rajavalikathe1 avers that Chandragupta was a Jaina and that, when a great famine occurred, he abdicated in favour of his son 1 Ind. Ant., 1892, 157. Page #324 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE LAST DAYS OF CHANDRAGUPTA 295 Simhasena and repaired to Mysore where he died. Two inscriptions on the north bank of the Kaveri near Seringapatam of about 900 A.D., describe the summit of the Kalbappu Hill, i.e., Chandragiri, as marked by the footprints of Bhadravahu and Chandragupta Munipati.1 Dr. Smith observes :2 "The Jain tradition holds the field, and no alternative account exists." Chandragupta died about 300 B.C., after a reign of 24 years.3 If the Parisishṭaparvan of Hemachandra is to be believed Chandragupta had a queen named Durdhara who became the mother of Bindusara, the son who succeeded him on the throne. In the absence of corroborative evidence, however, the name of the queen cannot be be accepted as genuine. 1 Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, pp. 3-4. 2 The Oxford History of India, p. 76. As already stated, Fleet is sceptical about the Jaina tradition (Ind. Ant., 1892, 156 f.). According to Greek evidence Chandragupta was a follower of the sacrificial religion (see p. 277 ante). The epithet Vrishala applied to him in the Mudrarakshasa suggests that in regard to certain matters he did deviate from strict orthodoxy (Indian Culture, II, No. 3, pp. 558 ff. See also C. J. Shah, Jainism in Northern India, 135 n, 138). 3 For the date of Chandragupta Maurya see Indian Culture, Vol II, No. 3, 560 ff. Buddhist tradition of Ceylon puts the date 162 years after the parinirvana of the Buddha, i.c., in 382 B.C., if we take 544 B.C., to be the year of the Great Decease; and 324 B.C, if we prefer the Cantonese date 486 B.C., for the death of the Buddha. The earlier date is opposed to Greek evidence. The date 324 B. C., accords with the testimony of Greek writers. The Jaina date' 313 B.C., for Chandragupta's accession. if it is based on a correct tradition, may refer to his acquisition of Avanti in Malwa, as the chronological datum is found in a verse where the Maurya king finds mention in a list of successors of Palaka, king of Avanti. Cf. I.H.Q., 1929, p. 402. 4 VIII. 439-443, For another tradition see Bigandet, II. 128. pp. Page #325 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE REIGN OF BINDUSĀRA. Chandragupta Maurya was succeeded in or about the year 300 B.C. by his son Bindusāra Amitragbāta. The name or title Amitraghāta (slayer of foes) is a restoration in Sanskrit of the Amitrachates of Athenaios, and Allitrochades of Strabo, who is stated to have been the son of Sandrocottus. Fleet prefers the rendering Amitrakhāda or devourer of enemies, which is said to occur as an epithet of Indra. In the Rājāvalīlcathe the name of Chandragupta's son and successor is given as Simhasena. From Asoka's Rock Edict VIII (e.g. the Kālsi Text) it appears probable that Bindusāra, as well as other predecessors of Asoka, used the style Devānampiya. If the author of the Arya-Manjuri Μπλα Καιρα, Hemachandra and Tāranātha are to be believed, Kautilya or Chāṇakya continued to serve as minister for some time after the accession of Bindusāra.3 "Chāṇakya” says Tāranātha, "one of his (Bindusāra's) great lords, procured the destruction of the nobles and kings of sixteen 1 Cf., Weber, IA, ii (1873). p. 148, Lassen, and Cunningham (Bhilsa Topes, p. 92). The term Amitraghāta occurs in Patajñali's Mahābhāshya, III. 2. 2. Cf., also Mbh. 30. 19; 62. 8 ; VII. 22. 16, where Amitraghātin occurs as an epithet of princes and warriors. Dr. Jarl Charpentier observes (in Le Monde Oriental, quoted in Calcutta Review, May-June, 1926, p. 399), "that the Greek word Amitrachates as a synonym of Bindusāra, should be rendered Amitraghāta seems clear not only from the Mahābhāsya but also from the royal title amitrāņām hantā in Ait. Br., VIII. 17." In JRAS., 1928, January, however, he prefers to restore Amitrachates as Amitrakhāda (p. 135). Cf. Rig-veda, X. 152. 1. 2 JRAS., 1909, p. 24. 3 Jacobi, Parißishtaparvan, p. 62 ; VIII. 446 ff; Ind Ant., 1875, etc. For the alleged connection of Bindusāra and Chāņakya with another minister named Subandhu, the author of the Vasavadattā Nātyadhārā, see Proceedings of the Second Oriental Conference, pp. 208-11 and Parisishta, VIII. 447. The Divyāvadāna (p. 372) mentions Khallātaka as Bindusāra's agrāmātya or chief minister. Page #326 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ REVOLT OF TAXILA 297 towns, and made the king master of all the territory between the eastern and western seas." The conquest of the territory between the eastern and western seas has been taken by some scholars to refer to the annexa. tion of the Deccan. But we should not forget that already in the time of Chandragupta the Maurya Empire extended from Surāshtra to Bengal (Gangaridae), i.e., from the western to the eastern sea. Tāranātha's statement need mean nothing more than the suppression of a general revolt. No early tradition expressly connects the name of Bindusāra with the conquest of the Deccan. The story of the subjugation of sixteen towns may or may not be true, but we are told in the Divyāvadāna * that at least one town of note, viz., Taxila, revolted during the reign of Bindusāra. The king is said to have despatched Asoka there. While the prince was nearing Taxila with his troops, the people came out to meet him, and said, “We are not opposed to the prince nor even to king Bindusāra, but the wicked ministers (Dushțāmātyah) insult us". The high-handedness of the Maurya officials in the outlying provinces is alluded to by Aśoka himself in his Kalinga Edict. Addressing his Mahāmātras the Emperor says : "All men are my children : and, just as I desire for my children that they may enjoy every kind of prosperity and happiness both in this world and in the next, so also I desire the same for all men. You, however, do 1 Were these the capitals of the sixteen mahājanapadas? 2 Cf. Smith, EHI., 3rd ed., p. 149, JRAS., 1919, 598 ; Jayaswal, The Empire of Bindusāra, JBORS., ii. 79ff. 3 See, however, Subramaniam, JRAS., 1923, p. 96, "My Guru's Guru had written in his commentary on a Sangam work that the Tulu-nāda was established by the son of Chandragupta," perhaps Tuliyan (Tuli = Bindu). 4 Cowell and Neil's Ed., p. 371. 5 Smith, Asoka, third edition, pp. 194-95. 0. P. 90—38. Page #327 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 298 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA not grasp this truth to its full extent. Some individual, perchance, pays heed, but to a part only, not the whole. See then to this, for the principle of government is well established. Again, it happens that some individual incurs imprisonment or torture, and when the result is his imprisonment without due cause, many other people are deeply grieved. In such a case you must desire to do justice 2 ...and for this purpose, in accordance with the Law of Piety, I shall send forth in rotation every five years such persons (Mahāmātras) as are of mild and temperate disposition, and regardful of the sanctity of life, who knowing this my purpose will comply with my instructions. From Ujjain, however, the Prince for this purpose will send out a similar body of officials and will not over-pass three years. In the same way from Taxila." Taxila made its submission to Aśoka. The Maurya prince is further represented as entering the "Svaša rājya” (Khasa according to Burnouf).* Foreign Relations In his relations with the Hellenistic powers Bindusāra pursued a pacific policy. We learn from the classical 1 "You do not learn how far this (my) objects reaches." (Hultzsch, Inscriptions of Asoka, p. 95). 2 "It happens in the administration (of justice) that a single person suffers either imprisonment or harsh treatment. In this case (an order) cancelling the imprisonment is (obtained) by him accidentally, while (many) other people continue to suffer, In this case you must strive to deal (with all of them) impartially." (Hultzsch, p. 96). 3 "I shall send out every five years (a Mahāmātra) who will be neither harsh nor fierce, (but) of gentle actions. (viz., in order to ascertain) whether (the judicial officers) paying attention to this object...are acting thus, as my instruction (implies)." (Hultzsch p. 97). 4 Divyāvadāna, p. 372. The emendation Khaśa is supported by the testimony of Tāranātha (IHQ. 1930, 334). For the Kaśas see JASB, (Extra No. 2, 1899) Page #328 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EMBASSY OF DEIMACHOS-PHIL HELLENISM 299 3 writers that the king of Syria despatched to his court an ambassador named Deïmachos. Pliny 2 tells us that (Ptolemy II) Philadelphos, King of Egypt (B. C. 285247), sent an envoy named Dionysios. Dr. Smith points out that it is uncertain whether Dionysios presented his credentials to Bindusara or to his son and successor, Aśoka. It is, however, significant that while Greek and Latin writers refer to Chandragupta and Amitraghata they do not mention Aśoka. This is rather inexplicable if an envoy whose writings were utilized by later authors, really visited the third of the great Mauryas. Patrokles, an officer who served under both Seleukos and his son, sailed in the Indian seas and collected much geographical information which Strabo and Pliny were glad to utilize. Athenaios tells an anecdote of private friendly correspondence between Antiochos (I, Soter), king of Syria, and Bindusara which indicates that the Indian monarch communicated with his Hellenistic contemporaries on terms of equality and friendliness. We are told on the authority of Hegesander that Amitrochates (Bindusara), the king of the Indians, wrote to Antiochos asking that king to buy and send him sweet wine, dried figs, and a sophist, and Antiochos replied: We shall send you the figs and the wine, but in Greece the laws forbid a sophist to be sold. In connection with the demand for a Greek sophist it is interesting to recall the statement of Diodoros that one Iamboulos was carried to the king of Palibothra (Paṭaliputra) who had a great love for the Graecians. Dion Chrysostom asserts that the poetry of Homer is sung by the Indians 1 e.g., Strabo. 2 McCrindle, Ancient India as described in Classical Literature, p. 108. 3 Smith, Asoka, third edition, p. 19. 4 McCrindle, Inv. Alex., p. 409. Hultzsch, Aśoka, p. xxxv. Bindusara's interest in philosophy is also proved by his association with Ajiva-parivrājakas, (Divyavadana, 370 ff). Cf., also the first lines of Pillar Edict VII. Page #329 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 300 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA who had translated it into their own language and modes of expression.' "Garga and Varāhamihira in a later age testify to the honour that was paid to Greeks for their knowledge of astronomy. Bindusāra's Family Bindusāra had many children besides Asoka, the son who succeeded him on the throne. We learn from a passage of the Fifth Rock Edict in which the duties of the Dharma-mahāmātras 3 are described, that Asoka had many brothers and sisters. The Divyāvadāna mentions two of these brothers, namely, Susima and Vigataśoka. The Ceylonese Chronicles seem also to refer to these two princes though under different names, calling the former Sumana and the latter Tishya. Susima-Sumana is said to have been the eldest son of Bindusāra and a stepbrother of Asoka, while Vigatasoka-Tishya is reputed to have been the youngest son of Bindusāra and a co-uterine brother of Asoka, born of a Brāhmaṇa girl from Champā. Hiuen Tsang mentions a brother of Aśoka named Mahendra. Ceylonese tradition, however, represents the latter as a son of Asoka. It is possible that the Chinese pilgrim has confounded the story of Vigataśoka with that of Mahendra. 1 McCrindle, Ancient India, p. 177. Cf. Grote, XII. p. 169, possible representation of a Greek drama on the Hydaspes. 2 Brihat Samhitā, II, 14. Aristoxenus and Eusebius refer to the presence in Athens, as early as the fourth century B. C. of Indians who discussed philosophy with Socrates. (A note by Rawlinson quoted in the Amrita Bazar Patrika, 22-11-36, p. 17). 3 "High Officers for the Establishment and Propagation of the Law of Duty." 4 Pp. 369-73 ; Smith, Asoka 3rd ed., pp. 247 ff. 5 According to R. L. Mitra (Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal, 8) and Smith the name of Asoka's mother was Subhadrângi, Bigandet II. 128 mentions Dhammā as the mother of Asoka and Tissa. 6 Cf. Smith, Asoka, 3rd ed., p. 257. Page #330 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DEATH OF BINDUSĀRA 301 Bindusāra died after a reign of 25 years according to the Purūnas, and 27 or 28 years according to Buddhist tradition. According to the chronology adopted in these pages his reign terminated about 273 B.C. 2 I Hultzsch points out (p. xxxii) that Buritiese tradition assigns 27 years to Bindusāra, while Buddhaghosha's Samanta-pasādikā agrees with the Mahāvansa in allotting 28 years to that king. 2 Cf. Smith, Aśoka. p. 73. Page #331 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Section III. THE EARLY YEARS OF Asoķa. Both the Divyāvadāna and the Ceylonese Chronicles agree that there was a fratricidal struggle after the death of Bindusāra. Asoka is said to have overthrown his eldest step-brother with the help of Rādbagupta whom he made his Agrāmātya (Chief Minister). Dr. Smith observes, the fact that his formal consecration or coronation (abhisheka) was delayed for some four years? until 269 B.C., confirms the tradition that his succession was contested, and it may be true that his rival was an elder brother named Susima." In his Ašokas published a few months later, he says, “it is possible that the long delay may have been due to a disputed succession involving much bloodshed, but there is no independent evidence of such a struggle.” Dr. Jayaswal* gave the following explanation for the delay in Asoka's coronation : "it seems that in those days for obtaining royal abhisheka5 the age of 25 was a condition precedent. This seems to explain why Aśoka was not crowned for three or four years after accession." The contention can hardly be accepted. The Mahābhārata, for instance, informs us that the abhisheka of king Vichitravirya took place when he was a mere child who had not yet reached the period of youth: Vichitravīryancha tada balam aprāptayauvanam 1 The Oxford History of India, p. 93. 2 Mahāvarsa, Geiger's translation, p. 28. 3 Third edition. 4 JBORS., 1917, p. 438. 5 There were other kinds of abhisheka also, e.g., those of Yuvarāja, Kumāra, and Senāpati, as we learn from the epics and the Kauțiliya (trans., pp. 377, 391). Page #332 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ROYAL EPITHETS IN MAURYA INDIA 303 Kururājye mahābāhur abhyashinchadanantaram. Dr. Smith characterises? the Ceylonese tales which relate that Asoka slew many of his brothers as silly because Aśoka certainly had brothers and sisters alive in the seventeenth and eighteenth years of his reign, whose households were objects of his anxious care. But we should remember that the Fifth Rock Edict refers only to the family establishments of his brothers (olodhanesu bhātinam) as existing. This does not necessarily imply that the brothers themselves were alive. We should, however, admit that there is nothing to show, on the contrary, that the brothers were dead. The Fifth Rock Edict, in our opinion, proves nothing regarding the authenticity or untrustworthiness of the Ceylonese tradition. In the Fourth Rock Edict Asoka himself testifies to the growth of unseemly behaviour to kinsfolk and slaughter of living creatures. The first four years of Asoka's reign is, to quote the words which Dr. Smith uses in another connection, "one of the dark spaces in the spectrum of Indian history ; vague speculation, unchecked by the salutary limitations of verified fact, is at the best, unprofitable." Like his predecessors: Asoka assumed the title of Devānampiya He generally described himself as Devānampiya Piyadasi. The name Asoka is found only in literature, and in two ancient inscriptions, viz., the Māski Edict of Asoka himself, and the Junāgadh inscription 1 Mbh., I. 101. 12. As the Adiparva refers to Dattāmitra and Yavana rule in the lower Indus valley its date cannot be far removed from that of Asoka and Khāravela. Cf. also the cases of Samprati, Parisishța parvan, IX. 52, who was anointed king though a baby in arms, and of Amma II, Eastern Chalukya. 2 EHI, 3rd ed., p. 155. 3 Cf. Rock Edict VIII, Kālsi, Shāhbāzgarhi and Mānsahra Texts. 4 We have already seen that the epithet,Piadamsana" is sometimes applied to Chandragupta also (Bhandarkar, Asoka, p. 5; Hultzsch, CII, Vol. I, p. xxx), Page #333 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 304 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of the Mahākshatrapa Rudradāman I. The name Dharmāśoka is found in one Mediaeval epigraph, viz., the Sārnāth inscription of Kumāradevi. During the first thirteen years of his reign Aśoka seems to have carried on the traditional Maurya policy of expansion within India, and of friendly co-operation with the foreign powers, which was in vogue after the Seleukidan war. Like Chandragupta and Bindusāra he was aggressive at home but pacific abroad. The friendly attitude towards non-Indian powers is proved by the exchange of embassies and the employment of Yavana officials like Tushāspha.? In India, however, he played the part of a conqueror. The Divyāvadāna credits him, while yet a prince with the suppression of a revolt in Taxila and the conquest of the Svaša (Khasa ?) country. In the thirteenth year of his reign (eight years after consecration), he effected the conquest of Kalinga. We do not know the exact limits of this kingdom in the days of Asoka. But if the Sanskrit epics and Purānas are to be believed, it extended to the river Vaitaraṇi in the north, the Amarakantaka Hills in the west* and Mahendragiri in the south.5 An account of the Kalinga war and its effects is given in Rock Edict XIII. We have already seen that certain places in Kalinga formed parts of the Magadhan dominions in the time of the Nandas. Why was it necessary for Asoka to reconquer the country? The question admits of only one answer, viz., that it 1 Dharmāśoka-narādhipasya samaye Śri Dharmachakro Jino yādrik tannaya rakshitah punarayañchakre tatopyadbhutam. 2 Note also the part played by the Yona named Dhammarakkhita (Mahāvamsa, trans., p. 82). 3 Mbh., III. 114. 4. 4 Kūrma Purāna, 11. 39, 9. Vāyu, 77, 4-13. . 5 Raghuvamsa, IV. 38-43 : VI, 53-54. Page #334 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE KALINGA WAR 305 severed its connection with Magadha after the fall of the Nandas. If the story of a general revolt in the time of Bindusāra be correct then it is not unlikely that Kalinga, like Taxila, threw off the allegiance of Magadha during the reign of that monarch. It appears, however, from Pliny, who probably based his account on the Indika of Megasthenes, that Kalinga was already an independent kingdom in the time of Chandragupta. In that case there can be no question of a revolt in the time of Bindusāra. Pliny says, 1 "the tribes called Calingae are nearest the sea ...the royal city of the Calingae is called Parthalis. Over their king 60,000 foot soldiers, 1,000 horsemen, 700 elephants keep watch and ward in ‘procinct of war."" The Kalinga kings probably increased their army considerably during the period which elapsed from the time of Megasthenes to that of Asoka, because during the war with Aśoka the casualties exceeded 250,000. It is, however, possible that the huge total included not only combatants but also non-combatants. The existence of a powerful kingdom so near their borders, with a big army'in procinct of war,' could not be a matter of indifference to the kings of Magadha. Magadha learnt to 1 Ind. Ant., 1877, p. 338. 2 If, as is probable, Kalinga included at this time the neighbouring country of Asmaka, then Parthalis may be the same as "Potali." For an interesting account of Kalinga and its early capitals Dantakūra and Tosali, see Sylvain Lévi, "PréAryen et Pré-Dravidien dans l'Inde," J. A., Juillet-Septembre 1923; and Indian Antiquary, 1926 (May), pp. 94, 98. "The appellation of Kalinga, applied to Indians throughout the Malay world, attests the brilliant role of the men of Kalinga in the diffusion of Hindu civilisation." Not far from the earliest capital (Paloura-Dantapura-Dantakūra) lay the apheterion, "where vessels bound for the Golden Peninsula ceased to hug the shore and sailed for the open sea." Note, in this connection, the name Ho-ling (Po-ling. Kalinga) applied by the Chinese to java (Takakusu, I-tsing, p. xlvii), an island which was known by its Sanskrit name to Ptolemy (150 A. D.) and even to the Rāmāyana (Kishk. 40: 30). For the connection of early Kalinga with Ceylon, see IA, VIII, 2, 225, 0. P. 90—39, Page #335 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 306 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA her cost what a powerful Kalinga meant, in the time of Khāravela. We learn from the Thirteenth Rock Edict that Asoka made war on the Kalinga country and annexed it to his empire. “One hundred and fifty thousand persons were carried away captive, one hundred thousand were slain, and many times that number died.” Violence, slaughter, and separation from their beloved ones befell not only to combatants, but also to the Brāhmanas, ascetics, and householders. The conquered territory was constituted a viceroyalty under a prince of the royal family stationed at Tosali,?. apparently situated in the Puri district. The Emperor issued two special edicts prescribing the principles on which both the settled inhabitants and the border tribes should be treated. These two edicts are preserved at two sites, now called Dhauli? and Jaugada. They are addressed to the Mahāmātras or High Officers at Tosali and Samāpā.“ In these documents the Emperor makes the famous declaration "all men are my children," and charges his officers to see that justice is done to the people. The conquest of Kalinga was a great landmark in the history of Magadha, and of India. It marks the close of that career of conquest and aggrandisement which was ushered in by Bimbisāra's annexation of Anga. It 1 Toasali (variant Tosala) was the name of a country as well as a city. Lévi points out that the Gandavyuha refers to the country (Janapada) of AmitaTosala" in the Dakshiņāpatha, "where stands a city named Tosala." In Brāhmanical literature Tosala is constantly associated with (South) Kosala and is sometimes distinguished from Kalinga. The form Tosalei occurs in the Geography of Ptolemy. Some mediaeval inscriptions (Ep. Ind., IX. 286; XV 3) refer to Dakshina (South) Tosala and Uttara (North) Tosala. . 2 In Purî, 3 In Ganjam. 4 For the identification of Samāpā, see Ind. Ant., 1923, pp. 66 ff. Page #336 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAURYA FRONTIER IN THE NORTH-WEST 307 opens a new era-an era of peace, of social progress, of religious propaganda and at the same time of political stagnation and, perhaps, of military inefficiency during which the martial spirit of imperial Magadha was dying out for want of exercise. The era of military conquest or Digvijayal was over, the era of spiritual conquest or Dhamma-vijaya was about to begin. We should pause here to give an account of the extent of Asoka's dominions and the manner in which they were administered before the Emperor embarked on a new policy. Asoka mentions Magadba, Pāțaliputra, Khalatikapavata (Barābar Hills ), Kosambi, Luṁmini-gāma, Kalinga (including Tosali, Samāpā and Khepimgalapavata or the Jaugarda Rock), Atavi (the forest tract of Mid-India perhaps identical with Alavi of the Buddhist texts), Suvarnagiri, Isila, Ujjayini and Takshasilā expressly as being among those places which were under his rule. Beyond Takshasilā the empire stretched as far as the confines of the realm of “Amtiyako Yonarūjā," usually identified with Antiochos II Theos of Syria (261246 B. C.), and included the wide territory round Shāhbāzgarhi ? and Mānsahra 3 inhabited by the Yonas, Kambojas and the Gandhāras. The exact situation of this Yona territory has not yet been determined. The Mahāvainsa evidently refers to it and its chief city Alasanda which Cunningham and Geiger identify with the town of Alexandria ( Begram, west of Kāpiša ) 1 Cf. sara-sake vijaye (Bühler, cited in Hultzsch's Inscriptions of Asoka, p. 25). 2 In the Peshawar District. 3 In the Hazāra District. Page #337 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 308 POLÍTICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA founded by the Macedonian conqueror near Kabul. Kamboja, as we have already seen, corresponds to Rājapura or Rajaur near Punch in Kasmira and some neighbouring tracts including Kāfiristān. The tribal territory of the Gandhāras at this time probably lay to the west of the Indus, and did not apparently include Takshasilā which was ruled by a princely Viceroy, and was the capital of the province of Uttarāpatha. The capital of Trans-Indian Gandhāra was Pushkarāvati, identified by Coomaraswamy with the site known as Mir Ziyārat or Balá Hisār at the junction of the Swāt and Kābul rivers.3 The inclusion of Kaśmira within Aśoka's empire is proved by the testimony of Hiuen Tsang's Records and Kalhaņa's Rājataranginis : Kalhaņa says: “The faithful Asoka, reigned over the earth. This king who had freed himself from sins and had embraced the doctrine of the Jina covered Sush kaletra and Vitastātra with numerous Stūpas. At the town of Vitastātra there stood within the precincts of the Dharmāranya Vihāra a Chaitya built by him, the height of which could not be reached by the eye. That illustrious king built the town of Srinagari. This sinless prince after removing the old stuccoed enclosure of the shrine of Vijayeśvara built in its stead a new one of stone. He... erected within the enclosure of Vijayeśa, and near it, two temples which were called A solceśvara." The description of Asoka as a follower of the Jina, i.e., Buddha, and the builder of numerous stūpas leaves no room for doubt that the 1 Cunn. AGI, 18. Geiger, Mahāvamsa, 194. The Yona territory probably corresponds to the whole or a part of the Province of the Paropamisadae. 2 Cf. Kalinga Edict; Divyāvadāna, p. 407, Rājňo'śokasy-ottarāpathe Takshasilā nagaran, etc. 3 Cf. Carm. Lec. 1918, p. 54. Indian and Indonesian Art, 55. 4 Watters, Vol. I, pp. 267-71. 5 1. 102-06. Page #338 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE NORTHERN AND EASTERN FRONTIER 309 We are great Maurya monarch is meant. told by Kalhana himself that he is indebted for much of the above account to earlier named chronicler an Chhavillakara. The inscriptions near Kalsi and those on the Rummindei and the Nigali Sagar pillars prove the inclusion of the Dehra-Dun District and the Tarai within the limits of Aśoka's Empire, while the monuments at Lalitapatan and Rampurwa attest his possession of the valley of Nepal and the district of Champaran. Further evidence of the inclusion of the Himalayan region within Aśoka's empire is possibly furnished by Rock Edict XIII which refers to the Nabhapamtis of Nabhaka, probably identical with Na-pei-kea of Fa Hien,' the birthplace of Krakuchchhanda Buddha, about 10 miles south or southwest of Kapilavastu.2 = According to Bühler, Rock Edict XIII also mentions two vassal tribes Visa (Besatae of the Periplus ?) and Vajri (Vrijikas ?). More recent writers do not accept Bühler's reading and substitute (Raja) Visayamhi, in the (king's) territory, in its place. There is, thus no indubitable reference either to the Vrijikas or the 'Besatae' in the inscriptions of Aśoka. We learn from the classical writers that the country of the Gangaridae, i.e., Bengal, formed a part of 3 1 Legge, 64. 2 "The Brahma (vaivarta ?) purana assigns Nabhikapura to the territory of the Uttara-Kurus" (Hultzsch, CII, Vol. I. p. xxxix n). Mr. M. Govinda Pai (Aiyangar Com. Vol. 36), however, invites attention to the Nabhakananas, apparently a southern people, mentioned in the Mbh. vi. 9. 59. In connection with the northern limits of the Maurya empire attention may also be invited to the statement in the Divyavadana (p. 372) about Aśoka's subjugation of the Svaśa (Khasa?) country. According to a legend narrated by the Chinese pilgrims (Watters, Yuan Chwang, II, p. 295) exiles from Takshaśila settled in the land to the east of Khoten in the days of Aśoka. 3 For early references to Vanga, see Lévi Pré-Aryen et Pré-Dravidien dans l'Inde," For its denotation, see Manasi o Marmavānī, Šrāvaṇa, 1336. Page #339 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 310 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 1 the dominions of the king of the Prasii, i.e., Magadha, as early as the time of Agrammes, i.e., the last Nanda king. A passage of Pliny clearly suggests that the "Palibothri," ie., the rulers of Pataliputra, dominated the whole tract along the Ganges. That the Magadhan kings retained their hold on Bengal as late as the time of Asoka is proved by the testimony of the Divyavadāna 3 and of Hiuen Tsang who saw Stupas of that monarch near Tamralipti and Karnasuvarna (in West Bengal), in Samatata (East Bengal) as well as in Pundravardhana (North Bengal). Kāmarupa (Assam) seems to have lain outside the empire. The Chinese pilgrim saw no monument of Aśoka in that country. 2 We have seen that in the south the Maurya power at one time, had probably penetrated as far as the Podiyil Hill in the Tinnevelly district. In the time of Aśoka the Maurya frontier had receded probably to the Pennar river near Nellore as the Tamil Kingdoms are referred to as "Prachamta" or border states and are clearly distinguished from the imperial dominions (Vijita or Rājavishaya), which stretched only as far south as the Chitaldrug District of Mysore. The major part of the Several scholars find it mentioned in the Aitareya Aranyaka. But this is doubtful. Bodhayana brands it as an impure country and even Patanjali excludes it from Aryavarta. The country was, however, Aryanised before the Manusamhita which extends the eastern boundary of Aryavarta to the sea, and the Jain Prajñāpana which ranks Anga and Vanga in the first group of Aryan peoples. The earliest epigraphic reference to Vanga is probably that contained in the Nagarjunikonda Inscriptions. 1 McCrindle, Inv. Alex., pp. 221, 281. 2 Ind. Ant., 1877, 339. Megasthenes and Arrian (1926) p, 141-2. 3 P. 427. Cf. Smith's Aśoka, 3rd ed, p. 255. The Mahasthāna Inscription which is usually attributed to the Maurya period, contains no reference to Aśoka. 4 Mr. S. S. Desikar thinks that the last point reached by the Mauryas was the Venkata hill (IHQ., 1928, p. 145). Page #340 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAURYA VASSALS IN THE DECCAN Deccan was ruled by the viceregal princes of Suvarnagiri1 and Tosali, the Mahāmātras of Isila and Samāpā and the officers in charge of the Aṭavi or Forest Country.2 But in the belt of land on either side of the Nerbudda, the Godavari and the upper Mahanadi there were, in all probability, certain areas that were technically outside the limits of the empire proper. Aśoka evidently draws a distinction between the forests and the inhabiting tribes which are in the dominions (vijita) and peoples on the border (anta avijita) for whose benefit some of the special edicts were issued. Certain vassal tribes are specifically mentioned, e.g., the Andhras, Palidas (Paladas, Parimdas ), Bhojas and Rathikas (Ristikas, Rashṭrikas ?). They enjoyed a status midway between the Provincials proper and the unsubdued borderers. The word Petenika or Pitinika mentioned in Rock Edicts V and XIII should not, according to Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar and some other writers, be read as a separate name but as an adjective qualifying Rishțika (Edict V) and Bhoja (Edict XIII). They draw our attention to certain passages in the Anguttara Nikaya where the term Pettanika occurs in the sense of one who enjoys property given by his father. The view that Pitinika is merely 311 1 A clue to the location of this eity is probably given by the inscriptions of the later Mauryas of the Konkan and Khandesh, apparently the descendants of the Southern Viceroy (Ep. Ind., III. 136). As these later Maurya inscriptions have been found at Vada in the north of the Thaņa district (Bomb. Gaz., Vol. I, Part II, p. 14) and at Waghli in Khandesh (ibid, 284), it is not unlikely that Suvarnagiri was situated in that neighbourhood. Curiously enough, there is actually in Khandesh a place called Songir. According to Hultzsch, (CII, p. xxxviii) Suvarnagiri is perhaps identical with Kanakagiri in the Nizam's dominions, south of Maski, and north of the ruins of Vijayanagara. Isila may have been the ancient name of Siddapura. 2 Edict XIII. 3 III. 76, 78 and 300 (P.T.S.). 4 Ind. Ant., 1919, p. 80. Cf. Hultzsch, Aśoka, 10: IHQ, 1925, 387. Other scholars, however, identify the Pitinikas with the Paithanakas or natives of Page #341 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 312 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA an adjective of Rathika (Ristika) or Bhoja is not, however, accepted by Dr. Barua who remarks that "it is clear from the Pāli passage, as well as from Buddhaghosha's explanations, that Ratthika and Pettanika were two different designations." The Andhras are, as we have already seen, mentioned in a passage of the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. The Bhojas are also mentioned in that work as rulers of the south.' Pliny, quoting probably from Megasthenes, says that the Andarae (Andhras) possessed numerous villages, thirty towns defended by walls and towers, and supplied their king with an army of 100,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 1,000 elephants. The earliest Andhra capital (Andhapura) was situated on the Telavāha river which, according to Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, is either the modern Tel or Telingiri, both flowing near the confines of the Madras Presidency and the Central Provinces. But the identification is by no means certain.3 The Palidas were identified by Bithler with the Paithan, and some go so far as to suggest that they are the ancestors of the Sātavāhana rulers of Paithan. See Woolner, Asoka Text and Glossary, II, 113 ; also JRAS., 1923, 92. Cf. Barua, Old Brāhmi Ins., p. 211. i for other meanings of Bhoja, see Mbh., Adi., 84, 22; IA. V. 177; VI 25-28; VII. 36. 254. 2 Ind. Ant. 1877, pp. 339. 3 P. 92 ante. In historical times the Andhras are found in possession of the Kțishņā and Guntur listricts as we learn from the Mayidavolu plates and other records. The earliest capital of the Andhra country or "Andhrăpatha' known from the inscriptions is apparently Dhamñakada at or near Amarāvati (or Bezvāca). Kubiraka of the Bhattiprolu inscription (c. 200 BC) is the earliest known ruler. One recension, in the Brāhmi script, of the Rock Edicts of Asoka, has recently been discovered in the Kurnool District (IHQ, 1928, 791 ; 1931, 817 ff : 1933, 113ff. ; IA, Feb., 1932, p. 39) which falls within the "Andhra" area of the Madras Presidency. Recent discoveries of the Asokan epigraphs include, besides the Yerragudi inscriptions (Kurnool District) two new rock edicts at Kopbal in the s. w. corner of the Nizam's dominions. The Kopbal inscriptions are found on the Gavimath and the Palkigundu Hills. They belong to the class of Minor Rock Edicts, Page #342 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ASOKA'S EMPIRE IN THE WEST 313 Pulindas? who are invariably associated with the Nerbudda (Revā) and the Vindhyan region : Pulinda-rāja sundarī nābhimandala nipita salilā (Revā). Pulinda Vindhya Pushikā(?) Vaidarbha Dandakaih saha 3 Pulindā Vindhya Mālikā Vaidarbhā Dandakaih saha* Their capital Pulinda-nagara lay not far from Bhilsā and may have been identical with Rūpnāth, the find-spot of one recension of Minor Rock Edict 1.5 Hultzsch, however, doubts the identification of the “Palidas” of Shahbazgarhi with the Pulindas, for the Kālsi and Girnār texts have the variants Pālada and Pārimda-names that remind us of the Pāradas of the Vayu Purāna, 6 the Harivamsa? and the Brihat Samhita. In those texts the people in question are mentioned in a list of barbarous tribes along with the Śakas, Yavanas, Kambojas, Pahlavas, Khasas, Māhishikas, Cholas, Keralas, etc. They are described as muktakeśā (“having dishevelled hair”). Some of the tribes mentioned in the list belong to the north, others to the south. The association with the Andhras in Asokan inscriptions suggests that in the Maurya period they may have been in the Deccan. But the matter must be regarded as not definitely settled. It is interesting to note in this connection that a river Pāradā (identified 1 Hultzsch, Asoka, 48 (n. 14). 2 Subhandu's Vāsavadattā. 3 Matsya P. 114, 48. 4 Vayu, 55, 126. 5 The Navagrāma grant of the Mahārāja Hastin of the year 198 (A. D. 517) refers to a Pulinda-rāja-rāshtra which lay in the territory of the Parivrājaka kings, i.e., in the Dabhālā region in the northern part of the present Central Provinces (Ep. Ind., xxi, 126). 6 Ch.88, 7 I, 14. 8 XIII, 9. O. P. 90–40. Page #343 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 314 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA with the Paradi or Par river in the Surat District) is mentioned in a Nāsik inscription." The Bhojas and the Rathikas (Ristikas ) were evidently the ancestors of the Mahābhojas and the Mahārathis of the Sātavāhana period. The Bhojas apparently dwelt in Berar, 3 and the Rathikas or Ristikas possibly in Mahārāshțra or certain adjoining tracts.* The former were, in later ages, connected by matrimonial alliances with chieftains of the Kanarese country. In the west Aśoka's Empire extended to the Arabian Sea and embraced all the Aparāntas : including no doubt the vassal state (or confederation of states) of Surāshtra the affairs of which were looked after by the Yavana-rāja Tushāspha with Giri-nagara (Girnar) as his capital, Dr. Smith says that the form of the name shows that the Yavana-rāja must have been a Persian. But according to this interpretation the Yavana Dhammadeva, the Śaka Ushavadāta (Risahabha-datta), the Parthian Suvišākha and the Kushān Vasudeva must have been all native Hindus of India. If Greeks and other foreigners adopted Hindu names there is no wonder that some of them assumed Irānic appellations. There is, then, no good ground for assuming that Tushāspha was not a Greek, but a Persian. 1 Rapson, Andhra Coins, lvi. Pargiter places the Pāradas in the northwest, AIHT, p. 268. . 2 Smith, Asoka, third ed.. pp. 169-70, 3 Cf. Bhoja-kata, Bhāt kuli in Amraoti. 4 The Rāmāyana, IV. 41. 10, places the Rishţikas between the Vidarbhas of (Berar) and the Māhishakas of the Nerbudda valley or of Mysore. Rathika is also used as an official designation and it is in that sense that the expression seems to be used in the Yerragudi inscription (Ind. Culture, I, 310 ; Aiyangar Com. Vol. 35; IHQ, 1933, 117). 5 Sūrpāraka, Nāsik, etc., according to the Mārkandeya P. 57, 49-52. 6 Cf. IA, 1919, 145; EHVS, 2nd, ed. pp. 28-29. Page #344 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE PARISHAD IN MAURYA INDIA 315 Rapson' seems to think that the Gandhāras, Kambojas, Yavanas, Rishţikas, Bhojas, Petenikas, Pāladas and Andhras lay beyond Aśoka's dominions, and were not his subjects, though regarded as coming within his sphere of influence. But this surmise can hardly be accepted in view of the fact that Asoka's Dharma-mahāmātras were employed amongst them on the revision of (sentences of) imprisonment or execution, in the reduction of penalties, or (the grant of) release” (Rock Edict V). In the Rock Edict XIII, they seem to be included within the Rāja-Vishaya or the King's territory, and are distinguished from the real border peoples (Amta, Prachanta), viz., the Greeks of the realm of Antiochos and the Tamil peoples of the south (Nicha). But while we are unable to accept the views of Rapson, we find it equally difficult to agree with Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar 3 who denies the existence of Yonas and others as feudatory chieftains in Asoka's dominions. The case of the Yavana-rāja Tushāspha clearly establishes the existence of such vassal chiefs whose peoples indoubtedly enjoyed partial autonomy though subject to the jurisdiction of special Imperial officers like the Dharma-mahāmātras. Having described the extent of Asoka's empire we now proceed to give a brief account of its administration. Asoka continued the Council government of his predecessors. There are references to the Emperor's dealings with the Parishā or Parishad in Rock Edicts III and VI. Senart took Parishā to mean Sangha and Bühler understood by it the Committee of caste or sect. 1 CHI, pp. 514, 515. 2 "They are occupied in supporting prisoners (with money), in causing (their) fetters to be taken off, and in setting (them) free" (Hultzsch, Asoka, p. 33). 3 Asoka, 28. Page #345 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 316 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA But Dr. K. P. Jayaswal pointed out that the Parisha of the Edicts is the Mantriparishad of the Arthaśāstra.1 The inscriptions prove that Aśoka retained also the system of Provincial Government existing under his forefathers. Tosali, Suvarnagiri, Ujjayini and Takshasila were each under a prince of the blood (Kumala or Ayaputa). 2 The Emperor and the Princes were helped by bodies (Nikaya) of officials who fell under the following classes : 1. 2-3 The Rujukas and Rathikas. The Pradesikas or Pradesikas. The Yutas. 4 Pulisā. Pativedaka. Vachabhumikā. The Mahumutras and other Mukhyas. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8 9. The Lipikaras. 10. The Dutas. 11-12. The Ayuktas and Kāranakas. 1 Compare the references to the "Sarajika Parisha" in the Mahāvastu, Senart, Vol. III, pp, 362, 392. For different kinds of Parisha, see Anguttara I. 70, 2 That Ayaputa or Aryaputra meant a member of a ruling house or clan. appears probable from the evidence of the Balacharita, attributed to Bhasa, in which Vasudeva is addressed by a Bhata as Aryaputra. Pandit T. Ganapati Sastri further points out that in the Svapnanaṭaka the term Aryaputra is employed as a word of respect by the chamberlain of Vasavadatta's father in addressing King Uday ana (Introduction to the Pratima-nāṭaka, p, 32). An interesting feature of Aśoka's administration was the employment of a Yavana governor or episkopos in one territory to which reference has already been made. 3. Cf. also Arthaśastra, pp. 16, 20, 58, 64, 215, 237-39; Rajasekhara, KM, XLV, 53. 4 The Yuktas of the Arthaśastra, pp. 59, 65, 199, Rāmāyaṇa, VI, 217, 34; Mahabharata, II, 56, 18, Manu, VIII. 34; cf. the Raja-yuktas of the Santiparva, 82.9-15. Page #346 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAHÁMĀTRAS 317 There was a body of Mahāmātras in each great city and district of the empire. The inscriptions mention the Mahāmātras of Pataliputra, Kaušāmbi, Tosali, Samāpā, Suvarnagiri and Isila. In the Kalinga Edicts we have certain Mahāmātras distinguished by the terms Nagalaka and Nagala-Viyohālaka. The Nagalaka and NagalaViyohālaka of the Edicts correspond to the Nāgaraka and Paura-vyāvahārika of the Arthaśāstral and no doubt administered justice in cities. 4 In Pillar Edict I mention is made of the Amta Mahāmātras or the Wardens of the Marches, who correspond to the Antapālas of the Arthaśāstra 5 and the Goptsis of the age of Skanda Gupta. The Kauțilīya tells us that the salary of an Antapāla was equal to that of a Kumāra, a Paura-vyāvahārika, a member of the Mantriparishad or a Rashtrapāla. In Edict XII mention is made of the Ithījhaka Mahāmātrąs who, doubtless, correspond to the Stry-adhyakshas (the Guards of the Ladies) of the epics.? 1 The Empire, as already stated, was divided into a number of provinces (diśā, deśa etc). Each province seems to have been further subdivided into akalas or districts under regular civil administration, and kotta-vishayas or territories surrounding forts (Hultzsch. p. xl). Each civil administrative division had a pura or nagara (city) and a rural part called janapada which consisted of grāmas or villages. An important official in each janapada was the Rājuka. The designations Prādeśika and Rathika possibly suggest the existence of territorial units styled pradeśa and rattha or rashtra. 2 Mahāmātras of Śrāvasti are, according to certain scholars, mentioned in the Sohgaura copperplate inscription found in a village on the Rāpti, not far from Gorakhpur. But the exact date of the record is not known (Hoernle, JASB, 1894, 84 ; Fleet, JRAS, 1907. 523 ff. ; Barua, Ann. Bhand. Or. Res. Inst., xi, i (1930), 32ff.; IHO, 1934. 54ff.; Jayaswal, Ep. Ind., - xxii, 2). 3 P. 20, 143 f. Cf. the royal epistates or city governor in the Antigonid realm (Tarn, GBI., 24). 4 Cf. also Nagara-dhānya Vyāvahārika, p. 55. The Nagalaka may have had executive functions as well, as is suggested by the evidence of the Arthaśāstra (H. Ch. 36). 5 Pp. 20, 247. 6 P. 247. 7 Rām. II. 16. 3 Vriddhān vetrapānin...stryadhyakshan ; Mbh. IX, 29, 68,90; XV. 22, 20; 23, 12. Cf. the Antarvaišika of the Arthaśāstra. Page #347 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 318 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA As to the Rājūkas, Dr. Smith takes the word to mean a governor next below a Kumāra.Bübler identifies the Rājuka of the Asokan inscriptions with the Rajjūka or the Rajjugāhaka amachcha (Rope-holder, Field-measurer or Surveyor) of the Jātakas. 2 Pillar Edict IV refers to the Rajūlas as officers “set over many_hundred thousands of people," and charged with the duty of promoting the welfare of the Jānapadas to whom Aśoka granted independence in the award of honours and penalties. The reference to the award of penalties (Danda) probably indicates that the Rājukas had judicial duties. In the Rock Edict III as well as in Pillar Edict IV they are associated with the Yutas, and in the Yerraguồi inscriptions with the Rathikas. Strabo* refers to a class of Magistrates (Agronomoi) who "have the care of the rivers, measure the land, as in Egypt, have charge also of hunters and have the power of rewarding or punishing those who merit either.” The measuring of the land connects those Magistrates with the Rajjugāhaka Amachcha of the Jātakas, while the power of rewarding and punishing people connects them with the Rājukas of Asoka. It is probable, therefore, that the Agronom vi referred to by Strabo were identical with the Rājākas and the Rajjugāhaka Amachchas. The Arthaśāstra 6 refers to a class of officials called "Chora Rajjukas,” but there 1 Aśoka, 3rd ed., p. 94. 2 The Social Organisation in North-East India by Fick, translated by S. Maitra, pp, 148-51. 3 IHQ, 1933, 117; Barua takes the expressions Janapada and Rathika of the Yerragui copy of the Minor Rock Edict to mean 'people of the district and 'citizens of the hereditary tribal states' respectively. But Rathika of the record probably corresponds to Rashtriya of the Junāgadh inscription of Rudradāman so that the expressions Jānapadas and Rathikas mean 'people of the country parts,' and 'officials of the district.' Cf. Rathika Mahāmātra of Brihat Sam, XV. 11. 4 H. & F., Vol. III, p. 103, 5 Cf. Maitra, Fick, pp. 148-49. 6 P. 234. Page #348 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OFFICIALS IN DISTRICTS 319 is no reference to the Rajjukas proper although on p. 60 “Rajju” is mentioned in conjunction with "Chora Rajju." As regards the Pradeśikas or Prādesikas, Senart, Kern and Biihler understood the term to denote local governors or local chiefs. Smith took it to mean District Officers. Hultzsch compares it with Prāde. śikeśvara of Kalhana's Rājatarangini. The word occurs only in the Third Rock Edict where the functionaries in question are included with the Rājukas and the Yutas in the ordinance of the Anusamyāna or circuit. Thomas derives the word from pradeśa which means report and identifies the Prādesikas or Pradeśikas of the Edict with the Pradeshtris of the Arthaśāstra. The most important functions of the Pradeshtris were Bali-pragraha (collection of taxes or suppression of recalcitrant chiefs), Ranţakasodhana (administration of criminal justice ), Choramārgana, (tracking of thieves ) and Adhyakshāņām adhyaksha purushāņām cha niyamanam (checking superintendents and their men). They acted as intermediaries between the Samāhartri on the one hand and the Gopas, Sthānikas and Adhyakshas on the other. It is, however, doubtful if the Prādesikas can really be equated with Reporters. The more probable view is that they correspond to the subordinate governors, the nomarchs, hyparchs and meridarchs of the Hellenistic kingdoms. As to the Yutas or Yuktas, they are described by Manu` as the custodians of Pranashțādhigata dravya 1 IV. 126. 2 JRAS, 1915, p. 97, Arthaśāstra, p. 111. In the Vishņu Purāņa, V, 26 3. Pradeśa has apparently the sense of counsel, instruction. S. Mitra suggests, (Indian Culture, I, p. 310) that the Prādesikas were Mahāmātras of the provincial governments, while the Rājūkas were Mahāmātras of the central government. 3 Cf. Arthaśāstra, pp. 142, 200, 217, 222. Pradeshtris also occur in the Irda grant. Ep. Ind. XXII. 150 ff. 4 VIII 34. Page #349 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 320 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (lost property which was recovered). In the Arthaśāstra, too, they are mentioned in connection with Samudaya or state funds! which they are represented as misappropriating. Hultzsch suggests that they were 'secretaries' employed for codifying royal orders in the office of the Mahāmātras. The Pulisū or Agents are apparently identical with the Purushas or Rāja Purushas of the Arthaśāstra.? Hultzsch prefers to equate them with the Gūdha-purushas and points out that they were graded into high ones, low ones, and those of middle rank.) They were placed in charge of many people and controlled the Rājukas. The Pațivedakā or Reporters are doubtless the Chāras mentioned in Chapter 16 of the Arthaśāstra, while the Vachabhumikas or "Inspectors of cowpens” were evidently charged with the superintendence of “Vraja” referred to in Chapter 24. The Lipikaras are the royal scribes one of whom, Chapada, is mentioned by name in Minor Rock Edict II. Dūtas or envoys are referred to in Rock Edict XIII. If the Kauţiliya is to be believed, they were divided into three classes, viz., Nisrishţārthāh or Plenipotentiaries, Parimitārthāh or Chargès d'Affaires and Śūsanaharas or conveyers of royal writ.? The Āyuktas possibly find mention in the Kalinga Edicts. In the early Post-Mauryan and Scythian Age Āyuttas appear as village officials. In the Gupta Age they figure as officers in charge of 1 Cf. also Mbh, ii. 5. 72. Kachchichchāya vyāye yuktaḥ sarve ganaka lekhakāḥ. 2 Pp. 59, 75. 3 The three classes of Purushas are also known to the Great epic (Mbh). ii. 5. 74. 4 Pillar Edict VII. 5 P. 38. 6 Pp. 59-60. 7 With the Sasanaharas may be compared the Lekha-hārakas of the Harshacharita, Uchchhāsa II, p. 52. 8 Lüders' List, No. 1347. Page #350 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SUNDRY OFFICIALS 321 Vishayas or districts, and also as functionaries employed in restoring the wealth of conquered kings. The full designation of the officers in question was ĀyuktaPurusha.? They may have been included under the generic name of Pulisā referred to above. The Kāranakas who appear to be mentioned in the Yerraguời copy of Asoka's Minor Rock Edict, probably refer to judicial officers, teachers, or scribes. 3 1 Ep. Ind., XV, No. 7, 138. 2 Fleet, CII, pp. 8. 14. 3 Cf. Karanika, Officer-in-Charge of Documents or Accounts (IHQ, 1935, 586). In inscriptions of the seventh century A.D. the word Karana stood for Adhikarana (Departmental or District Secretariat ). Prabāsi, 1350 B.S. - Srāvana, 294. In Mbh. ii. 5. 34, Kāranika has, according to the commentary, the sense of teacher. In the text itself the officers in question instruct the Kumāras and have to be dharme sarvaśāstreshu kovidāḥ, implying that their duties included among other things, those relating to Dharma (law, justice ?). O. P. 90—41, Page #351 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER V. THE MAURYA EMPIRE : THE ERA OF DHAMMAVIJAYA AND DECLINE........ SECTION 1. AśOKA AFTER THE KALINGA WAR. Chakkavatti ahum rājā Jambusandassa issaro muddhābhisitto khattiyo manussādhipati ahwin adandena asatthena vijeyya pathavim imañ asāhasena dhammena samena manusāsiuü dhammena rajjam kāretvā asmim pathavimandale - -Aiguttana Nilãnga. We have already seen that the Kalinga war opened a new epoch in the history of Magadha and of India. During the first thirteen years of his reign Aśoka was a typical Magadhan sovereign-the inheritor of the policy of Bimbisāra, of Mahāpadma and of Chandragupta -conquering peoples, suppressing revolt, annexing territory. After the Kalinga war all this is changed. The older political philosophy which tradition associates with the names of Vassakāra and Kautily a gave way to a new statecraft inspired by the teaching of the sage of the Śākyas. Before proceeding to give an account of the remarkable change we should say a few words about the religious denominations of India and the condition of society during the reign of the great innovator. In the days of Asoka the people of India were divided into many sects of which the following were the most important : 1. The orthodox Deva-worshippers." 2. The Ājivikas or the followers of Gosāla Mankhaliputta.? 1 Among the Devas worshipped in the Maurya period, Patañjali makes special mention of Siva, Skanda and Viśākha. 2 This teacher was born in Saravana, probably near Sāvatthi or Śrāvasti. Jaina writers represent him as a person of low parentage and of contemptible Page #352 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIETY IN MAURYA INDIA 323 3. The Nirgranthas or Jainas, i.e., the followers of Nigantha Naṭaputta who is commonly called Mahāvīra or Vardhamana. 4. The followers of Gautama Buddha Śākyamuni. 5. Other sects alluded to in Pillar Edict VII. In Edict IV we have the following account of the prevailing state of society: "for a long period past, even for many hundred years, have increased the sacrificial slaughter of living creatures, the killing of animate beings, unseemly behaviour to relatives, unseemly behaviour to Brahmanas and ascetics (Śramaņas)."1 Kings used to go out on so-called Vihāra yātrās2 in which hunting and other similar amusements used to be practised. The people performed various ceremonies (mamgala) on occasions of sickness, weddings of sons,5 the weddings of daughters, the birth of children, and 3 character. The attitude of Buddhist authors is also not friendly. In reality he was. one of the leading sophists of the sixth century B. C., and, for a time, was a close associate of Mahāvīra. According to the Ajivika belief as expounded in the Samañña-phala Sutta "the attainment of any given condition, of any character, does not depend on human effort (purisa-kāre). There is no such thing as power or energy, or human strength or human vigour (purisaparakkamo). All beings...are bent this way and that by their fate (niyati)." (Dialogues, Pt. I, p. 71; Barua, The Ajivikas, 1920, p. 9.). An Ajivaparivrajaka appears as a court astrologer of Bindusara in the Divyavadana (pp. 370 ff,). A tax on "Ajivakas" is referred to in an inscription of the twelfth century A. D. (Hultzsch, SII. I. 88) showing that the sect flourished in S. India even in that late age. 1 Cf. Ajataśatru's treatment of Bimbisara, Viduḍabha's massacre of the Sakyas, Udayana's cruelty towards Pindola, and Nanda's haughty demeanour towards Chanakya. 2 Tours of pleasure, cf. Kautilya, p. 332. Mahabharata, XV. 1. 18: Viharayātrāsu punah Kururajo Yudhishṭhirah sarvān kāmān mahātejaḥ pradadav-Ambikäsute. 3 R. Edict VIII. 4 For "Mamgala" see also Jātakas No. 87, and No. 163 (Hatthi-mamgala), and Harsha-charita, II (p. 27 of Parab's edition, 1918). 5 For Avaha and Vivaha see also Mbh., V. 141. 14; Kautilya, VII. 15. Page #353 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 324. POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA departure on journeys. The womankind performed many, manifold, trivial and worthless ceremonies. From the references in the Edicts to Brāhmaṇas, Kaivartas (of Kevata bhoga) and Sramaņas, Bikshu and Bilshuni-Samghas it may be concluded that Varna (social gradation) and Āśrama (stages of socio-religious discipline) were established institutions. The position of the slaves and labouring poor in general (dāsa, bhataka) was, in some cases at any rate, not enviable. Women had to tolerate the purdah as well as polygamy. Ladies of the harem were under special guards (stry-adhyaksha). As will be seen in the following pages, the policy of Asoka in regard to social matters was, in the main, one of mitigation and not, except in respect of certain kinds of Samāja 'and sundry obnoxious practices, of radical reform. The Change of Asoka's Religion Asoka had doubtless inherited the traditional devotion of Hindu kings to the gods (devas) and the Brāhmaṇas and, if the Kaśmira chronicle of Kalhana is to be believed, his favourite deity was Siva. He had no scruples about the slaughter of men and animals : "formerly, in the kitchen of His Sacred and Gracious Majesty the King each day many hundred thousands of living creatures were slaughtered to make curries.” The hecatombs of thousands of men and women sent to their doom during the Kalinga war have already been mentioned. The sight of the misery and bloodshed in that sanguinary campaign made a deep impression on him and awakened in his breast feelings of anusochana, "remorse, profound sorrow, and regret”. About this time he came under the influence of Buddhist teaching. We read in Rock Edict XIII "after that, now that the Kalingas had been annexed, began His Sacred Majesty's zealous practice of the Law 1 R. Edict IX. Page #354 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AŚOKA'S RELIGION 325 of Piety (dhramašilana), his love of that Law (dhramakamata), and his inculcation of that Law (dhramanuśasti).” 1 Although Aśoka became a Buddhist? he was not an enemy either of the Devas or of the Brāhmanas. Up to 1 The view held by some recent writers that the conversion of Asoka took place before the Kalinga war rests on the evidence of the Mahāvaisa (Ch. V) and on certain assumptions, vis., that Asoka's dhramakamata became tivra (intense) immediately after the Kalinga war (there being no interval) and that Asoka was indifferent during the period of Upāsakatva (when he was only a lay disciple) which, therefore, must have preceded the Kalinga war, immediately after which his devotion became tivra. But the so-called indifference or want of activity is only relative. On the other hand, the supporters of the new theory have to explain why a recent convert to Buddhism should engage in a sanguinary conflict involving the death of countless Sramanas. Why again do the Minor Rock Edicts refer to contact with the Samgha, and not the Kalinga war, as the prelude and cause of more intense activity? It is to be noted that activity in the period of Upāsakatva is also described as parākrama, though it was surpassed by the greater energy of the period after contact with the Holy Order. Note also the explicit reference to dhramakamata as the result of the annexation of Kalinga sometime after (tato pachhā adhunā) the war. The use of the expressions tato pachhā and adhunā suggests that an interval supervened between the war and the intensity of Asoka's dhramaślana and dhramakamata. Moreover, we learn from the Minor Edicts and Pillar Edict VI that pious proclamations began to be issued a little more than 25 years after Asoka became an Upāsaka and 12 years after his coronation. This would place his conversion a little less than 94 years after his Abhisheka, i.e., a little less than 14 years after the Kalinga war. 2 Sakya (Rūpnāth). Buddha Sakya (Maski), Upāsaka (Sahasrām); see Hultzsch, CII, p. xliv. Cf. also Kalhana, Rājatarangini, 1. 102ff. That Asoka did become a Buddhist admits of no doubt. In the Bhābrū Edict he makes an open confession of his faith in the Buddha, the Dharma (Doctrine) and the Samgha (Order of Monks). He called the Buddha Bhagavat. He went on pilgrimage to the places of the Blessed One's nativity and enlightenment and worshipped at the former place. He declared that whatsoever had been spoken by the Buddha, all that was quite well spoken. He also believed in the cult of the "former" Buddhas. He took much interest in the exposition of the Buddhist Doctrine so that it might endure long. As to the Samgha he kept in close touch with it since his memorable visit to the Fraternity a year or so--after his conversion. He impressed on the clergy the need of a correct exposition of the true doctrine and appointed special officers to busy themselves with the affairs of the Brotherhood. He also laid emphasis on Vinaya-samutkarsha and took steps to maintain the integrity of the Church and prevent schism within its fold, Page #355 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 326 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDİA the last he took pride in calling himself Devānampiya, beloved of the gods. He found fault with unseemly behaviour towards Brāhmaṇas? and inculcated liberality to the same class. He was perfectly tolerant. “The king does reverence to men of all sects." He reprobated ātmapāsam la-pājā, honour to one's own sect, when coupled with para-pāsamda-garahā, disparagement of other sects. That he was sincere in his professions is proved by the Barābar Cave Dedications to the Ajīvika monks. His hostility was chiefly directed not towards the Devas and the Brāhmaṇas, not even towards Varnāśrama, but the killing of men in war and Samājas ( festive gatherings ), ill-treatment of friends and acquaintances, comrades and relatives, slaves and servants, the slaughter of animals in sacrifice, and the performance of vulgar, useless and offensive ceremonies. The Change of Foreign Policy The effect of the change of religion was at once felt in foreign policy. The Emperor declared that "of all the people who were slain, done to death, or carried away captive in Kalinga, if the hundredth part or the thousandth part were now to suffer the same fate, it would be a matter of regret to His Sacred Majesty. Moreover, should any one do him wrong, that too must be borne with by His Sacred Majesty, so far as it can possibly be borne with.” In Kalinga Edict I, the Emperor expressed his desire that the unsubdued peoples in the frontiers of the imperial dominions (Amtā avijitā) "should not be afraid of him, that they should trust him, and should receive from him happiness not sorrow.” The chiefest 1 The title is reminiscent of the age of Hammurabi (Camb. Anc. Hist. I. p. 511). 2 Edict IV. 3 Edict XII Page #356 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ END OF MILITARISM 327 conquest in the Emperor's opinion was the conquest by righteousness (Dhamma-vijaya). In Edict IV he exultingly says, “the reverberation of the war-drums (Bherighoso) has become the reverberation of the Law of Piety (Dhammaghoso).” Not content with what he himself did he called upon his sons and even his great grandsons to eschew new conquests-putra papotra me asu navaṁ vijayam ma vijetaviyaṁ. Here we have a complete renunciation of the old policy of military conquest or Digvijaya and the enunciation of a new policy, viz., that of Dhammavijaya.' The full political effects of this change of policy became manifest only after the death of Asoka, perhaps even after the 27th year of his consecration. From the time of Bimbisāra to the Kalinga war the history of India was the story of the expansion of Magadha from a tiny state in South Bihār to a gigantic Empire extending from the foot of the Hindukush to the borders of the Tamil country. After the Kalinga var ensued a period of stagnation at the end of which the process is reversed. The empire gradually dwindled down in extent till it sank to the position from which Bimbisāra and his successors had raised it. 1 The Asokan conception of Dhamma-vijaya was similar to that described in the Chakkavatti Sihanāda Sutta, "conquest not by the scourge, not by the sword, but by righteousness" (Dialogues of the Buddha, Part III, p 59). It was different from the Hindu conception explained and illustrated by the Mahābhārata (XII, 59,38-39), the Harivainsa (I. 14.21), the Kauțiliya (p. 382), and the Raghuvamsa (IV. 43). Attention may be invited in this connection to a statement of Arrian that "a sense of justice prevented any Indian king from attempting conquest beyond the limits of India" (Camb. Hist Ind. I. 321); M'crindle, Ancient India as described by Megasthenes and. Arrian, 209. Incidentally it may be pointed out that the discourse entitled the Chakkavathi Sihanāda (Lion Roar of the Chakravarti or emperor who conquers by righteousness') possibly affords a clue to proper appreciation of the famous Sarnath Capital with its Chakra and crowning lions. Cf. also Rāmāyana II. 10. 36. Yāvadā vartate chakram tāvati me vasundharā. Page #357 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 328 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA True to his principle Aśoka made no attempt to annex the frontier (Prachmta, amta, samanta, sāmīpa), kingdoms, viz., Chola, Pandya, Satiyaputra, Keralaputra. Tambapamni (Ceylon) and the realm of Antiyako Yonarāja, who is usually identified with Antiochos II Theos, King of Syria and Western Asia. On the contrary, he maintained friendly relations with them. The Chola country was drained by the river Kaveri and comprised the districts of Trichinopoly and Tanjore. We learn from a South Indian inscription' that Hara, i.e., the god Śiva, asked Gunabhara (Mahendravarman I, Pallava), "How could I, standing in a temple on earth, view the great power of the Cholas or the river Kaveri ?" When Pulakesin II Chalukya strove to conquer the Cholas "the Kaveri had her current obstructed by the causeway formed by his elephants." The Chola capital was Uraiyur (Sanskrit Uragapura) or Old Trichinopoly. 2 The principal port was at Kaviripattinam or Pugar on the northern bank of the Kaveri. S The Pandya country corresponded to the Madura, and Tinnevally districts with perhaps the southern portions of Ramnad and the Travancore state. It had its capitals at Kolkai and Madura (Dakshina Mathura). The rivers Tamraparni and Kritamālā or Vaigai flowed through it. Katyayana derives Pandya from Pandu. The Pandus are 1 Hultzsch, SII, Vol. I, p. 34. 2 Aelian, however, has the following reference to the realm of Soras (Chola ?) and its chief city: "There is a city which a man of royal extraction called Soras governed at the time when Eukratides governed the Bactrians, and the name of that city is Perimuda (city of Perumal ?). It is inhabited by a race of fisheaters who go off with nets and catch oysters." For Uragapura in Cholika Vishaya, see Ep. Ind., X. 103. 3 For the early history of the Chola Kingdom and other Tamil states see CHI., Vol. I, Ch. 24; Smith, EHI., Ch. XVI; Kanakasabhai Pillay, Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago; Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Beginnings of South Indian History and Ancient India; K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Pandyan Kingdom, The Colas, etc. Page #358 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ TAMIL KINGDOMS 329 mentioned as the ruling race of Indraprastha in the Mahābhārata as well as in several Jātakas. Ptolemy (cir. 150 A. D.) speaks of the country of the Pandoouoi in the Pañjāb. There can be no doubt that Pāndu was the name of a real tribe or clan in northern India. Kātyāyana's statement regarding the connection of the Pāņdyas with the Pāṇdus receives some support from the fact that the name of the Pāņdya capital (Madurā) was identical with the famous city of Mathurā in the. Sūrasena country which, according to Epic tradition, was the seat of a family intimately associated by ties of friendship and marriage with the Pāṇdus of Indraprastha. The connection between the Pāņdus, the Śūrasenas and the Pāņdyas seems to be alluded to in the confused stories narrated by Megasthenes regarding Herakles and Pandaia. 2 Satiyaputra is identified by Mr. Venkates varaiyar 3 with Satya-vrata-kshetra or Kañchipura. But Dr. Aiyangar points out that the term Satya-vrata-kshetra is applied to the town of Kāñchi or a part of it, not to the country dependent upon it. There is besides the point whether vrata could become puta. Dr. Aiyangar supports Bhandarkar's identification with Satpute. He takes Satiyaputra to be a collective name of the various matriarchal communities like the Tulus and the Nāyars of Malabar. 4 According to Dr. Smith 5 Satiyaputra is represented by the Satyamangalam Taluk of Coimbatore. Mr. T. N. Subramaniam prefers Kongunādu ruled by the 1 I find it difficult to agree with Dr. Barua, Inscriptions of Asoka, Part II (1943), p. 232, that the line of Yudhishthira"...that ruled at Indraprastha in the Kuru country "has nothing to do with Pāņdu's eldest son." 2 Ind. Ant., 1877, p. 249. 3 FRAS, 1918, pp. 541-42. 4 JRAS, 1919, pp. 581-84. 5 Asoka, Third Ed., p. 161 6 JRAS, 1922, 86. 0. P. 90–42. Page #359 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 330 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kosar people famous for their truthfulness. Mr. K. G. Sesha Aiyar1 takes Satiyaputra to be the equivalent of Atiyaman, chief of Kutiraimalai with his headquarters at Takaḍur, now in Mysore. Mr. P. J. Thoma, however, gives reasons for identifying it with "Satyabhumi" of the Keralolpatti, a territory which corresponds roughly to "North Malabar including a portion of Kasergode Tāluk, South Canara."2 Keralaputra (Ketalaputo or Chera) is "the country south of Kupaka (or Satya), extending down to Kanneti in Central Travancore (Karunagapalli Taluk). South of it lay the political division of Mushika." It was watered by the river Periyar, perhaps identical with the Churņi of the Arthasastra on the banks of which stood its capital Vañji (near Cochin) and at its mouth the seaport of Muziris (Kranganur). Ceylon was known in ancient times as Parasamudra as well as Tamraparņi (Greek Taprobane). Tambapaṁni, 6 1 Cera kings of the Sangam period, 17-18 2 JRAS, 1923, p. 412, B. A. Saletore is, however, inclined to disparage the authority of the Keralolpatti (Indian Culture. I. 668). But Kirfel points out (Die Kosmographie Der Inder, 1920, p. 78) that Satiya (variants Satiratha, Sanipa) finds mention in the list of southern Janapadas, along with the Mushakas, in the Jambukhanda section of the Mahabharata (Bk. VI.). For other views see, Ind. Cult., Vol. II, 549 ff.; Aiyangar. Com. Vol., 45-47. Mr. M. G. Pai suggests that 'Satiya' corresponds to Śantika of the Markandeya Purāṇa, 58.37, and the Brihat Samhita, xiv, 27, and included South Kanara. Cf. Setae of Pliny, (Bomb, Gaz. Gujrat, 533). 3 JRAS, 1923, p. 413. 4 P. 75. Cf. Suka samdesa (Aiyar, Cera kings, 94). 5 Greek Palaesimundu, see Ray Chaudhuri, Ind. Ant., 1919, pp., 195-96. commentary on the Kauṭiliya, Ch. XI; Rāmāyaṇa, VI. 3. 21 (Lanka described as sthita "pare samudrasya"). On reading Law's Ancient Hindu Polity (p. 87 n.) I find that the identification was also suggested by Mr. N. L. Dey. The equation Parasamudra = Palaesimundu is not less plausible than the equations Satavahana = Śalivahana ; Kataha Kaḍāram = Kiḍāram = Kantoli (cf. Dr. Majumdar, Suvarnadvipa, 56, 79, 168). 6 For other names of Ceylon see "Megasthenes and Arrian" published by Chuckerverty and Chatterjee, 1926, p. 60 n. For a short history of the island Page #360 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGDOMS IN THE HELLENIC WEST 331 i.e., Tāmraparņi is mentioned in Rock Edicts II and XIII of Ašoka. Dr. Smith lately 1 took the word to mean not Ceylon but the river Tāmraparni in Tinnevally. He referred to the Girnar text "ā Tambapanni” which according to him indicated that the river was meant, not the island. Now, in Edict II the phrase "ā Tambapani" comes after Ketalaputo and not after Pādā. The expression “Ketalaputo as far as the Tāmraparņi” is hardly appropriate because the Tāmraparņi is a Pāņdyan river. We, therefore, prefer to take Tāmraparņi to mean Ceylon. Asoka's Ceylonese contemporary was Devānampiya Tissa whose accession may be dated about 250 or 247 B.C. Asoka maintained friendly relations not only with the Tamil powers of the south, but also with his Hellenistic frontager, Antiochos II Theos, king of Syria and Western Asia (B.C. 261-246); and even with the kings the neighbours of Antiochos, namely, Ptolemy II Philadelphos, king of Egypt (B.C. 285-247); Magas, king of Cyrene in North Africa (who probably died not later than B.C. 258)); Antigonos Gonatas, king of Macedonia (B.C. 277 or 276239); and Alexander who ruled over Epirus (B.C. 272. c.255) according to Norris, Westergaard, Lassen, Senart, Smith and Marshall.4 Beloch and Hultzsch, however, see Camb. Hist. Ind., Chap XXV, and IHQ, II. 1, p. 1 ff. According to tradition recorded in the Dipavamsa and the Mahāvansa the first Aryan immigrants were led by Prince Vijaya of Lāla, whom the chronicles represent as a grandson of a Princess of Vanga. The identification of Lāla is, however, open to controversy, some placing it in Gujarat, others identifying it with Rādhā or Western Bengal. Barnett may be right in his assumption that the tradition of two different streams of immigration was knit together in the story of Vijaya. See also IHQ. 1933, 742 ff. 1 Aśoka, 3rd Ed., p. 162, 2 Even those who prefer to see in the passage a reference to a kingdom · in the Valley of the Tamraparņi river, have to prove that such a kingdom did exist in the Maurya age apart from "Pādā" and Taprobane, and to explain the particular way in which it is mentioned in Edict II. 3 Tarn, Antigonos Gonatas, p. 449 f. 4 Monuments of Sanchi, I, 28 n. Page #361 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 332 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDİA suggest 1 that Alikas udara of Edict XIII is Alexander of Corinth, the son of Craterus (B.C. 252–cir. 244) and not Alexander of Epirus (272-cir. 255), the son of Pyrrhus. Though Asoka did not covet the territories of his neighbours, there is evidence that he gave them advice on occasions, and established philanthropic institutions in their dominions. In other words, he regarded them as objects of spiritual conquest (Dhamma-vijaya). "My neighbours, too, should learn this lesson."? "Among his frontagers the Cholas, the Pāņdyas, the Satyaputra, the Ketalaputra as far as Tāmraparṇī, Antiochos, the Greek king, and even the kings the neighbours of that Antiochos, everywhere have been made healing arrangements of His Sacred and Gracious Majesty the King." In Edict XIII Asoka declares that the "conquest of the Law of Piety,...... has been won by His Sacred Majesty........ among all his neighbours as far as six hundred leagues, where the king of the Greeks named Antiochos dwells, and beyond (the realm ) of that Antiochos (where dwell) the four kings (rājāno) severally Ptolemy (Turamāyo), Antigonos (Amtekina), Magas (Maga or Maka), and Alexander (Alikasudaro)-(likewise) in the south (nicha), the Cholas and the Pāņdyas as far as Tambapamni...... Even where the envoys (dūtā) of His Sacred Majesty do not penetrate, those people, too, hearing His Sacred Majesty's ordinance based upon the Law of Piety and his instruction in the Law, practise 1 JRAS, 1914, pp. 943 ff. Ins.of Asoka, xxxi. 2 M. R. Edict I. 3 Have we here a reference to countries like Suvannabhūmi named in the list of territories to which missionaries were sent according to the Mahāvansa ? Page #362 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DHAMMAVIJAYA IN FOREIGN LANDS 333 and will practise the Law." Buddhism doubtless made some progress in Western Asia and influenced later sects like the Manichaeans. But Greeks apparently were not much impressed by lessons on non-violence. When the strong arm of Aśoka, "who possessed the power to punish inspite of his repentance," was withdrawn, the Yavanas poured once more into the Kabul valley, the Pañjāb and the Madhya-desa and threw all the province into confusion. The southern missions were more successful. Curiously enough, the Ceylonese chronicles do not seem to refer to the envoys sent to the independent Tamil and Hellenistic kingdoms but name the missionaries sent to Ceylon and Suvaņṇabhūmi (Lower Burma and Sumatra). The Ceylonese mission was headed by prince Mahendra who secured the conversion of Devanampiya Tissa and many of his people. No direct reference to Suvaṇnabhumi occurs in the Edicts hitherto discovered. The Change in Internal Policy war The effects of Aśoka's change of religion after Kalinga were felt not only in foreign policy but also in internal affairs. The principal objects of his complaint according to Rock Edict IV and the Kalinga Edicts were: 1 For Buddhism in Western Asia, see Beal, Si-yu-ki, II. 378; and Alberūni, p. 21; JRAS, 1913, 76; M'Crindle, Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature, p. 185; Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, Vol. III, pp. 3, 450 f.; cf. Smith, EHI, 4th ed., 197; Burlingame, trans., Dhammapada Commentary, Introduction. 2 Mention is however made of the Yona country along with Kasmira, Gandhara and Himalaya (Geiger, 82). This Yona territory is perhaps to be identified with the homonymous land in the Kabul valley associated with Kamboja and Gandhara in the Aśokan Inscriptions. But reference in a vague way to the Levantine world is not completely ruled out. The Deccan lands mentioned in connection with the traditional missionary activity of the Aśokan age include Mahishamaṇḍala, Vanavāsa (in the Kanarese area), Aparantaka (on the west coast), and Mahāraṭṭha (Mahārāshtra) in the upper valley of the Godavari. Page #363 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 334 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 1. The sacrificial slaughter (arambho) of living creatures. 2. Violence (vihimsā) to animate beings. 3. Unseemly behaviour to (asampratipati) to kinsmen (jñāti). 4. Unseemly behaviour to Brahmanas and έramanas. 5. Maladministration in the Provinces. According to Rock Edict I, Aśoka saw much offence not only in the sacrificial slaughter of animals, but also in certain Samajas or festive gatherings which, as we learn from the Kauțiliya,' were often witnessed by kings and emperors.2 The Samaja, says Smith, was of two kinds. The popular festival kind, accompanied by animal fights, heavy drinking and feasting, including much consumption of meat, was necessarily condemned by Aśoka, as being inconsistent with his principles. The other kind, the semi-religious theatrical performance, sometimes given in the temples of Sarasvati, the goddess of learning, was apparently not included among offensive Samājas. Dr. Thomas describes the disapproved Samaja as "a celebration of games or contests taking place in an arena or amphitheatre surrounded by platforms (mañcha) for spectators (preksha)." This kind of Samaja is apparently referred to in the following lines of the Virața parva of the Mahabharata : Ye cha kechinniyotsyanti Samajeshu niyodhakaḥ.* "Those combatants who will take part in wrestling in the Samājas." 1 p. 45. 2 For the holding of Samajas in Magadha and in neighbouring countries see Vinaya, IV, 267; Mahāvastu, III. 57 and 383. 3 JRAS., 1914, pp. 392 ff. 4 Virāța, 2, 7. Page #364 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AŚOKA'S INTERNAL POLICY 335 Tatra Mallāh samāpetur digbhyo rājan sahasrasah samāje Brahmano rājan tathā Pasupater api Mahākāyāh mahāvīryāḥ Kāløkanjā ivāsurāh.? “O king, there arrived, by thousands, boxers from all quarters, in that festive gathering in honour of Brahman as well as Pasupati (Śiva). They possessed gigantic bodies and immense strength like the Titans styled Kālakanja." The harmless Samāja is well illustrated by the gathering in the temple of the goddess of learning referred to in Vātsyāyana's Kāmasītra (Pakshasya māsasya vā prajñāte' hani Sarasvatyā bhavane niyuktānāṁ nityam Samājah). According to Hultzsch the harmless Samāja refers to edifying shows. Asoka determined to put a stop to the practices, referred to above, which he did not approve. At the same time he sought to improve the moral and material condition of the people to such an extent as to effect the "association of gods with men”.9 He did all this "in order that he might discharge the debt (which he owed) to living beings (that) he might make them happy in this (world) and (that) they might attain heaven in the other (world).” The means employed to achieve this object may be classed under four heads : 1. Administrative reforms. 2. Dissemination of instructions in the Dhamma (Law of Piety or Duty). 3. Benevolent activity ; promotion of the welfare of man and beast. 1 Virāța, 13, 15-16. 2 See also IHQ, 1928, March, 112 ff. 3 Cf. Minor Rock Edict 1. Cf. The description in the Harivaisa of a prosperous realm where (rājye mahodaye) gods and men dwelt together (Bhavishyaparva, Ch. 32.1) "Devatānām manushyānām sahavāso' bhavattada." Hultzsch, however, compares (xlv) Deva with Divyāni rūpāni of Rock Edict IV. Page #365 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 336 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 4. Religious toleration and prevention of schism in the Buddhist church. Administrative Reforms In the first place, Aśoka instituted the Quinquennial and Triennial Anusamyāna or Circuit of the Yutas, Rājūkas Prādesilas, and Mahāmātras. Jayaswal and Smith' were of opinion that the whole administrative staff from the Rājākas and the Prādesikas down to the Yutas could not possibly have gone on circuit at once every five years. They interpreted the term as signifying a regular system of transfers from one station to another. But there is nothing in the text to show that all the officers were required to go on circuit at once. The anusamyāna of the Yutas, Rājūkas and Prādeśikas was quinquennial and was mainly intended for propaganda work. The anusamyāna of the Mahāmātras was specially instituted for the purpose of checking miscarriage of justice, arbitrary imprisonment and torture in the outlying provinces (Kalinga, and the Ujjayini and Takshasilā regions). Secondly, Asoka created a number of new posts, e.g., Dharma-mạnāmātras and possibly Dharma-yutas.? The Dharma-mahāmātras were given a protective mission among people of all sects including the Brāhmaṇas and the Nirgranthas or Jainas, and among the Yavanas, Kambojas, Gandhāras, Ristikas and all the Aparāntas. “Among 1 Asoka, 3rd edition, p. 164 ; Mr. A. K. Bose (IHQ, 1933, 811) takes anusamyāna in the sense of 'a court-house or a citadel.' But the epic reference to punyatirthānusamyānam (Mbh. i. 2. 123). 'going forth to holy places of pilgrimage,' suggests that the interpretation proposed by Kern and Bühler is the one least open to objection. See also Barua, Asoka Edicts in New Light, 83 ff. 2 Dhammayuta may not be an official designation. It may mean simply 'one devoted to Dhamma' (morality, righteousness). Cf. Bhandarkar, Asoka, 2nd. ed. pp. 311, 343. Page #366 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AN ASPECT OF MAURYA KINGSHIP 337 servants and masters, Brāhmaṇas and the wealthy (Ibhyas), among the helpless and the aged, they are employed in freeing from worldly cares their subordinates (in the department) of the Law of Piety. They are also employed on the revision (of sentences of) imprisonment or execution, in the reduction of penalties, or (the grant of) release, on the grounds of motive, having children, instigation, or advanced years... At Pataliputra and in all provincial (būhira) towns, in the family establishments of the king's brothers and sisters, as well as of other relatives, they are everywhere employed.” The Dharma-mahāmātras were further engaged everywhere in the imperial dominions (vijita) or indeed in the whole world (Prithivi) as known to the Mauryas, among the Dharma-yutas with regard to “the concerns of the Law, the establishment of the Law, and the business of almsgiving.” The border countries (deśa) were placed under the special care of the Āvutikas.? The emperor was naturally anxious to keep himself fully informed without delay about all public affairs, specially about the doings of the Mahāmātras on whom the success of his mission mainly depended. He, therefore, gave special directions to the Pațivedakas or Reporters that when a matter of urgency committed to the Mahāmātras and discussed in the Parishad or Council occasioned a division of opinion or nijhati (adjournment ?) he must be informed without delay. 1 We have here a reference probably to the fourfold division of society into Brāhmaṇas, Kshatriyas or nobles (Ibhyas), Vaisyas (Aryas), and Sūdras (Bhata). 2 Cf. Hultzsch, Asoka, 100 n 7. 3 For procedure in cases of disputations in an Assembly see also Jaim. Up. Br. III. 7.6. Can Nijhati imply reference to the Upadrashtris hinted at in the Brāhmana passage? The help of Upadrashtris was invoked by the KuruPanchālas to arrive at a satisfactory agreement or understanding in case of dispute. (Cf. also Barua, Asoka Edicts in New Light p. 78.) 0. P. 90-43 Page #367 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 338 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA It is apparent from the Kalinga Edicts and Rock Edict VI that Asoka kept a watchful eye on the Mahāmātras especially on those who administered justice in cities. But he was more indulgent towards the Rūjūkas for whose intelligence he apparently entertained great respect. To the Rājākas "set over many hundred thousands of people” the emperor granted independence in the award of honours and penalties in order that those officials might perform their duties confidently and fearlessly. He wanted, however, to maintain some uniformity in penalties as well as in procedure. For this reason he issued the following rule : "To condemned men lying in prison under sentence of death a respite of three days is granted.” Lastly, Asoka issued certain regulations restricting slaughter and mutilation of animals, and up to the twentyseventh year of his coronation effected twenty-five jail deliveries. This suggests, as has been pointed out by Hultzsch, that the emperor used to proclaim an amnesty to criminals at almost every anniversary of his coronation. Measures adopted to disseminate Instructions in the Law of Piety. Though himself convinced of the truth of the Buddha's teaching, of the efficacy of worship at Buddhist holy places, of the necessity of making a confession of faith in the Buddhist Trinity, of keeping in close touch with the Buddhist Order of monks and maintaining its discipline and solidarity, Asoka probably never sought to impose his purely sectarian belief on others. He attempted, however, to put an end to practices and institutions that he considered to be opposed to the fundamental principles of morality which, according to him, constituted the essence of all religions. The prospect that he held Page #368 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE LAW OF PIETY 339 before the people at large is not that of sambodhi (or of nirvāṇa) but of svarga (heaven) and of mingling with the devas. Svarga could be attained and the gods could be approached by all people, high or low, if only they showed parākrama, zeal, not in adherence to a sectarian dogma or the performance of barren ritual (mamgala) but in following the ancient rule (porāņā pakiti), the common heritage of Indians of all denominations, viz., "obedience must be rendered to parents and elders ; firmness (of compassion) must be shown towards living creatures ; truth must be spoken ; these same moral virtues must be practised. In the same way the teacher must be reverenced by the pupil, and fitting courtesy should be shown to the relatives.” In Edict XIII we have the following: "hearkening to superiors, hearkening to father and mother, hearkening to teachers (or elders ), and proper treatment of friends, acquaintances, comrades, relatives, slaves and servants, with steadfastness of devotion.” Edict VII lays stress on "mastery over the senses, purity of mind, gratitude, and steady devotion”. In the Second Pillar Edict it is declared that the Law of Piety consisted in Apāsinave, bahukayāne, dayā, dāne, sache, sochaye, "little impiety, many good deeds, compassion, liberality, truthfulness, purity”. In the Pillar Edicts again prominence is given to selfexamination and spiritual insight. Towards the end of his career Asoka seems to have been convinced that reflection and meditation were of greater efficacy than moral regulations. But the need for such 1 For the question of slavery in Maurya India, see Monahan, Early History of Bengal, pp. 164-65. It is to be noted that Asoka did not abolish slavery, just as he did not do away with caste or purdah. He simply wanted to mitigate the rigours of the existing social polity. Page #369 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 340 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA regulations was keenly felt by him in the early years of his reign. We learn from Minor Rock Edict I that for more than two-and-a-half years Asoka was a lay disciple (Upāsaka). During the first year he did not exert himself strenuously. Later on he seems to have entered the Sangha and begun to exert himself strenuously. He issusd the famous proclamation, "Let small and great exert themselves," and caused to be engraved the imperishable record of his purpose on the rocks and upon stone pillars wherever there were stone pillars in his dominions. 1 "Approached,” according to Hultzsch, in whose opinion the two-and a half years of Upāsakatva include the period which followed his "visit" (not "entry'') to the Sangha. The view that Asoka actually joined the Holy Order is, however, supported by I-tsing who mentions an image of Asoka dressed in the garb of a Buddhist monk (Takakusu, I-tsing, 73). That rulers and statesmen could be monks as well, even in early times, appears probable from Lüders Ins. No. 1144 which refers to a Sramana mahāmātra of Nāsik in the days of the early Sātavāhana king Krishṇa, Cf. Milinda, IV. 6. 49 (ref. to a śramana King); Geiger, trans., Mahāvamsa, 240 (Kutakanna Tissa). 2 Rock Edict IV has been interpreted by scholars to mean that Asoka sought to promote the observance of the Buddhist doctrine by exhibiting spectacles of aerial chariots (Vimānadasanā), of elephants (Hastidasana), masses of fire (Agikhandhāni) and other representations of a divya, i.e., divine (not terrestrial) nature. Dr. Bhandarkar (Ind. Ant., 1912. p. 26), refers to the Pali Vimānavatthu which describes the splendour of the various celestial abodes (Vimānas) in order to induce listeners and spectators to live good and unblemished lives, and thereby attain to these. Asoka is said to have made representations of these Vimānas and paraded them in various places. Hasti, according to Dr. Bhandarkar, is Sveto hasti, i.e., Buddha himself, who is also described as "Gajatama," i.e. Gajottama, the most excellent elephant. As regards Agikhaidha (Agniskandha) Dr. Bhandarkar draws our attention to Jataka No 40 which refers to a blazing fire-pit created by Māra on the surface of which the Bodhisattva strode and gave a bowl to a hungry Pachcheka Buddha and extolled alms-giving. Hultzsch suggests that Hasti may refer to the vehicles of the four "Mahārājas" (lokapālas or guardians of quarters). He takes Agikhandha to refer to 'radiant beings of another world' while Jarl Charpentier (IHQ, 1933, 87) understands it to mean piles of (hell-)fire. The interpretation of Hultzsch accords better with the testimony of the commentary on the Rāmāyana (11. 68.16) which explains divyain as visishta devatādhishthitam. The celestial elephant figures prominently in the Tārāvaloka story of the Kathā-sarit-sagara (Penzer, VIII. 131), and Page #370 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE LAW OF PIETY 341 Asoka at first utilised the existing administrative machinery for religious propaganda. He commanded his Council (Parishad) to inculcate the Dharma on the subordinate officials styled Yutas and ordered the latter as well as the higher officials styled Rājūkas, and Prādesikas to inculcate the same while they set out for tour (anusamyāna). The Dharma which they were to preach was explained thus : “An excellent thing is the hearkening to father and mother ;? an excellent thing is liberality to friends, acquaintances, relatives, Brāhmaṇas and ascetics ; excellent is abstention from the slaughter of living creatures ; excellent is small expense with small accumulation." mountain of fire, ibid 50, 51 ; III. 6, 17; Cf. also aggi-khando in Jataka, VI 330, Coomaraswamy in B. C. Law, vol. I, 469 ; Note the Sutta referred to in Geiger, Mahāvansa, trans. pp. 85, 110. The passage containing the words Vimānadasanā, Hastidasanā, etc., has been explained differently in A Volume of Indian Studies presented to Professor E. J. Rapson, pp. 546 f. According to the interpretation that finds favour with some recent writers, the spectacles in question were exhibited not by Asoka, but by previous rulers to the accompaniment of the sound of drums. But thanks to Asoka "the sound of the bheri had become the sound of dharma," that is to say, instruction in dharma took the place of martial music that used to be heard on the occasion of pompous shows of edifying subjects in bygone times. What former kings could not accomplish by gaudy spectacles, was achieved by Asoka by the simple unostentatious teaching of the true Doctrine. The bheri was now used to announce the king's rescripts on morality.-ef. the Yerragudi copy of the Minor Rock Edict-Rājuke ānapitaviye bherinā janapadam ānā payisati rathikānam cha (Ind. Culture, I, p. 310; IHQ, 1933, 117). 1 According to one view Asoka sent special missionaries styled Vyutha to expound his teaching. The interpretation of Vyutha as missionary was suggested by Senart and accepted by Smith (Asoka, Third Ed., p. 153 ). Dr. Bhandarkar takes Vyutha or Vivutha to mean "officials on tour." Hultzsch thinks that Vyutha refers to Asoka himself while he was on tour (p. 169, note 8). The word has also the sense of dawn, day-break, day, in other words, it has a chronological significance. Other interpretations are also suggested by scholars. The least plausible is the one offered by Dr. Barua (D. R. Bhandarkar volume, 369.) who finds in the expression reference to the copies of the particular proclamation sent forth from the capital. 2 Cf. Sigālovāda Suttanta (Dialogues of the Buddha, III, 173 ff). Page #371 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 342 POLÍTICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA When he had been consecrated thirteen years, Asoka created the new officials called Dharma-mahāmātras who were specially entrusted with the work of "dharmādhithāna" and "dhaimavadhi”, i.e., the establishment and increase of Piety. While his officers were busy preaching the new Gospel, the emperor himself did not remain idle. Already in his eleventh regnal year he had "started on the path” leading to Sambodhi (ayāya Sambodhim) and commenced the tours of Piety (Dhaima-yātā) in the place of the old tours of pleasure (Vihāra-yātā). In the tours of Piety this was the practice-visiting ascetics and Brāhmaṇas, with liberality to them; visiting elders, with largess of gold ; visiting the people of the country or perhaps rural areas (Janapada) with instruction in the Law of Piety, and discussion of that Law. The memory of a pious tour in Aśoka's twenty-first regnal year? (B. C. 249 according to Smith ) is preserved by the Rummindei and Nigāli Sāgar epigraphs in the Nepalese Tarai. These records prove that Asoka visited the birthplace of Gautama and paid reverence to the stupa of Konākamana, one of the former Buddhas.S In 242 B.C., according to Dr. Smith, Aśoka issued the Seven Pillar Edicts which contain, among other things, a review of the measures taken during his reign for the “promotion of religion, the teaching of moral duty". 1 Some scholars take Sambodhi to mean 'supreme knowledge'. But Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar contends that Sambodhi is equivalent to the Bodhi Tree or the Mabābodhi Temple at Bodh Gayā. According to the Divyavadāna (p. 393) Asoka visited Bodhi in the company of the Sthavira or Elder Upagupta (Hultzsch, CII, xliii). 2 Were these tours decennial? 3 He had enlarged the stupa of Konākamana six years earlier, but his personal presence on that occasion is by no means clear. Page #372 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BENEVOLENT ACTIVITY 343 Benevolent Activity. Promotion of the Welfare of Man and Beast. Asoka abolished the sacrificial slaughter of animals, offensive Samājas and the massacre of living creatures to make curries in the imperial kitchen. Rock Edict VIII refers to the abolition of the vihāra-yātrās or tours of pleasure in which hunting and other similar amusements used to be practised. Pillar Edict V contains a code of regulations i restricting the slaughter and mutilation of animals. Dr. Smith points out that the prohibitions against animal slaughter in this edict coincide to a considerable extent with those recorded in the Arthaśāstra. The emperor established healing arrangements in two kinds, namely, healing arrangements for men and healing arrangements for beasts. Medicinal herbs also both for men and for beasts, wheresoever lacking, were imported and planted. Roots also and fruits, 2 wheregoever lacking, were imported and planted. On the roads wells were dug, probably at intervals of 8 kos, flights of steps built for descending into the water, and banyan trees and mango groves planted for the enjoyment of man and beast. Pillar Edict VII refers to the employment of superior officers (Mukhyas) in the distribution of alms, both the emperor's own and those of the queens and princes. One of the Minor Pillar Edicts refers to the donations of the second Queen Kāruvāki, 3 mother of Tivara : “whatever gift has been given here by the second Queen-be it a mango-garden, or pleasure-grove (ārāma) or alms-house 1 Dhamma-niyama, cf. Patañjali I, I, I. 2 Cf. reference to figs in Bindusāra's correspondence with Antiochos. - 3 Dr. Barua suggests the identification of this lady with Asandhimittă of the Mahāvamsa and the Sumangalavilâsini (Indian Culture, 1, 123). The suggestion, though ingenious, is hardly convincing, Page #373 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 344 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (dānagriha) or aught else--is reckoned as proceeding from that queen.” Mention may also be made of remission of taxes by the emperor himself, e.g, in Lumminigāma, and moneygrants (hirannapatividhāna) to old men. The people of janapadas (districts), doubtless including the grāmas 1 (villages), were also sought to be benefited by the grant of autonomy and the establishment of uniformity of punishment and procedure (dandasamatā and vyāvahārasamatā) as well as diffusion of moral instruction (dhramanusasti). Religious Toleration and the Prevention of Schism in the Buddhist Church. In Rock Edict XII the emperor declares that he "does reverence (Pūjā) to men of all sects (Pāsaņdāni) whether ascetics (Pavajitāni) or householders (Gharastāni) by gifts and various forms of reverence”. That he was sincere in his professions is proved by the Barābar cave dedications in favour of the Ājivika ascetics, who were more closely connected with the Jainas than with . the Buddhists. The emperor only cared for the "growth of the essence (Sāra-Vadhi) of the matter in sects”. He says that "he who does reverence to his own sect wbile disparaging the sects of others wholly from attachment to his own, with intent to enhance the splendour of his own sect, in reality by such conduct inflicts the severest. injury on his own sect." Concord (or concourse, Samavāyo) is praised by him as meritorious (Samavāyo eva sādhu). Just as Asoka tried to secure concord among the various sects, so he wanted to prevent schism within the 1 References to grāmas are found in the compounds Lummini-gāma and gāma-kapota (Pillar Edict V). Page #374 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHARACTER OF ASOKA Buddhist church. Tradition affirms that a Buddhist Council was convened at Paṭaliputra in the seventeenth year of his reign for the purpose of suppressing heresy and making a compilation of the true Buddhist doctrine (Saddhammasamgaha). The Sārnāth Edict and its variants may perhaps be regarded as embodying the resolution of this Council.1 345 Aśoka as a Builder. The gift of cave dwellings to the Ajivika monks affords us a glimpse into another side of Aśoka's activity. As late as the fifth century A.D., sojourners in Pataliputra were struck with wonder at the magnificence of the emperor's architectural achievements. Tradition credits him with the construction of a splendid palace besides numerous relic mounds, monasteries and temples. He is actually known to have enlarged the stupa of Konakamana, a 'former Buddha' and a predecessor of Sakyamuni. He also set up. 'pillars of morality' Dharma-stambhas. Modern critics are eloquent in their praise of the polished surface of his columns and the fine workmanship of their crowning sculptures. 2 Character of Aśoka. His Success and Failure. Aśoka is one of the most interesting personalities in the history of India. He had the energy of a Chandragupta, the versatility of a Samudragupta and the catholicity of an Akbar. He was tireless in his exertion and unflagging in his zeal-all directed to the promotion of the spiritual and material welfare of his people whom he looked upon as his children. His illustrious grandfather 1 Smith, Aśoka, third., ed. p. 55. 2 For Asoka's achievements in the domain of art, see Smith, HFAIC, 13, 57 ff.; Aśoka. pp. 107 ff.; CHI, 618 ff: Havell, ARI, 104 ff., etc. O. P. 90-44 Page #375 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 346 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA was accustomed to dispose of cases even when indulging in the luxury of a massage of the limbs. Similarly, Asoka used to listen to reports about the affairs of his people even while he was eating, in the harem, in the inner apartment, at the cowpen, in the palanquin and in the parks'. The great soldier who had brought under subjection a huge territory unconquered even by his ever victorious grandfather, could, at the same time, argue points of doctrine and discipline with a fraternity of erudite monks. The statesman who could pilot an empire through the storm and stress of a war that involved the death and deportation of hundreds of thousands of men was, at the same time, capable of organizing religious missions the sphere of whose activities embraced three continents, and transforming a local sect in the Ganges Valley into one of the great religions of the world. The man who penetrated into the jungles of the Nepalese Tarai to pay homage to the birth-place of the Buddhas, bore no ill-will towards the descendants of their Brāhmaṇa and Jaina opponents, and granted cavedwellings to the adherents of a rival sect. The king who undertook tours with the object of granting largesses of gold to Brāhmaṇas and Śramanas, admitted to office Yavanas in whose country there were neither Brāhmaṇas nor Sramaņas. He preached the virtues of concord and toleration in an age when religious feeling ran high and disruptive influences were at work within the fold of the Jaina and Buddhist churches. He preached nonviolence when violence in war, religious ritual, royal pastime and festive gatherings was the order of the day. He eschewed military conquest not after defeat but after victory and pursued a policy of patience and gentleness while still possessed of the resources of a mighty empire. The forbearance of this strong man was only matched by his truthfulness, and he describes in burning words Page #376 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE GREATNESS AND PIETY OF ASOKA 347 which no Kalinga patriot could have improved upon, the terrible misery that he had inflicted on a hapless province. The example of Dharmāśoka, the pious king, exercised an ennobling influence on posterity. In the second century A.D. Queen Gautami Balaśrî takes pride in the fact that her son was "alien to hurting life even towards an offending enemy” (Kitāparādhe pi satujane apānahisāruchi). Even in the fifth century A.D., the rest-houses and free hospitals of Magadha excited the wonder and admiration of foreigners. The benefactions of Dharmāśoka were a source of inspiration to royal personages as late as the time of Govindachandra of the Gāhadavāla dynasty. We have already seen that the political record of the great Maurya's early years was brilliant. His reign saw the final triumph of those centripetal forces that had been at work since the days of Bimbisāra. The conquest of Kalinga completed the unification of non-Tamil India under the hegemony of Magadha. The dream of a United Jambudvipa was nearly realised. But the policy of Dhamma-vijaya which he formulated after the Kalinga War was not likely to promote the cause for which a long line of able sovereigns from Bimbisāra to Bindusāra had lived and struggled. The statesman who turned civil administrators into religious propagandists, abolished hunting and jousts of arms, entrusted the fierce tribesmen on the North-West Frontier and in the wilds of the Deccan to the tender care of "superintendents of piety" and did not rest till the sound of the war-drum was completely hushed and the only sound that was heard was that of moral teaching, certainly pursued a policy at which Chandragupta Maurya would have looked askance. Dark clouds were looming in the north-western horizon. India needed men of the calibre of Puru and Chandragupta to ensure her protection Page #377 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 348 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA against the Yavana menace. She got a dreamer. Magadha after the Kalinga War frittered away her conquering energy in attempting a religious revolution, as Egypt did under the guidance of Ikhnaton. The result was politically disastrous-as will be shown in the next section. Aśoka's attempt to end war met with the same fate as the similar endeavour of President Wilson. According to Dr. Smith's chronology Aśoka died in 232 B.C., after a reign of about 40 years. A Tibetan tradition is said to affirm that the great Emperor breathed his last at Taxila." 1 The Oxford History of India, p. 116. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this tradition. Page #378 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE LATER MAURYAS AND THE DECLINE OF THEIR POWER. The Magadha Empire under Asoka extended from the foot of the Hindukush to the borders of the Tamil country. But the withdrawal of the strong arm of Piyadasi was perhaps the signal for the disintegration of this mighty monarchy. "His sceptre was the bow of Ulysses which could not be drawn by any weaker hand." The provinces fell off one by one. Foreign barbarians began to pour across the north-western gates of the empire, and a time came when the proud monarchs of Pataliputra and Rājagriha had to bend their knees before the despised provincials of 'Andhra' and Kalinga. Unfortunately, no Megasthenes or Kautilya has left any account of the later Mauryas. It is impossible to reconstruct a detailed history of Aśoka's successors from the scanty data furnished by one or two inscriptions and a few Brāhmaṇical, Jaina and Buddhist works. Asoka had many children. In Pillar Edict VII, he pays attention to the distribution of alms made by all his children, and in particular to those made by the "Princes, sons of the Queens". It is to this last category that belonged some of the Kumāras who represented the Imperial authority at Takshasilā, Ujjayini, and Tosali. Tivara the son of queen Kāruvāki, the only prince actually named in the inscriptions, does not appear to have mounted the imperial throne. Three other sons, namely, Mahendra, Kunāla (Dharma-vivardhana, Suyasas ?), and Jalauka are mentioned in literature. It is, however, uncertain whether Mahendra was a son of Asoka or his brother. 1 For Tivara as a Magadhan name see the Book of Kindred Sayings, II, pp. 128-30. Page #379 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 350 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The Vayu Purana says that after Aśoka's death his son Kunāla reigned for eight years. Kunala's son and successor was Bandhupalita, and Bandhupalita's dāyāda or heir was Indrapalita. After Indrapalita came Devavarman, Satadhanus and Brihadratha. The Matsya Purana gives the following list of Aśoka's successor :-Dasaratha, Samprati, Satadhanvan and Brihadratha. The Vishnu Purana furnishes the following names :Suyaśas, Dasaratha, Sangata, Saliśūka, Somaśarman Satadhanvan and Brihadratha. The Divyavadana1 has the following list :-Sampadi, Vrihaspati, Vrishasena, Pushyadharman and Pushyamitra. Jaina writers refer to a Maurya King of Rajagriha, named Balabhadra.2 The Rajatarangini mentions Jalauka as the successor of Asoka in Kaśmira, while Taranatha mentions another successor Virasena who ruled in Gandhara and was, as Dr. Thomas suggests, probably the predecessor of Subhāgasena of Polybius. It is not an easy task to reconcile the divergent versions of the different authorities. The reality of the existence of Kunāla is established by the combined testimony of the Puranic and Buddhist works (which represent him as the father of Sampadi) as well as the evidence of Hemachandra and Jinaprabhasuri, the well-known Jaina writers. The names Dharma-vivardhana occurring in the Divyavadana and the Records of Fa Hien and Suyasas found in the Vishnu and the Bhagavata Purānas were probably birudas or epithets of this prince. Tradition is not unanimous regarding the accession of Kunala to the imperial 1 P. 433. 2 Jacobi, Introduction to the Kalpasūtra of Bhadrabahu, 1879, p. 9. 3 Ind. Ant., 1875, p. 362; Camb. Hist, Ind., I, p. 512. Page #380 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SUCCESSORS OF ASOKA throne. He is reputed to have been blind. His position was, therefore, probably like that of Dhritarashtra of the Great Epic and, though nominally regarded as the sovereign, he was physically unfit to carry on the work of government which was presumably entrusted to his favourite son Samprati, who is described by Jaina and Buddhist writers as the immediate successor of Asoka. 351 Kunala's son was Bandhupalita according to the Vayu Purana, Sampadi (Samprati) according to the Divyāvadāna and the Paṭaliputrakalpa of Jinaprabhasuri,1 and Vigataśoka according to Taranatha. Either these princes were identical or they were brothers. If the latter view be correct then Bandhupalita may have been identical with Dasaratha whose reality is established by the brief dedicatory inscriptions on the walls of cavedwellings at the Nagarjuni Hills which he bestowed upon the Ajivikas. Dasaratha, who receives the epithet "devanampiya" in the inscriptions, was a grandson of Aśoka according to the Matsya and Vishnu Purāņas, and the predecessor of Samprati (variant Sangata) according to the same authorities. Indrapalita must be identified with Samprati or Saliśūka according as we identify Bandhupalita with Dasaratha or Samprati. "In the matter of the propagation of the Jaina faith, Jaina records speak as highly of Samprati as Buddhist records do of Aśoka." The Pataliputrakalpa of Jinaprabhasuri3 says, “in Pataliputra flourished the great king Samprati, son of Kunāla, lord of Bharata with its three continents (trikhandam Bharatakshetram Jinayatanamanditam), the great Arhanta who established Vihāras for Śramanas even in non-Aryan countries." 1 See also Parisishṭaparvan, IX, 51-53. 2 Ind. Ant., 1875, 362. 3 Bomb., Gaz, I. i, 6-15. Parisishta, XI. 65. Page #381 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 352 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Dr. Smith shows good grounds for believing that the dominions of Samprati included Avanti and Western India.? In his Asoka? he admits that the hypothesis that Asoka left two grandsons, of whom one-(Dasaratha) succeeded him in his eastern and the other (Samprati) in his western dominions, is little more than a guess.3 The Jaina writers represent Samprati as ruling over Pāțaliputra as well as Ujjayini. His name is mentioned in the Purāņic list of Aśoka's Magadhan successors. The existence of Śāliśūka is proved not only by the testimony of the Vishnu Purūna but also by that of the Gārgi Saṁhitā4 and the e Vāyu'manuscript referred to by Pargiter. He may have been identical with Vșihaspati, son of Samprati, according to the Divyāvadāna, unless Vrihaspati represented a different branch of the imperial family. Devavarman and Somašarman are variant readings of the same name. The same is the case with Satadhanus 5 and Satadhanvan. It is not easy to identify Vrishasena and Pushyadharman ; they may be merely birudas or secondary names of Devavarman and Satadhanvan. But the possibility that they represent a distinct branch of the Maurya line is not entirely excluded. 1 Pariśishtaparvan, xi. 23. itaścha Samprati nipo yayāvUjjayini purim. 2 Third ed. p. 70. 3 Curiously enough, Prof. Dhruva maintains in spite of this and the clear evidence of Jaina literature that "historians say that on the death of Kunāla there was a partition of the Maurya Empire between his two sons Dasaratha and Samprati (JBORS, 1930,30)." Prof. Dhruva's emendations of the text of the Yugapurāna are largely conjectural and of little probative value. 4 Kern's Brihatsamhitā, p. 37. The Gārgi Samhitā says, "There will be Saliśūka, a wicked quarrelsome king. Unrighteous, although theorising on righteousness, dharmavādi adhārmikah (sic) he cruelly oppresses his country". 5 For an interesting account of a King named Satadhanu see Vishnu Purāna III. 18. 51 ; Bhāg II. 8. 44. His identity is, however, uncertain. Page #382 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DECLINE OF THE MAURYA EMPIRE 353 The last of the Imperial Mauryas of Magadha, Brihadratha, is mentioned not only in the Puranas but also in Bana's Harsha-charita. He was crushed by his general Pushyamitra who is perhaps wrongly described by the Divyāvadāna as of Maurya descent. A Maurya minister. is said to have been imprisoned by the regicide family. Petty Maurya kings continued to rule in Western India as well as Magadha long after the extinction of the Imperial line. King Dhavala of the Maurya dynasty is referred to in the Kanaswa inscription of A. D. 738.1 Dr. D.R. Bhandarkar identifies him with Dhavalappadeva, the overlord of Dhanika, mentioned in the Dabok (Mewar) inscription of cir. A. D. 725. Maurya chiefs of the Konkan and Khandesh are referred to in Early Chalukya and Yadava epigraphs. A Maurya ruler of Magadha named Pūrṇavarman is mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. 3 There can be no doubt that during the sovereignty of the later Mauryas the Magadha Empire experienced a gradual decay. Aśoka died in or about the year 232 B. C. Within a quarter of a century after his death a Greek army crossed the Hindukush which was the Maurya frontier in the days of Chandragupta and his grandson. The Yuga Purana section of the Gargi Samhitā bears testimony to the decline of the Maurya power in the Madhyadeśa after the reign of Śāliśūka : 1 Ind. Ant., XIII, 163; Bomb. Gaz., I. Part 2, p. 284. Kapaswa is in the Kotah state, Rajputana. It is not unlikely that Dhavala was a descendant of some princely Viceroy of Ujjain. See also reference to the Mauryas in the Navasarikā grant Fleet, DKD, 375. 2 Ep. Ind., XII, p. 11. But see Ep. XX. 122. The date A. D. 725 is not accepted by other scholars who prefer A. D. 813. 3 Bomb. Gaz., I. Part 2. pp. 283, 284. Bühler suggests (Ep. Ind., III, p. 136) that these Maurya chieftains of the Konkan were probably descendants of the princely viceroy of the Deccan. He also draws our attention to the family name 'More' which is met with in the Mahratta country, and is apparently a corruption of 'Maurya.' P. 90-45. Page #383 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 354 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA PULO Tatah Sūketam ākramya Pañchalān Mathurūnstatha Yaranā dushțavikrāntā) prāpsyanti Kusumadhvajam tatah Pushpapure prāpte kardame prathite hite ūkulā vishayāḥ sarve bhavishyanti na saṁsayah. 1 “Then the viciously valiant Greeks, after reducing Sāketa (in Oudh), the Panchāla country and Mathurā, will reach (or take) Kusumadhvaja. Push papura (Pāțaliputra) being reached....all provinces will undoubtedly be in disorder." Where was now the power that had expelled the prefects of Alexander and hurled back the battalions of Seleukos ? . According to Mahāmahopādhyāya Haraprasād Šāstrī? a reaction promoted by the Brāhmaṇas had sapped the foundations of the Maurya authority and dismembered the empire. . Among the causes of the alienation of the Brāhmaṇas the foremost place is given to Asoka's Edict against animal sacrifices. The Edict, in Pandit Šāstrī's opinion, was certainly directed against the Brāhmaṇas as a class and was specially offensive because it was promulgated by a Áudra ruler. As to the first point we should remember that prohibition of animal sacrifices did not necessarily imply hostility towards Brāhmaṇas. Long before Asoka Brālimaņa sages whose teachings have found a place in the Holy Śruti, the most sacred literature of the Brāhmaṇas, declared themselves in no uncertain terms against sacrifices, and in favour of Ahimsā (non-violence). 1 Kern. Brihat Samhitā. p. 37. 2 JASB, 1910, pp. 259 ff, Page #384 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXTRACTION OF THE MAURYAS 355 In the Mundaka Upanishad' we have the following Sloka : ΡΙαυα hyete adrilha γαλατρά ashțādaśoktam avaram yeshu karma etachchhreyo ye’bhinandanti mūdhā jarūmrityuin te punareväpi yanti. “Frail, in truth are those boats, the sacrifices, the eighteen in which this lower ceremonial has been told. Fools, who praise this as the highest good, are subject again and again to old age and death.” In the Chhāndogya Upanishad? Ghora Angirasa lays great stress on Ahimsā. As to the second statement we should remember that tradition is not unanimous in representing the Mauryas as of Kūdra extraction. Certain Purūnic texts assert no doubt, that after Mahāpadma there will be kings of Śūdra. origin. But this statement cannot be taken to mean that all the post-Mahāpadman kings were sudras, as in that case the sungas and the Kāṇvas also will have to be classed as sūdras.* The Mudrārākshasa, the evidence of which is cited to prove that Chandragupta was a Śūdra," is a late work, and its evidence is contradicted by 1 1.2, 7: S. B. E. The Upanishds, pt II. p. 31. 2 111. 17. 4. 3 Tatah prabhritirājāno bhavishyāḥ śudrayonayah, The reading in other texts is, however, Tato nripā bhaviskyanti Sudraprāyāstvadhārmikāh (DKA, 25). 4 Among real Śūdra (or partially Śūdra) kings may be included the Nandas, a few rulers mentioned in the Garuda Purāna (Ch. 145. 4) and the Si-yü-ki of Hiuen Tsang (Watters, I. 322 ; II. 252), and certain princes of Western India and the Indus Valley mentioned on pp. 54-55 of Pargiter's Dynasties of the Kali age. 5 In the play Chandragupta is styled 'Nandānvaya' and VỊishala. As to the former appellation we should note that the play describes Nanda as abhijana. Further it calls Chandragupta Mauryaputra, and though commentators try to reconcile the epithets Naudānvaya and Mauryaputra, we learn from early Buddhist writers that Maurya is not a metronymic of Chandragupta or of his father, but the designation of an old clan. The Greeks, too, refer to a tribe called Morieis (Weber IA. ii. (1873) p 148 ; Max Muller, Sans. Lit., 280 ; Cunn. J ASB, XXIII, 680). As to the epithet Vrishala it should be remembered Page #385 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 356 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA earlier authorities. As already pointed out above! the Mahāparinibhāna sutta represents the Moriyas (Mauryas) as belonging to the Kshatriya caste. The Mahāvarisa” refers to the Moriyas as a noble (kshatriya) clan and represents Chandragupta as a scion of this clan. In the Divyāvadānas Bindusāra, son of Chandragupta, said to a girl, "Tvam Nāpinī ahai Rāja Kshatriyo. Mūrdhābhishiktah kathai mayā sārdham samāgamo bhavishyati p” Thou art a barber girl, I am a consecrated kshatriya (king). How can I unite myself with theep” In the same work* Aśoka says to one of his queens (T'ishyarakshitā), "Devi aham Kshatriyah katham palūndum paribhakshayāmi ?”' 'Queen, I am a kshatriya, how can I take onion ? In a Mysore inscription Chandragupta is described as “an abode of the usages of eminent kshatriyas." 5 The Kauțiliya's preference of an "abhijāta” king seems also to suggest that the sovereign of the reputed author was born of a noble family. 6 Having referred to the prohibition of animal sacrifices Pandit Sāstri goes on to say : "this was followed by that a Purāņic text applies it even to the founder of the so-called Andhra dynasty (Pargiter, DKA, 38). But we learn from contemporary epigraphs that the dynasty regarded itself as 'Bamhana.' According to Manu (X.43) the epithet Vrishala could be applied to degraded Kshatriyas (cf. IHQ, 1930, 271 ff. Cf. also Mbh. XII. 90, 15ff., "The Blessed Dharma is Vrisha. He who deals with it in such a way that it ceases to be of any use, i.e., transgresses it, is called a Vrishala, Vrishohi Bhagavān Dharmo yastasya kurute hyalam). The Mauryas by their Greek connection and Jaina and Buddhist leanings certainly deviated from the Dharma as understood by the great Brāhmaṇa law-givers. Attention may be invited in this connection to the epithet Vasalaka (Vrishala) applied by Brāhmaṇas to the Buddha himself (Mookerji, Hindu Civilization, 264). 1 p. 267 supra. 2 Geiger's Translation, p. 27. 3 P. 370. 4 P. 409. 5 Rice, Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, p. 10. 6 Cf. Arthaśāstra, p. 326. See also supra, 266 f. (the reign of Chandragupta). Page #386 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EFFECT OF ASOKA'S MEASURES 357 another edict in which Aśoka boasted that those who were regarded as gods on earth have been reduced by him into false gods. If it means anything it means that the Brahmanas who were regarded as Bhudevas or gods on earth had been shown up by him." The original passage referred to above runs thus: Y (i)-imaya kalaya Jambudipasi amisā devā husu te dani m (i) s-kaṭā. Pandit Sastri followed the interpretation of Senart. But Sylvain Levi1 has shown that the word amisă cannot stand for Sanskrit amrisha, for in the Bhabrū edict we find Musa and not Misa for Sanskrit mrisha (falsely or false). The recently discovered Maski version reads. misibhuta for misamkata, showing that the original form was misribhūtā. It will be grammatically incorrect to form misibhuta from Sanskrit mrisha. The word misra means mixed. And misribhūtā means "made to mix" or made to associate. The meaning of the entire passage is "during that time the men in India who had been unassociated with the gods became associated with them." 152 There is thus no question of "showing up" anybody.3 Pandit Sastri adds that the appointment by Aśoka of Dharma-mahāmātras, i.e., of superintendents of morals, 1 Hultzsch, Aśoka, 168. 2 Cf. Apastamba Dharmasutra, 11. 7. 16. 1: "Formerly men and gods lived together in this world. Then the gods in reward of their sacrifices went to heaven, but men were left behind. Those men who perform sacrifices in the same manner as the gods did, dwell with the gods and Brahma in heaven." My attention was first drawn to this passage by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar. Cf. also. Harivamsa (III. 32. 1): 'Devatānām manushyānāṁ sahavāsobhavattada"; and SBE, XXXIV, p. 222-3 (Sankara's Com. on the Vedantasūtras): "The men of ancient times, in consequence of their eminent religious merit, conversed with the gods face to face. Smriti also declares that 'from the reading of the Veda there results intercourse with the favourite divinity.'"' 3 The true import of the passage was pointed out by Dr. Bhandarkar in the Indian Antiquary, 1912, p. 170. Page #387 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 358 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA was a direct invasion of the rights and privileges of the Brāhmaṇas. It is hardly correct to represent the Dharmamahāmātras as mere superintendents of morals when their duties consisted in the establishment of the Law of Piety (which included liberality to Brāhmaṇas), the promotion of the welfare of the Yavanas, Kambojas, Gandhāras, Ristikas, Brāhmaṇas and others, revision of sentences of imprisonment or execution, the supervision of the family establishments of the Emperor's brothers and other relatives, and the administration of alms-giving." These duties were not essentially those of a mere superintendent of morals, and were not a direct invasion of the rights and privileges of the Brāhmaṇas. Moreover, there is nothing to show that the Dharma-mahūmūtras were wholly recruited from non-Brāhmaṇas. Our attention is next drawn to the passage where Asoka insists upon his officers strictly observing the principles of Danda-samatā and Vyavahāra-samatā. Pandit Šāstri takes the expressions to mean 'equality of punishment' and 'equality in lawsuits' irrespective of caste, colour and creed, and adds that this order was very offensive to the Brāhmaṇas who claimed many privileges including immunity from capital punishment. The passage containing the expressions Dandasamatā and Vyavahāra-samatā should not be divorced from its context and interpreted as if it were an isolated ukase. We quote the passage with the context below : "To my Rājākas set over many hundred thousands of people I have granted independence (or discretion) in the award of honours and penalties. But as it is desirable that there should be uniformity in judicial procedure 1 Asoka, third ed., pp. 168-69. Page #388 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BRAHMANAS IN MAURYA INDIA. 359 (Vyavahāra-samatā) and uniformity in penalties (Dandasamata), from this time forward my rule is this-"To condemned men lying in prison under sentence of death a respite of three days is granted by me." It is clear from the extract quoted above that the order regarding Vyavahara-samata and Danda-samatā is to be understood in connection with the general policy of decentralisation which the Emperor introduced. Aśoka allowed discretion to the Rajukas in the award of penalties, but he did not like that the Danda and Vyavahara prevalent within the jurisdiction of one Rujuka should be entirely different from those prevailing within the jurisdiction of others. He wanted to maintain some uniformity (samata) both in Danda (penalties) as well as in Vyavahara (legal procedure). As an instance he refers to the rule about the granting of a respite of three days to condemned men. The Samata which he enforced involved a curtailment of the autonomy of the Rajukas and did not necessarily infringe on the alleged immunity of the Brahmanas from capital punishment. But were the Brāhmaṇas really immune under all circumstances from capital punishment in ancient India? We learn from the Panchavimsa Brahmana2 that a Purohita (priest) might be punished with death for treachery to his master. The Kauțiliya, tells us that a Brāhmaṇa guilty of treason was to be drowned. Readers of the Mahabharata are familiar with the stories of the punishments inflicted on Mandavya and Likhita. The life of a Brāhmaṇa was not so sacrosanct in ancient as in mediaeval and modern India. We learn from the 1 I am indebted for this suggestion to Mr. S. N. Majumdar. 2 Vedic Index, II. p. 84. The story of Kutsa and his chaplain, Caland, Panch. Br., XIV. 6.8; cf. Brihadaranyaka Up., III, 9. 26. 3 P. 229. 4 Adi, 107 and Śānti, 23, 36. Page #389 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 360 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Aitareya Brahmana that king Harischandra of the Ikshvaku family did not scruple to offer a Brahmana boy as a victim in a sacrifice. Against the surmises regarding the anti-Brahmanical policy of Asoka we have the positive evidence of some of his inscriptions which proves the Emperor's solicitude for the well-being of the Brāhmaṇas. Thus in Rock Edict III he inculcates liberality to Brahmanas. In Edict IV he speaks with disapproval of unseemly behaviour towards the same class. In Edict V he refers to the employment of Dharma-mahāmātras to promote the welfare and happiness of the Brahmaņas. Pandit Sastri says further that as soon as the strong hand of Aśoka was removed the Brahmaņas seemed to have stood against his successors. We have no evidence of any such conflict between the children of Aśoka and the Brahmanas. On the other hand, if the Brāhmaṇa historian of Kasmira is to be believed, the relations between Jalauka, one of the sons and successors of Aśoka, and the Brahmanical Hindus were entirely friendly.' In conclusion Pandit Sastri refers to the assassination of the last Maurya Emperor of Magadha by Pushyamitra Śunga and says, "We clearly see the hands of the 1 Note also the employment of Brāhmaṇa officers, e.g., Pushyamitra, by the later Mauryas. Kalhana has nothing but praise for Aśoka. Another Brāhmaṇa writer, Baṇa, applies the epithet anarya (ignoble) not to the Maurya kings, but to the Brahmaṇa general who overthrew the last of them. Visakhadatta compares Chandragupta with the Boar Incarnation of Vishnu. Certain epic and Puranic writers, it is true, refer to the Mauryas as asuras, and the GārgiSamhita draws pointed attention to the oppressive rule of some of the later members of the family. But there is little to suggest that the Brāhmaṇas were special victims of Maurya tyranny. On the contrary, members of the class were freely admitted to high office as evidenced by the case of Pushyamitra. The epithet asura or sura-dvish was applied not only to the Mauryas but to all persons 'beguiled by the Buddha'. The testimony of the Purāņas in this respect is contradicted by that of contemporary epigraphs which refer to Aśoka and the only one among his imperial descendants who has left any epigraphic record as devanampiya, that is, the beloved (and not the enemy) of the gods. Page #390 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SUBHĀGASENA AND MAURYA DISRUPTION 361 Brāhmaṇas in the great revolution.” But the Buddhist remains at Bhārhut, erected "during the sovereignty of the Sungas” do not bear out the theory which represents them as the leaders of a militant Brāhmaṇism. Are inferences deduced from uncorroborated writings of late authors like the compiler of the Divyāvadāna and perhaps Tāranātha, to be preferred to the clear testimony of contemporary monuments ? Even admitting that Pushyamitra was a militant Brāhmaṇist we fail to see how the decay and dismemberment of the Maurya empire can be attributed primarily to him or to his Brāhmaṇist followers. The empire was a shrivelled and attenuated carcase long before Pushyamitra's coup d'etat of c. 187 B.C. We learn from the Rājataranginî thạt immediately after the death of Asoka one of his own sons, Jalauka, made himself independent in Kaśmîra and conquered the plains including Kanauj. If Tāranātha is to be believed another prince, Virasena, apparently wrested Gandhāra from the hands of the feeble successor of the great Maurya at Pātaliputra. The virtual secession of Vidarbha or Berar is vouched for by the Mālavikāgnimitram of Kālidāsa. The loss of the northern provinces is confirmed by Greek evidence. We learn from Polybius that about 206 B.C., there ruled over them a king named Sophagasenus (Subhāgasena, probably a successor of Virasena). We quote the passage referring to the king below : "He (Antiochos the Great) crossed the Caucasus (Hindukush) and descended into India ; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus, the king of the Indians ; received more elephants, until he had 150 altogether, and having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army, leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus, the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him.” O, P. 90—46. Page #391 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 362 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA It will be seen that Subhagasena was a king and not a petty chief of the Kabul valley as Dr. Smith would have us believe. He is called "king of the Indians," a title which was applied by the classical writers to great kings like Chandragupta and Demetrios. There is nothing in the account of Polybius to show that he was vanquished by the Syrian king in war or was regarded by the latter as a subordinate ruler. On the contrary, the statement that Antiochos "renewed his friendship (or alliance) with Sophagasenus, king of the Indians" proves that the two monarchs met on equal terms and friendly relations were established between them. The renewal of friendship on the part of the Greek king, and the surrender of elephants on the part of his Indian brother, only remind of the relations subsisting between Chandragupta and Seleukos. Further the expression "renewal of friendship" seems to suggest that Subhāgasena had had previous dealings with Antiochos. Consequently he must have come to the throne sometime before 206 B.C. The existence of an independent kingdom in the north-west before 206 B.C. shows that the Maurya Empire must have begun to break up nearly a quarter of a century before the usurpation of Pushyamitra. us We have seen that the theory which ascribes the decline and dismemberment of the Maurya Empire to a Brāhmaṇical revolution led by Pushyamitra does not bear scrutiny. Was the Maurya disruption due primarily to the Greek invasion? The earliest Greek invasion after Aśoka, that of Antiochos the Great, took place. about 206 B.C., and we have seen that the combined testimony of Kalhana and Polybius leaves no room for doubt that the dissolution of the empire began long before the raid of the Hellenistic monarch. What then were the primary causes of the disintegration of the mighty empire? There are good grounds Page #392 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MINISTERIAL OPPRESSION 363 for believing that the government of the outlying provinces by the imperial officials was oppressive. Already in the time of Bindusāra ministerial oppression had goaded the people of Taxila to open rebellion. The Divyāvdāna says 1 “ Atha Rājño Vindusārasya Takshasilā nāma nagaram viruddham. Tatra Rajñā Vindusāren Āśoko visarjitah... yūvat Kumāraśchaturangena balakāyena Talshasilām gatah, śrutvā Takshasilā nivūsinah paurāh....pratyudgamya cha kathayanti 'na vayam Kumārasya viruddhāh nāpi Rajño Vindusārasya api tu dushțāmātyā asmākam paribhavam kurvanti.'” "Now Taxila a city of king Bindusāra's revolted. The king Bindusāra despatched Aśoka there..while the prince was nearing Taxila with the fourfold army, the resident Pauras (citizens of Taxila), on hearing of it...came out to meet him and said :-We are not opposed to the prince nor even to king Bindusāra. But these wicked ministers insult us.'» Taxila again revolted during the reign of Aśoka and the cause was again the tyranny of the ministers. Rājsiośokasy-ottarūpathe Takshasilā nagaram viruddham...'2. Prince Kunāla was deputed to the government of the city. When the prince went there the people said "na vayan Kumārasya viruddhā na rājño'-śokasy-āpi tu dushțātmāno' mātyā āgatyāsmākam apamānam kurvanti.” The Divyāvadūna is no doubt a late work, but the reality of ministerial oppression to which it refers, is affirmed by Aśoka himself in the Kalinga Edicts. Addressing the High officers (Mahāmātras) in charge of Tosali he says : "All men are my children ; and just as I desire for my children that they may enjoy every kind 1 P. 371. 2 Divyāvadāna, 407f. Page #393 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 364 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of prosperity and happiness both in this world and in the next, so also I desire the game for all men. You, however, do not grasp this truth to its full exent. Some individual, perchance, pays heed, but to a part only, not the whole. See then to this, for the principle of government is well-established. Again, it happens that some individual incurs imprisonment or torture and when the result is his imprisonment without due cause, many other people are deeply grieved....Ill performance of duty can never gain my regard.... The restraint or torture of the townsmen may not take place without due cause. And for this purpose, in accordance with the Law of Piety, I shall send forth in rotation every five years such persons as are of mild and temperate disposition, and regardful of the sanctity of life... From Ujjain, however, the Prince for this purpose will send out a similar body of officials, and will not over-pass three years. In the same way-from Taxila."! From the concluding words of the Edict it appears that official maladministration was not confined to the province of Kalinga. The state of affairs at Ujjain' and Taxila was similar. It is thus clear that the loyalty of the provincials was being slowly undermined by ministerial oppression long before Pushyamitra's coup d'etat of c. 187 B.C.? and the Greek invasion of c. 206 B.C. Asoka no doubt did his best to check the evil, but he was ill served by his officers. It is significant that the provincials of the north-west-the very people who complained of the oppression of the dushțāmātyas as early as the reign of Bindusāra, were among the first to break away from the Maurya empire. 1 Smith, Asoka, Third Ed., pp. 194-96. 2 The Jaina date 313-108 = 205 B.C. for Pushyamitra's accession may refer to the assumption of power by Pushyamitra in Avanti, while the date c. 187 B.C. refers to the dynastic revolution in Magadha. Page #394 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EFFECTS OF ASOKA'S POLICY 365 The Magad han successors of Asoka had neither the strength nor perhaps the will to arrest the process of disruption. The martial ardour of imperial Magadha had vanished with the last cries of agony uttered in the battle-fields of Kalinga. Asoka had given up the aggressive militarism of his forefathers and had evolved a policy of Dhamma-vijaya which must have seriously impaired the military efficiency of his empire.? He had called upon his sons and even great-grandsons to eschew new conquests, avoid the shedding of blood and take pleasure in patience and forbearnce as far as possible. These latter had heard more of Dhamma-ghosha than of Bheri-ghosha. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that the rois faineants who succeeded to the imperial throne of Pāțaliputra proved unequal to the task of maintaining the integrity of the mighty fabric reared by the genius of Chandragupta and Chāṇakya. 1 On the contrary, if the Gārgi Samhitā is to be believed, one of his successors, namely Śāliśūka, actually quickened the pace by his tyrannySarăshtra mardate ghoram dharmavādi adhārmikah (sic). Some of Asoka's descendants (e.g., Jalauka) set up independent sovereignties, and were thus directly responsible for the dismemberment of the empire. 2 Cf. the events narrated on page 353 f ante, and "Garga's" attack on the policy of so-called Dharmavijaya, "conquest conformable to Dharma" attributed to Śāliśūka, which, in the opinion of the present writer, is hard to dissociate from Dhamma-Vijaya as promulgated by Aśoka himself and recommended for adoption by his "sons and even great-grandsons." Attention to the passage in the Gārgi Samhitā was also drawn by Jayaswal (JBORS, IV, 261)-sthāpayishyati mohātmā vijayam nāma dhāmikam, "the fool will establish the socalled conquest of Dharma." The expression mohātmā reminds one of the later meaning of 'Devānampiya' (fool, idiot like a brute, beast, Apte, Sanskrit. English Dictionary, 510). An eminent writer takes Vijaya to be a proper name, the appellation of the elder brother of Sāliśūka, whom the latter established on the throne. But it is not clear why the enthronement of a righteous (dhārmika ) man should earn for the person responsible for the action the opprobrious epithet mohatmā. Besides, Vijaya does not occur as a royal name in any of the lists of later Mauryas known to tradition. (For reference to divergent views see Cal. Rev., Feb. 1943, p. 123 ff; Feb, 1946 p. 79 ff). As pointed out by Dr. Sircar, conjectural emendations of the text of the Gārgi Samhitā in support of a particular theory do not carry conviction (Cal. Rev. 1943, April, 39ff). (Contd.) Page #395 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 366 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The disintegration which set in before 206 B.C. was accelerated by the invasions led by the Yavanas referred to in the Gārgi Samhitā and the Mahābhāshya of Patañjali. The final coup de grace was given by Pushyamitra. The royal hunt and jousts of arms in Samājas were abolished. The army seems to have been practically inactive during the last 29 years of Asoka's reign as the emperor himself declares with a feeling of exultation that 'the sound of the bheri had become the sound of the True Law, Dharma'. The Chinese Hou Hanshu (quoted by S. Konow, CII, Vol. II, p. lxvii) testifies to the fact that people of India "practise the religion of the Buddha ; it has become a habit with them not to kill and not to fight". The ease with which general Pushyamitra overthrew his king, in the very sight of the army, shows that unlike the earlier kings of the dynasty who took the field in person, the last of the Mauryas lost touch with his fighting forces, and ceased to command their affection. The largesses of gold lavished on the religieux must also have crippled the financial resources of the empire. The system of autonomous Rājākas instituted by Aśoka must have let loose centrifugal forces that his successors were unable to check. Page #396 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAURYA PEDIGREE 367 GENEALOGY OF THE MAURYA DYNASTY Mauryas of Pipphalivana Chandragupta Bindusāra Amitraghāta Sushima (Sumana) Asoka Piyadasi = Nigrodha (1) Devi (first wife) (2) Asandhimitrā (first queen) {(3) Kāruvāki (second queen) Vigataśoka | (4) Padmavati (Tissa) (5) Tishyarakshita Mahendra ? (son of Devi) Kunāla (Suyasas ?) (son of Padmāvati) Jalauka King of Kaśmira Tivara, Son of Kāruvāki Samprati Vigataśoka Bandhupalita (Daśaratha ?) Virasena of Gandhāra 1 ? Subhāgasena, "King of the Indians" Śāliśūka Somaśarman (Devavarman ?) Śatadhanvan (śasadbarman ?) Prince of Suvarnagiri Prince of Ujjaint Bribadratha (killed by his Commander-in-Chief Pushyamitra) Suketuvarma Pūrņavarman (Magadha) (Maurya of Konkan) Mauryas of Valabhi Dhavala 738-39 A.D. and (Rājputāna) Khāndesh Govindarāja Yadava feudatory, 1069 A.D. Page #397 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER VI. THE ŚUNGA (9) EMPIRE AND THE BACTRIAN GREEKS. SECTION I. THE REIGN OF PUSHYAMITRA. Satatam kampayāmāsa Yavanāneka eva yah balapаurushasampannān kritāstrānamitaujasal yathāsurān Kālakeyān devo vajradharastathā. -Mahābhārata. 1 Audbhijjo bhavitā kaśchit senānih Kāšyapo dvijah aśvamedham Kaliyuge punah pratyaharishyati. -Harivamsa? The Mauryas had done much for Indian unity by bringing the greater part of the country under "one umbrella,” by defending it against the generals of Alexander and Seleukos, by establishing a uniform system of administration, by using Prākrit for official purposes throughout the length and breadth of the empire and attempting to knit together the different sections of its composite population by the strong tie of a common Dharma. With the fall of the dynasty Indian history for the time being loses its unity. The command of one single political authority is no longer obeyed from the snowy heights of the Hindukush to the verdant plains of Bengal and the Upper Carnatic. Hordes of outlanders pour through the north-western gates of the country and establish aggressive monarchies in Gandhāra, Western Mālwa and neighbouring regions. The Pañjāb is seized by foreigners and the Deccan by local dynasts. The political connection of the Madhyadeśa with the valleys 1 2 II. 4. 23. III. 2. 40. Page #398 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE BAIMBIKA FAMILY 369 of the Indus and the Godāvari is temporarily snapped, and the splendour of the Magadhan metropolis is dimmed by the rising glory of Śākala, Vidiśā, Pratishthāna and other cities. Brāhmaṇism gains ground in the Ganges valley and the Deccan, while Jainism flourishes in Orissa. The sects of the Māheśvaras and the Bhāgavatas become powers to reckon with. The study of Sanskrit receives an impetus at the hands of the grammarians of the Madhyadeśa, while Prākṣit literature enjoys the patronage of the courts of Pratishthāna and Kuntala in Southern India. Brihadratha, the last Maurya Emperor of Magadha, was, according to the Purāṇas and the Harsha-charita, assassinated by his general, Pushyamitra, who usurped the throne, and founded a new line of kings. The origin of the usurping family is wrapped up in obscurity. According to the Divyāvadāna Pushyamitra was lineally descended from the Mauryas. The Mālavikāgnimitram, on the other hand, makes Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra, a scion of the Baimbika family, while the Purānas, and apparently the Harsha-Charita” represent 1 In the Mālavikāgnimitram (Act IV. Verse 14 ; Tawney's translation, p. 69) Agnimitra claims to belong to the Baimbika-kula. A king named Bimbaki is mentioned in The Ocean of Story, Penzer I, 112, 119. Mr. H. A. Shah suggests (Proceedings of the Third Oriental Conference, Madras, p. 379 ) that the Baimbikas were connected with the family of Bimbisāra. It is more probable that the epithet 'Baimbika' (in the passage dakshinyam nāma bimbosthi Baimbikānām kulavratam) is connected with bimbikā, a kind of plant (IC, 1938, Jan. 365) and also perhaps with the river Bimbikā mentioned in the Bharhut Inscriptions (Barua and Sinha, p. 8). Cf. Padma, Bhumikhanda 90, 24; Baimbaki in Patañjali, iv, 1. 97. In the Harivamsa (Bhavishya, II. 40) the Brāhmaṇa Senāni who is to restore the Aśvamedha in the Kali yuga is represented as an Audbhijja. 'Plant-born', and a Käsyapa. Jayaswal identifies him with Pushyamitra. Curiously enough, the Baudhāyana Srauta Sutra (ed. Caland, Vol. III, p. 449) represents the Baimbakayaḥ as Kaśyapas. 2 It is, however, to be noted that the Harsha-charita never applies the designation Sunga to Pushyamitra himself, but only to one of the latest kings in the Purāņic list. The Purānas may have combined the Baimbikas and Sungas under the common name of þunga. 0. P. 90—47. Page #399 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 370 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA these kings as Sungas. One writer suggests that the sungas whose names ended in Mitra were Irāņians, worshippers of Mithra (the Sun). Others, regard them as Indian Brāhmaṇas. Curiously enough, Pāṇinia connects the Sungas with the well-known Brāhmaṇa family of the Bhāradvājas. Saungiputra, "son of a female descendant of Sunga," is the name of a teacher in the Brihadāranyaka Upanishad. 3 Saungāyani, "descendant of Saunga” is the name of a teacher in the Vamsa Brāhmana. Macdonell and Keith point out that the Sungas are known as teachers in the Ăśvalāyana Śrauta Sūtra. * In view of the conflicting statements in the Mālavikāgnimitram, the Purānas, etc., it is difficult to say whether Pushyamitra and his known descendants (down to Vasumitra) were sungas of the Bhāradvāja Gotra or Baimbikas of Kaśyapa lineage. The historic "Sungas” of the time of Dhanabhūti are assigned by competent scholars to the period B.C. 100-75. This accords with the testimony of the Harsha-charita which, while denying this dynastic epithet to Pugbyamitra, applies it to the latest kings of the Purānic list, the immediate predecessors of Vasudeva Kāņva. It is not known for certain when and why 'the family of Pushyamitra, like the Kadambas of a later date, exchanged the quill for the sword. There is no reason to think that Asoka tyrannised over the Brāhmanas and that his oppression forced them to engage in non-priestly pursuits. Brāhmana Senāpatis were by no means rare in 1 JASB, 1912, 287. Cf. 1910. 260. 2 In Sūtra IV, 1, 117. Also Kramadiśvara, 763. 3 VI. 4. 31. 4 XII. 13. 5, etc. The Vamsa Brāhmana seems to associate the Sungas with the Madra country. Ved. Index, II, p. 123. For Tāranātha's reference to Pushyamitra, see JBORS, IV, pt. 3, 258. For Bhāradvājas as champions of autocracy and of ministerial usurpation, see Kauțiliya, 31, 316. Page #400 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE DOMINIONS OF PUSHYAMITRA 371 ancient India. 1 The fact that officers of this class found employment under the Later Mauryas proves conclusively that the latter could not have pursued an antiBrāhmaṇic policy. 3 The Dominions of Pushyamitra extended to the river Narmada, and included the cities of Pațaliputra, Ayodhya, Vidiśā, and, if the author of the Divyavadāna and Tāranātha are to be believed, Jalandhara and Sakala.2 It appears from the Divyavadana, that the Emperor himself continued to reside in Pataliputra. The Malavikāgnimitram tells us that Vidiśa (Besnagar in Eastern Malwa) was governed by Prince Agnimitra, probably as his father's viceroy (Goptri). Another viceroy, also a relation of the emperor, may have governed Kosala. 5 Agnimitra's queen had a brother of inferior caste, named Virasena. He was placed in command of a frontier fortress on the banks of the Narmada (Atthi devie vannavaro 4 1 Cf. the cases of Drona, Kripa and Asvatthaman in the Mahabharata, of Ravideva in the Indian Antiquary, VIII. 20, of Kholeśvara, the commander of Yadava kings, and of Someśvara, the Brāhmaṇa general of the Pala kings. 2 Jaina writers, e.g., Merutunga, include Avanti within the dominions of Pushyamitra. This province was lost to the Satavahanas, and Śakala to the Greeks. 3 P. 434. 4 Malavikagnimitram, Act V, pp. 370, 391 of G. Vidyanidhi's ed. esp. verse 20. Sampadyate na khalu Goptari na Agnimitre. 5 The possible existence of this viceroyalty is disclosed by an inscription discovered at the door of a temple at Ayodhya, which records the erection of a "ketana" (abode) by a Kosaladhipa who was the sixth (brother, son or descendant?) of Senapati Pushyamitra, the performer of two horse-sacrifices (Nagari Pracharini Patrika, Vaisakha, Sam. 1981; JBORS, X (1924) 203; XIII (1927) facing 247. Mod. Review, 1924, October, p. 431 IHQ, 1929, 602f.; Ep. Ind. XX. 54ff.). It is interesting to note that the title, 'Senapati' clung to the deva (king) Pushyamitra even after the performance of the Aśvamedha. Cf. the epithet Vähinipati applied to king Virata in the Mahabharata and the title Yavuga applied to Kushan emperors besides other epithets. Cf. also the style Maharaja Mahasenapati in CII., Vol. 3, p. 252, and the title Mahamandaleśvara applied to Bijjala and others even after the assumption of the full royal style (Bomb. Gaz., II. ii. 474ff). Page #401 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 372 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA bhādā Vîraseno mūma, so bhattinā antav (P) ūladugge Nammadatirel thāvido). Affairs in the Deccan. It appears from the Mālavikāgnimitram that the foundation of the dynasty of Pushyamitra almost synchronised with the establishment of a new kingdom in the Deccan, viz., Vidarbha or Berar. Agnimitra's Amātya (Minister) refers to the kingdom as "achirādhishthita" (established not long ago) and compares its king to a tree which is newly planted and, therefore, not firm (navasaṁropana-śithila-staruh). The king of Vidharbha is represented as a relation (sister's husband) of the Maurya minister (Sachiva) and a natural enemy (Prakrityamitra) of the family of Pushyamitra. It appears that during the reign of Brihadratha Maurya there were two parties or factions in the Magadha Empire, one headed by the king's Sachiva or minister, the other headed by his Senāpati or general. The minister's partisan Yajñasena got the rulership of Vidarbha, while the general's son Agnimitra obtained the viceroyalty of Vidišā. When the general organised his coup d'etat, killed the king, and imprisoned the minister, Yajñasena apparently declared his independence and commenced hostilities against the usurping family. This is why he is called achirădhishthita-rājya and prakrity-amitra by Agnimitra and his Amūtya. 1 Act I. Some manuscripts mention Mandakini as the name of the river (cf. IHQ. 1925, 214): A stream called Mandakini lies 5 miles south of the Tāpti (Ind. Ant., 1902, 254). Another Mandakini flowed near Chitrakuța (Rām. 92. 10-11)., Lüders' Inscriptions, Nos. 687-688, seem to suggest that Bharhut (in Baghelkhand) was governed by a Sunga feudatory. If Pushyamitra was a Sunga Baghelkhand must have formed part of the empire of his family. In the Monuments of Sanchi, I. iv. 271, the author does not agree with Bühler in assigning the ins. to the middle of the second century B.C. He prefers B.C. 100-75. Palaeographically the epigraphs are classed with the ins. of Indrāgnimitra, Brahmamitra and Vishnumitra. Page #402 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAGADHAN ANTAGONIST OF KHARAVELA 373 The Malavikagnimitram says that when Kumāra Madhavasena, a cousin of Yajñasena and a partisan of Agnimitra, was secretly on his way to Vidiśa, he was captured by an Antapala (Warden of the Marches) of Yajnasena and kept in custody. Agnimitra demanded his surrender. The Vidarbha king promised to give him up on condition that his brother-in-law, the Maurya minister, should be released. This enraged the ruler of Vidisa who ordered Virasena to march against Vidarbha. Yajuasena was defeated. Madhavasena was released and the kingdom of Vidarbha was divided between the two cousins, the river Varadā (Wardha) forming the boundary between the two states. Both the rulers seem to have accepted the suzerainty of the House of Pushyamitra. In the opinion of several scholars an enemy more formidable than Yajnasena threatened Pushyamitra's dominions from Kalinga (Orissa). In his Oxford History of India1 Dr. Smith accepts the view that Khāravela, king of Kalinga, defeated Pushyamitra who is identified with Bahapatimita or Bahasatimita, a prince supposed to be mentioned in the Hathīgumpha Inscription of the Kalinga inonarch. Prof. Dubreuil also seems to endorse the view that Khāravela was an antagonist of Pushyamitra, and that the Hathigumpha Inscription is dated the 165th year of Raja-Muriya-kala (era of king Maurya) which corresponds to the 13th year of the reign of Khāravela. Dr. R. C. Majumdar, however, points out that of the six letters of the Hathigumpha Inscription which have been read as Bahasati-mitam, the second letter seems to have a clear u sign attached to it, and the third and fourth letters look like pa and sa. Even if the reading 1 Additions and corrections. and p. 58n.. Cf. also S. Konow in Acta Orientalia, I. 29. S. Konow accepts Jayaswal's identification, Bahasatimita = Pushyamitra. 2 Ind. Ant., 1919, p. 189. Cf. Allan CICAI, p. xcviii, Page #403 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 374 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Bahasati-mitam, or Bahapati-mitam, be accepted as correct, the identification of Bahasati (Brihaspati-mitra) with Pushyamitra merely on the ground that Brihaspati (Jiva) is the regent, nakshatrādhipa, of the nakshatra or zodiacal asterism Pushya, also named Tishya, in the constellation Cancer or the Crab, cannot be regarded as final in the absence of more convincing evidence. In this connection we should note that the Divyāvadāna? distinguishes between a king named “Vțihaspati" and king Pushyamitra,3 and represents Pāțaliputra as the residence of the latter whereas the Magadban antagonist of Khāravela is possibly called “Rājagahanapa"4 and apparently resided in the city of Rājagļiha. The date "165th year of the Muriyakāla” was deduced from a passage of the Hāthīgumphā Inscription which was read as follows :5_"Pānamtariya-sathi-va sa-sate RājaMuriya-kāle vochchhine...". There is another passage in the same inscription which runs thus :-Pamchame cha (or che) dānī vase Namda-rāja ti-vasa-sata (m ?)oghāțitam Tanasuliya-vātā-panādin nagaram pavesayati. If Pānamtariya-sathi-vasa-sate be taken to mean "in the 165th year”, 1 Cf. Chandra in 1HQ, 1929, p. 594 ff. 2 Pp. 433-34. 3 It is not suggested that Vșihaspati of the Divyāvadāna is necessarily to be identified with any king named Bșihaspatimitra mentioned in inscriptions, though the possibility is not entirely excluded. What we mean to point out is that the name "Bțihaspati" is not to be equated with Pushyamitra, simply because Brihaspati is the "regent" of the asterism Pushya, because in literature "Vțihaspati,' 'Pushyadharman' and 'Pushyamitra' occur as names of distinct individuals. Regarding the proposed identification of Pushyamitra with Bșihaspaţimitra, see also IHQ, 1930, p. 23. 4 Cf. Lüders' reading, Ep. Ind., X, App. No. 1345. With Jayaswal, S. Konow (Acta Orientalia, I. 26) reads "Rājagaham upapidāpayati," though he admits that "Rājagahanapa (m) pidāpayati" is also possible. 5 Cf. Bhagwanlal Indraji, Actes du sixiéme congrés international des Orientalistes. Pt. III, Section 2, pp. 133 ff.; Jayaswal J BORS, 1917, p. 459. 6 Ibid. p. 455. For the interpretation of the passage, see p. 229 supra.. $. Konow translates it differently :-"And now in the fifth year he has the Page #404 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RĀJA-MURIYA-KĀLA 375 ti-vasa-sata should be taken to mean 103 years, and we shall have to conclude that Khāravela flourished some 165 years after a Maurya king, and only 103 years after Nandarāja, which is impossible as the Nandas preceded the Mauryas. If, on the other hand, ti-vasa-sata be taken to mean 300 years, pānamtariyasathi-visa-sata should be taken to mean not 165 but 6,500 years. In other words Khāravela will have to be placed 6,500 years after a Maurya which is also impossible. Jayaswal himself subsequently gave up the reading “... Pānaṁtariya-sathi-vasa-sate Rāja-Muriya-kāle vochchhine cha chhe-yathi Argasi ti kaṁtāriyam upādiyati” in line 16, and proposed to read “Patāliko chatare cha. veduriyagabhe thambhe patithāpayati pānatariyā sata-sahasehi. Muriya kālam vochhimnaṁ cha choyathi agasatikamtariyam upādāyati.” He translated the passage thus :-"on the lower-roofed terrace (i.e., in the verandah) he establishes columns inlaid with beryl at the cost of 75,00,000 (Panas), he (the king) completes the Muriya time (era), counted and being of an interval of 64 with a century." With regard to this new reading and translation Mr. R. P. Chanda observed 2 "the rendering of vochhine as 'counted' is even more far-fetched than 'expired'. The particle cha after vochhine makes it difficult to read it as vochhinam qualifying the substantive Muriyakālam. Even if we overlook vochhine, the passage appears to be a very unusual way of stating a date. Still aqueduct which was shut (or opened) in the year 103 (during the reign of) the Nanda king, conducted into the town from Tanasuliya Vāta." 1 JBORS, Vol. IV, Part iv, p. 394 f. for Dr. Barua's suggestions see IHQ, 1938, 269. 2 M. A. S. I., No. 1. p. 10. Cf, also S. konow in Acta Orientalia, I. 14-21. Like Fleet S. Konow finds no date in the passage but regards the reading Rāja Muriya kala as certain. According to him Khāravela restored some texts missing in the time of the Maurya king Chandragupta. Dr. Barua does not regard the reading Muriya as certain. Page #405 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 376 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA more unusual is the statement of a date as an independent achievement in a praśasti.” According to Fleet the use of the term "vochchhina” which is applied to sacred texts which have been 'cut off,'- 'interrupted'-quite prohibits the existence of a date. It may be added that there is no reliable evidence of the existence of a RājaMuriya-kāla in the sense of an era founded by the first Maurya. The use of regnal years by Aśoka points to the same conclusion. Jayaswal himself admits in the Epigraphia Indica,? that there is no date in a Maurya era in the 16th line," of the Hāthigumphā inscription.3 Dr. Jayaswal at one time took ti-vasa-sata to mean 300 years and placed Khāravela and Pushyamitra three centuries after Nandarāja whom he identified with Nandavardhana. But we have already seen that Nandavardhana or Nandivardhana was a Saišunāga king 1 An era of Samprati, grandson of Asoka, is however, mentioned in an ancient Jain MS. (EHI 4, p. 202n). If we refer the year 164 tomthis era, the date of Khāravela must be brought down to (cir 224-164=) 60 B. C. In "A note on the Hathigumpha Inscription of Khāravela" Barnett suggests the following rendering of the passage which is supposed to contain the words Muriya-kāla : "And when the Mauryan (?) time-reckoning......which consisted of lustres (antara) of five (years) each, had broken down, he found a new time-reckoning) consisting of lustres of 7 years each (saptikāntariyam) and mounting up to the 64th year (chatuh shashtyagram)." To retorm the calendar Khāravela introduced a new cycle of 64 years consisting of 9 Yugas of 7 years each. According to Dr. F. W. Thomas (JRAS. 1922, 84) antara = antargļiha = cell. The passage means that cells which had been left unfinished during the time of the Mauiya kings were constructed by Khāravela. 2 XX. 74. 3 His latest reading of the inscriptional passage is as follows:"Patalako, chaturo cha vedūriya-gabhe thambhepatithāpayati, pānā. tariya satasahase(hi); Muriya-kāla-vochhinam cha choyath (1) Aiga satika (m) turiyam upādayati." **Patalaka(?)...... (he) sets up four columns inlaid with beryl at the cost of seventy-five hundred thousands ;...(he) causes to be compiled expeditiously the (text) of the sevenfold Amgas of the sixty-four (letters)." Ep. Ind., XX, pp. 80, 89. Page #406 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ NANDA OF KHĀRAVEL A'S INSCRIPTION 377 and that the saišunāgas do not appear to have had anything to do with Kalinga. “It is not Nandivardhana but Mahāpadma Nanda who is said to have brought ‘all under his sole sway' and 'uprooted all Kshatriyas' or the old reigning families. So we should identify 'Namdarāja' of the Hāthīgumphā inscription, 'who held possession of Kalinga either with the allconquering Mahāpadma Nanda or one of his sons."i Professor Barua objects to the identification of “Namdarāja," the conqueror of Kalinga, with a king of the pre-Asokan Nanda line on the ground that in the Asokan inscriptions it is claimed that Kalinga was not conquered (avijita) before Aśoka. But such claims are on a par with the Gupta boast that Samudra Gupta was ajita-rājajetā, conqueror of unconquered kings, and that the Aśramedha sacrifice had been revived, after a long period of abeyance, by him. We know that as a matter of fact the claims, if taken too literally, had very little substance in them. The suggestion in the Cambridge History of Ancient India that Nandarāja may have been a local ruler of Kalinga is negatived by the internal evidence of the Hāthīgumphā Inscription.3 A post-Asokan "neo-Nanda" line of Magadha is also unknown to sober history. 1 M. A. S. I., No. I, p. 12. 2 Allan, Gupta Coins, p. ex. Cf. Jahāngir's boast that "not one of the mighty emperors has conquered" Kangra, (ASI, AR, 1905-6. p. 11). Avijita may simply refer to the fact that Kahiga was not included within the limits of Asoka's Vijita (empire) or Rāja-vishya (Royal Dominions). 3 Cf. the passage-"Namdarāja nitan cha Kalimga Jinasamnivesam" which proves clearly that Nanda was an outsider. 4 A late Nanda or Nandodbhova line is known to epigraphy. But it ruled in Orissa. See R. 1). Banerji. Orissa, I. 202 ; Kumar Bidyādhara Singh Deo, Nandapur, I. 46; Ep. Ind. xxi, App. Ins. No. 2043. 0. P. 90—48. Page #407 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 378 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA As Mahāpadma Nanda and his sons ruled in the fourth century B. C., Khāravela is to be assigned either to the third century B. C., (taking ti-vasa-sata to mean 103) or to the first century B.C. (taking ti-vasa-sata to mean 300). In neither case could he be regarded as a contemporary of Pushyamitra who ruled from about 187 to 151 B.C. The Yavana Invasion. The only undoubted historical events of Pushyamitra's time, besides the coup d'état of c. 187 B. C., and the Vidarbha war, are the Greek invasion from the NorthWest referred to by Patañjali and Kālidāsa, and the celebration of two horse-sacrifices. Patañjali is usually regarded as a contemporary of Pushyamitra. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar draws our attention to the passage in the Mahābhāshya—iha Pushyamitram yājayāmah : “here we perform the sacrifices for Pushyamitra”—which is cited as an illustration of the Vārttika teaching the use of the present tense to denote an action which has been begun but not finished. The instances given by Patañjali of the use of the imperfect to indicate an action well-known to people, but not. witnessed by the speaker, and still possible to have been seen by him, are, “arunad Yavanah Sāketam: arunad Yavano Madhyamikām.” This, says Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, shows that a certain Yavana or Greek chief had besieged Sāketa or Ayodhyā 1 Konow (Acta Orientalia, Vol. I, pp. 22-26) accepts the date 103, but refers it (along with another date, 113, which he, with Fleet, finds in line 11) to a Jaina era. This era he is inclined to identify with that of Mahāvira's Nirvana. Apparently he is not aware of the existence of another Jaina reckoning, viz., the era of Samprati. Dr K. P. Jayaswal (Ep. Ind., XX. 75) now assigns the date 103 to a Nanda era and says that the date refers to the time when the Tanasuliya Canal, which Khāravela extended to the capital in the 5th year of his reign, was originally excavated. 2 Ind. Ant., 1872, p. 300. Page #408 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE BACTRIAN GREEKS - 379 and another place called Madhyamikāl when Patañjali wrote this. It is, however, possible that the instances cited by the great grammarian are stock illustrations ( mūrdhābhishikta udāharana ) which are simply quoted by him from earlier authorities. But a war with Greeks in the days of Pushyamitra is vouched for by Kālidāsa. In his Malavikāgnimitram the poet refers to a conflict between prince Vasumitra, grandson and general of Pushyamitra, and a Yavana on the southern (or right) bank of the Sindhu. Unfortunately the name of the leader of the invaders is not given either in the Mahābhāshya or in the Malavikāgnimitram. There is considerable divergence of opinion with regard to his identity. But all agree that he was a Bactrian Greek. The Bactrian Greeks were originally subjects of the Seleukidan Empire of Syria (and Western Asia). We learn from Strabo, Trogus and Justin that "about the middle of the third century B. C. when the Seleukid rulers were pre-occupied in the west” Diodotos, "Governor of the thousand cities of Bactria” (Balkh region to the south of the Oxus), revolted and assumed the title of king. He was succeeded, according to Justin, by his son Diodotos II who entered into an alliance with Arsakes who about this time (c. 247 B.C.) tore Parthia in Northern Irān from the Seleukidan Empire. The successor of Diodotos H, was Euthydemos. We learn from Strabo 3 that Euthydemos and his party occasioned the revolt of all the country near the province of Bactriana. We are told by Polybius that Antiochos III (223187 B.C:) of Syria made an attempt to recover the lost provinces but afterwards made peace with Euthydemos. 1 Nāgari near Chitor; cf. Mbh., 11. 32.8 ; Ind. Ant., VII, 267. 2 The Indus or possibly a stream of the same name in Central India (Cf. IHQ, 1925,215). 3 H. & F.'s Tr., Vol. II. p. 251. Page #409 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 380 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The historian says, "Antiochos the Great received the young prince (Demetrios, son of Enthydemos) and judging from his appearance, conversation and the dignity of his manners that he was worthy of royal honour be first promised to give him one of his daughters, and secondly conceded the royal title to his father. And having on the other points caused a written treaty to be drawn up and the terms of the treaty to be confirmed on oath, he marched away, after liberally provisioning his troops, and accepting the elephants belonging to Euthydemos. He crossed the Caucasus (Hindukush) and descended into India ; renewed his friendship with Sophagasenos, the king of the Indians ; received more elephants, until he had 150 altogether, having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with his army, leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus, the duty of taking home the treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him.” Not long after the expedition of Antiochos the Great, the Bactrian Greeks themselves formed the design of extending their kingdom by the conquest of the territories lying to the south of the Hindukush. Strabo says, "the Greeks who occasioned its (Bactria's) revolt became so powerful that they became masters of Ariana and India, according to Apollodoros of Artemita.Their chiefs, particularly Menander (if he really crossed the Hypanis 3 to the east and reached Isamus ) conquered more nations than Alexander. These conquests 1 Tarn's scepticism (Greeks in Bactria and India, 82, 201) about the marriage is not warranted by cogent evidence. His arguments are in part of a negative character. He seems to prefer his own interpretation of certain coins of Agathokles to the clear testimony of Polybius. 2 Artemita lay to the east of the Tigris. The books of Apollodoros are assigned to a date between C. 130 B.C. and 87 B.C. (Tarn, Greeks, 44 ff); 3 i.e., the Hyphasis or Vipāśā (the Beas). 4 The Trisāmā? In the Bhāgavata Purāna (V. 19, 17) a river of this name is mentioned in conjunction with the Kauśiki, Mandakini, Yamunā, etc. Page #410 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DEMETRIOS AND MENANDER 381 were achieved partly by Menander, partly by Demetrios, son of Euthydemos, king of the Bactrians. They got possession not only of Patalene (the Indus Delta), but of the kingdoms of Saraostos (Surāshtra or Kāțhiā wār), and Sigerdis (probably Sāgaradvipa)' which constitute the remainder of the coast. Apollodoros in short says that Bactriana is the ornament of all Ariana. They extended their empire even as far as the Seres and Phryni.”2 Strabo gives the credit for spreading the Greek dominion furthest to the east into India partly to Menander and partly to Demetrios, son of Euthydemos and son-inlaw of Antiochos the Great. - Menander has been identified with the king Milinda who is mentioned in the Milinda-pañho as a contemporary of the Buddhist Thera (Elder) Nāgasena, and also in the Avadāna-kalpalatā of Kshemendra. This monarch was born at Kalsigrāma* in the "Island” of Alasanda or Alexandria 5 and had his capital at Sāgala or Sākala, modern Siālkot, in the Pañjāb, 6 and not at Kābul as Dr. Smith seemed to think. The extent of his conquests is indicated by the great variety and wide diffusion of his coins which have been found over a very wide extent of country as far west as Begram near Kābul and as far east as Mathurā.8 The author of the Periplus states 1 Mahābharāta, 11. 31. 66, Cutch ? 2 Strabo, Hamilton and Falconer, Vol. II, pp. 252-53. The Chinese and peoples of the Tarim basin are apparently meant. 3 Stupa avadāna (No. 57); Smith, Catalogue of Coins, Indian Museum, p. 3; SBE, 36, xvii. 4 Trenckner. Milindapānho, p. 83. 5 Ibid, p. 82 (CHI, 550). The identity of this "Alexandria" is uncertain. Tarn (p. 141 ) seems to prefer Alexandria in the Kābul Valley. The Milinda, VI. 21. seems to suggest location on the sea unless a different Alexandria is meant. 6 Milinda, pp. 3, 14. 7 EHI., 1914, p. 225. 8 SBE., Vol. XXXV, p. xx. Tarn, 228. Page #411 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 382 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA that small silver coins, inscribed with Greek characters and bearing the name of Menander were still current in his time (cir. 60-80 A.D.) at the port of Barygaza (Broach). Plutarch tells us that Menander was noted for justice, and enjoyed such popularity with his subjects that upon his death, which took place in camp, diverse cities contended for the possession of his ashes. The statement of Plutarch is important as showing that Menander's dominions included many cities. The recently discovered Bajaur Relic Casket Inscription confirms the numismatic evidence regarding the westward extension of his empire.1 Demetrios has been identified by some with king Dattamitra mentioned in the Mahabharata, the "great Emetreus, the king of Inde" of Chaucer's Knightes Tale and Timitra of a Besnagar seal.3 The wide extent of his conquests is proved by the existence of several cities named after him or his father in Afghanistan as well as India. Thus in the work of Isidor of Charax we have a reference to a city named Demetrias polis in Arachosia. The Vyakarana (grammar) of Kramadiśvara mentions a city in Sauvira called Dattamitri. Ptolemy the Geographer 1 Ep. Ind. XXIV. 7 ff. The King's name is given as Minadra. 2 I, 139, 23. 3 EHI, p. 255n 4 JRAS., 1915, p. 830. Parthian Stations, 19. 5 Ind. Ant., 1911. Foreign Elements in the Hindu Population; Bomb. Gaz., I. ii. 11, 176, Kramadiśvara, p. 796. The reference is probably to a Demetrias in the lower Indus Valley. Johnston differs from the view (JRAS, April, 1939; IHQ, 1939). We should, however, not ignore the evidence of Mbh. I. 139, verses 21-23 which clearly refer to a Yavanadhipa and Dattämitra in connection with Sauvira. If Dattamitra is not Demetrios and Dattāmitri not a city founded by him, it will be interesting to know with whom Dattamitra and the Yavanadhipa of the epic are proposed to be identified. A Nasik (Deccan) Inscription (No. 1140 Lüders' List) makes mention of a Yonaka from the north (Otaraha), a native of Dattāmitri. Thus epic and epigraphic evidence together with that of Sanskrit grammarians clearly establishes the connection between the Yonas or Yavanas (Greeks), Dattämitri and Sauvira, Page #412 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDO-GREEK CHRONOLOGY 383 mentions the city of Euthymedia (? Euthydemia ) which was identical with Śākala, 2 and was, according to the Milinda-panho, the capital of an Indo-Greek kingdom in the time of Menander. It is permissible to conjecture that one of the two conquering kings, viz., Menander and Demetrios, was. identical with the Yavana leader who penetrated to Sāketa in Oudh, Madhyamikā near Chitor, and the river Sindhu possibly in Central India, in the time of Pushyamitra Goldstiicker, Smith and many other scholars identified the invader with Menander who crossed the Hypanis (Beas) and penetrated as far as the Isamus Trisāmās ?). On the other hand, Dr. Bhandarkar suggested, in his Foreign Elements in the Hindu Population, the identification of the invader with Demetrios.' We learn from Polybius that Demetrios was a young man at the time of Antiochos III's invasion (between 211 and 206 B.C.). Justin says that Demetrios was "king of the Indians” when Eukratides was king of the Bactrians and Mithradates was the king of the Parthians. "Almost at the same time that Mithradates ascended the throne among the Parthians, Eukratides began to reign among the Bactrians ; both of them being great men... Eukratides carried on several wars with great spirit, and though much reduced by his losses in them, yet, when he was besieged by Demetrios, king of the Indians, with a garrison of only 300 soldiers, he repulsed, by continual sallies, a force of 60,000 enemies”. 1 We are hardly justified in rejecting the reading 'Euthyde (Tarn, p. 486) simply on the ground urged by Tarn (p. 247) which do not appear to be convincing, and accept a reading which is "meaningless and wrongly accentuated". See also Keith in D. R. Bhandarkar Volume, 2218. 2 Ind. Ant., 1884, pp. 349-50. 3 As already stated, Trisāmā is a river mentioned in the Bhāgāvata Purāna. Note the absence of any reference to the Ganges in the account of Menander's conquests. Page #413 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 384 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Dr. Smith assigns Mithradates to the period from 171 to 136 B.C. (to 138/37 B.C. according to Debevoise). Eukratides and Demetrios must also be assigned to that period, that is the middle of the second century B.C.1 We have seen that Demetrios was a young man and a prince in or about 206 B.C. We now find that he ruled as king of the Indians about the middle of the second century B. C. He was, therefore, the Indo-Greek contemporary of Pushyamitra who ruled from c. 187_to 151 B. C. Menander, on the other hand, must have ruled over the Indo-Greek kingdom much later, as will be apparent from the facts noted below. Justin tells us that Demetrios was deprived of his Indian possessions by Eukratides.2 Eukratides was killed by his son with whom he had shared his throne. 3 The identity of the parricide is uncertain but no one says that he was Menander. 4 Justin furnishes the important information that the prince who murdered Eukratides was a colleague of his father. We know that Geek rulers who reigned conjointly sometimes issued joint coins. Thus we have joint coins of Lysias and Antialkidas, Agathokleia and Strato, of Strato I and Strato II, and of Hermaios and Kalliope. The only Greeks whose names and portraits appear on a 1 The activity of Mithradates I began after the death of Antiochus IV in 163 B.C. See Tarn, pp. 197 ff. According to Debevoise, A Political History of Parthia, p. 20 ff, Antiochus IV, Epiphanes, crossed the Euphrates in 165 B,C. Mithradates I died in 138/37 B.C. the first Parthian date fixed by numismatic and cuneiform evidence. Eukratides assumed the title "Great" before 162 B.C. (date of Timarchus) (The Cambridge Shorter History of India, p. 64). His coins are copied by Plato (165 B.C.) as well as Timarchus. 2 Watson's tr., p 277. 3 Ibid, p. 277. 4 According to Cunningham and Smith the parricide was Apollodotos. But Rapson shows good reasons for believing that Appollodotos did not belong to the family of Eukratides, but was, on the other hand, a ruler of Kāpiśa who was ousted by Eukratides (JRAS, 1905, pp. 784-85). Rawlinson points out (Intercourse between India and the Western World, p. 73) that Apollodotos uses the epithet Page #414 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDO-GREEK CHRONOLOGY 385 coin or medallion together with those of Eukratides are Heliokles and his wife Laodike. Cunningham and Gardner suggested that Heliokles and Laodike were the father and mother of Eukratides. But Von Sallet1 proposed an entirely different interpretation of the coins in question. He thought that they were issued by Eukratides, not in honour of his parents, but on the occasion of the marriage of his son Heliokles with a Laodike whom Von Sallet conjectured to have been daughter of Demetrios by the daughter of Antiochos III. If Von Sallet's conjecture be accepted then it is permissible to think that Heliokles was the colleague of Eukratides referred to by Justin, and the murderer of his father. It is clear from what has been stated above that Demetrios was succeeded by Eukratides, who, in his turn, was probably followed by Heliokles. Menander could not in that case have reigned earlier than Heliokles. It may, however, be argued that after Demetrios the Indo-Greek kingdom split up into two parts: one part which included the Trans-Jhelum territories was ruled by Eukratides and his son, the other part which included “Euthymedia” (Euthydemia ? ) or Sākala was ruled by Menander who thus might have been a younger contemporary of Eukratides (cir. 171-165 B.C.) and consequently of Pushyamitra (cir. 187-151 B.€.). Now, the disruption of the Indo-Greek kingdom after Demetrios may be accepted as an historical fact. The existence of two rival Greek kingdoms in India and their Philopator, and the title would be somewhat incongruous if he were a parricide. It may be argued that the parricide was Apollodotos Soter and not Apollodotos Philopator, but we should remember that the titles Soter and Philopator sometimes occur on the same coin (Whitehead, Catalogue of Coins, p. 48) and therefore it is impossible to justify the separation of Apollodotos Soter and Apollodotos Philopator as two entities. 1 Ind. Ant., 1880, p. 256. 0. P. 90-49. Page #415 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 386 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA mutual dissensions are proved by literary and numismatic evidence. The Purūnas say: Bhavishyantīka Yavanā dharmatah kāmato’rthatałt naiva mūrdhābhishiltās te bhavishyanti narādihpāh yuga-dosha-durāchārā bhavishyanti nạpās tu testrīnām bāla-vadhenaiva hatvā chaiva parasparam. "There will be Yavanas here by reason of religious feeling or ambition or plunder ; they will not be kings solemnly anointed but will follow evil customs by reason of the corruptions of the age, Massacring women and children and killing one another, kings will enjoy the earth at the end of the Kali age." The Gargi Samhitā informs us : · Madhyadese na sthāsyanti Yavanā yuddha durmadāh teshām anyonya sambhāvā (?) bhavishyanti na samsayah ātma-chakrotthitain ghoram yuddham parama-dārunam. “The fiercely fighting Greeks will not stay in the Madhyadeśa (Mid-India); there will be a cruel, dreadful war in their own kingdom, caused between themselves."3 Coins bear testimony to struggles between kings of the house of Eukratides and rulers of the family of Euthydemos. But the evidence which we possess clearly indicates that the contemporaries and rivals of Eukratides and Heliokles were Apollodotos, Agathokleia and Strato I, and not Menander. Certain square bronze coins of Eukratides have on the obverse a bust of the king and the legend “Basileus Megalou Eukratidou.” On the reverse there is the figure of Zeus and the legend "Kavisiye nagara-devatā.” They are often coins of 1 Cf. Cunn. AGI. Revised Ed. 274; Camb. Hist. Ind. 1. 376. "The Macedonians... gave away to a fury of blood-lust, sparing neither woman nor child." 2 Pargiter, Dynasties of the Kali Age, pp. 56, 74. 3 Kern, Brihat Samhiiā, p. 38. Page #416 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE DATE OF MENANDER 387 Apollodotos restruck. From this it is clear that Apollodotos was a rival of Eukratides, and was superseded in the rule of Kāpiša, which lay in the district identified with Kāfiristān and the valleys of Ghorband and Panjshir, by the latter. Rapson further points out that Heliokles restruck the coins of Agathokleia and Strato I ruling conjointly and also of Strato I reigning alone. Further, the restriking is always by Heliokles, never by Agathokleia and Strato I. From this it is clear that Agathokleia and Strato I ruled over an Indo-Greek principality either before, or in the time of Heliokles, but probably not after him. We have seen that according to the evidence of Justin and the Kāpiśa coins Eukratides fought against two rivals, namely, Demetrios and Apollodotos ; his son Heliokles also fought against two rivals, namely, Agathokleia and Strato I. As Demetrios and Apollodotos were both antagonists of Eukratides and used the same coin-types, the inevitable inference is that they were very near in time as well as in relationship to one another, in fact that one immediately followed the other. Now Demetrios was beyond doubt the son and successor of Euthydemos, consequently Apollodotos must have been his successor. As Heliokles was in all probability a son of Eukratides, the rival of Apollodotos, he must have been a younger contemporary of Apollodotos. Consequently Heliokles' antagonists, Agathokleia and Strato I, whose coins he restruck, were very near in time to Apollodotos. Strato I later on ruled conjointly with his grandson Strato II. There is no room for the long and prosperous reign of Menander in the period which elapsed from Demetrios to Strato II. 1 Rapson, JRAS, 1905, 785, 2 JRAS, 1905, pp. 165 ff. CHI, 553, Page #417 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 388 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA According to the Buddhist tradition recorded in the Milinda-pañho, Milinda or Menander 'flourished “500 years," i.e., not earlier than the fifth century after the Parinirvana, parinibbānato pañichavassa sate atilckante ete upajjissanti.2 This tradition points to a date not earlier than the period 144-44 B.C. according to Ceylonese reckoning, or 86 B.C.-14 A.D. according to Cantonese tradition, for Menander. Thus both according to numismatic evidence and literary tradition Menander could not have been the Indo-Greek_contemporary of Pushyamitra. It is Demetrios who should, therefore, be identified with the Yavana invader referred to by Patañjali and Kālidāsa, one of whose armies was defeated by Prince Vasumitra.3 The Aśvamedha Sacrifices. After the victorious wars with Vidarbha (Berar) and the Yavanas Pushyamnitra completed the performance of two horse-sacrifices. These sacrifices are regarded by some scholars as marking an early stage in the Brāhmanical reaction which was fully developed five centuries later in the time of Samudra Gupta and his successors. 1 Cf. the interpretation of somewhat similar chronological data by Franke and Fleet (JRAS, 1914, 400-1); and Smith EHI, 3rd edition, 328. 2 Trenckner, the Milinda-pañho, p. 3. Tarn is not quite right in saying (134 n) that Apollodorus makes Menander contemporary with Demetrios, Trogus with Apollodotos, and some coin indications (CHI, 551) with Eukratides. Strabo following Apollodorus and possibly other authorities simply says that extensive Bactrian conquests in the Indian interior were achieved partly by Menander and partly by Demetrios. It is nowhere clearly stated that the two conquerors were contemporaries. The book of Trogus on which another conclusion is based, is lost. Coin indications are not clear enough. E.g. the imitation of certain coins of Demetrios by Maues does not prove chronological proximity. 3 S. Konow (Acta Orientalia, 1. 35) points out that there is no evidence that Menander transgressed the river Yamunā, and that Demetrios was the ruler who besieged Sāketa and Madhyamikā. In IHQ, 1929, p. 403, Mr. R. P. Chanda regards Strabo's attribution of the Indian conquests to Demetrios as doubtful. But the cities in the Pañjāb and the Lower Indus Valley named after Demetrios and possibly his father leave no room for doubt that Strabo is right. Page #418 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ COUNCIL OF MINISTERS 389 Buddhist writers are alleged to represent Pushyamitra as a cruel persecutor of the religion of Sākyamuni. But the probative value of the Divyāvadāna, on which some modern writers place their chief reliance in regard to the matter, is seriously impaired by the representation of the "persecuting" monarch as a Maurya, a descendant of Asoka himself. Moreover, the prime motive which is said to have inclined the king to a vicious policy is, according to this Buddhist work, personal glory and not religious fanaticism. Pushyamitra did not dispense with the services of pro-Buddhist ministers, and the court of his son was graced by Pandita-Kausiki.? The Mahāvamsa 3 admits the presence, in Bihar, Oudh, Malwa and adjacent provinces, of numerous monasteries with thousands of monks in the age of Dutthagāmaņi of Ceylon (C. 101-77 B.C.) which is partly synchronous with the BaimbikaSunga period. The Buddhist monuments at Bhārhut erected "during the sovereignty of the Sungas” do not also bear out the theory that the Surgas, among whom Pushyamitra is included by the Purāņas, were the leaders of a militant Brāhmaṇism. Though staunch adherents of orthodox Hinduism, kings of the line of Pushyamitra do not appear to have been as intolerant as some writers represent them to be. The Mantri-parishad in the days of Pushyamitra. Patañjali refers to the Sabhā of Pushyamitra. But it is uncertain as to whether the term refers to a Royal Durbar, a tribunal of justice, or a Council of Magnates. The existence of Councils_or Assemblies of Ministers (Mantri-Parishad) is, however, vouched for by Kālidāsa, If the poet is to be believed the Council continued to be 1 HQ, vol. V. p. 397 ; Divyāvadāna, 433-34. 2 Malavikāgnimitram, Act I 3 Geiger, trans. p. 193. Page #419 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 390 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA an important element of the governmental machinery. He gives us the important information that even viceregal princes were assisted by Parishads. The Mālavikāgnimitram refers in clear terms to the dealings of Prince Agnimitra, the Viceroy of Vidiśa (in Eastern Mālwa), with his Parishad: "Deva evam Amatya-parishado vijñāpayāmi": "Mantri-prishado' pyetad-eva darsanam Dvidha vibhaktam śriyam-udvahantau dhuram rathāśvāviva samgrahituḥ tau sthasyatas-te nripater nidese paraspar-avagraha-nirvikārau3 2 : Raja tena hi Mantri-parishadm bruhi senānye Virasenaya likhyatām evam kriyatām iti."* It seems that the Amatya-parishad or Mantri-parishad was duly consulted whenever an important matter of foreign policy had to be decided upon. 1 Bühler (Ep. Ind. III. 137) points out that Aśoka's Kumāras were also each assisted by a body of Mahāmātras. These may have corresponded to the Kumārāmātyas of the Gupta period. 2 "King! I will announce this decision to the Council of Ministers." 3 "This is also the view of the (Council of Ministers). Those two kings, upbearing the fortune of their superior lord divided between them, as the horses upbear the yoke of the charioteer, will remain firm in their allegiance to thee, not being distracted by mutual attacks." Act V, verse 14, 4 "King Tell the Council then to send to the General Virasena written instructions to this effect." (Tawney, Malavikāgnimitra, pp. 89-90:) Page #420 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. AGNIMITRA AND HIS SUCCESSORS. Pushyamitra died in or about 151 B.C., probably after a reign of 36 years,' and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra.? The name of a prince named Agnimitra has been found on several copper coins discovered in Rohilkhand. Cunningham" was of opinion that this prince was probably not to be identified with the son of Pushyamitra, but belonged to a local dynasty of North Pañchāla (Rohilkhand). He gave two reasons for this conclusion : 1. Agnimitra's is the only coin-name found in the Purāņic lists. The names of the other “Mitra” kings occurring on coins of the so-called “Pañchāla series," do not agree with those found in the Purānas. - 2. The coins are very rarely found beyond the limits of North Pañchāla. As to the first point Rivett-Carnact and Jayaswal 5 have shown that several coin-names besides that of Agnimitra can be identified with those found in the 1 Only thirty years according to a Jaina tradition-"atthasayar Muriyanam tisa chchia Pusamittassa" (IA. 1914. 118 f. Merutunga). 2. The commentary on the Amarakośa seems to suggest that Agnimitra is the original of king Śūdraka of tradition (Oka, p. 122 ; Ann. Bhand. Or. Res. Inst, 1931, 360). On the other hand Keith refers to a tradition recorded in the Vira charita and by the younger Rajasekhara which represents Sūdraka as a minister of a śātavāhana king. We are further told by another writer that Śūdraka defeated prince Svāti and ruled for a long time. A tale alluded to in the Harshacharita represents him as an enemy of Chandraketu, lord of Chakora, apparently in South India (Keith, The Sanskrit Drama, p. 129; Sanskrit Literature, p. 292; Ghosh, History of Central and Western India, pp. 141 f.) The story of Sūdraka is essentially legendary and it is difficult to extract any historical truth out of it. The abeyance of śātavāhana power in the Upper Deccan for a long period is a fact. But it is due to the irruption of foreign tribes from the north. Disloyat ministers may have helped to bring in the invader. 3 Coins of Ancient India, p. 79. Cf. Allan, CICAI., p. cxx. 4 JASB, 1880, 21 ff; 87 ff; Ind. Ant., 1880, 311. 5 JBORS, 1917, p. 479. Cf. 1934, pp. 7 ff. Page #421 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 392 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Purāņic lists of Sunga and Kāņva kings ; for example, Bhadra-ghosha may be identified with Ghosha, the seventh king of the Purāņic list of Sunga kings. Bhūmimitra may be identified with the Kāņva king of that name. Jethamitra, who is identified with the successor of Agnimitra, viz Vasu-Jyeshţha op Su-Jyeslitha, who is called simply Jyeshtha in the k Vishnu manuscript,' no doubt left coins that belong to a different series. But even he is closely connected with an Agnimitra. Several names indeed cannot be identified, but they may have been names of those Sungas who survived the usurpation of Vasudeva Kāņva and the remnant of whose power was destroyed by the so-called Andhras and Siśunandi. 2 • As to the second point we should remember that “Mitra” coins, even those which undoubtedly belong to the so-called Pañchāla series, have been found in Oudh, the Basti district, and even Pāķaliputra, as well as in Pañchāla. Names of two "Mitra" kings, Brahmamitra and Indramitra, of whom the latter undoubtedly belonged to the Pañchāla group, are found engraved on two rail pillars at Bodh Gayā as well as on coins discovered at Mathurā, Pañchāla and Kumralar. 3 In the face of these facts it is difficult to say that the “Mitras” in question were a local dynasty of North Pañchāla. 1 Dynasties of the Kali Age, p 31, n. 12. Cf. Allan, CICAL., p. xcvi, 2 Dynasties of the Kali Age. p. 49. 3 Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India, pp. 84, 88 ; Allan, CICAI, pp.cxix, cxx ; Marshall, Archaeological Survey Report for 1907-8, p. 40: Bloch ASR, 1908-9, p. 147 : IHQ, 1930, pp 1 ff. The name Im......tra occurs in a mutilated inscription on a rail pillar at Bodh Gayā with the title Raño added before it. Marshall, Bloch and Rapson agree in identifying king Im...tra with Indramitra of coins. Bloch further identifies him with Kausikiputra Indrāgnimitra, husband of Āryā Kurangi, whose name occurs on certain pieces of coping. The epithet Kausikiputra reminds one of Pandita-Kauśiki of the Malavikāgnimitram (Act 1). The Kuśika family was apparently intimately associated with the rulers of the age. Kauśiki mentioned in the Malavikāgnimitram was sister to the minister of a prince of Berar. The sister of the prince himself was one of the queens of Page #422 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SUCCESSORS OF AGNIMITRA 393 Agnimitra's successor, as we have already seen, was Jyeshtha ( of the k Vishnu manuscript ), who is very probably identical with Jethamitra of the coins. The next king Vasumitra was a son of Agnimitra. During the life-time of his grandfather he had led the imperial army against the Yavanas and defeated them on the Sindhu (possibly in Central India) which probably formed the boundary between the empire of Pushyamitra and the Indo-Greek territories in Malwa. Vasumitra's successor is called Bhadraka in the Bhāgavata Purāna, Ārdraka and Odruka in the Vishnu, Āndhraka in the Vayu, and Antaka in the Matsya Purāņa. Jayaswal identified him with Udāka, a name occurring in a Pabhosā inscription. The epigraph has been translated thus : “By Āsādhasena, the son of Gopāli Vaihidari and maternal uncle of king Bahasatimitra, son of Gopāli, a cave was caused to be made in the tenth year of U use of the Kassapiya Arhats." We learn from another Pabhosā inscription that Āsādhasena belonged to the royal family of Adhichhatrā (Ahichhatrā), the capital of North Pañchāla. Jayaswal maintained that Odraka (identified with Udāka) was the paramount Sunga sovereign, while the family of Āsādhasena was either gubernatorial or feudatory to the Magadha throne. Marshall, 2 on the other hand, identified the fifth Sunga with king Kāsiputra 3 Bhāgabhadra mentioned in a Garuda Pillar Inscription found in the old city of Vidišā, now Besnagar. Jayaswal identified Bhāgabhadra with Bhāga Sunga, i.e., Bhāgavata Agnimitra. King Brahmamitra is the husband of Nāgadevi, another prominent donor mentioned in the epigraphs. 1 Coins of Ancient India, p. 74. Allan, CICAI., xcvi. Note the connection of Jethamitra with Agnimitra. The name of a Jyeshthamitra is said to occur also in a Brāhmt inscription on certain stone fragments recently discovered at Kosam (Amrita Bazar Patrika, July 11, 1936, p. 5). 2 A Guide to Sanchi, p. 11 n. 3 Sircar suggests Kautsiputra. 0. P. 90-50. Page #423 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 394 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of the Puranas. This theory has to be given up in view of the discovery of another Besnagar Garuda Pillar Inscription (of the twelfth year after the installation of Mahārāja Bhāgavata) which proves that there was at Vidiśā a king named Bhāgavata apart from king Käsiputra Bhagabhadra. In the absence of clear evidence connecting "Udaka" with Vidiśa it cannot be confidently asserted that he belonged to the house of Agnimitra and Bhāgavata. The view of Marshall seems to be more probable. 1 It appears that the successors of Agnimitra at Vidiśā cultivated friendly relations with the Greek sovereigns of the Western Panjab. The policy of the Bactrian Greeks in this respect resembled that of their Seleukidan predecessors. Seleukos, we know, first tried to conquer the Magadha Empire, but, frustrated in his attempts, thought it prudent to make friends with the Mauryas. The Bactrians, too, after the reverses they sustained at the hands of Pushyamitra's general, and weakened moreover by internal dissensions, apparently gave up, for a time at least, their hostile attitude towards the imperial power in the Ganges valley. We learn from the Besnagar Inscription of the reign of Bhagabhadra that Heliodora (Heliodoros), the son of Diya (Dion), a native of Taxila, ambassador from Mahārāja Amtalikita (Antialkidas) to Rajan Kasiputra Bhagabhadra the Saviour (Trātāra) who was prospering in the fourteenth year of his reign. The ambassador, though a Greek, professed the Bhāgavata religion and set up a Garudadhvaja in honour of Vasudeva (Krishna), the god of gods. came as an 1 Dr. Barua points out (IHQ, 1930, 23) that "in the absence of the word rajno preceding Udakasa, it is difficult to say at once whether Udaka is the personal name of a king or the local name of the place where the cave was excavated." Page #424 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DEVABHŪTI 395 He was apparently well-versed in the Mahābhārata? which he might have heard recited in his native city of Taxila. Nothing in particular is known regarding the three immediate successors of Bhadraka. The ninth king Bhāgavata had a long reign which extended over 32 years. Dr. Bhandarkar identifies him with the Mahārāja Bhāgavata mentioned in one of the Besnagar Inscriptions referred to above. Bhāgavata's successor Devabhūti or Devabhūmi was a young and dissolute prince. The Purānas state that he was overthrown after a reign of 10 years by his Amātya or minister Vasudeva. Bāņa in his Harshacharita says that the over-libidinous Surga was bereft of his life by his Amātya Vasudeva with the help of a daughter of Devabhūti's slave woman (Dāsi), disguised as his queen. Bāņa's statement does not necessarily imply that Devabhūti was identical with the murdered Sunga. His statement may be construed to mean that Vasudeva entered into a conspiracy with the emissaries of Devabhūti to bring about the downfall of the reigning Sunga (Bhāgavata), and to raise Devabhūti to the throne. But in view of the unanimous testimony of the Purānas this interpretation of the statement of Bāņa cannot be upheld. The Sunga power was not altogether extinguished after the tragic end of Devabhūti. It probably survived in Central India? till the rise of the so-called Andhras, Andhrabhrityas or Šātavāhanas who "swept away the remains of the Sunga power” and probably appointed 1 The three immortal precepts, lit, steps to immortality, dama, chāga and apramāda, self-control, self-denial and watchfnlness, mentioned in the second part of Heliodora's inscription, occur in the Mahābhārata (V. 43. 22; XI. 7. 23: Damas-tyāgo' pramādaścha te trayo Brahmano hayāḥ. Cf. also Gitā, XVI. 1.2). See JASB, 1922, No 19, pp. 269-271 ; ASI, 1908-1909, p. 126 ; JRAS, 1909, 1055, 10871, 1093f; 1910, 815 ; 1914, 1031f ; IHQ, 1932, 610 ; Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 1918-19, p. 59. 2 Cf. Dynasties of the Kali Age, p. 49, Page #425 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 396 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Śišunandi? to govern the Vidišā region. Śiśunandi's younger brother had a grandson (dauhitra) named Sisuka who became the ruler of Purikā. ? 1 Ibid, 49. 2 For the location of Purikā see JRAS, 1910, 446; cf. Ep. Ind. xxvi. 151. Page #426 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. IMPORTANCE OF THE BAIMBIKA-SUNGA PERIOD OF INDIAN HISTORY. The rule of the emperors of the house of Pushyamitra marks an important epoch in the history of India in general and of Central India in particular. The renewed incursions of the Yavanas, which once threatened to submerge the whole of the Madhyadeśa, received a check, and the Greek dynasts of the borderland reverted to the prudent policy of their Seleukidan precursors. There was an outburst of activity in the domains of religion, literature and art, comparable to that of the glorious epoch of the Guptas. In the history of these activities the names of three Central Indian localities stand pre-eminent : Vidisā (Besnagar), Gonarda and Bhārhut. As Foucher points out "it was the ivory-workers of Vidiśa who carved, in the immediate vicinity of their town, one of the monumental gates of Sanchi." Inscriptions at Vidiśā (and Ghosundi) testify to the growing importance and wide prevalence of the Bhagavata religion. Though no Aśoka arose to champion this faith, the missionary propaganda of its votaries must have been effective even in the realms of Yavana princes, and a Yavana duta or ambassador was one of its most notable converts. Gonarda was the traditional birth-place of the celebrated Patanjali, the greatest literary genius of the period. Bharhut saw the construction of the famous railing which has made the sovereignty of the Sungas (Suganam raja) immortal. 1 See IHQ. 1926, 267. According to the Sutta Nipata Gonarda stood midway between Ujjain and Besnagar (Vidiśā)-Carm. Lec. 1918, 4; Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Jan., 1935, pp. 1 ff. (Sircar's trans, of S, Lévi's note on Gonarda). Page #427 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER VII. THE FALL OF THE MAGADHAN AND INDO-GREEK POWERS. SECTION I. The Kanvas, THE LATER ŚUNGAS AND THE LATER MITRAS. Vasudeva at whose instance, the "over-libidinous Śunga” was "reft of his life® founded about 75 B.C. a new line of kings known as the Kāņva or Kāṇyāyana dynasty. The Purānas give the following account of this family. “He (Vasudeva), the Kāņvāyana, will be king 9 years. His son Bhūmimitra will reign 14 years. His son Nārāyaṇa will reign 12 years. His son Sušarman will reign 10 years. These are remembered as the Gunga-bhritya Kāņvāyana kings. These four Kāņva Brāhmaṇas will enjoy the earth. They will be righteous. In succession to them the earth” will pass to the Andhras.” Bhūmimitra may have been identical with the king of that name known from coins. 1 Possibly only Eastern Malwa where stood the later "Sunga" capital Vidiśā or Besnagar, and some adjoining tracts. 2 Mr. J. C. Ghosh is inclined to include among the Kāņva kings a ruler named Sarvatāta who is known (from the Ghosundi Inscription, Ind. Ant. 1932, Nov., 203 ff; Ep. Ind., xxii, 198 ff.) to have been a devotee of Samkarshana and Väsudeva and a performer of the horse-sacrifice. But the identification of the Gājāyana family, to which the king belonged, with the Gādāyanas or Godayanas (cf. IHQ, 1933, 797 ff) does not seem to be plausible. There seems to be no more reason to identify the Gājāyanas with the Gādāyanas than with the Gābāyanas or Gāngāyanas of the Sunaka or Kaśyapa group (Caland, Baudh. Srauta Sutra, III, 423-454). It is important to remember the fact that the Harivainsa refers to a Kaśyapa dvija as the reviver of the Aśvamedha in the Kali Age. The Gangāyanas no doubt also recall the Gangas of Mysore who claimed to belong to the Kāņvāyana gotra (1 New History of the Indian People, Vol. VI. p 248). But the equation Gājāyana = Gāngāyana is not proved. Page #428 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE PERIOD OF KĀŅVA RULE 399 The chronology of the Kāņva dynasty is a matter of controversy. In his Early History of the Deccan, Sir R. G. Bhandarkar observes, "the founder of the Andhrabhrityas is said to have uprooted not only the Kāņvas, but 'whatever was left of the power of the Sungas. And the Kāņvas are pointedly spoken of as Sunga-bhrityas or servants of the Sungas. It, therefore, appears likely that when the princes of the Sunga family became weak, the Kāņvas usurped the whole power and ruled like the Peshwas in modern times, not uprooting the dynasty of their masters but reducing them to the character of nominal sovereigns. Thus then these dynasties reigned contemporaneously, and hence the 112 years that tradition assigns to the Sungas include the 45 assigned to the Kāņvas." Now, the. Purāņic evidence only proves that certain princes belonging to the Sunga stock continued to rule till the so-called "Andhra-bhritya” conquest and were the contemporaries of the Kāņvas. But there is nothing to show that these rois faineants of the Sunga stock were identical with any of the ten "Sunga” kings mentioned by name in the Purāṇic lists, who reigned 112 years. On the contrary, the distinct testimony of the Purānas that Devabhūti, the tenth and last "Surga” of the Purāṇic lists, was the person slain by Vasudeva, the first Kāņva, probably shows that the rois faineants, who ruled contemporaneously with Vasudeva and his successors, were later than Devablūti, and were not considered to be important enough to be mentioned by name. Consequently the 12 years that tradition assigns to the ten “Sunga” kings from Pushyamitra to Devabhūti do not include the 15 assigned to the Kāņvas. It is, therefore, not unreasonable to accept with slight modifications the views of Dr. Smith regarding the date of the family. According to the system of chronology adopted Page #429 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 400 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA in these pages, the period of Kanva rule extended from cir. B.C. 75 to cir. B.C. 30. Very little is known about the history of Magadha proper after the Kanvas. To reconstruct the history of the province from the fall of the Kanvas to the rise of the Gupta dynasty is a difficult task. The so-called Andhras or Satavahanas who are represented as destroying the Kanva sovereignty, apparently in Eastern Malwa, do not appear to have ruled in Magadha proper. The greatest among them are called 'Sovereigns of the Deccan' (Dakshinapathapati) and an accurate idea of the field of their political and military activities may be obtained from the epithets 'tisamuda-toyapītavāhana,' 'whose chargers had drunk the water of the three oceans,' and 'trisamudradhipati,' 'overlord of the three seas' occurring in epigraphic and literary records. The sway of rulers like the Guptas, on the other hand, is said to have extended as far as the four seas. The discovery of a clay seal with the legend Mokhalinam suggests that at one time the Gaya region was under the sway of Maukhari chiefs. But the precise date of the record is not known. Equally uncertain is the date of Mahārājā Trikamala who ruled in the same 1 1 There is no valid reason for connecting the Nurruvar Kannar (Silappadikaram, xxvi, Dikshitar's trans, 299 f.) either with the Satakarnis or with Magadha. The expression "Kannar" sometimes stands alone proving that Nurruvar is only a qualifying adjective, not a part of the name. The Ganges, even if it be the Bhagirathi, and not Gautami Ganga or the Godavari, with which the family is associated, flows through other territories besides Magadha, showing that there is no necessary connection between that province and the kings in question. 2 Fleet, CII, 14. The legend is written in Mauryan Brahmi. The Maukharis in question may have exercised sway over some little principality under the suzerainty of the Mauryas or the Sungas. Three inscriptions have recently been discovered at Baḍva in the Kotah State in Rajputana recording the erection of sacrificial pillars by Maukhari Mahāsenāpatis (generals or military governors) in the third century A. D. (Ep. Ind. XXIII, 52). Page #430 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ "MITRAS” AND THEIR SUCCESSORS 401 region in the year 64 of an unspecified era. Epigraphic evidence of a late date points to some connection between the Lichchhavis and Pushpapura (Pāķaliputra). But it is difficult to say how far the tradition is genuine. The only rulers of note in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, whom we know from epigraphic evidence to have ruled in Magadha and the neighbouring provinces, are the so-called 'Mitras'. The prevalence of 'Mitra' rule is also hinted at by references in Jaina literature to Balamitra and Bhānumitra among the successors of Pushyamitra. From a study of available epigraphs Dr. Barua has compiled a list of 'Mitra kings'. It includes the names of Bșihatsvātimitra, Indrāgnimitra, Brahmamitra, Bșihaspatimitra, (Dhar)mamitra and Visbņumitra. To these should perhaps be added the names of Varuņamitra and Gomitra. Of these only Indrāgnimitra, Brahmamitra and possibly Brihaspatimitra are definitely associated with Magadha in addition to other territories. The rest are connected with Kaušāmbi and Mathurā. It is not known in what relationship most of these “Mitra” kings stood to one another or to the celebrated families of the Surgas and the Kāņvas. In Pāțaliputra as well as in Mathurā the "Mitras" seem to have been replaced eventually by the Scythian ‘Murundas’and Satraps who, in their turn, were supplanted by the Nāgas and the Guptas. Some scholars place 1 Allan refers to kings Brahmamitra, Dridhamitra, Suryamitra and Vishnumitra who issued coins identical in type with those of Gomitra. They were followed by rulers whose names ended in-datta, -bhūti and -ghosha. O. P. 90–51. Page #431 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 402 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA immediately before the Guptas a family called Kota which may have ruled in Pātaliputra. 1 For statements in this section see Ep. Ind. VIII, 60ff; Harshacharita VIII, (p. 251); Cunn., Mahābodhi ; ASI., 1908-9, 141; HQ 1926, 441; 1929, 398, 595f ; 1930, 1 ff. 1933, 419; Kielhorn, N. I. Inscriptions. No. 541 ; Indian Culture, I, 695.; EHI. 3rd ed. 227n; JRAS., 1912, 122 ; Smith, Catalogue of Coins in the Indian Museum, 185, 190, 194; Allan, CICAI. pp. xcvi-xcviii, cx, 150 ff, 169 ff, 173 ff, 195 ff, 202 ff. Page #432 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE ŚĀTAVĀHANAS AND THE CAETAS. While the Sungas and Kāņvas were engaged in their petty feuds, new powers were rising in trans-Vindhyan India. These were the sātavāhana' (the so-called Andhra or Andhra-bhrityaa) kingdom of Dakshiņāpatha and the Cheta or Cheti kingdom of Kalinga. The founder of the Śātavāhana dynasty was Simuka whose name is misspelt as Siśuka, Sindhuka and Sipraka in the Purāṇas. Those works state that the "Andhra” Simuka will assail the Kāņvāyanas and Sušarman, and destroy the remains of the Suigas' power and will obtain this "earth”. If this statement be true then it cannot be denied that Simuka was for some years a contemporary of Sušarman (40-30 B.C.) and flourished in the first century B.C. Rapson, Smith and many other scholars, however, reject the unanimous testimony of the Purānas. They attach more importance to a statement about which there is not the same unanimity, that the"Andhras" ruled for four centuries and a half. Accordingly they place Simuka towards the close of the third century B.C., and say that the dynasty came to an end in the third century A.D. A discussion of Simuka's date involves the consideration of the following questions : 1 The form Sātivāhana is found in the Bhagalpur Grant of Nārāyaṇapāla and the form sālivāhana in literature, See also Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, EHD, Section VII. - 2 The designation 'Andhra-jātiyz' or 'Andhra' is found in the Purānas which represent the founder as a bhritya or servant of the last Kāņva king. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, following apparently the Vishnu Purāna, styles the dynasty founded by Simuka Andhra-bhritya, i.e., Andhras who were once Page #433 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 404 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA. 1. What is the age of the script of the Nānāghāt record of Nāyanikā, daughter-in-law of Simuka (or of his brother and successor, Krishộa) ? 2. What is the actual date of Khāravela's Hāthi-- gumphā Inscription which refers to a śātakarņi, who was apparently a successor of Simuka ? 3. What is the exact number of the so-called Andhra kings and what is the duration of their rule ? As to the first point we should note that according to Mr. R. P. Chanda the inscription of Nāyanikā is later than the Besnagar Inscription of Bhāgavata, possibly the penultimate king of the "line” of Pushyamitra mentioned in the Purāṇas.' Consequently Simuka servants. But that designation should properly be applied to the seven Abhiras who are mentioned as the successors of the line of Simuka on page 45 of Pargiter's Dynasties of the Kali Age (cf. Vishnu. P. IV. 24. 13). 1 MASI., No. 1, pp. 14-15. In IHQ, 1929 (p. 601) Mr. Chanda points to the agreement of the Nānāghāt script with the Besnagar Inscription of the time of Antialkidas. But the exact date of Antialkidas is uncertain. He may have belonged to the latter half of the second century B.C. or the first half of the next century. Mr. R. D. Banerji, while disagreeing with the views of Mr. Chanda in regard to certain points, admits, after a detailed examination of certain epigraphs, that "the Nānāghāt inscriptions show the use of a very large number of Ksatrapa or early Kuşaņa forms side by side with older ones" (Mem. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Vol. XI, No. 3, p. 145). According to Rapson (Andhra Coins, lxxvii) the form of the akshara-da' found in the Nānāghat record resembles that of a coin-legend which is assignable to the first or second century B.C. It is not suggested that either Banerji or Rapson placed the Nānāghat record in the first century B.C. But some of the facts they have placed before us do not preclude the possibility of a date in the first century B.C. The theory that the record belongs to the second century B.C. rests in some measure on the assumption tacitly accepted by the older generation of scholars that Khāravela's thirteenth year corresponds to the year 165 of the time of the Maurya kings (Bühler, Indian Palaeography, 39 ; Rapson xvii). Page #434 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DATE OF EARLY SATAVAHANAS may be placed in the Kanva period, i.e., in the first century B. C.-a date which accords with Purāņic evidence. 1 As to the second point Mr. R. D. Banerji gives good grounds for believing that the expression Ti-vasasata occurring in the passage "Pamchame che dāni vase Namdaraja ti-vasa-sata..... of the Hathigumpha Inscription means not 103 but 300. 2 This was also the view of Mr. Chanda and, at one time, of Dr. Jayaswal. S 405 1 Bühler also observes (ASWI., Vol. V, 65) that the characters of the Nanaghat inscriptions belong to a period anterior by about 100 years to that of the edicts of Gautamiputra Satakarni and his son Pulumāyi. Scholars who place the Nanaghat record in the first half of the second century B.C., and the epigraphs of the time of Gautamiputra Satakarni in the second century A.D., will have to account for the paucity of Satavahana records during a period of about three hundred years (if that be the actual length of the interval between the age of the husband of Naganikā and the reign of the son of Balaśrī). Mr. N. G. Majumdar (The Monuments of Sanchi, Vol; I, pt. iv, p. 277) places the Nanaghat record during the period 100-75 B.C. 2 JBORS., 1917, 495-497. 3 JBORS, 1917, 432; cf. 1918, 377, 385. The older view was changed in 1927, 238, 244. According to the usually accepted interpretation of a passage in the Hathigumphā record Khāravela, in his fifth year, extended an aqueduct that had not been used for "ti-vasa-sata" since Nandarāja. If "ti-vasa-sata" is taken to mean 103 years, Kharavela's accession must be placed 103-5=98 years after Nandaraja. His elevation to the position of Yuvaraja took place 9 years before that date, i.e., 98-9-89 years after Nandarāja (i.e., not later than 324 B.C.-89=235 B.C.). Khāravela's father was apparently on the throne at that time, and he seems to have been preceded by his father. But we learn from Aśoka's inscriptions that Kalinga was actually governed at that time by a Maurya Kumara under the suzerainty of Aśoka himself. Therefore "ti-vasasata" should be taken to mean 300, and not 103 years. The figure 'three hundred' (a round number) is in substantial agreement with the Puranic tradition about the interval between the Nandas and Satakarni I, 137 (period of the Mauryas) +112 (of the Sungas) +45 (of the Kanvas) +23 (of Simuka) +10 (of Krishna) = 327. Page #435 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 406 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA If Ti-vasa-sata means 300, Kharavela and his contem porary Satakarni may have flourished 300 years after Nandaraja, i.e., in or about 24 B. C. This agrees with the Puranic evidence according to which Satakarni's father (or uncle) Simuka assailed the last Kanva king Susarman (c. 40-30 B. C.).1 We now come to the third point, viz., the determination of the exact number of Satavahana kings, and the duration of their rule. Regarding each of these matters we have got in the Puranas quite a number of different traditions. As to the first the Matsya Purana says "Ekona-vimsatir2 hyete Andhra bhokshyanti vai mahim," but it gives thirty names. The Vayu Purana, with the exception of the 'M' manuscript, says— "Ityete vai nripas trimsad Andhra bhokshyanti ye mahim", (these thirty Andhras will enjoy the earth); but most of the Vayu manuscripts name only seventeen, eighteen, or nineteen kings. As to the duration of the Andhra rule several Matsya manuscripts assign to them a period of 460 years. "Tesham varsha satani syuś chatvari shasṭir eva cha." Another Matsya manuscript puts it slightly differently: : "Dvadasadhikam eteshām rājyam sata-chatushṭayam" i.e. the period of their sovereignty is 412 years; 1 Simuka may have ascended the throne (in the Deccan) several years before the date 40-30 B.C. when he assailed the Kaṇvāyanas, possibly in Central India. The period of his rule after the defeat of the Kanvas may have been less than 23 years. Thus the actual interval between the Nandas and Satakarni may well have been a little less than 327 years. 2 Variant ekona-navatim (DKA, 43). 3 Pargiter points (p. 36) out that 3 Matsya Mss. name 30, and the others vary the number from 28 to 21. Page #436 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DIVERSE LINEAGE OF PURĀŅIC SATAKARNIS 407 while the reigns of kings mentioned in certain Vāyu Mss. amount, according to Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, to only 272 years and a half. Obviously according to one tradition there were about seventeen, eighteen or nineteen kings, whose rule lasted some three centuries, while according to another tradition there were thirty kings the length of whose reigns covered a period of more than 400 years. In the opinion of Sir R. G. Bhandarkar the longer list includes the names of princes belonging to all the branches of the so-called Andhra-bhritya dynasty, and that the longer period represents the total duration of all the princes belonging to the several branches. The period of about three centuries, and the seventeen, eighteen or nineteen names given in the Vayu Purana, and hinted at in the Matsya, refer to the main branch. That there were several families of Satavahanas or Sātakārṇis, distinct from the main line that had its principal seat in the upper Valley of the Godavari, cannot be denied. The Kavya Mimāmsā of Rajasekhara and several other works as well as epigraphs in the Kanarese country and elsewhere testify to the existence of Satavahanas and Satakarnis who ruled over Kuntala' (the Kanarese districts) before the Kadambas. The fullest Matsya list includes a group of kings (Nos.. 10-14), including one named "Kuntala" Satakarni, who are (generally speaking) passed over in silence by the Vayu. Skandasvati, No. 11 of the full list, reminds one of Skandanāga-Śātaka, a prince of a Kanarese line of Satakarnis He 1 A Satavahana of Kuntala is referred to by the Kavya-Mimämsä (1934, ch. X, p. 50) as having ordered the exclusive use of Prakrit in his harem. may have been identical with the famous king Hala (cf. Kuntala-janavayainena Halena, ibid, Notes, p. 197). 2 Even Hala (No. 17) is omitted in the e Vayu Ms. (DKA, p. 36) and the Brahmanda P. (Rapson, Andhra Coins, lxvii). Page #437 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 408 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA mentioned in a Kanheri inscription. As to Kuntala Sātakarņi (No. 13), the commentary on Vātsyāyana's Kāmasūtra takes the word "Kuntala” in the name Kuntala Śātakarņi Sātavāhana to mean "Kuntala-vishaye jātatvāt tat-samākhyah."? It is, therefore, fair to conclude that the Matsya MSS. which mention 30 Sātavāhana kings include not only the main group of kings but also those who were closely associated with Kuntala. On the other hand, the Vāyu, Brahmānda and certain Matsya MSS., generally speaking, show a tendency to omit the Sātavāhanas of Kuntala and the rulers of the period of Saka revival under Rudra-dāman I, and mention only about 19 kings most of whom belonged to the main line whose rule may have lasted for about three centuries. If the main line of śātavābana kings consisted only of about nineteen princes, and if the duration of their rule be approximately three centuries, there is no difficulty in accepting the Purānic statement that Simuka flourished in the time of the later Kāņvas, that is to say, in the first century B.C., and that his dynasty ceased to rule in the Northern Deccan in the third century A.D. The sovereignty of the Sātavāhanas and Śātakarņis of Kuntala lasted longer and did not come to an end probably before the fourth century A.D., when it was ended by the Kadambas. Thus the total duration of the rule of all the lines of 1 Rapson, Andhra Coins, liii. The fact that he was a prince at the time of the record need not prove that he never came to the throne. The Purānic lists themselves often include names of princes (e.g., Arjuna, Abhimanyu, Siddhārtha) who never ruled as kings. Certain Matsya Mss. insert the group to which Skandasvāti belongs after no. 29, i.e., Chandasri (DKA, p. 36). 2 He was so named because he was born in the Kuntala country. Cf. names like Uruvela-Nadi - and Gayā Kassapa (Dialogues of the Buddha, I. 194). Page #438 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DISTORTIONS IN ÞURĀŅIC TEXTS 409 Sātakarņis is really more than 400 years. The kings of the Kuntala group (Nos. 10-14 of the DKA list) are no doubt usually placed before the great Gautamiputra and his successors. But Pargiter points out that in certain Matsya MSS. No. 10-15 are placed after the penultimate king of the line (No. 29). ? As to Hāla (No. 17) if he is really the author of the Gūthūsaptasati, he could hardly have flourished before the fourth century A.D. The references to Vikramāditya-charita, Aigūraka-vāra and Rādhikā make it difficult to assign to him a date before the Great Gautamīputra. We have many other instances of the inversion of the order of kings in the Purūnas.3 The fact that the extant Purāņic texts do misplace kings appears abundantly clear from the recent discovery of a coin of Siva Sri Āpilaka whom Mr. Dikshit connects with the later Sātavāhanas though the Purūnas place him early in the list.“ Regarding the original home of the Sātavāhana family there is also a good deal of controversy. Some scholars 1 The period 300 years' (Vāyu P.) may refer to the rule of the Sriparvatiya Andhras (DKA, 46). Even then it is important to remember that the cessation of "Andhra" rule in the upper Deccan in the third century A.D. is not incompatible with a date for the founder in the first century B.C. For the rule of the Sātakarnis survived in Kuntala till the rise of the Kadambas. Thus the Purānas are right in assigning to the entire line of 30 kings a period of about four centuries and a half. 2 DKA, p. 36. On pp. 20, 35, Pargiter gives other instances of 'misplacement' of kings by the Purāņic MSS. 3 See pp. 104, 115f antc. 4 See Advance, March 10, 1935, p. 9. The coin belongs to the Mahākosala society of Raipur (C.P.). It bears: the figure of an elephant with Brāhmi legend on the obverse. The reverse is blank. On numismatic grounds the place of this ruler is, according to Mr. K. N. Dikshit, more with the later kings of the dynasty than with the earlier ones as indicated in the Purānas. For the late date of Hāla of the Kuntala country see Bhand. Com. Vol. 189. Cf. Reference to Rādhā in the Saptaśatakam (Ind. Ant., III 25n.). Mr. K. P. Chattopadhyāya deduces from the discrepant lists of the Matsya, and Vāyu purānas, and from epigraphic and numismatic evidence, certain O. P. 90—52. Page #439 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 410 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA think that the Sātavābanas were not Andhras (Telugus) theories about (1) the existence of two contemporary śātavāhana kingdoms ruled by son and father respectively. (2) cross-cousin marriages and (3) matrilineal succession, which he discusses in JASB, 1927, 503 ff and 1939, 317-339. In his opinion the discrepancies in the Purānic lists cannot be due to any oversight or slip on the part of the editors (1927, p. 504). They are to be explained by the theory of an original version (that contained in the Matsya) which gives the full list of Gautamiputras as well as Vāsishthiputras, and a "revised text". (contained in the Vayu and Brahmanda) which retains the Gautamiputras but from which certain names were deliberately expunged as the rulers in question were not considered by the revising authorities to possess the privilege of having the names preserved in the Purānas (ibid. p. 505). Kings (e.g., Vāsisthiputra Pulumāvi), whose names are "expunged" from the "revised text" of the Vayu and the Brahmanda Puranas, belong to a "set" which is genealogically connected with the other, viz., the Gautamiputra group, whose names are retained in the revised versions, but the succession did not coincide with the mode of descent." For instance, Gautamiputra Satakarņi, according to the revised list, was succeeded not by his son Pulumāvi, but by another Gautamiputra, viz., Yajña Śri (p. 509). It is further added that 'on the coins of the śātavāhanas the royal prefix and the mother's clan-name are associated together and also disappear together except in the case of the third king of the line. In the inscriptions also the association is invariable (excluding the doubtful case of Sivamakasada), except in the case of the third king, Sri Satakarpi of the Nānāghāt Cave Inscriptions. It is, therefore, to be concluded that, except for the third king of the line, the royal title and relationship to the mother went together. In other words, the succession was matrilineal (p. 518) ; "The son succeeded to the conquered realm, and the sister's son to the inherited kingdom" (p. 527). This footnote cannot afford space for an exhaustive review of the dissertation of Mr. Chattopadhyāya. Nor is it concerned with theories and speculations about social organisation based on 'mother right or father right', cross-cousin marriage in general, and royal successions, that are not germane to the discussion about the sātavāhana dynasty. We shall try to confine ourselves to the points that are really relevant to an enquiry about that illustrious line itself. A study of the Puranic lists analysed by Pargiter (Dynasties of the Kali Age, pp. 35ff.) would show that the discrepancies in the Purāņic lists are not capable of as simple a solution as that proposed by Mr. Chattopadhyāya It cannot be said, for example, that Gautamiputra (No. 23 ) is mentioned in all Matsya texts and retained in all Vāyu MSS., and that his son Pulumāvi (No. 24 ) of the so-called "Vāsishthiputra group" is always mentioned in the Matsya and omitted only in "later revised versions of the Vayu, etc. Gautamiputra is omitted in Matsya MSS, styled e, k and I by Pargiter (p. 36), and also in the e Vāyu MSS, while his son Pulumāvi is omitted in Matsya e, f and I MSS. but mentioned in the Vishnu and Bhāgavata lists, notwithstanding the activities of the so-called revisers. The theory of succession of sisters' sons in the so-called revised list of the Vayu, Brahmānda, etc., is clearly negatived by numerous passages where a Page #440 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELATIONSHIP OF THE SĀTAVĀHANAS 411 but merely Andhra-bhrityas, servants of the Andhras, successor is distinctly referred to even in these Purānas as the son of a predecessor (cf. the cases not only of the first Sri śātakarni but also of Satakarni II, Lambodara, and even Yajña Sri-( DKA, p. 39, fn. 40, 44; p. 42, fn. 12.). The use of the expression tato (DKA, 39) in the Matsya Purāna to indicate the relationship between sātakarņi I and Pūrņotsanga when taken along with the words tasyāpi Pūrnotsangah (Vishnu IV. 24. 12) and Paurnamāsastu tat sūtah (Bhāg. XII. 1. 21) leaves no room for doubt that Purāņic evidence represents Pūrņotsanga-Paurņamāsa, as the son and immediate successor of Sātakarņi I and not a 'distant' offspring or a remote offshoot of a 'cross-cousin marriage', who got the throne by the rule of matrilineal succession. There may be no valid reason as asserted by Mr. Chattopādhyāya for identifying him with Vediśri of the Nānāghāt record. But the reading Vediśri as pointed out by K. Šāstri is wrong. The proper reading is Khandasiri = Skandasri. This prince has been plausibly identified with Pārņotsanga's successor, the fifth king of the Purāņic list. It is, therefore, difficult to agree with the view (JASB, 1939, 325) that the prince in question (the so-called Vediśri) 'never came to the throne'. Pūrņotsanga may have been some other 'kumāra'. Cf., the nameless prince (kumāra) 'sātavāhana' of the Nānāghāt record who is mentioned along with 'Hakusiri' (Saktisri). It is also to be noted that even the so-called older version of the Matsya speaks of only 19 kings in one passage. The Gautamīputras and the Vāsishthiputras did not rule over distinct regions. Gautamiputra Satakarņi is represented as the Rājā of Mülaka, ie, the district round Paithan, along with other territories. Pulumāvi, too, ruled over Paithan as we learn from the Geography of Ptolemy. The epithets "Vijha......... Malaya-Mahida......pavata pati" and "tisamudatoyapita-vāhana' applied to Gautamiputra suggest that he was as much entitled to the designation Dakshiņāpathapati as his son. The statement that, except for the third king, the royal title and relationship to the mother went together, is not borne out by recorded facts. In the Myākadoni Inscription, for example (Ep. Ind., XIV. pp. 153 ff.), we have the passage-Raño Satavahanānan s (í) ri-Pulum(a)visa without any mention of the metronymic. Cf. also the passage Raño Sirichada-sātisa (Rapson, Andhra Coins, p 32). As to cross-cousin marriages, several recorded cases, e.g., those of the wives of Sri Satakarni I and Vāsishthiputra Sri-Satakarni of the Kanheri Inscription, do not support the theory propounded by Mr. Chattopadhyāya. The kings in question may, doubtless, have been polygamous. But that the extra queens, if any, included.cousins is only a guess. The marriages actually hinted at in the epigraphic records of the sātavābanas (unlike those of the Ikshvākus) are not of the cross-cousin' type. Indian history knows of cases where a queen or other royal personage takes as much pride in the mother's family as in that of the father (cf. ubhayakulalankārabhūtā Prabhāvati, JASB, 1924. 58). Does Nāyanikā lay any claim to a sātavāhana origin? The table of cross-cousin marriage on p. 325 of JASB, 1939 would make Śātakarņi (No. 6 of the list) a brother of Page #441 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 412 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of Kana rese origin. Mr. 0. C. Gangoly points out that in some class of literature a distinction is suggested between the Āndhras and the Sātavāhanas. In the Epigraphia Indica, ? Dr. Sukthankar edited an inscription of Siri-Pulumāvi, “king of the Sātavālianas,” which refers to a place called Sātavahanihāra. The place finds mention also in the Hirahadagalli copper-plate inscription of the Pallava king Siva-skandavarman in the slightly altered form of Sātāhani-rattha. Dr. Sukthankar suggests that the territorial division Sátavahani-Sātāhani must have comprised a good portion of the modern Bellary district of the Madras Presidency, and that it was the original home of the Sātavāhana family. Other indications point to the territory immediately south of the Madhyadeśa as the original home of the Sātavāhana-Sātakarnis. The Vinaya Texts 4 mention a town called “Setakannika” which lay on the southern frontier of the Majjhima-desa. It is significant that the earliest records of the Sātakarņis are found in the Northern Deccan and Central India ; and the Hathigamphā Inscription of Khāravela, king of Orissa, refers to the family as 'protecting the Wesť. The name 'Andhra' probably came to be Nāyanikā and a brother-in-law of śātakarņi (No. 3 of the list) and a son of Mahārathi Tranakayiro. This is negatived by the Nānāghāt epigraph which refers to the Mahārathi as Amgiya (or Ambhiya ) kulavardhana, whereas both the śātakarņis belong to the family of Simuka śātavāhana according to Purānic evidence. Gautami-Balasri who is turned into a sister or clan-sister of Sivasvāti (JASB, 1927, 590) refers merely to her position as a badhū, mātā, and pitamahi, but never for once suggests that she herself sprang from the family the restoration of whose glory is referred to in exulting terms. 1 JAHRS, XI, pp 1 and 2. PP 14-15. The Andhras contributed one melody which is recognised in the musical literature of India as Andhri, while the sātavāhanas contributed another named after them as sātavāhani according to the text of the Brihat-Deśi. 2 Vol. XIV (1917). 3 See also Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 1918-19, p. 21, 'On the Home of the so-called Andhra Kings.'-V. S. Sukthankar. Cf. JRAS., 1923, 89 f. 4 S, B. E., XVII, 38. Page #442 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXTRACTION OF THE SATAVAHANAS 413 applied to the kings in later times when they lost their northern and western possessions and became a purely Andhra power, governing the territory at the mouth of the river Krishņā.1 There is reason to believe that the so-called "Andhra," "Andhra-bhritya" or Satavahana kings were Brāhmaṇas with a little admixture of Naga blood. The Dvātrimsatputtalika represents Salivahana (Prakrit form of Satavahana) as of mixed Brāhmaṇa and Naga origin.2 The Naga connection is suggested by names like Naga-nikā3 and Skanda-naga-Sataka, while the claim to the rank of Brahmana is actually put forward in an inscription. In the Nasik prasasti of Gautamiputra Satakarni the king is called "Eka Bamhana," i.e.,. the unique Brahmana. Some scholars, however, are inclined to take Bamhana to mean merely a Brahmaṇical Hindu, but this interpretation cannot be accepted in view of the fact that Gautamiputra is also called "Khatiya-dapa-mana-madana", i.e., the destroyer of the pride and conceit of Kshatriyas. The expression "Eka-bamhana" when read along with the passage "Khatiya-dapa-mana-madana" leaves no room for doubt that Gautamiputra of the Satavahana family not only claimed to be a Brāhmaṇa, but a Brāhmaṇa 1 Cf. the transformation of the Eastern Chalukyas into Cholas from the time when Kulottunga I mounted the Chola throne. For the origin and meaning of the names Satavahana and Satakarni see also Camb. Hist. Ind., Vol. 1, p. 599n; JBORS., 1917, December, p. 442n; IHQ, 1929, 388; 1933, 88, 256 and JRAS., 1929, April; also Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, London, 1938, IX. 2. 327f. Both Barnett and Jayaswal connect them with the Satiya-putas. Przyluski thinks that the names may have been sanskritised from AustroAsiatic terms signifying, "Son of horse." For other interpretations see Aravamuthan, the Kaveri, the Maukharis, p. 51n. (karni ship; Vahana = Oar or Sail); Dikshitar, Indian Culture, II, 549 ff. 2 Cf. E. H. D., Sec. VII. 3 Bühler., ASWI, vol v, p 64 n4. 4 In Indian Culture, I, pp. 513 ff., and Ep. Ind., XXII. 32ff. Miss Bhramar Ghosh and Dr. Bhandarkar seem to reject the interpretation of the expressions "Eka Bamhana" and "Khatiya-dapa-mana-madana" proposed by Page #443 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 414 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA like Paraśurāma who humbled the pride of the Kshatriyas. As a matter of fact in the praśasti the king is described as “the unique Brāhmaṇa in prowess equal to Rāma”. 1 According to the Purānas Simuka (c. 60-37 B.C.) gave the final coup de grace to the Suñga-Kāņva power. He was succeeded by his brother Kșishņa (c. 37-27 B.C.). This king has been identified with Kanha “Rājā of the Sādavāhana-kula” mentioned in a Nāsik inscription. - Senart and Bühler. It is suggested that the word bamhana may stand for Brahmanya, that Khatiya may refer to the Xathroi or Khatriaioi tribe mentioned by classical writers, and that the expression Rājarisi-vadhu used in reference to Gautami Balaấri is enough to show that the śātavāhana rulers never claimed themselves to be Brahmarshis or Brāhmaṇa sages. It is nobody's case that the śātavāhanas claimed to be mere "Brāhmaṇa sages." But is it not a bit too ingenious to imagine that the well-known terms Brāhmaṇa and Kshatriya are not to be taken in their ordinary sense, and that they really stand for non-Brāhmanas and non-Kshatriyas ? As to the use of the expression Rajarisi-vadhu, would not Brahmarshi be a singularly inappropriate description of a family of kings even though they were Brāhmaṇas? The term Rajarshi is not used exclusively to denote non-Brāhmaṇa rulers. In the Padma Purāna - (Pātāla-khandam, 61, 73), for instance, Dadhichi is styled a Rājarshi. In the Vayu Purana (57, 121 ff.) the epithets "Rājarshayo mahāsattvāh" are used in reference to Brahma-Kshatramayā nripāh (Brahma-kshatrāda yo nripāh, according to the reading of the Matsya text, 143, 37:40). In the Matsya Purāna (50. 5-7) the epithet Rājarshi is applied to a king who sprang from the family of the Maudgalyas who are called Kshatropetā dvijātayah and one of whom is styled Brahmishthah. The Annadāmangala refers to Krishņa Chandra as Rāja-Rajachakravarti Rishi-Rishirāja. Attention may no doubt be invited to the Purānic statement that the founder of the "Andhra" dynasty was a 'vrishala' (DKA, 38). But the explanation will be found in the Mahābhārata. The great epic (XII. 63. 1 ff.) informs us that drawing the bowstring, destruction of enemies... are not proper (akāryam paramam) for a Brāhmaṇa. A Brāhmana should avoid royal service (rāja-preshya). A Brāhmana who marries a Vishali and takes to royal service (rāja-preshya) and other work not legitimate for him is akarmā, a Brāhmaṇa so-called (Brahma-bandhu). He becomes a Sūdra. The Sātavāhanas actually drew the bowstring and intermarried with Dravidians and Sakas as the Mauryas had intermarried with Yavanas. 1 A pun is here intended as Rāma seems to refer to Bala Deva as well. The use of the name of Rāma, instead of Bala (cf. Bala-Keśava in Hariv, Vishnuparva, 52, 20) is significant. Taken in conjunction with ekabamhana it undoubtedly implies comparison with Bhrigu-Rāma or Parasu-Rama as well. Page #444 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RAJAN ŚRI ŚĀTAKARŅI 415 The record tells us that a certain cave was caused to be made by a high official (śramana Mahāmātra) of Nāsik in the time of King Kaụha. Kaņha-Krishṇa was succeeded according to the Purānas by śātakarņi (c. 27-17 B.C.). This Šātakarņi has been identified with (1) King śāta karņi Dakshinūpatha-pati (lord of the Deccan), són (or nephew) of Simuka sātavābana, mentioned in the Nānāghāt Inscription of Nāyanikā ?; (2) Śātakarņi, lord of the west, who was defied (or rescued ?) b.y Khāravela, king of Kalinga ; (3) Rājan Sri Šāta karņi of a Sāñchi Inscription ; (4) The elder Saraganus mentioned in the Periplus ; (5) Sātakarņi, lord of Pratishthāna, father of Saktikumāra, mentioned in Indian literature ; and (6) Siri-Sāta of coins. The first, fifth and sixth identifications are usually accepted by all scholars. The second identification is also probable because the Purānas place Śātakarņi, the successor of Krishṇa, after the Kāņvas, i.e., in the first century B.C., while the Hātbigumpbā Inscription seems to place Khāravela 300 years after Nanda-rāja, i. e., possibly in the first century B.C. Marshall objects to the third identification on the ground that Sri Sātakarņi-who is mentioned in the The comparison of a militant ruler claiming Brāhmaṇahood and fighting against Kshatriyas, with Paraśu-Rāma is a favourite theme of writers of Prasastiscf, Bhrigupatiriva dripta kshatrasanhāra-kārin which is applied to Ambāprasād in the Chitor-gadh ins, of 1274 A.D. 1 The usual view among scholars is that Śătakarņi I is a son of Simuka. If he is a nephew (son of Kțishņa, brother of Simuka) as the Puranas assert, it is difficult to explain why Krishna's name should be omitted from the family group, mentioned in the Nānāghat records, while the name of Simuka as well as that of the father of Satakarņi's queen should find prominent mention. The final decision must await future discoveries. 2 Andhra Coins (Rapson), p. xciii. CHI, 531. Page #445 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 416 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Nanaghat and Hathigumpha Inscriptions reigned in the middle of the second century B.C.; his dominions, therefore, could not, in his opinion, have included Eastern Malwa (the Sañchi region) which, in the second century B.C., was ruled by the Sungas and not by the "Andhras". 1 But we have seen that the date of the Hathigumpha Inscription is possibly the first century B.C. (300 years after Nanda-raja). The Puranas, too, as is well-known, place the kings mentioned in the Nanaghat Inscription not earlier than the Kanvas, i.e., in the first century B.C. As Sunga rule had terminated about this time the identification of the successor of Krishna of the Satavahana family with Satakarṇi of the Sanchi Inscription, therefore, does not conflict with what is known of the history of Eastern Malwa in the second century B.C. Lastly, it would be natural for the first Satakarni to be styled simply Satakarni or the elder Satakarni (Saraganus, from a Prakrit,form like Sadaganna), while it would be equally natural for the later Satakarnis to be distinguished from him by the addition of a geographical designation like Kuntala, or a metronymic like Gautamiputra or Vasishṭhiputra. We learn from the Nanaghaṭ Inscriptions that Satakarni, son (?) of Simuka, entered into a matrimonial alliance with the powerful Amgiya or Ambhiya 2 family, the scions of which were called Maharathi, and became sovereign of the whole of Dakshinapatha. He seems also to have controlled Eastern Malwa and undoubtedly performed the Asvamedha sacrifice. The conquest of Eastern Malwa by his family is possibly implied by coins and the Sanchi Inscription when read along with the Puranic statement that in succession to the Sungabhritya Kāṇvāyana kings, 1 A Guide to Sanchi, p. 13. 2 ASI, 1923-24. p, 88. Page #446 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ NÅGANIKÅ AND HER SONS 417 the earth'1 will pass to the 'Andhras'. The inscription records the gift of a certain Ānamda, the son of Vasithi, the foreman of the artisans of Rājan Siri-Sātakaội.? Šātakarņi seems to have been the first prince to raise the śātavāhanas to the position of paramount sovereigns of Trans-Vind hyan India. Thus arose the first great empire in the Godāvari valley which rivalled in extent and power the Šunga empire in the Ganges valley and . the Greek empire in the Land of the Five Rivers. According to the evidence of Indian as well as classical writers, 3 the capital of the Sātavāhana Empire was at Pratishthāna, “the modern Paithan on the north bank of the Godāvari in the Aurangabad District of Hyderabad". After the death of Śātakarņi his wife Nāyanikā or Nāganikā,daughter of the Mahārathi Tranakayiro Kalalāya, the scion of the Amgiya (?) family, was proclaimed regent during the minority of the princes Vedasri (?Khandasiri or Skandasri) and Śakti-Śri (Sati Sirimata) or Haku-Siri. The last-mentioned prince is probably identical with Sakti-kumāra, son of Sālivāhana, mentioned in Jaina literature. 4 1 i.e. the Vidiśā region in Eastern Malwa. For the connection of the Sungas with Vidiša, see, Pargiter, DKA, 49. The Kāņvāyanas had become King 'among the Sungas' (sungeshu, DKA. 34), apparently in the Vidiśā territory. 2 The conquest of West Mālwa is probably suggested by round coins of Sri Sāta (Rapson, Andhra Coins, xcii-xciii). 3. Cf. Jinaprabhasuri, Tirthakalpa, JBBRAS, X. 123; and Ptolemy Geography, vii. 1. 82. See also Avaśyaka Sūtra, JBORS., 1930, 290 ; Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, EHD, Sec. VII. 4 Viracharitra, Ind. Ant., VIII, 201. ASWI, V, 62n. O. P. 90—53. Page #447 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 418 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Early Satavahanas Śātavāhana-kula Amgiya(Ambhiya) kula Kalalāya Mahārathi Rāyā (Rājā) Simuka Sātavāhana Krishna - Amgiya (Ambhiya) kula-vardhana Mahārathi Tranakayiro Son or nephew Satakarņi I, King of Dakshiņāpatha = Devì Nāyanikā Kumāras Vedaśrì (? Khandasiri or Śakti Srimat Sātavāhana Skanda sri) 2 - and Bhāya? The śāta vāhanas were not the only enemies of the decadent Magadha empire in the first century B. C. We learn from the Hāthigumphā Inscription that when Sātakarņi was ruling in the west, Khāravela of Kalinga carried his arms to Northern India and humbled the king of Rājagļiha. Khāravela belonged to the Cheta dynasty. Mr. R. P. Chanda points out that Cheta princes are mentioned in the Vessantana Jatal:a. The Milimda-paibo contains a statement which seems to indicate that the Chetas were connected with the Chetis or Chedis. The particulars given in that work regarding the Cheta king Sura Parichara agree with what we know about the Chedi king Uparichara. Very little is known regarding the history of Kalinga from the death of Asoka to the rise of the Cheta or Cheti dynasty probably in the first century B.C. (three 1 On page 57 of Rapson's Andhra Coins Kalalāya Mahārathi bears the name "Sadakana" (= Śātakarņi). His other name or epithet "Trapakayiro" reminds us of "Tanaka" which occurs as a variant of the name of the 18th "Andhra" king of Pargiter's list (DKA, 36, 41). 2 ASI. AR, 1923-24, p. 88; A. Ghosh, History of Central and Western India, 140. Mr. Ghosh identifies him with the fifth king of the Purāņic list. 3 No. 547. 4 Rhys Davids, Milinda, SBE, XXXV, p. 287 ; Mbh. I, 63, 14. According to Sten Konow (Acta Orientalia, Vol. 1, 1923, p. 38) Ceti (not Ceta) is the designation of the dynasty of Khāravela occurring in the Häthigumpha Inscription. Page #448 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXPANSION OF KALINGA 419 hundred years after the Nandas). The names of the first two 1 kings of the Cheta line are not clearly indicated in the Hāthigumphā inscription. Liiders Ins. No. 1347 mentions a king named Vakradeva (Vakadepasiri or Kūdepasiri? But we do not know for certain whether he was a predecessor or successor of Khāravela. During the rule of the second king, who must have reigned for at least 9 years (c. 37-28 B.C.), Khāravela occupied the position of Crown Prince (Yuvarāja). When he had completed his 24th year, he was anointed Mahārāja of Kalinga (c. 28 B.C.). His chief queen was the daughter of a prince named Lalāka, the great-grandson (according to some) of Hathisimba. In the first year of his reign he repaired the gates and ramparts of his capital, Kalinga-nagara. In the next year (c. 27 B.C.), without taking heed of Sātakarņi, he sent a large army to the west and with its aid, having reached the Krishṇaveņā, struck terror into the hearts of the people (or city) of Musika (Asika?)-nagara. 2 According to another interpretation, "he went to the rescue of śātakarņi and having returned with his purpose accomplished, he with his allies made gay the city.” He followed up his success by further operations in the west and, in his fourth year, compelled the Rathikas and Bhojakas to do him homage. In the fifth year (c. 24 B.C.) he had an aqueduct, that had been opened out 300 years back by Nandarāja, conducted into his capital. Emboldened by his successes in the Deccan the Kalinga king turned his attention to the North. In 1 For Purusha-Yuga (generation) see Hemachandra, Pariśishta-parvan, VIII. 326 gāmi purusha-yugāni nava yāvattavānvayah. 2 Cf. Ep. Ind. X.X. 79, 87. Barua reads Aśvaka o Rsika (oid Brahmi Ins., p. 176; Asika IHQ. 1938, 263). Dr. F. W. Thomas, too, finds in the passage no reference to a Musika capital (JRAS., 1922, 83). The alternative interpretation in the next sentence is his. Cf, Bühler, Indian Palaeography, 39, Page #449 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 420 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the eighth year he stormed Gorathagiri (Barābar Hills near Gayā) and harassed (the king of ?) Rājagriha.? If Dr. Jayaswal is right in identifying this king with Bșihaspatimitra, then king Brihaspati must have ruled over Magadha after the Kāņva dynasty. The attack on Northern India was repeated possibly in the tenth and certainly in the twelfth year. In the tenth year the Kalinga king, in the opinion of some scholars, 'overran countries in Bhārat-varsha, which are taken to refer to those in Upper India. In the twelfth year he claims to have terrified or harassed the kings of Uttarūpatha and watered his elephants in the Gangā (Ganges). 2 The north-western expeditions apparently led to no permanent result. But in north-eastern India the Kalinga king was more successful ; the repeated blows certainly."struck terror into the Magadhas," and compelled the Magadha king (Brihaspatimitra ?) to bow at his feet. Having subjugated Magadha, and despoiled Anga, the invader once more turned his attention to Southern India. Already in his eleventh year "he had had Pithuda ploughed with a plough drawn by an ass."3 Lévi* identified this city with Pihunda of the Uttarādhyayana (21), and "Pitundra metropolis' of Ptolemy in the interior 1 Some scholars find in line 8 of the Hāthīgumphā Ins. a reference to the Yavana-raja (Di) ma (ta), i.e., Demetrios who "went off to Mathurā in order to relieve his generals who were in trouble (Acta Orientalia, I. 27; Cal. Rev. July, 1926, 153). But the reading is doubtful (cf. Barua, old Brāhmi Inscriptions in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, pp. 17-18; IHQ., 1929, 594). Even if the reading Dimata be correct, the reference may be to Diyumeta or Diomedes (Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, p. 36) and not necessarily to Demetrios. 2 Some scholars find here a reference to the Sugamgiya palace (Ep. Ind. xx. 88). 3 Barua interprets the passage differently. But cf. Nilakanta Sastri, The Pandyan Kingdom, p. 26. 4 Ind. Ant., 1926. 145. Sea-faring merchants are represented as going by boat from Champā to Pihunda in the days of Mahāvira, the Jina. Cf. Mbh, I. 65. 67, 186, VII. 50. Page #450 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXPANSION OF KALINGA 421 of the country of Masulipatam (Maisoloi). The conqueror seems to have pushed further to the south and made his power felt even in the Tamil country by princes amongst whom the most eminent was the king of the Pandyas. In the thirteenth year Khāravela erected pillars on the Kumāri Hill (Udayagiri in Orissa) in the vicinity of the dwelling of the Arbats (Khandagiri ?). Page #451 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. THE END OF GREEK RULE IN NORTH-WEST INDIA. While the remnant of the Magadhan monarchy was falling before the onslaughts of the Satavahanas and the Chetas, the Greek power in the North-West was also hastening towards dissolution. We have already referred to the feuds of Demetrios and Eukratides. The dissensions of these two princes led to a double succession, one derived from Demetrios holding for a time Kāpisa and then Sakala (Sialkot) with a considerable portion of the Indian interior, the other derived from Eukratides holding Nicaea', Takshaśila and Pushkaravati as well as Kapisa (which was conquered from Apollodotos) and Bactria. According to Gardner and Rapson, Apollodotos, Antimachos, Pantaleon, Agathokles, Agathokleia, the Stratos, Menander, Dionysios, Zoilos,3 Hippostratos and Apollophanes probably belonged to the house of Euthydemos and Demetrios. Most of 1. It lay on the Jhelum between that river and the Chenab and was probably conquered by Heliokles in the reign of Strato I (CHI, 553, 699). 2 According to some numismatics (CHI, 552) she was probably Menander's queen. But the theory has to explain why the 'evidence' regarding the supposed relationship is so vague (contra Heliokles and Laodike, Hermaios and Kalliope). 3 "Apollodotos Philopator, Dionysios and Zoilos show a common and peculiar monogram struck probably by the same moneyer in one mint". Hoards of coins Coins of Zoilos Sakala (JRAS, 1913, 645nl; upper Sutlej. of these three princes have been found on the have also been found at Pathankot and near JASB 1897, 8; Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, 316 f.) 4 Apollophanes shares a monogram with Zoilos and Strato (Tarn, Greeks, 317). Polyxenos, too, belongs to this group (p. 318). Whitehead considers him a close relation of Strato I (Indo-Greek Coins, 54n). The later kings of this group are connected with the Eastern Panjab (EHI, 4th ed., pp. 257-58). Tarn infers from a statement of Plutarch that after the death of Menander the eastern capital was shifted from Sakala to Bukephala, Page #452 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LINES OF INDO-GREEK KINGS 423 these sovereigns used similar coin-types, specially the figure of the goddess Athene hurling the thunderbolt, which is characteristic of the Euthydemian line. Pantaleon and Agathokles strike coins with almost identical types. They both adopt the metal nickel for their coins, and they alone use in their legends the Brāhmî alphabet. They seem, therefore, to have been closely connected probably as brothers. It is not improbable that Agathokleia was their sister. 3 Agathokles (and possibly Antimachos) issued a series of coins in commemoration of Alexander, Antiochos Nikator ( Antiochos III Megas according to Malala), Diodotos Soter, Euthydemos and Demetrios Aniketos (the Invincible). Apollodotos, the Stratos, Menander and some later kings used the Athene type of coins. Apollodotos and Menander are mentioned together in literature. The author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea says that "to the present day ancient drachmae are current in Barygaza (Broach) bearing inscriptions in Greek letters, and the devices of those who reigned after Alexander, Apollodotos and Menander”. Again, in the title of the lost forty-first book of Justin's work, Menander and Apollodotos are mentioned as Indian kings. 5 It appears from the Milinda-panho that the capital of the dynasty to which Menander belonged was Sākala or Sāgala. 6 1 For an interesting account of Indo-Greek coin-types see H. K. Deb IHQ, 1934, 509 ff. 2 Dancing girl in oriental costume according to Whitehead ; Māyā, mother of the Budba, in the nativity scene according to Foucher (JRAS, 1919, p. 90). 3 Agathokleia is also closely connected with the Stratos, being probably mother of Strato I, and great-grandmother of Strato II. 4 According to Tarn ( 447 f) the fictitious Seleukid pedigree is the key to the (pedigree) coin series of Agathokles, the Just." | 5 Rhys Davids, Milinda, SBE, 35, p, xix. Cf. JASB, Aug.. 1833. 6 "Atthi Yonakānam nānāputabhedanam Sāgalannāma nagaram," "Jambudipe Sāgala nagare Milindo nāma Rājā ahasi," "Atthi kho Page #453 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 424 POLÍTICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA We learn from Ptolemy, the Geographer that the city had another name Euthymedia or Euthydemia, a desgination which was probably derived from the Euthydemian line. An inscription on a steatite casket which comes from Shinkot in Bajaur territory refers to the 5th regnal year of Māhārāja Minadra (Menander). The record proves that in the 5th year of his reign the dominions of Menander probably included a considerable portion of the Trans-Indus territory. The Kāpisa and Nicaea coins indicate how some of the rulers of the Euthydemian group were gradually pushed to the Indian interior. They had to remove their capital to Sākala. To the rival family of Eukratides belonged Heliokles and probably Antialkidas who ruled conjointly with Lysias. A common type of Antialkidas is the Pilei of the Dioscuri, which seems to connect bim with Eukratides ; his portrait according to Gardner resembles that of Heliokles. It is not improbable that he was an immediate successor of Heliokles. A Besnagar Inscription makes him a contemporary of Kāsi (Kośi=Kautsi ?) putra Bhāgabhadra of Vidišā who ruled some time after Agnimitra probably in or about the latter half of the second century B.C. The capital of Antialkidas was probably at Takshasilā or Taxila, the place from which his ambassador Heliodoros went to the kingdom of Bhāgabhadra. But his dominions seem also to have included Kāpiši or Kāpiša.? After his death the western Greek kingdom probably split up into three parts, viz., Nāgasena sägalam nāma nagaram, tattha Milindo nāma Rajā rajjam kāreti." The form Yonaka from which chronological conclusions have been drawn in recent time, is comparable to Madraka, Vrijika (Pāņini, IV. 2. 131). 1 Gardner, Catalogue of Indian Coins in the British Museum, p. xxxiv. 2 Camb. Hist., 558. Page #454 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DESTRUCTION OF INDO-GREEK RULE 425 Takshasilā (ruled by the line represented by Archebios“), Pushkalāvatî (governed by Diomedes, Epander, Philoxenos, Artemidoros, and Peukolaos), and Kāpiši with the Kābul region held successively by Amyntas and Hermaeus (Hermaios). With Hermaios was associated his queen, Kalliope. Kāpisa was, according to Chinese evidence, probably occupied by the Sai-wang (sāka lord) some time in the latter part of the second century B.C. But the barbarian chieftain, like the Kushān Yavuga of later times, may have acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Greek Basileas, as Teutonic chieftains in Europe were, during the fifth century A.D., sometimes content with the rank of 'patrician' and 'consul,' under the nominal authority of the titular Roman emperor, The Greek power must have been greatly weakened by the feuds of the rival lines of Demetrios and Eukratides. The evils of internal dissension were aggravated by foreign inroads. We learn from Strabo3 that the Parthians deprived Eukratides (and the Scythians) by force of arms of a part of Bactriana, which embraced the satrapies of Aspionus and Turiva (possibly Aria and Arachosia according to Macdonald). There is reason to believe that the Parthian king Mithradates I penetrated even into India. Orosius, a Roman historian. who flourished about 400 A.D., makes a definite statement to the effect that Mitħradates (c. B.C. 171-138) 1 A copper piece of this king is restruck, probably on a coin of Heliokles (Whitehead, p. 39). 2 The 'Pallas and thunderbolt' type of his silver coins, probably connects him with the Sakala group, ibid. 64. Among the rulers of the Gandhāra region - we should perhaps also include Telephos whose coinage resembles that of Maues, ibid, 80, A prince named Nikias apparently ruled in the Jhelum District (EHI, 4th end., 258). 3 H. and F.'s Vol. II, pp.251-253. O.P. 90-54. Page #455 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 426 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA subdued the natives between the Hydaspes and the Indus. His conquest thus appears to have driven a wedge between the kingdom of Eukratides and that of his rival of the house of Euthydemos. --- The causes of the final downfall of the Bactrian Greeks are thus stated by Justin : "the Bactrians barassed by various wars lost not only their dominions but their liberty ; for having suffered from contentions with the Sogdians, the Drangians and the Indians (?) they were at last overcome as if exhausted by the weaker Parthians." 2 The Sogdians were the people of the region now known as Samarkand and Bukhārā. They were separated from Bactriana by the Oxus and from the Sakas by the Jaxartes or the Syr Daria. By the term Sogdian Justin probably refers not only to the Sogdiani proper but also to the well-known tribes which, according to Strabo, deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, viz., the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, Sacarauli and the Sacae or Śakas. The story of the Saka occupation of the Indo-Greek possessions will be told in the next chapter. The Latin historian Pompeius Trogus describes how Diodotos had to fight Scythian tribes, the Sarancae (Saraucae) and Asiani who finally conquered Sogdiana and Bactria. The occupation of Sogdiana probably entitled them to the designation Sogdian used by Justin. Sten Konow 5 1 In the Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 568, however, this river has been identified with a Persian stream, the Medus Hydaspes of Virgil. 2 Sten Konow translates the passage from Justin thus : The Bactrians lost both their empire and their freedom," being harassed by the Sogdians (beyond the Oxus), the Arachoti (of the Argandab valley of S. Afghanistan), the Drangae (lake-dwellers, near the Hamun Lake) and the Arei (of Herat), and finally oppressed by the Parthians (Corpus, ii. 1, xxi-xxii). 3 Strabo, XI. 8. 8-9. 4 H. and F.'s Tr., Vol. II, pp. 245-246. Cf. JRAS.. 1906, 193 f.; Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, 171. 5 Modern Review, April, 1921, p. 464. Corpus, II. 1, xxii, lviif. Page #456 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DYNASTY OF VONONES suggests the identification of the Tochari of the Classical writers with the Ta-hia of the Chinese historians. He further identifies the Asii, Asioi or Asiani with the Yüle-chi. We are inclined to identify the Tochari with the Tukhāras who formed an important element of the Bactrian population in the time of Ptolemy and are described by that author as a great people. They are apparently "the war-like nation. of the Bactrians" of the time of the Periplus. The Drangians, literally 'lake-dwellers', referred to by Justin, inhabited the country about the Hamun lake (Zareh) between Areia (Herat), Gedrosia (Baluchistan) and Arachosia (Kandahar) and the desert of Eastern Persia, close to and perhaps including at times within its political boundaries the neighbouring province now called Sistan or Seistan (Sakasthāna).3 Numismatic evidence indicates that a family whose territory lay mainly in southern Afganisthan, viz., the so-called dynasty of Vonones, supplanted Greek rule in a considerable part of the Helmund valley, Ghazni and Kandahar (Arachosia). Vonones is a Parthian (Imperial) name. Hence many scholars call his dynasty a Parthian family, and some go so far as to assert that this Vonones is the Arsakid king of that name who reigned. from A. D. 8 to 14.4 But names are not sure proofs of nationality. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar calls the dynasty Saka. The best name for the family would be Drangian, because the chief centre of their power probably 2 427 1 Ind. Ant, 1884, pp. 395-396. 2 Schoff, Parthian Stations, 32. 3 Corpus, xl; Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, 92; MASI, 34. 7. Isidore, places Drangiana (Zarangiana) beyond Phra (Farah), and locates Śakasthāna beyond this territory, (Schoff, 9). But Herzfeld points out that Sistan is the Achaemenian 'Zrang'. 4 Camb. Short Hist. 69. 5 Isidore of Charax who mentions the revolt of Tiridates against Phraates (26 B.C.) and is quoted by Pliny (Schoff, Parthian Stations, pp. 5, 13 ff, 17; Page #457 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 428 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA lay in the Helmund valley, Arachosia being ruled by a viceroy.! On coins Vonones is associated with two princes, viz., (i) Spalahora (Spalyris) who is called Mahārāja bhrātā (the king's brother). (ii) Śpalaga-dama, son of Spalabora. There is one coin which Edward Thomas and Cunningbam attributed to Vonones and Azes I. But the coin really belongs to Maues. There is a silver coin of a prince ,named Spalirises which bears on the obverse the legend Basileus Adelphoy Spalirisoy, and on the reverse “Mahārāja bhrātā dhramiasa Spaliriśasa," i.e., of Spalirises the Just, brother of the king. This king has been identified by some with Vonones and by others with Maues. Vonones was succeeded as supreme ruler by Spalirises. The coins of Spalirises present two varieties, viz., 1. Coins which bear his name alone in both the legends : JRAS. 1904, 706 ; 1906, 180 ; 1912, 990) refers (Parthian Stations, 9. para 18, Z DMG., 1906, pp. 57-58; JRAS., 1915, p. 831 : Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, 53) to Sigal in Sacastene (near Kandahar ?) as the royal residence of the Sakas (not Parthians) about the beginning of the Christian era. The names of the brother or brothers and nephew of Vonones, (or Maues) ruling in southern Afghanistan seem to be Scythian (ef. Rapson quoted in Corpus II. 1, xlii). Thus the local rulers of southern Afghanistan about B.C. 26 or a little later were probably Sakas. It is, however, possible that they acknowledged the supremacy of the great king of Parthia. 1 Corpus, xlii. 2 Whitehead, Catalogue of Coins in the Pañjāb Museum (Indo-Greek Coins), p. 93. Smith, Catalogue, 38. Tarn possibly repeats the mistake (Greeks, 344 n 2). 3. Herzfeld identifies the royal brother of Spalirises with Maues (Camb. Short Hist. 69). 4 It should be noted that certain coin-types of Spalirises are found restruck on coins of Vonones (CHI, 574) and on a copper coin of Spalyris and Spalagadama (Corpus, II. 1. xli). This proves that Spalirises was later than Vonones, Spalyris and Spalagadama. The square Omicron on a coin of Spalyris probably points to a date not earlier than Orodes II (55 to 38/7 B.C.). Tarn, Greeks, 326. Page #458 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PARTHIANS IN KABUL 2. Coins on which his name occurs on the obverse in the Greek legend, and those of Azes on the reverse in the Kharoshthi legend. 429 The second variety proves that Spalirises had a colleague named Azes who governed a territory where the prevailing script was Kharoshṭhi. This Azes has been identified with king Azes of the Pañjab about whom we shall speak in the next chapter. As regards the Indian enemies of the Bactrian Greeks we must refer in the first place to the prince of the house of Pushyamitra who is represented in Kalidasa's Malavikagnimitram as defeating the Yavanas on the Sindhu. An Indian named Bhadrayaśas seems to have had some share in the destruction of the Greek kingdom of the Eastern Panjab. The Nasik prasasti of Gautamiputra Satakarni represents that king as the destroyer of the Yavanas, apparently of Western India. The final destruction of Greek rule was, as Justin says, the work of the Parthians. Marshall tells us1 that the last surviving Greek principality, that of Hermaios in the Kabul valley, was overthrown by the Parthian king Gondophernes. The Chinese historian Fan-ye also refers to the Parthian occupation of Kabul.* "Whenever any of the three kingdoms of Tien-tchou (India Proper), Ki-pin (Kapisa) or Ngansi (Parthia), 1 A Guide to Taxila, p. 14. 2 Among the latest Greek rulers of the Kabul Valley we have to include. Theodamas whose existence is disclosed by a Bajaur Seal Inscription (Corpus, II, i. xv, 6). 3 In ASI, AR, 1929-30 pp. 56 ff., however, Marshall modifies his earlier. views in regard to the conquest of the Greek kingdom of Kabul by the Parthians. He suggests that the Kabul Valley became a bone of contention between Parthians and Kushans and changed hands more than once before the final eclipse of the Parthian power. 4 JRAS., 1912, 676; Journal of the Department of Letters, Calcutta University, Vol. I, p. 81. Page #459 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 430 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA became powerful, it brought Kābul into subjection. When it grew weak it lost Kābul........... Later, Kābul fell under the rule of Parthia." The real conquest of Kābul by the Parthians could hardly have taken place till after the time of Isidore (last quarter of the first century B.C.) because the writings of that geographer do not include the Kābul valley in the list of the eastern provinces of the Parthian Empire. By A.D. 43-44, however, Parthian rule had extended to this region as we learn from Philostraters. 1 Cf. Thomas JRAS., 1906, 194. For the results of India's contact with the Hellenic world in the domains of religion, administration, literature, science and art see Bhandarkar, "Foreign Elements in the Hindu Population" (Ind. Ant., 1911); Raychaudhuri, "Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, Ist ed." p. 106; Foucher, "The Beginnings of Buddhist Art," pp. 9, 111 f.; Coomaraswami, "History of Indian and Indonesian Art," pp. 41 f.; Sten Konow, "Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum," Vol. II, Pt. 1. xv; Hopkins, "Religion of India, pp. 544 f.; Keith, "The Sanskrit Drama," pp. 57 f. : Keith, "A History of Sanskrit Literature," pp. 352 f. ; Max Müller, "India-What can it teach Us," pp. 321 f. ; Smith, EHI, pp. 251-6: "A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon," Chap. XI ; Imp. Gaz., The Indian Empire, Vol. II, pp. 105 f., 137 f., etc. 2 Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, 53 ; Schoff. The Parthian Stations of Isidore of Charax, 17. Page #460 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER VIII. SCYTHIAN RULE IN NORTHERN INDIA. SECTION I. THE SAKAS. In the second and first centuries B.C., Greek rule in parts of Kāfiristān, Gandhāra and possibly the Hazāra country, was supplanted by that of the Sakas. In the days of Darius, the Achaemenid king of Persia (B. C. 522-486), the Sakas lived beyond Sogdiana (para-Sugdam) in "the vast plains of the Syr Darya, of which the modern capital is the town of Turkestan."1 But already towards the end of the first century B.C. they were established at Sigal in modern Sistān.? The story of their migration from central Asia has been recorded by Chinese historians. The History of the First Han Dynasty (Ts’ien Han-Shu) states “formerly when the Hiung-nū conquered the Ta-Yiie-tehi the latter emigrated to the west, and subjugated the Tabia ;3 whereupon the Sai-wang went to the south, and ruled over Kipin.” Sten Konow points out that the Sai-wang are the same people which are known in Indian tradition under the designation Saka-murunda, 5 Murunda being a later form of a Saka word which has the same meaning as Chinese "wang," i.e., king, master, lord. In 1 E. Herzfeld, MASI, 34, 3. 2 Schoff, Isidore, Stathmoi Parthikoi, 17. 3 c. 174-160 B.C. according to some scholars. 4 JRAS.. 1903, p 22 ; 1932, 958; Modern Review, April, 1921, p. 464. The Śaka occupation of Ki-pin must be posterior to the reign of Eukratides and his immediate (Greek) successors. 5 Professor Hermann identifies the Sai-wang with the Sakarauloi or Sakaraukoi of Strabo and other classical authors. Corpus, II. 1. Xxf., For Murunda, see pp. xx. Page #461 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ . 432 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Indian inscriptions and coins it has frequently been translated with the Indian word Svāmin. The name of the Saka king who occupied Kipin is not known. The earliest ruler of that region mentioned in Chinese records is Wu-t'ou-lao whose son was ousted by Yin-mo-fu, the son of the prince of Yung-k’ii,' with Chinese help. Yin-mo-fu established himself as king of Kipin during the reign of the Emperor Hstian-ti, which lasted from 73 to 48 B.C., and killed the attendants of an envoy sent in the reign of the Emperor Ytian-ti (B.C. 48-33). In the reign of Chëng-ti (32-7 B.C.) the support of China was sought without success by the king of Kipin, probably the successor of Yin-mo-fu, who was in danger from some powerful adversary, apparently a king of the Yue-chi, who had relations with China about this time as is proved by the communication of certain Buddhist books to a Chinese official in 2 B.C.? S. Lévi at first identified Kipin with Kaśmira. But his view has been ably controverted by Sten Konows who accepts the identification with Kāpiša. Gandhāra was at one time the eastern part of the realm of Kipin. A passage of Hemachandra's Abhidhūna-Chintāmani 1 The identification of Yung-k'ü with Yonaka (Tarn, 297) and that of Yin-mo-fu with Hermaios (Tarn, 346) are purely conjectural. Mention may be made in this connection of Zonkah in Tibbat (JASB, 1895, 97). But the problem of identification must await future discoveries. 2 Calc. Rev., Feb., 1924, pp. 251, 252; Smith, EHI., 3rd ed., p. 258n.; JRAS., 1913, 647; Ind. Ant., 1905, Kashgar and the Kharoshthi. 3 Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 291. 4 The country drained by the northern tributaries of the river Kābul, ibid., p. 290 ; cf. Watters, Yuan Chwang, Vol. 1, pp. 259-260. The city of Kāpisi probably stood at the junction of the Ghorband and the Panjshir (Foucher, Indian Studies presented to Prof. Rapson, 343). Kipin according to the Tsien Han-shu joins Wu-i-shar-li (Arachosia and Persia according to Schoff, Parthian Stations, 41) on the south-west. Corpus, II. 1. xxiv: JRAS., 1912, 684 n. Cf. Dr. Herrmann (RAS., 1913, 1058 n.) who holds that Ki-pin was Gandhāra. The reference to a gold as well as a silver currency in Ki-pin is worthy of note (Corpus, II. 1. xxiv). Cf. the gold coin of the city of Pushkalāvati (CHI, 587). Page #462 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SAKAS IN THE INDIAN BORDERLAND 433 seems to suggest that the capital of the Sai-wang (Śaka-Muran la) was Lampāka or Laghman (Lampākāstu Murandāh syuh).1 Sten Konow says that according to the T's'ien Han-shu, or Annals of the First Han Dynasty, the Sai, i.e., the Sakas, passed the Hientu (the hanging passage), i.e., the gorge west of Skardu on their way to Kipin. Though the Sakas wrested parts of Kipin (Kāpisa-Gandhāra) from the hands of Greek meridarchs (governors ) they could not permanently subjugate Kābul, 3 where the Basileus (king) maintained a precarious existence. They were more successful in India. Inscriptions at Mathurā and Nāsik prove that the Sakas extended their sway as far as the Jumna in the east and the Godāvarì in the south, and destroyed the power of the 'Mitras' of Mathurā and the Sātavāhanas of Paithan. 4 No connected or detailed account of the Saka potentates of Kipin is possible. Sakas are mentioned along with the Yavanas in the Rāmāyana,5 the Mahabhārata, 6 the Manusamhitā" and the Mahābhāshya.8 The Harivañśa' informs us that they shaved one-half of their heads. The Jaina work Kālakūchārya-kathānaka states that their kings were called Sāhi. 10 Some of these Śāhis' are said to have been induced by a Jaina teacher 1 Lampāka (Laghman) is 100 miles to the east of Kapisene (AGI, 49). 2 Ep. Ind., XIV, 291. Corpus, II. 1. xxiii. For possible alternative routes of conquest, see JRAS., 1913, 929, 959, 1008, 1023. 3 Journal of the Department of Letters, Vol. I, p. 81. 4 Some of the Sakas seem to have penetrated to the far south of India. A Nāgārjunikonda Inscription refers to a Saka named Moda and his sister Budhi. Ep. Ind. xx. 37. . 5 1, 54. 22 ; IV. 43, 12. 6 II, 32. 17. 7 X. 44. 8 Ind. Ant., 1875, 244. 9 Chap. 14, 16. JRAS., 1906, 204. 10 ZDMG., 34, pp. 247 ff., 262; Ind. Ant., X. 222. 0. P. 90–55. Page #463 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 434 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDİA to proceed to Surattha (Surāshtra) Vishaya (country) and Ujjain in Hindukadeśa (India) where they overthrew some local chiefs and ruled for four years till they were themselves ousted by the founder of the era of 58 B.C. The Śakas are also mentioned in the Prasastis of Gautamiputra śātakarņi and Samudra Gupta. Their kingdom or empire "Sakasthāna” is probably mentioned in the Mahāmāyāri (95), in the Mathurā Lion Capital Ingcription and in the Chandravalli Stone Inscription of the Kadamba Mayūraśarman. The passage in the Mathurā inscription containing the word Sakasthāna runs thus : Sarvasa Sakastanasa puyae. Cunningham and Biihler interpreted the passage as meaning "for the merit, or in honour, (of the people) of the whole of Sakasthāna." Dr. Fleet, however, maintained that "there are no real grounds for thinking that the Sakas ever figured as invaders of any part of northern India above Kāthiāwād and the western and southern parts of the territory now known as Mālwa." He took Sarva to be a proper name and translated the inscriptional passage referred to above as "a gift of Sarva in honour of his home." Fleet's objection is ineffective. Chinese evidence clearly establishes the presence of Sakas in Kipin, i.e., Kāpisa-Gandhāra. As regards the presence of the tribe at Mathurā, the site of the inscription, we should note that the Mārkandeya Purūna3 refers to a Saka settlement in the Madhyadeśa. Dr. Thomas* points out that the 1 JRAS., 1904, 703 f. ; 1905, 155, 643 f. ; Mr. N. G. Majumdar (JASB., 1924, 17) takes Sakastana, to mean Sakrasthāna, i.e., 'the place of Indra.' Cf. Fleet in JRAS., 1904, 705. 2 Note also the Kāpiśa types of the coins of Maues and Spalirises (CHI, 560n, 562, 591) and the foundation of a Kāpiśa satrapy (Corpus, ii. 1. 150f.) 3 Chapter 58. 4 Ep. Ind., 1x, pp. 138 ff.; JRAS., 1906, 207 f., 215 f. Page #464 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ŚAKAS IN NORTHERN INDIA 435 epigraphs on the Lion Capital exhibit a mixture of Saka and Persian nomenclature. The name Mevaki for instance, which occurs in the inscription, is a variant of the Scythian name Mauakes. The termination "-us” in Komūsā and "Śamūšo seems to be Scythic. Dr. Thomas further points out that there is no difficulty in the expression of honour to the "whole realm of the Sakas” since we find in the Wardak, Sui Vihār and other inscriptions even more comprehensive expressions, e.g., Sarva sattvanam--'of all living creatures'. As regards Fleet's renderings "svaka” and “sakatthāna," one's own place, Dr. Thomas says that it does not seem natural to inscribe on the stone honour to somebody's own home. A pājā addressed to a country is unusual, but inscription G of the Lion Capital contains a similar pūjā addressed to the chief representatives of the Saka dominions. Sakasthāna, doubtless, included the district of Scythia mentioned in the Periplus, "from which flows down the river Sinthus (Indus) the greatest of all the rivers that flow into the Erythraean Sea (Indian Ocean).” The metropolis of “Scythia” in the time of the Periplus was Minnagara ; and its market town was Barbaricum on the seashore. Princes bearing Saka names are mentioned in several inscriptions discovered in Taxila, Mathurā and Western India. According to Dr. Thomas "whatever Saka dynasties may have existed in the Pañjāb or India, reached India neither through Afghanistān nor through Kasmira but, as Cunningham contended, by way of Sindh and the valley of the Indus."? This theory cannot be accepted 1 Cf. Maues, Moga, and Mavaces, the commander of the Sakas who went to the aid of Darius Codomannus (Chinnock, Arrian, p. 142). Cf. also the coin-name Mevaku (S. Konow, Corpus, xxxiii n.). In the period 106 to 101 B.C. the king of Ferghana bore the Saka name of Mu-ku'a (Tarn, Greeks, 308 f). 2 JRAS., 1906, p. 216. Page #465 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 436 POLÍTICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA in its entirety in view of the inadequate representation of Sind by Śaka coins, the Chinese account of the Saka occupation of Kipin and the epigraphic evidence regarding the existence of a Scythian Satrapy at Kāpiši and a Saka principality in the Hazāra country. We cannot also overlook the fact that some of the Saka names bitherto discovered are those of the Northern Śakas who lived near the Sogdianoi.2 The names Maues, Moga and Mevaki, * for instance, are variants of the Śaka name Mauakes. We learn from Arrian that a chief named Mauakes or Mavaces led the "Sacians (Sakas), a Scythian tribe belonging to the Scythians who dwelt in Asia," who lived outside the jurisdiction of the Persian governor of the Bactrians and the Sogdianians, but were in alliance with the Persian king. Chhaharata, Khakharāta or Kshaharāta, the family designation of several satrapal houses of Taxila, Mathurā, Western India and the Deccan, is perhaps equivalent to Karatai, the name of a Saka tribe of the North.5 The conquest of the Lower Indus Valley, Cutch and parts of Western India may, however, have been effected by the Sakas of Western Sakasthāna (Sistān) who are mentioned by Isidore of Charax. The name of the capitals 1 CHI, 569n, JASB., 1924, p. 14 ; S. Konow, Corpus, II. i. 13 f. The Saka conquest of Ki-pin did not mean the total extinction of the Greek principality in the Kābul region. The History of the Later Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220) refers to the existence, side by side, of the kingdoms of Ki-pin and Kābul before the conquest of the latter state by the Parthians. Like the Satavāhanas, the Greeks of the Kabul territory may have restored their fallen fortunes to a certain extent after the first rush of barbarian invasion had spent its force. It is also possible that Scythian chiefs for a time acknowledged the nominal suzerainty of the Greek Basileus. 2 Ind. Ant., 1884, pp. 399-400. 3 Taxila plate. 4 Mathurā Lion Capital. 5 Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 400; cf. Corpus, II, I. xxxvi : "Kharaosta and Maues would belong to the north-western Sakas of Ki-pin and not to the branch which came to India from Seistān." Cf. xxxiii (case of Liaka), Page #466 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EARLY SAKA CONQUERORS 437 of "Scythia" (which embraced the Lower Indus Valley) and of the Kingdom of Mambarus (Nambanus ?) in the time of the Periplus was Minnagara, and this was evidently derived from the city of Min in Śakasthāna mentioned by Isidore. 1 Rapson points out that one of the most characteristic features in the names of the Western Kshatrapas of Chashṭana's line, viz., "Dāman" (-dama) is found also in the name of a prince of the Drangianian house of Vonones. Lastly, the Karddamaka family from which, according to a Kanheri Inscription, the daughter of the Mahakshatrapa Rudra claimed descent, apparently derived its name from the Karddama river in the realm of the Persians." 3 The earliest Saka kings mentioned in Indian inscriptions are, perhaps, Damijada and Maues. The latter is usually identified with Moga of the Taxila plate. He is possibly mentioned also in the Maira Inscription. * Maues-Moga was a mighty sovereign (Maharaya). His dominions included Chuksha near Taxila which was ruled by a satrapal, i.e., a viceregal, family. Numismatic evidence points to his sway over Kapisi and Pushkarāvati as well as Taxila. His satraps probably put an end to Greek and Indian rule in the country round Mathura. In parts of the Eastern Pañjāb and certain adjacent 1 JRAS., 1915, p. 830. 2 Shamasastry's trans. of the Arthaśāstra. p. 86, n. 6. cf. Artemis (Ptolemy, 324). For another view see Ind. Ant., XII. 273 n. The word Kardamika occurs in the Mahabhashya (IV. 2. 1 Word Index, p. 275); Kramadiśvara, 747; and Kardamila in Mbh. III. 135. 1. The Karddama river may be identified with the Zarafshan which flowed through the old Achæmenian Satrapy of Bactria or Balkh. The Uttarakanda of the Ramayana (Chs. 100 and 102) connects a line of Karddama kings with Bahli or Bählika (IHQ., 1933, pp. 37 ff.). 3 Or Namijada, Shahdaur Ins., Corpus, II. i. 14, 16. 4 At Maira in the Salt Range, a Kharoshṭhi Inscription has been found in a well which seems to be dated in the year 58 and possibly contains the word Moasa, 'of Moa or Moga.' Page #467 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 438 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA tracts indigenous tribes like the Audumbaras, Trigartas, Kunindas, Yaudheyas, Arjunāyanas had begun to assert their independence probably after the collapse of the Euthydemian monarchy. Maues struck coins with the types of Eukratides and Demetrios. - But the absence of the Athena Allis type leads Tarn to surmise that he did not annex Menander's home kingdom ( i.e., the district round sākala). The dates assigned to Maues by various scholars range from B.C. 135 to A.D. 154. His coins are found ordinarily in the Pañjāb, and chiefly in the western portion of the province of which Taxila was the ancient capital. There can thus be no doubt that Maues was the king of Gandhāra. Now, it is impossible to find for Maues a place in the history of the Pañjāb before the Greek king Antialkidas who was reigning at Taxila when king Bhāgabhadra was on the throne of Vidišā in Central India for fourteen years. The date of Bhāgabhadra is uncertain but he must be placed later than Agnimitra, son of Pushyamitra, who ruled from cir. B.C. 151 to 143. The fourteenth year of Bhāgabhadra, therefore, could not have fallen before c. 129 B.C. Consequently Antialkidas could not have been ruling earlier than the second half of the second century B.C., and his reign could not have ended before 129 B.C. The Saka occupation of Gandhāra must, therefore, be later than 129 B.C. All scholars except Fleet identify Maues with Maharaya Moga of the so-called Sirsukh or Taxila plate, dated in the year 78 of an unspecified era. The generally accepted view is that the era is of Saka institution. As 1 Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India , 322-330. The conquest of this kingdom may have been effected by Azes I. Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, 112 ; Tarn, GBI, 349 ; or by Rājuvula, Allan, CICAI, 185. 2 Cf., now Marshall, Monuments of Sanchi, I, 268n. Page #468 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAUES AND AZES I the era is used only in Northern India and the borderland, it is permissible to conjecture that it came into existence after the Saka occupation of those regions. We have already seen that this occupation could not have taken place before 129 B.C. The era used in the Taxila plate could not, therefore, have originated before 129 B.C. The year 78 of the era could not have fallen before B.C.(129-78) 51. Consequently the rule of MauesMoga cannot have ended before B.C. 51. He must be placed even later, because we learn from Chinese records that Yin-mo-fu was in possession of Kipin or Kapiśa-Gandhāra about 48-33 B.C., and he was preceded by Wu-tou-lao and his son. As there is no real ground for identifying Maues-Moga with any of these rulers he will have to be placed after 33 B.C. He cannot perhaps be placed later than the middle of the first century A.D., because we learn from Philostratos and the author of the Periplus that about the time or a little later both Taxila and Minnagara, the metropolis of Scythia, i.e. the Saka kingdom in the Indus valley, had passed into the hands of the Parthians. It seems, therefore, that Maues-Moga ruled after 33 B. C., but before the latter half of the first century A.D. According to Fleet, Moga flourished in the year 22 A.D.-the year 78 of the era commencing 58 B.C. which afterwards came to be known as the Krita-Malava-Vikrama era. But the matter must be regarded as not definitely settled. The Khalatse Inscription of the year 187 (?) of Uvima (? Wema Kadphises) and the Taxila Silver Vase Inscription of the year 191 of Jihonika possibly suggest that the era to which the dates of these inscriptions, and presumably that of the so-called Sirsukh (Taxila) plate of Moga, are to be referred, began much earlier than B.C. 58. 439 Numismatists say that Maues was succeeded on the throne of Gandhara by Azes who put an end to the Page #469 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 440 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT ÍNDIA remnant of Greek rule in the Eastern Pañjāb by annexing the kingdom of Hippostratos. In the opinion of Marshall he also conquered the Jumna valley where the Vikrama era was in use. The coins of Azes are very closely related to the issues of the rulers of the Vonones group, and the assumption has always been made that Azes, the king of the Pañjāb, is identical with Azes, the colleague of Spalirises. Some scholars think that there were two kings of the name of Azes and that the first Azes was the immediate successor, pot of Maues, but of Spalirises and that Maues came not only after Azes I, but also after Azes II. But the last part of the theory cannot be accepted in view of the synchronism of Gondophernes and Azes II proved by the fact that Aspavarman served as Strategos, i.e., general or governor, under both the monarchs. As Gondophernes ruled in the year 103,3 while Maues-Moga ruled in the year 78,* and as both these dates are usually referred by scholars to the same era, both Gondophernes and his contemporary Azes II must be later than Maues-Moga. There is no room for Maues-Moga between Azes I and Azes II, because we shall see presently that the succession from Azes I to Azes II is clearly established by numismatic evidence. Maues came either before Azes I or after Azes II ; but we have already seen that he could not have reigned after Azes II. He must, therefore, be placed before Azes I. He may have been ruling in the Pañjāb when Vonones was ruling in Sistān. When Vonones was succeeded by Spalirises, Maues was succeeded by Azes I. We have already seen that Spalirises and Azes I issued 1 JRAS. 1947, 22. 2 Whitehead, Catalogue of Coins in the Pañjāb Museum, p. 150. 3 Cf. the Takht-i-Bāhi Inscription. 4 Cf. the Taxila Plate of Patika. Page #470 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AZILISES AND AZES II 441 joint coins.1 The relationship between the two monarchs is not known. They may have been related by blood, or they may have been mere allies like Hermaios and Kujula Kadphises." King Azes I struck some coins bearing his own name in Greek on the obverse, and that of Azilises in Kharoshthi on the reverse.3 Then again we have another type of coins on which the name in Greek is Azilises, and in Kharoshthi is Aya (Azes). Dr. Bhandarkar and Smith postulate that these two joint types, when considered together, prove that Azilises, before his accession to independent power, was the subordinate colleague of an Azes, and that an Azes similarly was subsequently the subordinate colleague of Azilises. The two princes named Azes cannot, therefore, be identical, and they must be 1 Rapson on pp. 573-574 of CHI, identifies Azes, the colleague of Spalirises, with Azes II, and makes him the son of Spalirises. On page 572, however, the suggestion is found that Azes II was the son and successor of Azilises. It is difficult to see how the two views can be reconciled. For an inscription of Azes see Corpus, II. i. 17 (Shahdaur Inscription of Śivarakshita). The name of Aja or Aya (Azes) has also been recognised by certain scholars in the Kalawan Inscription of the year 134 and in the Taxila silver scroll record of the year 136. The absence of any honorific title before the name makes it difficult to say whether it refers to a king, and, if it does refer to a king, whether the ruler in question was Azes I or Azes II. Moreover, if Aja or Aya is a royal name, then it would seem, from the analogy of other early Indian epigraphs, that the years 134 and 136 actually belonged to his reign; not years of an era which he founded but of an era which he used. The absence of any honorific title has, however, ledsome writers to suggest that Aja-Aya was the founder of the reckoning mentioned in the epigraphs, and not the reigning sovereign in the years 134 and 136. The identity of the reckoning with the era of 58 B.C. cannot be regarded as certain, though the theory has many advocates. Another thorny problem is the relation between this reckoning and the reckoning or reckonings used by Moga and Gondophernes. For the Kalawan Inscription see Ep. Ind. XXI. 251 ff.; IHQ. 1932, 825; 1933, 141; India in 1932-33, p. 182. 2 Cf. Whitehead, p. 178; Marshall, Taxila, p. 16. 3 Coins of Azilises are imitated by Mahadeva Dharaghosha Audumbara (CHI, 529). Along with certain caskets discovered in Taxila (ASI, AR, 1934-35, pp. 29, 30) was a silver coin of the dioskouri type of Azilises and a Roman coin issued by Augustus. The deposit was probably made early in the first century A. D. We have here new data for settling the chronology of the O. P. 90-56. Page #471 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 442 POLITICAL HİSTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA distinguished as Azes I and Azes II. Whitehead, however, observes that the silver coins of Azilises are better executed and earlier in style than those of Azes. The best didrachms of Azes compare unfavourably with the fine silver coins of Azilises with Zeus obverse and Dioskouroi reverse, and with other rare silver types of Azilises. If Azilises preceded Azes, then following Dr. Smith we must have Azilises I and Azilises II, instead of Azes I and Azes II. In copelusion Whitehead says that the differences in type and style between the abundant issues of Azes can be adequately explained by reasons of locality alone, operating through a long reign.! Marshall, however, points out that the stratification of coins at Taxila clearly proves the correctness of Smith's theory, according to which Azes I was succeeded by Azilises, and Azilises by Azes II. 2 Recent discoveries have unearthed the gold coin of a king named Athama. Whitehead has no hesitation in recognising him as a member of the dynasty of Azes and Azilises. His date is, however, uncertain. Unlike most of the Indo-Greek princes, the Saka kings style themselves on their coins Basileus Basileon, Maues-Azes group of kings. It may be remembered that Kadphises I copied the bust of Augustus or one of his immediate successors on his coins. A zilises should not be far removed in date from the Julian Emperors or from the period of Kushān invasion. 1 Inferior workmanship according to some, is a sign of remoteness (from Gandhāra ?) rather than of late date (cf. CHI, 569f ). G. Hoffmann and Sten Konow not only reject the duplication of Azes, but suggest the identification of Azes with Azilises. According to Marshall Azilises ruled north-westwards as far as Kapisi (JRAS, 1947, 25 ff). 2 The coins which Smith assigns to Azes II are found generally nearer the surface than those of Azes I (RAS., 1914, 979). For Konow's view, see Ep. Ind., 1926, 274 and Corpus, II. i. xxxix-xl. The name 'Azes' is found in association with several rulers of various dates, while that of Azilises is found only with one (viz., Azes). This possibly points to the plurality of the kings named Azes. 3 With the exception perhaps of Eukratides one of whose coins bears Page #472 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SATRAPS OF NORTH-WEST INDIA 443 corresponding to the Prākrit on the reverse Mahārājasa Rājarūjasa. They also appropriate the epithet Mahatasa, corresponding to the Greek Megaloy, which we find on the coins of Greek kings. The title Rājarāja—king of kings-was not an empty boast. Moga had under him the viceroys (satraps) Liaka and Patika of Chuksha (Chach) in the Western Punjab. One of the kings named Azes had under him at least one subordinate ruler, e.g., the Stratagos Aspavarman. The title Satrap or Kshatrapa occurs in the Behistun Inscription of Persia in the form Khshathrapāvan which means 'protector of the kingdom.'' “Strategos," a Greek word, means a general. It is obvious that the Scythians continued in North-Western India the Perso-Hellenic system of government by Satraps and military governors. Coins and Inscriptions prove the existence of several other Satrapal families besides those mentioned above. The North Indian Kshatrapas or Satraps may be divided into three main groups, viz. :-- 1. The Satraps of Kāpisi, Puspapura and Abhisāra prastha, 2. The Satraps of the Western Pañjāb, and 3. The Satraps of Mathurā. A Māņikiālā inscription affords the bare mention of a Satrap of Kāpisi, who was the son of the Satrap Graņavhryaka.2 A Kābul Museum stone Inscription of the year 83 % discloses the name of a Satrap of Puspapura he legend Maharajasa rajatirajasa Evukratidasa (Corpus, II. i. xxix n.), and of a few other rulers including Hermaios (Whitehead, p. 85). 1 Cf. Ksha-pāvan of the Rig-veda (Vedic Index, I. 208), Rāshtra-pāla of the Arthaśāstra and Goptri or Desa-goptri of the Malavikāgnimitram and the Gupta inscriptions. *** 2 Rapson, Andhra Coins, ci ; Ancient India, 141 ; JASB., 1924, 14, Corpus, II, i, 150-1. • 3 Acta Orientalia, xvi, Paro iii, 1937, pp. 234 ff, Page #473 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 444 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA named Tiravharņa. 'Paspapura', the city of flowers, may have reference to Pushkarāvati (lotus-city). The name of Sivasena, ''the Kshatrapa in the town of Abhisāraprastha' occurs in the legend of a copper seal ring found in the Pañjāb.' The territory of the three Satraps may have corresponded to Yona, Gandhāra and Kamboja of Asokan epigraphs. The Pañjāb Satraps belonged to three families, viz. (a) The Kusulua or Kusuluka Group. It consisted of Liaka and his son Patika, possibly of the Chhaharata or Kshaharāta family, who apparently governed the district of Chuksha.? According to Fleet there were two Patikas. But in the opinion of Marshall there was only one viceroy of the name of Patika. The Satrapal line of Kusuluka was intimately connected with the Satraps of Mathurā.5 The coins of Liaka Kusuluka show the transition of the district to which they belonged, i.e., a part of Eastern Gandhāra, from the rule of the Greek house of Eukratides to the Sakas. We learn from the Taxila, or the so-called Sirsukh, plate, dated in the year 18, that Liaka was a Satrap of the great king Moga and that Patika, his son, was a great gift-lord (mahādānapati).? (b) Manigul and his son Zeionises or Jihonika.Numismatists consider them to be Satraps of Pushikalāvati during the reign of Azes II. But the Taxila Silver 1 Corpus, II. i. 103. 2 Bühler, Ep. Ind., IV, p. 54 : Konow, Corpus, II. i. 25-28. Chuksha, according to Stein, is the present Chach in the north of the District of Attock. See also AGI', 63, 126. 3 JRAS., 1907, p. 1035. The existence of at least two Liakas is, however, proved by the Taxila plate and the Zeda inscription (Corpus, II. i. 145). A Lia(ka) appears also to be mentioned in the Mānsehrā inscription of the year 68. He may have been identical with the father of Patika, Ep. Ind. XXI, 257. 4 JRAS., 1914, pp. 979 ff. 5 Cf. Inscription G on the Mathurā Lion Capital 6 Rapson's Ancient India, p. 154. 7 Ep. Ind., XXI, 257; JRAS, 1932, 953n, Page #474 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DATE OF THE NORTHERN SATRAPS 445 Vase Inscription of the year 191 discovered by Marshall in 1927' shows that Jihonika was a Kshatrapa in Cukhsha near Taxila in the year 191 of an era of Saka (or Parthian ?) institution whose exact epoch is not known.2 The successor of Zeionises was apparently Knyula Kara 3 (c) The House of Indravarmano-It consisted of Indravarman, his son Aspavarman, and Aspa's nephew Sasa(s) or Sasa(n). Aspavarman acted as governor of both Azes II and Gondophernes, while Sasa(s) served under Gondophernes and Pakores. The Satraps of Mathurā. The earliest of this line of princes probably were the associated rulers Hagāna and Hagāmasha. They were perhaps succeeded by Rājuvula, who may have governed Sākala at an earlier stage. According to Sircar he established himself in Mathurā late in life. The genealogical table of the house of Rājuvula or Rājula as arranged by Sten Konows is given below in a foot-note. Rājuvula or Rājula is known from inscriptions as well as coins. An inscription in Brāhmî characters at 1 JRAS., 1928, January, 137 f. Corpus, 11. i. 81f. 2 Ep. Ind., XXI. 255f. 3 CHI, 582n, 588. 4 Indravarman has been identified by some scholars with Itravarma, son of Vijayamitra, who is known from certain coins. Vijayamitra is further regarded as identical with, or a successor of, Viyakamitra, a feudatory of Minedra (Menander).. The importance of these identifications, in determining the chronological relation of the Indo-Greeks and the Sakas, is obvious (Sircar, Select Inscriptions, 102 ff ; Mookerji, IC, XIV, 4, 1948, 205 f). 5 Corpus II. i. 47. Arta = Piśpasri Abuhola=Kharaosta Kamuia Khalamasa Maja Hayuara Hana - Ayasi Komuia = Rajula = Nada Diaka sudasa Naüluda Kalui Page #475 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 446 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Mora near Mathurā calls him a Mahākshatrapa or Great Satrap (viceroy). But the Greek legend on some of his coins describes him as "king of kings, the Savionr” showing that he probably declared his independence. Rājuvula was apparently succeeded by his son Áudasa, Somdāsa or Šodāsa. Inscription B on the Mathurā Lion Capital mentions him as a Kshatrava (Satrap) and as the son of the Mahākshatrava Rajula (Rājuvula). But later inscriptions at Mathurā written in Brāhmî characters call him a Mahākshatrapa. One of these inscriptions gives a date for him in the year 721 of an unspecified era. It is clear that during his father's lifetime he was . only a Satrap. But on his father's death some time before the year 72, he became a Great Satrap. Sten Konow adduces grounds for believing that Sodāsa dated his inscription in the so-called Vikrama era.2 Consequently the year 72, in his opinion, possibly corresponds to A. D. 15. Dr. R. C. Majumdar refers the dates of the Northern Satraps (of Taxila and Mathurā) to the saka era, and places them in th: middle of the second century A.D. But Ptolemy, who flourished about that time, places neither Taxila nor Mathurā within Indo-Scythia, i.e., the Śaka dominion. This shows that neither Taxila nor Mathurā was a Saka possession in the second century A.D. The principal Indo-Scythian possessions in Ptolemy's time were Patalene (the Indus Delta). Abiria (the Abhira country in Western India), and Syrastrene (Kathiāwād). This is exactly what we find in the Junāgadh The genealogy, as reconstructed by Sten Konow, is not accepted by many scholars. An older view makes Kharaosta the son of a daughter of Rājuvula. For R's connection with C. Pañjāb, see Allan, CCAI, 185. Cf. 438 ante. 1 42 according to Rapson. But 72 is preferred by most scholars. 2 Ep. Ind., Vol. XIV, pp. 139-141. 3 Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 354. Page #476 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOME PROBLEMS OF SAKA CHRONOLOGY 447 inscription of the Saka ruler Rudradāman I, who flourished in the middle of the second century A.D. In Ptolemy's time Taxila was included within the Arsa (Sanskrit Uraśā) territory, and Mathurā belonged to the Kaspeiraioi.? Dr. Majumdar suggests that Ptolemy probably noticed the Saka empire of Maues and his successors (which included Taxila, Mathurā and Ujjayini) under the name of 'Kaspeiraioi.' But we should remember that far from including Taxila, Mathurā and Western India within one empire, Ptolemy sharply distinguishes the land of the Kaspeiraioi from Indo-Scythia which was the real Saka domain in the middle of the second century A.D.4 Moreover, the territory of the Kaspeiraioi must have included the region below the sources of the Jhelum, Chenab and the Ravi, i.e., Kaśmira and its neighbourhood ; 5 and there is no evidence that the dynasty of Maues ever ruled in Kaśmira. It was only under the kings of Kanishka's dynasty that Kaśmira and Mathurā formed parts of one and the same empire. As suggested by the Abbé Boyer the Kaspeiraioi of Ptolemy evidently referred to the Kushān empire. We learn from the Mathurā Lion Capital Inscriptions that when Sudasa, i.e. Sodāsa, was ruling as a mere Kshatrapa, Kusuluka Patika was a Mahākshatrapa. As Sodāsa was a Mahākshatrapa in the year 72, he must have been a 1. Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 348. 2 Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 350. 3. Journal of the Department of Letters, University of Calcutta, Vol. I, p. 98 n. 4 Cf. Ptolemy, Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 354, and the Junagadh inscription of the Saka ruler Rudradāman. 5 Land of Kaśyapa? Rājatarangini, 1, 27. IA. IV, 227. Stein accepts the identification of the territory of the Kaspeiraioi with Kaśmir, but rejects Wilson's assumption that Kaśmir was derived from Kaśyapa pura (JASB, 1899, Extra 2, pp. 9-13). The evidence of Ptolemy seems to suggest that the city of Kaspeira stood close to Multan. Alberuni (I. 298) in a later age mentions Kaśyapapura as a name of Multan itself. Page #477 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 448 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kshatrapa before 72. Consequently Kusuluka Patika must have been reigning as a Mahūkshatrapa contemporary of the Kshatrapa Sodāsa before the year 72. The Taxila plate of the year 78, however, does not style Patika as a Kshatrapa or Mahakshatrapa. It calls him Mahādānapati (great gift-lord) and gives the satrapal title to his father Liaka.' Dr Fleet thinks that we have to do with two different Patikas. Marshall and Sten Konow on the other hand, hold the view that the Mahādānapati Patika, who-issued the Taxila plate, is identical with the Mahūkshatrapa Kusuluka Patika of the Mathură Lion Capital, but the era in which the inscription of Sam 72 is dated, is not the same as in the Taxila - plate of Sam 78. In other words while Fleet duplicates -- kings, Marshall- and Sten Konow. duplicate eras. It is difficult to come to any final decision from the scanty data at our disposal. Fleet's theory is not improbable in view of the fact that we have evidence regarding the existence of at least two Liakas. But the duplication of kings is not absolutely necessary as the designation ‘mahādānapati given to Patika in the Taxila plate does not preclude the possibility of his having been a Mahākshatrapa as well a few years back. We should remember in this connection that there are instances among the Western Kshatrapas of Chashtana's line, of Mahākshatrapas being reduced to a humbler rauk while other members of the family held the higher office, and of a Kshatrapa (Jayadāmav) being mentioned without the satrapal title. It is, therefore, not altogether improbable. that the inscription of Sam 72 and i Sten Konow, Corpus, Vol. II, Pt. 1, 28 ; Ep. Ind. XIX, 257. 2 JRAS., 1913, 1001 n. 3 Cf. Majumdar, The Date of Kanishka, Ind. Ant., 1917. 4 Rapson, Coins of the Andhra Dynasty, etc., cxxiv f. 5 Andhau Inscriptions. Page #478 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KHARAOSTA 449 that of Sam 78 are dated in the same era, and yet the two Patikas are identical. If Sten Konow and Sir John Marshall are right in reading the name of Aja-Aya (Azes) in the Kalawān Copper-plate Inscription of the year 134 and the Taxila Inscription of 136, we have additional instances of a ruler of this age being mentioned without any title indicative of his rank. Kharaosta was, according to Konow, the father-in-law, and according to Fleet, a grandson (daughter's son), of Rājuvula and consequently a nephew of Sodāsa. The inscriptions A and E on the Mathurā Lion Capital mention him as the Yuvaraya Kharaosta. Sten Konow thinks 3 that he was the inheritor to the position as “king of kings” after Moga. His known coins are of two types, presenting legends in Greek characters on the obverse and in Kharoshthi on the reverse. The Kharoshthi legend runs thus : Kshatrapasa pra Kharaostasa Artasa putrasa. 'Pra' according to Sten Konow, may be a reflex of Prachakshasa. The coins of the family of Rājuvula are imitated from those of the Stratos and also of a line of Hindu princes who ruled at Mathurā. This shows that in the Jumna valley Scythian rule superseded that of both Greek and Hindu princes. 1 The Rājatarangini furnishes an instance of a son being replaced by his father as king (cf. the case of Pārtha), and of a king abdicating in favour of his son and again resuming control over the kingdom ; cf. the case of Kalasa who continued to be a co-ruler after the resumption of control by his father, and that of Rājā Mānsingh of Jodhpur (1804-43). The cases of Vijayāditya VII (Eastern Chalukya, D. C. Ganguli, p. 104) and of Zafar Khān of Gujarāt may also be cited in this connection (Camb. Hist. Ind., III, 295). 2 JRAS., 1913. 919, 1009. 3 Corpus, 36. 4 Corpus, xxxv. 'þrachakshasa' (= epiphanous, "of the gloriously manifest one"), occurs on coins of Strato I and Polyxanos. It is, however, possible that the Sanskrit equivalent of the name of the Satrap is prakhara-ojas, "of burning effulgence". 0. P. 90-57. Page #479 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 450 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA A fragmentary inscription found by Vogel on the site of Ganeshrā near Mathurā revealed the name of a Satrap of the Kshaharāta family called Ghatāka. The Nationality of the Northern Satraps. Cunningham held that the inscription P on the Mathurā Lion Capital-Sarvasa Salastanasa puyae-gave decisive proof that Rājuvula or Rājula, Sodāsa and other connected Satraps were of Saka nationality. Dr. Thomas shows, however, that the Satraps of Northern India were the representatives of a mixed Parthian and Saka domination. This is strongly supported a priori by the fact that Patika of Taxila, who bears himself a Persian name, mentions as his overlord the great king Moga whose name is Šaka. The inscriptions on the Lion Capital exhibit a mixture of Persian and Saka nomenclature. 2 Attention may, however, be called here to the fact that in the Harivaisa there is a passages which characterises the Pablavas or Parthians as "śmaśrudhārinah” (beardea). * Judged by this test, kings of the family of Rājuvula and Nahapāna, who are not unoften taken to be Parthians, could not have belonged to that nationality as their portraits found on coins 5 show no traces of beards and whiskers. They were, therefore, almost certainly Sakas. 1 JRAS., 1912, p. 121. 2 Ep. Ind., Vol. IX, pp. 138 ff.; JRAS, 1906, 215 f. For Sten Konow's views see Corpus, II. i. xxxvii. 3 1. 14, 17. 4 The passage is also found in the Vayu Purāna, Ch. 88, 141. 5 JRAS., 1913, between pp. 630-631. Page #480 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE PAHLAVAS OR PARTHIANS. Already in the time of Eukratides, Mithradates I, King of Parthia (c. 171-138/37 B.C.), had probably conquered portions of the Pañjab or Sind, and in the days of the Saka Emperors of the family of Maues-Moga, princes of mixed Śaka-Pahlava origin ruled as Satraps in Northern India. But it is important to note that Isidore of Charax, possibly a younger contemporary of Augustus, who wrote not earlier than 26 B.C. (reign of Phraates IV and the revolt of Tiridates) and is quoted by Pliny, does not include the Kābul Valley, Sind or the Western Pañjāb within the empire of the Parthians or Pahlavas. The easternmost provinces of the Parthian'empire mentioned by that writer are Herat (Aria), Farah (the country of the Anauoi, a segment of Aria (i.e., the Herat Province), the districts between the Lake Hamun and the Helmund (Drangiana and Sakasthāna), and Kandahār (Arachosia or “White India”). Towards the middle of the first century A.D., however, Saka sovereignty in parts of Gandhāra must have been supplanted by that of the Parthians. In 43-44 A.D., when Apollonios of Tyana is reputed to have visited Taxila, the throne was occupied by Phraotes, evidently a Parthian. He was however independent of Vardanes, the great King of Babylon and Parthia (c. 39-47/48 A. D.) , and himself powerful enough to exercise 1 The Parthians (Parthava, Pahlava) were an Irānian people established on the borders of the district that is today Mazandaran and Khurāsān. About 249/8 B.C. they revolted against the Seleukids under the command of Arshaka (Arsaces). a leader of Scythia (A Survey of Persian Art, p. 71). 2 Apratihata (Gondophernes) according to Herzfeld and Tarn (Greeks, 341). 3 Debevoise, A Political History of Parthia, 270. Page #481 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 452 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA suzerain power over the Satrap of the Indus. Christian writers refer to a king of India named Gundaphar or Gudnaphar and his brother Gad who are said to have. been converted by the Apostle St. Thomas and who, therefore, lived in the first century A.D.1 We have no independent confirmation of the story of the biographer of Apollonios. But the "so-called" Takht-i-Bāhi record of the year 103 (of an unspecified era) shows that there was actually in the Peshawar district a king named Guduvhara (Gondophernes). The names of Gondophernes and, in the opinion of some scholars, of his brother Gad, are also found on coins. According to Rapson the two brothers were associated as sub-kings under the suzerainty of Orthagnes (Verethragna). Sten Konow, however, identifies Orthagnes with Guduvhara himself, while Herzfeld suggests that he was the "unnamed son of Vardanes, mentioned by Tacitus, who claimed the throne against Volagases I about A.D. 55." 3 Dr. Fleet referred the date of the Takht-i-Bahai (Bāhi) inscription to the Malava-Vikrama era, and so placed the record in A.D. 47. He remarked "there should be no hesitation about referring the year 103 to the established Vikrama era of B.C. 58; instead of having recourse, as in other cases too, to some otherwise unknown era beginning at about the same time. This places Gondophernes in A.D. 47 which suits exactly the Christian tradition 1 The original Syriac text of the legend of St. Thomas belongs probably to the third century A.D. (JRAS., 1913, 634). Cf. Ind. Ant., 3. 309. 2 Whitehead, pp. 95, 155. Gondophernes = Vindapharna, "Winner of glory'' (Whitehead, p. 146, Rapson and Allan). The king assumed the title of Devavrata. Konow, following Fleet, takes the word Gudana on the coins to refer to the tribe of Gondophernes (Corpus, II. i. xlvi). 3 Corpus, lvi; The Cambridge Shorter History of India, 70. 4 JRAS., 1905, pp. 223-235; 1906, pp. 706-710; 1907, pp. 169-172; 1013-1040; 1913, pp. 999-1003. Cf. the views of Cunningham and Dowson (IA, 4, 307). The discovery of the Khalatse and the Taxila silver vase inscriptions, however, Page #482 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GONDOPHERNES 453 which makes him a contemporary of St. Thomas, the Apostle." The power of Gondophernes did not probably in the beginning extend to the Gandbāra region. His rule seems to have been restricted at first to Southern Afghanistān. He succeeded, however, in annexing the Peshāwar district before the twenty-sixth year of his reign. There is no epigraphic evidence that he conquered Eastern Gandhāra (Taxila) though he certainly wrested some provinces from the Azes family. The story of the supersession of the rule of Azes II by him in one of the Scythian provinces is told by the coins of Aspavarman, The latter at first acknowledged the suzerainty of Azes (II) but later on obeyed Gondophernes as his overlord. Evidence of the ousting of Saka rule by the Parthians in the Lower Indus Valley is furnished by the author of the Periplus in whose time (about 60 to 80 A.D.) Minnagara, the metropolis of Scythia, i.e., the Saka kingdom in the Lower Indus Valley, was subject to Parthian princes who were constantly driving each other out. If Sten Konow and Sir John Marshall are right in reading the name of Aja-Aya or Azes in the Kalawān Inscription of 134 and the Taxila Inscription of 136, then it is possible that Saka rule survived in a part of Eastern Gandhāra,? while Peshāwar and the Lower Indus Valley passed into makes the theory of Fleet less plausible unless we believe in the existence of a plurality of Saka-Pahlava eras. Dr. Jayaswal was inclined to place Gondophernes in 20 B.C. But this date is too early to suit the Christian tradition. 1 JRAS., 1913, 1003, 1010. 2 For Fleet's interpretation of "Sa 136 ayasa ashadasa masasa, etc.," see JRAS., 1914, 995 ff.; atso Calcutta Review, 1922, December, 493-494. Konow thought at one time that ayasa stood for adyasya (=the first). He took the word as qualifying ashadasa. But he changed his views after the discovery of the Kalawān Inscription of 134. He now thinks that the addition ayasa, ajasa does not characterize the era as instituted by Azes, but simply as 'connected with Parthian rulers' (Ep. Ind., xxi. 255 f.). He refers the dates 134, 136 to the era of 58 B.C. Page #483 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 454 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the hands of the Parthians. But the absence of an honorific title before the name of Aja-Aya and the fact that in the record of the year 136 we have reference to the establishment of relics of the Buddha in Takshasilā "for the bestowal of health on the Mahārāja Rajātirāja Devaputra Khushaņa,” probably suggest that the years 134 and 136 belong, not to the pravardhamāna-vijayarājya (the increasing and victorious reign) of Azes, but to a period when his reign was a thing of the past (atîtarājya), though the reckoning was still associated with his honoured name. The dating in the Jānibighā inscription (Lakshmana-senasy=ātītarājye sam 83) possibly furnishes us with a parallel." The Greek principality in the Upper Kābul Valley had apparently ceased to exist when Apollonios travelled in India. We learn from Justin that the Parthians gave the coup de grace to the rule of the Bactrian Greeks. Marshall says that the Kābul valley became a bone of contention between the Parthians and the Kushāns. This is quite in accordance with the evidence of Philostratos who refers to the perpetual quarrel of the "barbarians" with the Parthian king of the Indian borderland in 43-44 A.D. With Gondophernes were associated as subordinate rulers his nephew Abdagases ( in S. Afghanistān ), his generals Aspavarman and Sasa(s) or Sasa(n), and his governors Sapedana and Satavastra (probably of Taxila). After the death of the great Parthian monarch his empire split up into smaller principalities. One of these (probably Sistan ) was ruled by Sanabares, another (probably embracing Kandahār and the Western Pañjāb) by Pakores, and others by princes whose coins Marshall 1 Raychaudhuri, Studies in Indian Antiquities, pp. 165 f. 2 ASI, AR, 1929-30, 56 ff. Page #484 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ TUU8 KUSHÃN CONQUEST OF NORTH-WEST INDIA 455 recovered for the first time at Taxila. Among them was Sasa(s) or Sasa(n) who acknowledged the nominal sway of Pakores. The internecine strife among these Parthian princelings is probably reflected in the following passage of the Periplus “Before it (Barbaricum) there lies a small island and inland behind it is the metropolis of Scythia, Minnagara ; it is subject to Parthian princes who are constantly driving each other out." --- Epigraphic (and in some cases numismatic) evidence proves that the Pahlava or Parthian rule in Afghanistān, the Pañjāb and Sind was supplanted by that of the Kushaņa, Gushaņa, Khushiaņa or Kushān? dynasty. We know that Gondophernes was ruling in Peshāwar in the year 103 (A.D. 47 according to Fleet, somewhat earlier according to others). But we learn from the Panjtar inscription that in the year 122 the sovereignty of the region had passed to a Gushaņa or Kushān king. 2 In the year 136 the Kushān suzerainty had extended to Taxila. An inscription of that year mentions the interment of some relics of the Buddha in a chapel at Taxila "for bestowal of perfect health upon the Mahārāja, vājātirāja devaputra Khushaņa.” The Sui Vibār and Mahenjo Daro Kharoshthi Inscriptions prove the Kushān conquest of the Lower Indus Valley. The Chinese writer Panku, who died in A. D. 92, refers to the Yue-chi occupation of Kao-fou or Kābul. This shows that the race to which the Kushāns belonged took possession of Kābul before A. D. 92. It is, no doubt, asserted by a later writer that Kao-fou is a mistake for Toil-mi. But the mistake 1 For a note on the dynastic nomenclature, see Schafer JAOS. 67. 4. 2 We learn from Philostratos that already in the time of Apollonios (A.D. 43-44) the barbarians (Kushāns?) who lived on the border of the Parthian kingdom of Taxila were perpetually quarrelling with Phraotes and making raids into his territories (The Life of Apollonius, Loeb Classical Library, pp. 183 ff.). Page #485 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 456 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA in Kennedy's opinion would not have been possible, had the Yue-chi not been in possession of Kao-fou in the time of Panku. 1 The important thing to remember is that a Chinese writer of 92 A. D., thought Kao-fou to have been a Yue-chi possession long before his time. If Sten Konow is to be believed, the Kushans had established some sort of connection with the Indian borderland as early as the time of Gondophernes. In line 5 of the Takht-i-Bahi inscription Sten Konow reads "erjhuna Kapasa puyae, ,"2 "in honour of-prince Kapa", i.e., Kujula Kadphises, the Kushan king, who is said to have succeeded Hermaios in the Kabul valley. Kujula Kadphises has been identified with the Kouei-chouang (Kushan) prince K'ieou-tsieou-k'io who took possession of Kao-fou (Kabul), Po-ta and Ki-pin. It appears from numismatic evidence that this Kushan chief was possibly an ally of Hermaios with whom he appears to have issued joint coins. Kadphises seems also to have been at first on friendly terms with the Parthian rulers of Gandhara. But 3 1 JRAS., 1912, pp. 676-678. Note also Pan-ku's reference to a man's head. on the coins of Ki-pin (JRAS., 1912 p. 685 n.) which possibly suggests an acquaintance with the coinage of Kuyula Kaphsa (or Kasa?). 2 Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 294; XVIII (1926), p. 282. Corpus, II, i. 62. Some regard this "Kapa" as a phantom. It is interesting to recall in this connection a statement of Philostratos (The life of Apollonius of Tyana, Loeb Classical Library, p. 185) that in A.D. 43-44, the Parthian king of Taxila had enlisted the services of certain "barbarians" to patrol his country so that instead of invading his dominions they themselves kept off the "barbarians" that were on the other side of the frontier and were difficult people to deal with. Prince "Kapa" (if the reading and interpretation be correct) may have been at first one of these friendly barbarian chiefs. His date is indicated by his (?) imitation of a Roman emperor's head of a style not later than about A.D. 60 (JRAS., 1913, 918). 3 Or one of his ancestors? Cf. Tarn, The Greeks, p. 339, 343. 4 Pedigree coins according to Tarn. Page #486 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KUSHÄN CONQUEST OF NORTH-WEST INDIA 459 the destruction of Hermaios' kingdom by the Parthians probably supplied him with a casus belli. He made war on the latter and eventually destroyed their power in the north-west borderland of India. 1 Before the Parthian conquest, Kāpiši apparently had to obey, for a time, the rule of Maues and Spalirises (CHI, 590 £). The Kushāns, the "barbarian" enemies of "Phraotes'', may have had a hand in the restoration of Greek rule before its final disappearance in the Kābul valley.. O.P. 90-58. Page #487 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. THE GREAT KUSHANS.. We are informed by the Chinese historians that the Kushāns (chiefs of the Kuei-shuang or Kouei-chouang principality) were a section of the Yueh-chi (Yue-chi) race. The modern Chinese pronunciation of the name according to Kingsmill is said to be Yue-ti. M. Le vi and other French scholars write Yue-tchi or Yue -tchi. We learn from Ssu-ma-ch'ien (the Chinese annalist, who recorded the story of the travels of Chang-k'ien, the famous envoy), that between B.C. 174 and 165 the Yuechi were dwelling between the Tsenn-hoang (Tun-huang) country and the K'i-lien mountains, or Tien-chan Range, south and east of Lake Issykul in Chinese Turkestan.1 At that date the Yue-chi were defeated and expelled from their country by the Hiung-nu who slew their king and made a drinking vessel out of his skull. The widow of the slain ruler succeeded to her husband's power. Under her guidance the Yue-chi in the course of their westward migration attacked the Wu-sun whose king was killed. 2 After this exploit the Yue-chi attacked the Sakas in the plains of the Jaxartes or the Syr Darya and compelled their king or 'lord' to seek refuge in Kipin (KāpisaLampaka-Gandhāra).3 Meantime the son of the slain Wu-sun king grew up to manhood and, with the assistance of the Hiung-nū 1 Smith says (EHI, p. 263) that they occupied land in the Kansuh Province in North-Western China. See also CHI, 565. 2 The main section of the Yue-chi passed on westwards beyond Lake Issykkul, the rest diverged to the South and settled on the frontier of Tibet. The latter came to be known as the "Little Yue-chi". Eventually they established their capital at Purushapura in Gandhara. Smith, EHI, 264; Konow, Corpus, II. i. lxxvi. 3 A part of the Saka horde apparently seized Ferghana (Ta Yuan) c. 128 B.C. (Tarn, Greeks, 278 n 4, 279). Page #488 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ORIGIN OF THE KUSHĀN PRINCIPALITY 459 drove the Yue-chi further west into the Ta-hia territory washed by the Oxus. The Ta-hia, who were devoted to commerce, unskilled in war and wanting in cohesion, were easily reduced to a condition of vassalage by the Yuechi who established their capital or royal encampment to the north of the Oxus (Wei), in the territory now belonging to Bukhārā (in ancient Sogdiana). The Yue-chi capital was still in the same position when visited by Chang-kien in or about B.C. 128-26.1 The adventures of Chang-kien as related by Ssū-macl’ien in the Sse-lce or Shi-ki (completed before B.C. 91) were retold in Pan-ku's Ts’ien Han-shu or Annals of the First Han Dynasty that dealt with the period B.C. 206– A.D. 9 or 24, and was completed by Pan-ku's sister after his death in A.D. 92, with three important additions, namely : 1. That the kingdom of the Ta-Yue-chi bad for its capital the town of Kien-chi (Kien-she), to the north of the Oxus,” and Kipin lay on its southern frontier. 2. That the Yue-chi were no longer nomads. 3. That the Yue-chi kingdom had become divided into five principalities, viz., Hi(eo)u-mi (possibly Wakhān3 between the Pamirs and the Hindukush), Chouangmi or Shuang-mi (Chitral, south of Wakhān and the Hindukush) Konei-chouang or Kuei-shuang, the Kushān principality, probably situated between Chitral and the Panjshir 1 JRAS., 1903, pp. 19-20 ; 1912, pp. 668 ff., PAOS., 1917. pp. 89 ff.; Whitehead, 171 ; CHI, 459, 566, 701; Tarn, Greeks, 84, 274 n, 277 ; Konow, Corpus, II. i. xxii-xxiii, liv, lxii. 2 Cf. Corpus, II. i. liv. 3 A Bakanapati, apparently lord of Wakhān, figures in the inscription of Mahārāja rājātirāja devaputra Kushānaputra Shāhi Vamataksha(ma ?) whose identity is uncertain. The title devaputra connects him with the Kanishka Group of Kushān kings, and not the Kadphises group. ASI. 1911-12, Pt. I. 15; 1930-34, pt. 2. 288. Page #489 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 460 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA country, Hit(h)un (Parwān on the Panjshir) and Kao-fou (Kābul). We next obtain a glimpse of the Yue-chi in Fan-Ye's Hou Han-shu or Annals of the Later Han Dynasty which cover the period between A.D. 25 and 220. Fan-Ye based his account on the report of Pan-young (cir. A.D. 125) and others. He himself died in 445 A.D. The capital of the Yue-chi was then probably the old Ta-lia (Bactrian) city of Lan-shi (Lan-shen)s to the south of the Oxus. Fan-Ye gives the following account of the Yue-chi conquest : "In old days the Yue-chi were vanquished by the Hiung-nī. They then went to Ta-hia and divided the kingdom among five Hi-h(e)ou or Yabgous, viz., those of Hieoumi, Chouang-mi, Kouei-chouang, Hitouen and Toumi. More than hundred years after that, the Yabgou (Yavuga) of Kouei-chouang (Kushān) vamed K'ieoutsieou-k‘io attacked and vanquished the four other Yabgous and called himself king or lord (Wang); he invaded Ngan-si (the Arsakid territory, i.e., Parthia) and took possession of the territory of Kao-fou (Kābul), overcame Po-ta* and Ki-pin and became complete master of these 1 A later historian regards Kao-fou as a mistake for Tou-mi which, however, was probably not far from Kābul, JRAS., 1912, 669. For the proposed identifications see Corpus, II. i. lvi. Cf. JRAS., 1903, 21 ; 1912. 669. In Ep. Ind. XXI, 258, S. Konow suggests the identification of Kuei-shuang with Gandhāra or the country immediately to its north. 2 Cf. Konow, Corpus, liv : "It is accordingly the events of the period A.D. 25-125 which are narrated by Fan Ye, though there are some additions referring to a somewhat later time in the case of countries which were near enough to remain in contact with China after the reign of emperor Ngan" (107-25). See also Ep. Ind., XXI, 258. 3 Alexandria = Zariaspa or Bactria (Tarn, Greeks. 115, 298). 4 Perhaps identical with the country of Po-tai which, in the time of Sungyun, sent two young lions to the King of Gandhāra as present (Beal, Records of the Western World, Vol 1, ci). Konow (Ep. Ind., XVIII) identified Pu-ta with Ghazni, but later on (Ep. XXI, 258) suggested its identification with Burkhāk, ten miles east of Kābul. Page #490 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KADPHISES I 461 kingdoms. K'icou-tsieou-k‘io died at the age of more than eighty. His son Yen-kao-tchen succeeded him as king. In his turn he conquered Tien-tchou (lit. India, on the banks of a great river, apparently the kingdom of Taxila referred to by Philostratos), and established there a chief for governing it. From this time the Yuechi became extremely powerful. All the other countries designated them Kushān after their king, but the Han retained the old name, and called them Ta-Yue-chi.” "Kieou-tsieou-kio” has been identified with Kujula? Kadphises (I),or Kozola Kadaphes, the first Kushān king who struck coins to the south of the Hindukush. Numismatic evidence suggests that he was the colleague or ally, and afterwards the successor, of Hermaios, the last Greek prince of the Kābul valley. The prevalent view that Kadphises conquered Hermaios is, in the opinion of Marshall, wrong. Sten Konow finds his name mentioned in the Takht-i-Bāhi inscription of the year 103 belonging to the reign of Gondophernes. The inscription probably belongs to a period when the Kushān and Parthian rulers were on friendly terms. But the Parthian attack on the kingdom of Hermaios apparently led to a rupture which ended in war. The result was that the Parthians were ousted by Kad phises I. 1 Cf. Kusuluka. The expression probably means 'strong' or beautiful (Konow, Corpus, 1). According to Burrow (The Language of the Kharoshthi Documents, 82, 87) Kujula=Gusura = Vazir. - Dr. Thomas possibly thinks that the word Kujula has the sense of 'Saviour'. 2 Pahlavi Kad=chief + pises or pes = form, shape, JRAS., 1913, 632 n. 3 Fleet and Thomas, JRAS, 1913, 967, 1034 ; in the opinion of some scholars Hermaios was dead at the time of the Kushān conquest. Coins bearing his name continued, according to this view, to be struck long after he had passed away. Tarn regards the Hermaios-Kadphises coins as "pedigree coins". Supporters of the 'alliance' theory may point to the gold dollars circulating in Chungking, engraved with relief portraits of Marshal Chiang Kaishek and President Roosevelt of the United States (A.B. Patrika, 29-3-1945). 4 The interpretation of Konow is not accepted by Professor Rapson, JRAS. 1930, p. 189, Page #491 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 462 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Marshall identifies Kadphises I with the Kushān king of the Panjtar record (of the year 122) and the Taxila scroll of the year 136. We should, however, remember that in the Taxila inscription of 136 the Kushān king is called Devaputra, a title wlrich was characteristic of the Kanishka group and not of Kadphises I or II unless we identify Kadphises I with Kuyula Kara Kaphsa. The monogram on the scroll is by no means characteristic only of coins of the Kadphises group, but it is also found, in Marshall's and S. Konow's opinion, on the coins of Zeionises and Kuyula Kata Kaphsa. If, however, S. Konow and Marshall are right in reading the name of Uvima Kavthisa in the Khalatse inscription of the year 184 or 187, and in identifying him with Vima Kadphises, the king of the Panjtar and Taxila records of 122 and 136 may have been a predecessor of Wema (Vima), and should preferably be identified with Kadphises I. But the reading "Uvima Kavthisa' and his identification with Kadphises II are by no means certain. Kadphises I probably coined no gold but only copper. His coinage shows unmistakable influence of Rome. He 1 JRAS, 1914, pp. 977-78 ; Rapson, CHI, 582, identifies the Kushān king of 136 with Vima (i.e., Kadphises II). 2 Mentioned by R.D. Banerji, Prāchina Mudrā, p. 85. I cannot vouch for the correctness of the reading. 3 In one class of his copper coins appears a Roman head which was palpably imitated from that of Augustus (B, C. 27-A.D. 14). Tiberius (A. D. 14-37), or Claudius (A.D. 41-54). JRAS., 1912, 679; 1913, 912; Smith, Catalogue, 66; Camb. Short Hist. 74. Rome and its people, Romakas, first appear in the Mahābhārata (11. 51, 17) and occur not unfrequently in later literature. Diplomatic relations between Rome and India were established as early as the time of Augustus who received an embassy from king 'Pandion' (JRAS, 1860. 309 ff. Camb. Hist. Ind. I. 597.) about B.C. 27-20. An Indian embassy was also received by Trajan (A. D. 98-117) shortly after A.D. 99. Strabo, Pliny and the Periplus refer to a brisk trade between India and the Roman Empire in the first century A.D. See JRAS., 1904, 591 ; IA. 5. 281 ; 1923, 50. Pliny deplores the drain of specie (JRAS, 1912. 986 ; 1913, 644-1031). Page #492 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KADPHISES II 463 copied the issues of Augustus or those of his immediate successors preferably Claudius (A. D. 41-54)," and used the titles Yavuga (chief), Mahārāja, Rājātirāja (the great king, the king of kings) and “ Sachadhrama thita”, "Steadfast in the True Faith" (of the Buddha ? ). “K'ieou-tsieon-k‘io," or Kadphises I, was succeeded by his son Yen-kao-tchen, the Vima, Wima or Wema Kadphises of the coins, who is usually designated as Kadphises II. We have already seen that he conquered Tien-tchou or the Indian interior, probably Taxila, and set up a chief who governed in the name of the Yue-chi. According to Sten Konows and Smith “it was Kadphises II who established the Saka Era of A. D. 78. If this view be accepted then he was possibly the overlord of Nalapāna, and was the Kushān monarch who was defeated by the Chinese between A.D. 73 and 102 and compelled to pay tribute to the emperor Ho-ti (A.D. 89105). But there is 'no direct evidence that Kadphises II established any era. No inscription or coin of this monarch contains any date which is referable to an era of his institution. On the contrary we have evidence that Kanishka did establish an era, that is to say, his method of dating was continued by his successors, and we have dates ranging probably from the year 1 to 99. The conquests of the Kadphises kings opened up the path of commerce between China and the Roman Empire and India. Roman gold began to pour into this country in payment for silk, spice and gems. Kad phises II began to issue gold coins. He had a bilingual gold and copper 1 The Cambridge Shorter History. 74, 75. 2 Smith, Catalogue, 67 ; Konow, Corpus, II. i. lxiv f. ; Wbitehead, 181. 3. Ep. Ind., XIV. p. 141. 4 The Oxford History of India, p 128. 5 A gold coin of Wima or Vima, (NC 1934, 232) gives him the title Basileus Basilewn Soter Megas (Tarn, Greeks, 354 n 5). This throws welcome light on the problem of the identification of the nameless king Soter Megas. Page #493 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 464 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA coinage. The obverse design gives us a new lifelike representation of the monarch. The reverse is confined to the worship of Siva, which was gaining ground since the days of the Siva-Bhagavatas mentioned by Patanjali. In the Kharoshthi inscription Kadphises II is called "the great king, the king of kings, lord of the whole world, the Mahisvara, the defender " 3 We learn from Yu-Houan, the author of the Wei-lio 4 which was composed between A.D. 239-265 and covers the period of the Wei down to the reign of the emperor Ming (227-239),5 that the Yue-chi power was flourishing in Kipin (Kapiśa-Gandhara), Ta-hia (Oxus valley), Kaofou (Kabul) and Tien-tchou (India) as late as the second quarter of the third century A.D. But the early Chinese annalists are silent about the names of the successors of Yen-kao-tchen (Kadphises II). Chinese sources, however, refer to a king of the Ta-Yue-chi named Po-tiao or Puad'ieu (possibly Vasudeva) who sent an embassy to the Chinese emperor in the year 230.6 Inscriptions discovered in India have preserved the names with dates of the following great Kushan sovereigns besides the Kadphises group, viz., Kanishka I (1-23), Vasishka (24-28), Huvishka 1 A silver piece resembling the ordinary small copper type of Vima Kadphises. is also known (Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, 174). Other silver coins of the monarch are apparently referred to by Marshall (Guide to Taxila, 1918. 81). A silver coin of Kanishka is also known (ASI, AR, 1925-26 pl, lxf). Smith (EHI, p. 270) and others make mention of silver coins of Huvishka. 2 V, 2, 76; cf. Śaiva, Panini, IV, 1, 112. 3 As already stated Sten Konow finds the name of Vima (Uvima) Kavthisa (Kadphises?) in the Khalatse (Ladakh) inscription of the year 187 (?). Corpus. II. i. 81. The identity of the King in question is, however, uncertain. 4 A History of the Wei Dynasty (A.D. 220-264). 5. Corpus, II, i. lv. 6 Corpus, II, i, lxxvii. 7 See JRAS., 1913, 980; 1924, p. 400. "Three Mathura Inscriptions and their bearing on the Kushan Dynasty" by Dayārām Sahni; and IHQ., Vol. III (1927), p. 853, "Further Kanishka Notes" by Sten Konow. 8 If Vasishka be identical with Vas Kushana of a Sanchi epigraph, his reign. Page #494 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE DATE OF KANISHKA 465 (28-60), Kanishka II, son of Vā-jheshka (41), and Vāsudeva (67-98).? Huvishka, Vā-jheshka and Kanishka II are probably referred to by Kalhaņa as Hushka, Jushka and Kanishka who apparently ruled conjointly. It will be seen that Kanishka II ruled in the year 41, a date which falls within the reign of Huvishka (28-60). Thus the account of Kalhana is confirmed by epigraphic evidence. In the chronological order generally accepted by numismatists, the Kanishka group succeeded the Kadphises group. But this view is not accepted by many scholars. Moreover, there is little agreemeut even among scholars who place the Kanishka group after the Kadphises kings. The more important theories of Kanishka's date are given below : 1. According to Dr. Fleet, Kanishka reigned before the Kadphises group, and was the founder of that reckoning, commencing B.C. 58, which afterwards came to be known as the Vikrama Samvat. This view (held at one time by Cunningham and Dowson, and maintained by (as sub-king) commenced not later than the year 22 as we learn from an inscription of that year on the pedestal of an image of the Buddha (Pro. of the Seventh Session of the 1. H. Congress, Madras, p. 135). 1 See Ep. Ind., XXI, 55 ff.—Mathurā Brāhmi Inscription of the Year 28. Cf. Ep. Ind. xxiii, 35-Hidda inscription of 28. 2 Hyd. Hist. Cong. 164. 3 For discussions about the origin of the so-called Vikrama era see JRAS., 1913. pp. 637, 994 ff. ; Kielhorn in Ind. Ant. xx. (1891) 124 ff. ; 397 ff. ; Bhand, Com. Vol. pp. 187 ff. CHI., pp. 168, 533, 571 ; ZDMG, 1922. pp. 250 ff. Ep. Ind. xxiii. 48 ff. ; xxvi. 119 ff; Kielhorn (and now Altekar) adduce evidence which seems to show that the early use of the era, as may be inferred from records with dates that may be recognised to refer to this reckoning, was mainly confined to Southern and Eastern Rājputāna, Central India and the Upper Ganges Valley. The name of the era found in the earliest inscriptions recalls designations like that of king KĶITA of Penzer, The Ocean of Story, III. 19. Kritiya rulers are mentioned by Fleet, JRAS, 1913, 998n. Krita may also have reference to the inauguration of a Golden Age after a period of toil and moil. From the fifth to the ninth century the reckoning was believed to be used O. P. 90-59 Page #495 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 466 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Franke) was accepted by Kennedy, but was ably controverted by Dr. Thomas, and can no longer be upheld after the discoveries of Marshall. Inscriptions, coins as well as the testimony of Hiuen Tsang clearly prove that Kanishka's dominions included Gandhara, but we have already seen that according to Chinese evidence Yin-mofu, and not the Kushāns, ruled Kipin (Kapiśa-Gandhāra) in the second half of the first century B.C. Allan thinks that "the gold coinage of Kanishka was suggested by the especially by the princes and people of Malava. The connection of the name Vikrama with the era grew up gradually and was far from being generally adopted even in the ninth century A.D. The phraseology employed in the poems and inscriptions of the next centuries shows a gradual advance from the simple Samvat to Vikrama Samvat, Śrinripa Vikrama Samvat and so on. The change in nomenclature was probably brought about by the princes and people of Gujarat whose hostility to the Malavas is well known. The Satavahanas could not have founded this or any other era because they always used regnal years, and Indian literature distinguishes between Vikrama and Śalivahana. As to the claims of Azes, see Calcutta Review, 1922, December, pp. 493-494. Fleet points out (JRAS., 1914, 995 ff.) that even when the name of a real king stands before the statement of the years, so that the translation would be "in the year of such and such a king" he is not necessarily to be regarded as the actual founder of that particular reckoning. The nomenclature of an era, current in a comparatively late period, more than a century after its commencement, is no proof of origins. Therefore, the use of the terms Ayasa or Ajasa in connection with the dates 134 and 136 of the Kalawan and Taxila inscriptions, does not prove that Azes was the founder of the particular reckoning used. His name may have been connected with the reckoning by later generations in the same way as the name of the Valabhi family came to be associated with the Gupta era, that of Satavahana with the Saka era, and that of Vikrama with the "Krita" - Malava reckoning itself which commenced in 58 B.C. Regarding the claims of Vikrama see Bhand. Com. Vol. and Ind. Ant., cited above. The Puranas while mentioning Gardabhilla are silent about Vikramaditya. Jaina tradition places Vikramaditya after 'Nahavahana, or Nahapana. Regarding the contention of Fleet that the Vikrama era is a northern reckoning attention may be invited to the observations of Kielhorn and to a note on Chola-Pandya Institutions contributed by Professor C. S. Srinivasachari to The Young Men of India, July, 1926. The Professor points out that the era was used in Madura in the 5th century A. D. Kielhorn proves conclusively that the area where the era of 58 B.C. was used in the earliest times did not include the extreme north-west of India. 1 Thomas, JRAS.. 1913; Marshall, JRAS., 1914. Page #496 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE DATE OF KANISHKA 467 Roman solidus" and that the Kushan monarch can hardly be placed before Titus (79-81 A.D.) and Trajan (98-117 A.D.). 1 1 2. According to Marshall, Sten Konow, Smith and several other scholars Kanishka's rule began about 125 or 144 A.D., and ended in the second half of the second century A.D. Now, we learn from the Sui Vihar inscription that Kanishka's dominions included a portion at least of the Lower Indus Valley. Again we learn from the Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman that the Mahākshatrapa's conquests extended to Sindhu and Sauvira (which included Multan according to the Puranas and Alberuni) and even to the land of the Yaudheyas in the direction of the Sutlej. Rudradaman certainly flourished from A.D. 130 to A.D. 150. He did not owe his position as Mahakshatrapa to anybody else (svayam adhigata Mahakshatrapa nāma). If Kanishka reigned in the middle of the second century A.D., how are we to reconcile his mastery over the Sui Vihar region in the Lower Indus Valley with the 4 1 Camb. Short History, p. 77. 2 Recently Ghirsman suggested the period A. D, 144-72 for Kanishka (Begram, Recherches Archeologique et Historiques sur les Kouchans). The argument that India was still in A. D. 125 governed by a Viceroy (and therefore, not by Kanishka or Huvishka) is effectively disposed of by Thomas in JRAS., 1913. 1024. He points out that the historian of the Later Han is obviously. referring to the conditions at the time of the invasion of Wima Kadphises, and not to the state of things in A.D. 125. 3 Dr. Sten Konow's views are difficult to ascertain. In the Indian Studies in honour of C. R. Lanman (Harvard University Press), p. 65, he mentions A.D. 134 as the initial point of the Kanishka reckoning which he and Dr. Van Wijk "have tried to establish" (cf. Acta Orientalia, III, 54 ff.). But in IHQ.. III (1927), p. 851, he, along with Dr. Van Wijk, shows a predilection for A.D. 128-29 (ef. Corpus, Ixxvii; Acta Orientalia, V, 168 ff). Professor Rapson (in JRAS., 1930, 186 ff) points out the conjectural and inconclusive character of the two doctors' calculations. "The year 79," says he, "seems to be out of the running and a dark horse, the year 128-9, is the favourite." 4 Ep. Ind. VIII. 44. Page #497 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 468 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA contemporary sovereignty of Rudradaman ?1 Again Kanishka's dates 1-23, Vasishka's dates 24-28, Huvishka's dates 28-60, and Vasudeva's dates 67-98, suggest a continuous reckoning. In other words, Kanishka was the originator of an era. But we know of no era, ever current in, or known to, North-West India, which commenced in the second century A.D. 3. Dr. R. C. Majumdar thought that the era founded by Kanishka was the Traikutaka-Kalachuri-Chedi era of 248 A.D. Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil points out that this is not possible. "In fact, the reign of Vasudeva, the last of the Kushāns, came to an end 100 years after the beginning of the reign of Kanishka. Numerous inscriptions prove that Vasudeva reigned at Mathura. It is certain that this country, over which extended the empire of Vasudeva, was occupied about 350 A.D. by the Yaudheyas and the Nagas and it is probable that they reigned in this place nearly one century before they were subjugated by Samudragupta. The capitals of the Nāgas were Mathura, Kantipura and Padmavati." The Kushan realm in the Indian borderland was, in A.D. 360, ruled by Grumbates. The theory of Dr. Majumdar cannot, moreover, be reconciled with the Tibetan tradition which makes Kanishka a contemporary of king Vijayakirti of Khotan, 5 and the Indian tradition which makes Huvishka a contemporary of Nagarjuna, and hence of a king of the Imperial Satavahana line, who can hardly. be placed later than the second century.A.D., as he is described as 'lord of the three seas' and sovereign of 1 See IHQ., March, 1930, 149. 2 For this era see JRAS., 1905, pp. 566-68. 3 Ancient History of the Deccan, p. 31. 4 E. H. I., p. 290. 5 Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 142. Page #498 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ • THE DATE OF KANISHKA'S CHAPLAIN 469 (South) Kośala (in the Upper Deccan). Lastly, the catalogues of the Chinese Tripitaka state that An-Shih-Kão ( 148-170 A.D.) translated the Mārgabhūmi Sūtra of Sangharaksha who was the chaplain of Kanishka.? This shows conclusively that Kanishka flourished before 170 A.D.3 The arguments against the theory of Dr. Majumdar are equally applicable to the surmise of Sir R. G. Bhandarkar who placed Kanishka's accession in A.D. 278. 4. According to Fergusson, Oldenberg, Thomas, Banerji, Rapson and many other scholars. Kanishka was the founder of that reckoning commencing A.D. 78, which came to be known as the Saka era. This view is not accepted by Prof. Jouveau-Dubreuil on the following grounds : 1 Rājatarangini, I. 173 ; Harsha-charita (Cowell). p.252 ; Watters, YuanChwang. II, p. 200. The epithet trisanudrādhipati which the Harsha-charita (Book VIII) applies to the śātavāhana friend of Nāgārjuna cannot fail to remind one of Gautamiputra śātakarpi 'whose chargers drank the water of the three oceans' (tisamudatoyapitavāhana), or one of his immediate successors. 2 Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, II, p. 64n. Bunyiu Nanjio's Catalogue, App. II, 4. 3 According to the theory of Dr. Majumdar, Vāsudeva I ruled from (249+74) 323 to (249 +98) 347 A.D. But Chinese evidence places a Poutiao (Vasudeva ? in 230 A.D. The Khalatse Ins. also presents difficulties. 4 For the origin of the Saka era see Fleet, CII., preface 56; JRAS, 1913, pp. 635, 650, 987 ff. ; Dubreuil, A. H. D., 26; Rapson Andhra Coins, p. cv; S. Konow, Corpus, II. i. xvi f. Nahapāna, who was not even a Mahākshatrapa in the years 42-45, and who never became a paramount sovereign, could not possibly have been the founder of the era. The theory which represents Nahapana as the founder of the era used in his inscriptions (dated 42-46) is also contradicted by a Jaina tradition (relied on by Sten Konow, Corpus, II. i. xxxviii) which assigns to him (Nahavāhana) a period of only 40 years. Chashtana has no better claims and the evidence of the Periplus shows that he could not have ruled at Ujjain in 78 A.D. As to the theory that Kadphises II founded the reckoning in question, it may be pointed out that no inscription or coin of this monarch contains any date which is referable to an era of his institution. The only Scythian king who did establish an era in the sense that he used a regnal reckoning that was continued by his successors, is Kanishka. And the only reckoning that is attributed by Indian writers, since the days of the early Chalukyas, to a Scythian king is the Saka era of 78 A.D. (contd.) Page #499 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 470 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA • (a) If we admit that Kujūla-Kadphises and Hermaios reigned about 50 A.D. and that Kanishka founded the Śaka era in 78 A.D. we have scarcely 28 years for the duration of the end of the reigns of Kadphises I and the whole of the reign of Kad phises II. (But the date, A.D. 50; for Kadphises I is uncertain. Even if we accept it as correct, the period of 28 years is not too short in view of the fact that Kad phises II succeeded an octogenerian. When Kadphises I died “at the age of more than eighty” his son must have been an old man. It is, therefore, improbable that his reign was protracted.") (6) Marshall, says Prof. G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, has discovered at Taxila in the Chir Stūpa a document dated 136 which, in the Vikrama era, corresponds to 79 A.D., and the king mentioned therein is probably Kadphises I, but certainly not Kanishka. (Now, the epithet Devaputra applied to the Kushān king of the Taxila scroll of 136, is characteristic of the Kanishka group, and not of the Kadphises kings. So Regarding the objection that the Saka era was foreign to the north it may be pointed out that the era of 58 B.C., was equally foreign to the extreme northwest of India. The assertion that the Saka era was never used in the north-west simply begs the question. It assumes what it has got to prove, viz., that the reckoning used by the house of Kanishka does not refer to the Saka era. The very name Saka points to its foreign, and possibly north-western, origin, as the imperial Sakas resided in that region, and it is only the viceroys who dwelt in Mālwa, Kāthiāwār and the Deccan. . On the analogy of every famous Indian regnal reckoning it may be confidently asserted that the Saka era, too, originated with a sovereign and not with a mere viceroy. 1 I am glad to note that a somewhat similar suggestion is now made by Dr. Thomas in Dr. B. C. Law Volume, II. 312. It is, however, by no means clear why it is said that the possibility of the identification of Devaputra with Kanishka 'has been ignored'. The Kadphises kings meant here are Kujūla (Kadphises 1). and Vima (Wema) and not Kuyula Kara Kaphsa whose identification with Kadphises I is a mere surmise. Kara or Kala probably means a Mahārājaputra, a prince (Burrow, The Language of the Kharoshthi Documents, 82). Even if Kuyula Kara be identical with Kujūla (cf. Corpus, II, i. lxv) and the Kushān king of the Taxila inscription of 136, it may be pointed out that it is by no means certain that the date 136 refers to the Vikrama era. Page #500 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PROBLEMS OF KUSHĀN CHRONOLOGY 471 the discovery need not shake the conviction of those that attribute to Kanishka the era of 78 A.D. The omission of the personal name of the Kushān monarch does not necessarily imply that the first Kushān is meant. In several inscriptions of the time of Kumāra Gupta and Budha Gupta, the king is referred to simply as Gupta nripa.) (c) Professor Dubreuil says : "Sten Konow has shown that the Tibetan and Chinese documents tend to prove that Kanishka reigned in the second century." (This Kanishka may have been Kanishka of the Ārā Inscription of the year 41 which, if referred to the Saka era, would give a date in the second century A.D. Po-t'iao of Sten Konow,' the king of the Yue-chi who sent an ambassador to China in A.D. 230, may have been one of the successors of Vāsudeva I. "Coins bearing the name of Vāsudeva continued to be struck long after he had passed away."2 Dr. Smith, Mr. R. D. Banerji and Dr. S. Konow himself clearly recognise the existence of more than one Vāsueva.) 3 . (d) Sten Konow has also shown that the inscriptions of the Kanishka era and those of the Saka era are not dated in the same fashion. (But the same scholar also shows that all the inscriptions of the Kanishka era are also not dated in the same fashion. In the Kharoshthî inscriptions, Kanishka and his successors recorded the dates in the same way as their Saka-Pablava predecessors, giving the name of the month and the day within the month. On the other hand, in their Brālmî records Kanishka and his suocessors usually adopted the Ancient 1 Vasudeva? Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 141. Corpus, II, i. lxxvii ; cf. Acta, 11, 133. 2 EHI, 3rd ed., p. 272. 3 Ibid, pp. 272-78, Corpus, ii, I. lxxvii. Page #501 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 472 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Indian way of dating. · Are we to conclude from this that the Kharoshthî dates of Kanishka's inscriptions are not to be referred to the same era to which the dates of the Brāhmî records are to be ascribed? If Kanishka adopted two different ways of dating, we fail to understand why he could not bave adopted a third method to suit the local conditions in Western India. Sten Konow himself points out that in the Saka dates we have the name of the month as in the Kharoshthi records with addition of the Paksha. "The Śaka era which (the Western Kshatrapas) used was a direct imitation of the reckoning used by their cousins in the north-west, the additional mentioning of the 'palsha' being perhaps a concession to the custom in the part of the country where they ruled.” It is not improbable that just as Kanishka in the borderland used the old Śaka-Pahlava method, and in Hindusthān Proper used the ancient Indian way of dating prevalent there, so in Western India his officers added the 'palesha' to suit the custom in that part of the country.) 1 Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 141. For an exception see ibid, XXI. 60. 2 As to the statement of Fleet endorsed by S. Konow. Corpus, 1xxxvii, that the use of the Saka era was foreign to Northern India attention may be invited to Kielhorn's List of Ins. of Northern India, Nos 351, 352, 362, 364-365, 368, 379. etc. So far as North-West India is concerned there is as little positive proof of the early use of the Vikrama era as of the era of 78 A.D. The paucity of early records dated in the Saka era in the valley of the Upper Ganges and its tributaries is possibly due to the fact that the era of 58 B.C. already held the field. Later eras of undoubtedly northern origin, like those of the Guptas and Harsha, have practically been forgotten, but the era of 58 B.C. is still in use. In Southern India the case is different. The use of regnal years in the records of the Mauryas (many of which are located in the south) and those of the Śātavāhanas, Chetas, and other early dynasties, proves beyond doubt that there was no early reckoning in use that could compete with the new era that was introduced by the Saka satraps. The story of the foundation of the CbālukyaVikrama era suggests that the Saka reckoning was at times deliberately sought to be discontinued because of its foreign association. This might have happened in the north as well as in the south, Page #502 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EMPIRE OF KANISHKA I 473 According to Sten Konow Kanishka came from Khotan and belonged to the Little Yüe-chi. The theory presents many difficulties. It is certain that his successors in 230 were still known as the Ta (Great ?) Yije-chi. The family name according to Kumāralāta's Kalpanāmanditīkā was Kiu-sha. 3 Kanishka completed the Kushān conquest of Upper India and ruled over a wide realm which extended from Kāpiša, * Gandhāra and Kaśmira to Benares. Traditions of his conflict with the rulers of Soked (Sāketa) and Pataliputra in Eastern India are preserved by Tibetan and Chinese writers.5 Epigraphic records give us contemporary notices of him, with dates, not only from Peshāwar and possibly from Zeda (near Uņd) in the Yuzufzai country, but also from Māņikiāla near Rāwalpindi, from Sui Vihār about 16 miles south-west of Bahāwalpur (north of Sind), from Mathurā and Śrāvasti, and from Sārnāth near Benares. His coins are found in considerable quantities as far eastwards as Ghāzipur and Gorakhpur.? The eastern portion of his empire was apparently governed by the Mahā-Kshatrapa Kharapallāna and the Kshatrapa Vanashpara. In the northern portion we find the general Lala and the Satraps Vespasi and Liaka. He fixed his own residence at Peshāwar (Purusha 1 Corpus, II, i. lxxvi; cf. lxi ; JRAS., 1903, 334. 2 Ibid, p. lxxvii. 3 Cf. Kuśa of Kanika lekha and Kušadvipa of the Puranas. See now Shafer, Linguistics in History, JAOS, 67, No. 4, . 4 Cf. The story of the Chinese hostage mentioned by H. Tsang. 5 Ep. Ind., xiv, p. 142 ; Ind Ant., 1903, p. 382 ; Corpus, II, i, pp. lxxii and Ixxv. The reference may be to Kanishka II. 6 In recent years Mr. K. G. Goswami has drawn attention to a Brähmi Inscription of Kanishka, dated in the year 2 (?), which he found in the Municipal Museum at Allahabad (Calcutta Review, July, 1934, p. 83). 7 A gold coin from Mahāsthāna (Bogra) represents the standing bearded figure of Kanishka-possibly an imitation of the coinage of the great Kushān king. O. P. 90-60 Page #503 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 474 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA pura) and possibly established Kanishkapura1 in Kasmira. It is, however, more probable that Kanishkapura was established by his namesake of the Ara inscription. After making himself master of the south (i.e., India) Kanishka turned to the west and defeated the king of the Parthians. 2 In his old age he led an army against the north and died in an attempt to cross the Tsung-ling mountains (Taghdumbash Pamir) between the Pamir Plateau and Khotan. The Northern expedition is apparently referred to by Hiuen-Tsang who speaks of his rule in the territory to the east of the Tsung-ling mountains, and of a Chinese Prince detained as a hostage at his court. It is not improbable that Kanishka was the Kushan king repulsed by general Pan-ch'ao during the reign of the Emperor Ho-ti (A.D. 89-105). It has no doubt been argued that Kanishka "must have been a monarch of some celebrity and if the Chinese had come into victorious contact with him, their historians would have mentioned it." But if we identify Pan-ch'ao's Kushan contemporary with Kadphises II, the silence of the Chinese becomes still more mysterious and inexplicable because he was certainly well-known to the annalists. On the other hand, Kanishka was not known to them and the non-mention of his name, if he were Pan-ch'ao's contemporary, cannot be more surprising than that of his predecessor, Wema. In favour of Kanishka's identity with Pan-ch'ao's antagonist we may urge that Kanishka is known to have come into conflict with the Chinese, but the same cannot be said with regard to Wema, the events of whose reign, as recorded by Chinese annalists, do not 1 Cunningham (AG12, 114) located it near Srinagar. Stein and Smith identify it with Kanispor, "situated between the Vitasta river and the high road. leading from Varahamula to Śrinagar" (EHI*, p, 275). 2 Ind. Ant., 1903, p. 382. Page #504 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PATRONAGE OF RELIGION AND LEARNING 475 include a first class war with China. The legend of Kanishka's death published by S. Le vi contains a significant passage which runs thus :-"I have subjugated three regions ; all men have taken refuge with me, the region of the north alone has not come in to make its submission." Have we not here a covert allusion to his failure in the encounter with his mighty northern neighbour ? Kanishka's fame rests not so much on his conquests, as on his patronage of the religion of Sākyamuni. Numismatic evidence and the testimony of the Peshāwar Casket inscriptions show that he actually became a convert to Buddhism possibly at the commencement of his reign, if not earlier. He showed his zeal for his faith by building the celebrated relic tower and Sanghārāma at Purushapura or Peshāwar which excited the wonder of Chinese and Muslim travellers. He convoked the last great Buddhist council which was held in Kasmira or Jālandhar. 3 But though a Buddhist, the Kushān monarch continued to honour the Greek, Sumerian, Zoroastrian Elamite, Mithraic and Hindu gods worshipped in the various provinces of his far-flung empire. The court of Kanishka was adorned by Pārsva, Vasumitra, 1 EHI“, p. 285; JRAS, 1912, 674. 2 The fame of the Kanishka Mahāvihāra remained undiminished till the days of the Pāla Kings of Bengal as is apparent from the Ghoshrāvan Inscription of the time of Devapāla. Kanishka's Chaitya is referred to by Alberuni. 3 One account possibly mentions Gandhāra as the place where the Assembly met. The earliest authorities seem to locate it in Kashmir. Kundalavana vihāra appears to be the name of the monastery where the theologians assembled probably under the presidency of Vasumitra. The chief business of the Synod seems to be the collection of canonical texts, and the preparation of commentaries on them (Smith, EHI, pp. 283 ff ; Law, Buddhistic Studies, 71). 4 See JRAS, 1912, pp. 1003, -1004, The Elamite (Sumerian ? Hastings, 5, 8277 goddess Nana possibly gave her name to the famous Nāņaka coins (cf. Bhand., Carm. Lec., 1921, p. 161). For the influence of the Mithra (Mihr, Mihira, Miiro) cult on Kushān India, see Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, Vaishnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious Systems, p. 154. According to Professor Rapson Page #505 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 476 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 2 Asvaghosha,1 Charaka, Nagarjuna, Samgharaksha, Mathara, Agesilaos the Greek and other worthies who played a leading part in the religious, literary, scientific, philosophical and artistic activities of the reign. Excavations at Mat near Mathura have disclosed a life-size statue of the great king. 3 After Kanishka came Vasishka, Huvishka and Kanishka of the Ara inscription. We have got inscriptions of Vasishka dated 24 and 28 which possibly prove his control over Mathura and Eastern Malwa. He may have been identical with Vajheshka, the father of Kanishka of the Ara inscription, and Jushka of the Rajatarangini, the founder of the town of Jushkapur, modern Zukur to the north of Srinagar. 5 Huvishka's dates range from 28 to 60. A Mathura Inscription represents him as the grandson of a king who has the appellation "Sacha dhramaṭhita," i.e., steadfast or abiding in the true Law, which occurs on the coins of Kuyula Kaphsa. Kalhana's narrative leaves the impression that Huvishka ruled simultaneously with (Andhra Coins, xii) the diversity of coin-types does not show religious eclecticism, but reflects the different forms of religion which prevailed in the various districts of the vast empire of the Great Kushans. Cf., Asavari and Bednur type of coins of the time of Iltutmish and of Hyder Ali. 1 For the legend about Kanishka and Aśvaghosha see a recent article by H. W. Bailey (JRAS, 1942 pt. 1)-trans, with notes of a fragment of a Khotan Ms. The king's name is spelt Cadrra (Chandra) Kanishka. 2 It is possible that Nagarjuna was a contemporary, not of Kanishka I, but of Kanishka II and Huvishka. 3 EHI, p. 272. Cf. Coin-portrait, JRAS, 1912, 670. 4 As the Sanchi images may have been brought from Mathura, the findspots need not be regarded as forming necessarily a part of the empire of the king mentioned in the pedestals. 5 EHI, p. 275. 6 JRAS, 1924, p. 402. 7 The epithet is also applied to Amgoka in the Ksharoshthi documents (Burrow, p. 128). Page #506 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KANISHKA OF THE ĀRĀ INSCRIPTION 477 Jushka and Kanishka, i.e., Vā-jheshka and Kanishka of the Ārā inscription of the year 41. The Wardak vase inscription possibly proves the inclusion of Kabul within his dominions. But there is no evidence that he retained his hold on the Lower Indus Valley which was probably wrested from the successors of Kanishka I by Rudradāman. In Kasmira Huvishka built a town named Hushkapura. Like Kanishka I, he was a patron of Buddhism and built a splendid monastery at Mathurā. 2 He also resembled Kanishka in his taste for a diversity of coin-types. Besides a medley of Greek, Persian and Indian deities e have, on one of his coins, the remarkable figure of Roma.3 A Mathurā inscription refers to the restoration during his reign of a delapidated Devakula of his grandfather. Smith does not admit that the Kanishka of the Ārā inscription of the year 41 was different from the great Kanishka. Lüders, Fleet, Kennedy and Sten Konow, on the other hand, distinguish between the two Kanishkas. * According to Liiders, Kanishka of the Ārā inscription was a son of Vāsishka and probably a grandson of Kanishka I. Kanishka II had the titles Mahārāja, Rājātirāja, Devaputra and possibly Kaisara (Caesar). It is probable that he, and not Kanishka I, was the founder of the town of Kanishkapura in Kasmira. 1 It is identified with Ushkūr inside the Bārāmüla Pass (EHI“, p. 287). 2 Cf. Lüders, List No. 62 3 Camb. Short Hist., 79. Numismatic evidence possibly suggests that the 'lion-standard' was to some of the Great Kuşhāns what the Garuda-dhvaja was to their Gupta successors. Cf. Whitehead, 196. 4 Cf. Corpus, II. i. lxxx ; 163. Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 143. JRAS, 1913, 98. The mention of a distinguishing patronymic in the record of the year 41, and the fact that ne inscriptions of Kanishka are known that are referable to the period 24 to 40 of the era used by the family (when the Kushān throne was occupied by Vāsishka and, possibly Huvishka as a junior partner), suggest that Kanishka of the year 41 is not to be identified with Kanishka of the years 1-23.. Page #507 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 478 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The last notable king of Kanishka's line was Vāsudeva I. His dates range from the year 671 to 98. i. e.. A. D. 145 to 176 according to the system of chronology adopted in these pages. He does not appear to have been a Buddhist. His coins exhibit the figure of Siva attended by Nandi. There can be no doubt that he reverted to Śaivism, the religion professed by his great predecessor Kadphises II. A king named Vāsudeva is mentioned in the Kavya Mimāṁsā as a patron of poets and a Sabhāpati, apparently ‘President of a Society' (of learned men). That the Kushān Age was a period of great literary activity is proved by the works of Ašvaghosha, Nāgārjuna and others. It was also a period of religious ferment and missionary activity. It witnessed the development of Saivism and the allied cult of Kārtikeya, of the Mahāyāna form of Buddhism and the cults of Mihira and of Vasudeva-Krishņa, and it saw the introduction of Buddhism into China by Kāśyapa Mātanga (c. 61-68 A.D.). “The dynasty of Kanishka opened the way for Indian civilization to Central and Eastern Asia." The inscriptions of Vāsudeva have been found only in the Mathurā region. From this it is not unreasonable to surmise that he gradually lost his hold over the northwestern portion of the Kushān dominions. About the middle of the third century A.D., we hear of the existence of no less than four kingdoms all dependent on the Yue-chi,' and ruled probably by princes of the Yue-chi stock 2 1 Mr. M. Nagor makes mention of an inscription incised on the base of a stone image of the Buddha acquired from Pālikherā (Mathura Museum, no 2907) which records the installation of the image in the year 67 during the reign of Vasudeva. 2 Cf. Kennedy, JRAS, 1913, 1060 f. Among the successors of Vasudeva I may be mentioned Kanishka (III); Vasu (Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, pp. 211-12; cf. RDB, JASB, Vol. IV (1908), 81 ff; Altekar, N.H.I.P. VI. 14 n) or Vasudeva II. Page #508 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SASSANIANS IN NORTH-WEST INDIA 479 These were Ta-hia (the Oxus region, i.e., Bactria), Ki-pin (Kāpiša), Kao-fou(Kābul) and "Tien-tchou'(lit. India, meaning probably the country on either side of the Indus with a vague suzerainty over a wider area). In 230 the Ta Yue-chi, i.e., the Great (?) Yue-chi king Po-tiao sent an embassy to the Chinese Emperor. The Yue-chi kingdom of "Tientchou' began to fall to pieces some time after this date and probably disappeared as an important power in the fourth century A. D. having already lost some of the remotest provinces to the Nāgas. Those nearer the Indus emerged as petty states. Sakasthāna and parts of North-West India were conquered by the Sassanians in the days of Varhran II (A. D. 276-93). During the early part of the reign of Shāpār II ( A. D. 309-79 ) the Sassanian 'suzerainty was still acknowledged in those regions. who is apparently to be identified with Po-tiao, A.D. 230 (Corpus, II. i. lxxvii): and Grumbates, A.D. 360 (Smith, EHI, p. 290). Kings claiming to belong to the family of Kanishka continued to rule in Ki-pin and Gandhāra long after he had passed away (Itinerary of Oukong, Cal Rev., 1922, Aug-Sept., pp. 193, 489). The last king of Kanishka's race was, according to tradition, Lagatūrmān who was overthrown by his Brāhmaṇa minister Kallar (Alberuni, II, 13). For an alleged invasion of India in the later Kushān period by Ardeshir Bābagān (A.D. 226-41), the founder of the Sassanian dynasty, see Ferishta (Elliot and Dowson, VI, p. 557). Varhran II (A.D. 276-93) conquered the whole of. Śakasthāna and made his son Varhran III governor of the conquered territory. Sakasthāna continued to form a part of the Sassanian empire down to the time of Shāpūr II. A Pahlavi Inscription of Persepolis, which Herzfeld deciphered in 1923, dated probably in A.D. 310-11, when Shāpūr II (309-79) was on the throne, refers to the Sassanian ruler of Sakasthāna as "Sakānsāh, minister of ministers (dabiran dabir) of Hind, Sakasthāna and Tukhāristhān" (MASI, 38, 36). The Paikuli Inscription mentions the Saka chiefs of North-Western India among the retainers of Varhran III, governor of Sakasthāna in the last quarter of the third century A.D. (JRAS. 1933, 219). The Abhiras of Western India seem also to have acknowledged the sway of the Sassanians (Rapson, Andhra Coins, cxxxiv). J. Charpentier points out (Aiyangar Com. Vol. 16) that at the time of Cosmas Indico-pleustes (c. 500 A.D.) the right side of the Indus Delta belonged to Persia. Persians figure also in early Chalukya epigraphs and the Raghuvamśa of Kalidasa. Page #509 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Section IV. The Nägas and the Later KUSHÃNS. The successors of the Great Kushāns in Mathurā and certain neighbouring tracts were - the Nāgas. The prevalence of Nāga rule over a considerable portion of northern and central India in the third and fourth centuries A.D., is amply attested by epigraphic evidence. A Lahore copper seal inscription of the fourth century A.D. refers to a king named Maheśvara Nāga, the son of Nāgabhatta.? The Allahabad Pillar inscription refers to King Ganapati Nāga, while several Vākāțaka records mention Bhava Nāga, sovereign of the Bhārasivas, whose grandson's grandson Rudrasena II was a contemporary of Chandra Gupta II, and who accordingly must have flourished before the rise of the Gupta Empire. Some idea of the great power of the rulers of Bhava Nāga's line and the territory over which they ruled may be gathered from the fact that the dynasty performed ten Ašvamedha sacrifices and “were besprinkled on the forehead with the pure water of (the river) Bhagirathi (Ganges) that had been obtained by their valour.' The valiant deeds of the family culminating in the performance of ten Ašvamedha sacrifices indicate that they were not a feudatory line owing allegiance to the Kushāns. We learn from the Purūnas that the Nāgas established themselves at Vidiśā (Basnagar near Bhilsa), Padmāvati 1 A Yūpa Inscription from Barnāla (in the Jaipur state) discloses the existence of a line of kings, one of whom bore a name that ended in--Varddhana. They belonged to the Sohartta or Sohartri gotra. But the dynastic designation is not known (Ep. Ind. xxvi. 120). The record is dated in Krita 284 corresponding to A. D. 227-28. 2 Fleet, CII, p. 283 3 CII, p. 241 ; AHD, p. 72. Page #510 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SASSANIANS IN NORTH-WEST INDIA 481 (Padam Pawaya, "in the apex on the confluence of the Sindhu and Para)," Kantipuri (not satisfactorily identified), and even Mathura which was the southern capital of Kanishka and his successors. The greatest of the Naga Kings was perhaps Chandramsa, 'the second Nakhavant,' whose name reminds us of the great king Chandra of the Delhi Iron Pillar inscription. It is by no means clear that the two are identical. But if Chandra preceded the rise of the Gupta empire, it is natural to seek a reference to him in the Puranic texts which were not compiled till the Gupta-Vakaṭaka age. The hand of a Naga princess was sought by Chandra Gupta II in the fourth century, and a 'Naga' officer governed the Gangetic Doab as late as the time of Skanda Gupta. 5 The Kushāns, however, continued to rule in the Kabul valley and parts of the Indian borderland. One of them gave his daughter in marriage to Hormisdas (or Hormuzd) II, the Sassanian King of Persia (A. D. 301-09). already stated Varhran II (A. D. 276-93) and his successors up to the time of Shapur II seem to have exercised suzerainty over their Scythic neighbours. "When Shapur II besieged Amida in A. D. 350, Indian As 1 Coins of a Mahārāja or Adhiraja named Bhavanaga have been found at this place. His identity with Bhavanaga of Vakaṭaka epigraphs proposed by Dr. Altekar (J. Num. S. I, V. pt. II) must await future discoveries. 2 Mention is made of a Kantipuri in the Skanda Purana (Nagarakhanda, ch. 47. 4ff). In the story narrated in the text a petty prince of Kantipuri 'marries a princess of Daśārņa, the valley of the Dhasan, in Eastern Malwa which, in the time of the Meghaduta, included Vidiśā. Kantipuri probably lay not far from the last-mentioned city. 3 JRAS, 1905, p. 233. 4 "Nrpan Vidiśakāmś c=api bhaviṣyamstu nibodhata Seṣasya Naga-rajasya putraḥ para puranjayaḥ Bhogi bhavisyate (?) raja nṛpo Naga-kul-ôdvahaḥ Sadacandras tu Chandramśo dvitiyo Nakhavams tatha." -Dynasties of the Kali Age, p. 49. 5 For later traces of Naga rule, see Bom. Gaz., 1. 2, pp. 281, 292, 313, 574; Ep. Ind., X, 25. O. P. 90-61 Page #511 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 482 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA elephants served under his command.”1 Shortly afterwards the Sassanian supremacy was replaced by that of the Guptas, and the “Daivaputra Shāhi Shāhānushāhi," i.e., the Kushān monarch or monarchs of the North-West sent valuable presents to Samudra Gupta. In the fifth century3' the Kidāra Kushāns established their rule over Gandhāra and Kašmira.* In the sixth century the Kushāns had to fight hard against the Huns and in the following centuries, against the Muslims. In the ninth century A. D. a powerful Muslim dynasty, that of the Saffārids, was established in Sistān (Seistan) and the sway of the family soon extended to Ghazni, Zābulistān, Herat, Balkh and Bamiyan.5 The later kings of the race of Kanishka seem to have had one residence in Gandhāra at the city of Uņd, Ohind, Waihand or Udabhānda, on the Indus. Another capital was situated in the Kābul valley. The family was finally extinguished by the Brāhmaṇa Kallār of Lalliya who founded the Hindu Shāhiyya dynasty towards the close of the ninth century A.D. A part of the kingdom of Kābul fell into the hands of Alptigin in the tenth century. 6 .. 1 JRAS, 1913, p, 1062. Smith (EHI“, p. 290) and Herzfeld (MASI, 38, 36) give the date A.D. 360 2 Cf. also JASB, 1908, 93. 3 Or probably earlier (about the middle of the fourth century according to Altekar, NHIP, VỊ. 21). 4 JRAS, 1913, p. 1064. Smith, Catalogue, 64, 89. R. D. Banerji, JASB 1908, 91. 5 Nazim, The Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud, 186. 6 Nazim, p. 26. Page #512 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER IX. SCYTHIAN RULE IN SOUTHERN AND WESTERN INDIA SECTION I. THE KSHAHARĀTAS. We have seen that in the second and first centuries B.C., the Scythians possessed Ki-pin (Kāpiśā-Gandhāra) and Sakasthana (Seistan) and soon extended their sway over a large part of Northern India. The principal Scythic dynasties continued to rule in the north. But a Satrapal family, the Kshaharatas, extended their power to Western India and the Deccan, and wrested parts of Maharashtra from the Satavahanas. The Satavahana king apparently retired to the southern part of his dominions, probably to the Janapada of the Bellary District which came to be known as Satavahanihāra, and was at one time under the direct administration of a military governor (mahāsenapati) named Skanda-nāga.1 The waning power of the indigenous rulers of the Deccan and the waxing strength of the invaders seem to be hinted at in the following lines of the Periplus: "The city of Calliena (Kalyana) in the time of the elder Saraganus (probably Satakarni I) became a lawful market town; but since it came into the possession of Sandanes (possibly Sunandana Satakarni) the port is much obstructed, and Greek ships landing there may chance to be taken to Barygaza (Broach) under guard." 1 Ep. Ind. XIV, 155. 2 Wilson in JASB, 1904. 272; Smith ZDMG Sept 1903; IHQ, 1932, 234 JBORS, 1932, 7f. The adjective 'elder' becomes pointless unless thes passage mentions a younger Saraganus, and this person can only refer to Sandane from whom the elder king is distinguished. Page #513 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 484 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The name of the Scythian conquerors of the Broach region and of Maharashtra, Kshaharāta, seems to be identical with "Karatai," the designation of a famous Saka tribe of the north mentioned by the geographer Ptolemy.1 The known members of the Kshaharāta, Khakharāta, Chaharata family are Liaka, Patika, Ghaṭāka, Bhumaka and Nahapāna. Of these Liaka, Patika, and Ghaṭaka belonged to the Taxila and Mathurā regions respectively. Bhumaka was a Kshatrapa of Kathiawar. Rapson says that he preceded Nahapāna. His coin-types are "arrow, discus and thunderbolt." These types have been compared with the reverse type "discus, bow and arrow" of certain copper coins struck conjointly by Spalirises and Azes (I). or Nahapana was the greatest of the Kshaharāta Satraps. Eight Cave Inscriptions discovered at Pandulena, near Nasik, Junnar and Karle (in the Poona district) prove the inclusion of a considerable portion of Mahārāshtra within his dominions. Seven of these inscriptions describe the benefactions of his son-in-law Ushavadāta (Rishabhadatta), the Saka, while the eighth inscription specifies the charitable works of Ayama, the Amatya (minister or district officer). Ushavadata's inscriptions indicate that Nahapana's political influence probably extended from Poona (in Maharashtra) and Śūrpāraka (in North Konkan) to Prabhasa in Kathiawar, Mandasor (Daśapura) and Ujjain in Malwa and the district of Ajmer including Pushkara, the place of pilgrimage to which Ushavadāta resorted for consecration after his victory over the Malayas or Malavas. 1 Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 400. Mr. Y.. R. Gupte points out (Ind. Ant., 1926, 178) that among the shepherds of the Deccan we have the surname Kharata which he considers to be a shortened form of Khakharata (Kshaharāta). Page #514 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE KSHAHARĀTA SATRAPS 485 The Nāsik records give the dates 41, 42, and 45, of an unspecified era, and call Nahapāna a Kshatrapa, while the Junnar epigraph of Ayama specifies the date 46 and speaks of Nahapāna as Mahākshatrapa. The generally accepted view is that these dates are to be referred to the Saka era of 78 A.D. The name Nahapāna is no doubt Persian, but the Kshaharāta tribe to which Nahapāna belonged was probably of Saka extraction and Ushavadāta, son-in-law of Nahapāna, distinctly calls himself a Saka. It is, therefore, probable that the era of 78 A.D. derives its name of Śaka era from the saka princes of the House of Nahapāna. Rapson accepts the view that Nahapāna's dates are recorded in years of the Saka era, beginning in 78 A.D., and, therefore, assigns Nahapāna to the period A.D. 119 to 124. Several scholars identify Nahapāna with Mambarus (emended into Nambanus) of the Periplus whose capital was Minnagara in Ariake. According to one theory Minnagara is modern Mandasor, 4 and Ariake is Aparāntika.5 1 Allan thinks that the coins of Nahapāna cannot be assigned to so late a date in the second century A.D. He points among other things to the similarity of the bust on the obverse of Nahapāna's silver coins and that on the coins of Rājuvūla. But he admits that this may be due to derivations from a common prototype such as the coins of Strato I. Camb. Short Hist., 80 f. 2 E. g. M. Boyer in Journal Asiatique, 1897; JASB, 1904. 272. In JRAS, 1918, 108, Kennedy points out that the name certainly ends in-bares-baros, and not in banos. 3 JRAS, 1912. p. 785. 4 This is the view of Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar who apparently follows Bomb. Gaz., I. 1. 15 n., cf, however, Ind. Ant., 1926, p. 143, Capital of Nahapāna ( - Junnar). Fleet identifies Minnagara with Dohad in the Pañch Mahāls (JRAS, 1912, p. 788; 1913, 993n). In a paper read at the sixth conference of Orientalists at Patna Dr. Jayaswal referred to a Jaina work which mentions Broach as the capital of Nahapāna (see now Avaśyaka sūtra, JBORS, 1930, Sept. Dec, 290). For a different tradition see IHQ, 1929, 356. Vasudhara (?) nagari. 5 Cf. also IA, 7, 259, 263 : Ariake may also be Aryaka of Varahamihira's Brihat Samhita. Page #515 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 486 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA R.D. Banerji and G. Jouveau-Dubreuil are of opinion that Nahapāna's dates are not referable to the Saka era. They say that if we admit that the inscriptions of Nahapāna are dated in the Saka era, there will be only an interval of five years between the inscription of this king, dated 46 and the inscriptions- of Rudradāman, dated 52. Within these years must have taken place : (1) The end of Nahapāna’s reign ; . (2) The destruction of the Kshaharātas ; (3) The accession of Chashtana 'as Kshatrapa, his reign as Kshatrapa, his accession as a Mahā Icshatrapa, and his reign as Mahākshatrapa ; (4) The accession of Jayadāman as Kshatrapa, his reign as Kshatrapa, and perhaps also his reign as Mahākshatrapa ; (5) The accession of Rudradāman and the beginning of his reign. There is no necessity, however, of crowding the events mentioned above within five years (between the year 46, the last known date of Nahapāna, and the year 52, the first known date of Rudradāman). There is nothing to show that Chashtana's family came to power after the destruction of the Kshaharātas. The line of Chashtana may have been ruling in Cutch and perhaps some adjacent territories, as the Andhau inscriptions of the year 52 suggest, while the Kshaharātas were ruling in parts of Mālwa and Mahārāshtra. Moreover, there is no good ground for believing that a long interval elapsed from the accession of Chashtana to that of Rudradāman. Drs. Bhandarkar and R. C. Majumdár have pointed out that the Andhau inscriptions clearly prove that Chashtana and Rudradāman ruled conjointly in the year 52. Professor J. Dubreuil rejects their view on the ground that Page #516 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SATRAPAL CHRONOLOGY 487 there is no "cha" after Rudradāman in the text of the inscription : Rājīia Chastanasa Ysāmotika-putrasa rājña Rudradāmasa Jayadāma-putrasa varshe dvipachūse, 50, 2. Professor Dubreuil translates the passage thus : "In the 52nd year, in the reign of Rudradāman, son of Jayadāman, grandson of Chashtana and great-grandson of Yśāmotika". The Professor who objects to a 'cha' himself makes use not only of "and" but also of the words "grandson” and "great-grandson” no trace of which can be found in the original record. Had his translation been what the writer of the Andhau inscriptions intended, we should have expected to find the name of Ysāmotika first, and then the name of Chashtana followed by those of Jayadāman and Rudradāman-Ysāmotika prapautrasa Chashtana pautrasa Jayadāma-putrasa Rudradāmansa. Moreover, it is significant that in the text of the inscription there is no royal title prefixed to the name of Jayadāman who ruled between Chashtana and Rudradāman according to Dubreuil. On the other hand, both Chashtana and Rudradāman are called rājā. The two are mentioned in exactly the same way-with the honorific rājā and the patronymic. The literal translation of the inscrip. tional passage is "in the year 52 of king Chashtana son of Ysāmotika, of king Rudradāman son of Jayadāman," and this certainly indicates that the year 52 belonged to the reign both of Chashtana and Rudradāman.? The conjoint rule of two kings was known to ancient Hindu writers on polity. The theory of the conjoint 1 Cf. the Junagadh, Gunda and Jasdhan inscriptions. 2 Cf. the coin legends Heramayasa Kaliyapaya." "Gudupharasa Sasasa," "Khatapana Hagānasa Hagāmashasa", etc., where, too, we have no cha after the second name. Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, 86, 147 ; CHI, 538. 3 Cf. Dvirāja in the Atharva Veda (V. 20, 9) ; Dvairājya in the Kauțiliya Arthaśāstra p. 325; Dorajja of the Āyāranga Sutta ; the classical account of Patalene, p. 259 ante ; the case of Dhritarāshtra and Duryodhana in the Great Page #517 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 488 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA rule of Chashtana and his grandson is supported by the fact that Jayadāman did not live to be Mahākshatrapa and must have predeceased his father, Chashtana, as unlike Chashtana and Rudradāman, he is called simply a Kshatrapa (not Mahākshatrapa and Bhadramukha ) even in the inscriptions of his descendants. We have already noticed the fact that the title rājā, which is given to Chashtana and Rudradāman in the Andhau inscriptions, is not given to Jayadāman. Mr. R. D. Banerji says that the inscriptions of Nahapāna cannot be referred to the saine era as used on the coins and inscriptions of Chashtana's dynasty because if we assume that Nahapāna was dethroned in 46 Ś. E., Gautamiputra must have held Nāsik up to 52 Ś. E. (from his 18th to his 24th year), then Pulumāyi held the city up to the 22nd year of his reign, i.e., up to at least 74 Ś. E. But Rudradāman is known to have defeated Pulumāyi and taken Nāsik before that time. Banerji's error lies in the tacit assumption that Rudradāman twice occupied Nāsik before the year 73 of the Saka era. There is no clear evidence to suggest that the śātavāhanas lost Poona and Nāsik to that great satrap though they may have lost Malwa and the Konkaņ. Another untenable . assumption of Mr. Banerji is that Rudradāman finished his conquests before the year 52 or A. D. 130, whereas the Andhau inscriptions merely imply the possession of Cutch and perhaps some adjoining tracts by the House of Chashtana. The theory of those who refer Nahapāna's dates to the Śaka era, is confirmed by the fact pointed out by Epic ; of Eukratides and his son in Justin's work; of Strato I and Strato II ; of Azes and Azilises, etc., etc. The Mahāvastu (III. 432) refers to the conjoint rule of three brothers :-"Kalingeshu Simhapuram nāma nagaram tatra trayo bhrātaro ekamātrikā rājyai kārayanti." See also IA, 6, 29. Cf. Nilakanta Sastri, Pandyan Kingdom, 120, 122, 180. 1 Cf. the Guņda and Jasdhan inscriptions. Page #518 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RIVALS OF THE KSHAHARÁTAS 489 Professor Rapson, and Dr. Bhandarkar after him, that a Nāsik inscription of Nahapāna refers to a gold currency, doubtless of the Kushāns who could not have ruled in India before the first century A. D. The power of Nahapāna and his allies, the Uttamabhadras, was threatened by the Mālayas (Mālavas ) from the north, and the sātavāhanas from the south. The incursion of the Mālavas was repelled by Ushavadāta. But the Sātavāhana attack proved fatal to Śaka rule in Mahārāshțra. We know very little about Chakora and Śivasvāti mentioned in the Parāṇas as the immediate successors of Sunandana during whose reign Sātavāhana prestige had sunk very low and marauders from Barygaza had been harrying the ports that had once enjoyed the protection of the elder Śātakarņi, probably Śātakarni I. But the king whose name occurs next in the list, viz., Gautamiputra, regained the lost power of the house and dealt a severe blow at the power of the intruders from the north. The Nāsik prasasti calls him the “uprooter of the Kshaharāta race," and the “restorer, of the glory of the śātavāhana family”. That Nahapāna himself was overthrown by Gautamiputra is proved by the testimony of the Jogalthembi hoard (in the Nāsik district) which consisted of Nahapāna's own silver coins and coins restruck by Gautamiputra. In the 1 Rapson, Coins of the Andhra Dynasty, etc., pp. lviii, clxxxv; Bhandarkar, Ind. Ant., 1918-1919, 'Deccan of the Sātavāhana Period'. 2 The Uttamabhadras may have been a section of the Bhadra tribe mentioned in a list of garas along with the Rohitakas (cf. Rohtak in south-east Punjab), the Āgreyas.fof Agra ?) and the Mālavas (Mbh. III. 253.20). In Mbh. VI. 50. 47 the Pra-bhadras are associated with the ganas or corporations of the Dāserakas, apparently of the desert region of Rājputāna (Monier Williams, Dic. 405), 0. P. 90-62 Page #519 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 490 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA restruck coins there was not a single one belonging to any prince other than Nahapāna as would certainly have been the case if any ruler had intervened between Nahapāna and Gautamiputra. Page #520 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. THE RESTORATION OF THE SĀTAVĀHANA EMPIRE. Gautamiputra's victory over the Kshaharātas led to the restoration of the Sātavāhana power in Mahārāshtra and some adjoining provinces. The recovery of Mahārāshtra is proved by a Nāsik inscription, dated in the year 18 , and a Karle epigraph addressed to the Amātya or the king's officer in charge of Māmāla (the territory round Karle, modern Māval in the Poona district). But this was not the only achievement of Gautamiputra. We learn from the Nāsik record of queen Gautami Balaśrî that her son destroyed the Sakas ( Scythians ), Yavanas ( Greeks ) and Pahlavas ( Parthians ), and that his dominions extended not only over Asika, 2 Asaka (Aśmaka on the Godāvari, i.e., part of Mahārāshtra), 3 and Mülaka (the district around Paithan), but also over Suratha ( South Kāthiāwār ), Kukura ( in Western or Central India, possibly near the Pāriyātra or the Western Vindhyas ),* Aparānta ( North Konkan ), Anupa ( district around Māhismati on the Narmadā ), Vidarbha (Greater Berar ), and Ākara-Avanti (East 5 and West Mālwa). He is further styled lord of all the mountains from 1 The Nāsik Edict was issued from the camp of victory of the Vejayanti army (Ep. Ind. VIII. 72) and was addressed to the Amatya or the king's officer in charge of Govardhana (Nasik). 2 On the Krishnaveņā, ie, the river Krishna (Khāravela's ins., IHQ. 1938. 275); cf. Arshika, Patañjali. IV, 2.2. 3 Shamasastry's translation of the Arthaśāstra, p. 143, n. 2. Its capital Potana probably corresponds to Bodhan in the Nizam's dominions. 4 Brihat Samhitā, XIV. 4. 5 Eastern Mālwa was possibly under Vāsishka, the successor of Kanishka I, in the year 28 of the Kushān Era which corresponds to A.D. 106 according to the system of chronology adopted in these pages. Akara has been identified with Āgar, 35 miles north-east of Ujjain, Bomb. Gaz., Gujarat, 540 ; Ep. Ind., xxiii. 102. Page #521 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 492 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the Vindhyas to the Malaya or Travancore hills, and from the Eastern (Mahendra) to the Western (Sahya) Ghāts. The possession of Vejayanti in the Kanarese country is possibly hinted at in the Nāsik inscription of the year 18. The names of the Andhra country (Andhrāpatha) and South Kosala are, however, conspicuous by their absence. Inscriptions, coins and the testimony of Hiuen Tsang prove that both these territories were at one time or other included within the śātavāhana empire. The earliest Sātavāhana king whose inscriptions have been found in the Andhra region is Palumāyi, son of Gautamiputra. It is, however, possible that some vague claim of suzerainty over the areas in question is implied in the boast that Gautamiputra was lord of the Vindhyas and the Eastern Ghats (Mahendra) and that his chargers "drank the water of the three oceans" (tisamudatoyapîta-vāhana). Moreover "Asika” seems to have included a considerable portion of the valley of the Krishṇā. In the Nāsik prasasti Gautamiputra figures not only as a conqueror, but also as a social reformer. "He crushed down the pride and conceit of the Kshatriyas, furthered the interest of the twice-born, apparently the 'Brāhmaṇas, as well as the lowest orders ( Dvijāvarakuțubavivadhana ) and stopped the contamination of the four varnas (castes).” According to Sir R. G. Bhandarkar and Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, Gautamiputra reigned conjointly with his son Pulumāyi. They give the following reasons in support of their theory - 1 Kutumba means 'a household', 'a family' and avara-kutuba may be taken to mean 'households or families of the lowly'. The use of the word kutuba may suggest that the 'lowly' order or orders, whose families or households are referred to, are the traders and agriculturists (kuțumbika). Page #522 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THEORY OF CONJOINT RULE (1) In Gautami's inscription (dated in the 19th year of her grandson Pulumayi) she is called the mother of the great king and the grandmother of the great king. This statement would be pointless if she were not both at one and the same time. 493 (2) If it were a fact that Gautamiputra was dead when the queen-mother's inscription was written, and Pulumayi alone was reigning, we should expect to find the exploits of the latter also celebrated in the inscription. But there is not a word in praise of him. A king dead for 19 years is extolled, and the reigning king passed over in silence. (3) The inscription dated in the year 24, engraved on the east wall of the Veranda of the Nasik Cave No. 3, which records a grant made by Gautamiputra and the "king's mother whose son is living", in favour of certain Buddhist monks "dwelling in the cave which was a pious gift of theirs," presupposes the gift of the Nasik Cave No. 3 in the 19th year of Pulumayi. Consequently Gautamiputra was alive after the 19th year of his son. As regards point (1), it may be said that usually a queen sees only her husband and sometimes a son on the throne. Queen Gautami Balaśrī, on the other hand, was one of the fortunate (or unfortunate) few who saw grandchildren on the throne. Therefore she claimed to be the mother of a great king and the grandmother of a great king. As to point (2), is the silence satisfactorily explained by the theory of conjoint rule? Those who prefer the opposite view may point out that although it is not customary for an ordinary subject to extol a dead king and pass over a reigning monarch in silence, still it is perfectly natural for a queen-mother in her old age to recount the glories of a son who was associated with her in a previous gift. Page #523 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 494 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA As to point (3), it is not clear that the gift referred to in the postscript of the year 24 was identical with the grant of the year 19 of Pulumāyi. The donors in the postscript were king Gautamiputra and the rājamātā, the king's mother, apparently Balasri, while the donor in the year 19 of Pulumāyi was the queen-mother alone. In the inscription of the year 24, the queen-mother is called Mahādevî Jivasutā Rājamātā, the great queen, the king's mother, whose son is alive. In Pulumāyi's inscription the epithets Mahadevî and Rājamātā are retained but the epithet "Jivasutā,” “whose son is alive,” is significantly omitted. The dunees in the former grant were the Tekirasi or Triraśmi ascetics in general, the donees in the latter grant were the monks of the Bhadavānîya school. The object of grant in the former case may have been merely the Veranda of Cave No. 3, which contains the postscript of the year 24, and whose existence before the 19th year of Pulumāyi is attested by an edict of Gautamiputra of the year 18. On the other hand, the cave given away to the Bhadavānîya monks was the whole of Cave No. 3. If Gautamiputra and his son reigned simultaneously, and if the latter ruled as his father's colleague in Mahārāshtra, then it is difficult to explain why Gautamîputra was styled "Govadhanasa Benākațakasvāmi," "lord of Benākataka in Govardhana" (Nāsik), and why he addressed the officer at Govardhana directly, ignoring his son who is represented as ruling over Mahārāshțra, while in the record of the year 19, Pulumāyi was considered as 1 The use of the expression "Govadhanasa" suggests that there were other localities named Benākataka from which this particular place is distinguished. A Bennākata in the eastern part of the Vākāțaka kingdom is mentioned in the Tirodi plates of Pravarasena II (? III) (IHQ, 1935, 293 ; Ep. Ind. XXII, 167 ff). Benā or Bennā is apparently the name of a small stream in each case. Page #524 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DATE OF GAUTAMIPUTRA ŚĀTAKARŅI 495 so important that the date was recorded in the years of his reign, and not in that of his father who was the senior ruler. 1 The generally accepted view is that Pulumāyi came after Gautamiputra. The date of Gautamiputra Śātakarņi is a matter regarding which there is a wide divergence of opinion. There are scholars who believe that the epithets varavāranavikrama, chāru-vikrama, "whose gait was beautiful like the gait of a choice elephant," and Saka-nishudana, destroyer of Śakas, suggest that he was the original of Rājā Vikramāditya of legend who founded the era of 58 B. C. But, as already pointed out, the use of regnal years by Gautamiputra and his descendants indicates that no era originated with the dynasty. Further, Indian literature clearly distinguishes between Vikramāditya of Ujjain and Śālivāhana or the Šātavāhanas of Pratisthāna. The view accepted in these pages is that Gautamiputra was the conqueror of Nahapāna and that his 18th year fell after the year 46 of the Saka era, the last recorded date of his vanquished opponent. In other words the conquest of Nāsik by Gautamiputra took place some time after A. D. 78+46 = 124, and his accession after A. D. 124–18=106. As he ruled for at least 24 years, his reign must bave terminated after A. D. 130. In the Purāņic lists compiled by Pargiter the immediate successors of Gautamiputra are Pulomā, his son, and śātakarņi. Pulomā is doubtless identical with Siro P(t)olemaios of Baithana mentioned by Ptolemy and Vāsishtbiputra Svāmi Sri Pulumāvi of inscriptions and 1 Cf. R. D. Banerji, JRAS, 1917, pp. 281 et seq. Note also the epithet (Dakshinā) patheśvara 'lord of the Deccan,' applied to Pulumāyi in the praśasti of the year 19. Page #525 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 496 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA coins. Sātakarņi is perhaps to be identified with Vāsishthiputra Śri sātakarņi of a Kanberi Cave Inscription, or with Vāsishthiputra Chatarapana śātakarņi of a Nānāghat record. His exact position in the genealogical list cannot be determined with precision. The Kanheri epigraph represents Vāsishthiputra Śri Sātakarņi as the husband of a daughter of the Mahākshatrapa Ru(dra). Rapson identifies this Rudra with Rudradāman I. There can hardly be any doubt that the sātavāhana king mentioned in the Kanheri record, or one of his close relations who bore a similar name, was identical with Sātakarni, lord of the Deccan. whom Rudradāman "twice in fair fight completely defeated, but did not destroy on account of the nearness of their connection." Dr. Bhandarkar's identification of Vāsishthiputra Sri Šātakarņi of Kanberi with Vāsishthīputra Śiva Sriśātakarņi of coins and Siva Sri of the Matsya Purāna cannot be regarded as more than a conjecture. The ruler mentioned in the Kanheri Inscription may have been a brother of Palumāyi. We have seen that the capital of Pulumāyi was Baithan, i.e., Paithan or Pratishthāna on the Godāvari, identified by Bhandarkar withi Navanara or Navanagara, i.e., the new city. Inscriptions and coins prove that the dominions of this king included the Krishņā-Godāvari region as well as Mahārāshtra. It has already been pointed out that the Andhra country is not clearly mentioned in the list of territories over which Gautamiputra held his sway. It is not altogether improbable that Vāsishthiputra Pulumāyi was the first to establish the śātavāhana power firmly in that region. Sukthankar identifies him with Siri Pulumāyi, king of the Sātavāhanas, mentioned in an inscription discovered in Adoni tāluk of the Bellary district. But the absence of the distinguishing metronymic makes the identification uncertain and probably Page #526 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GAUTAMIPUTRA SRI YAJÑA ŚĀTAKARŅI 497 indicates that the king referred to in the inscription is Pulumāyi I of the Purānas or some other prince of the dynasty who bore the same name. D. C. Sircar identifies him with the last king of Pargiter's list. Numismatic evidence suggests that the political influence of a Pulumāyi extended to the Coromandel coast, and possibly to the Chanda district of the Central Provinces. But in the absence of epigraphic corroboration the matter cannot be regarded as definitely proved. Moreover, the absence of the metronymic Vāsishthīputra makes it uncertain in some cases as to whether the son of the great Gautamiputra is meant. • Vāsishțhiputra Pulumāyi must have come to the throne some time after A. D. 130. He is known from a Karle epigraph to have ruled for at least 24 years, so that his reign terminated after A.D. 154. The successors of Pulomā according to the Purāņic lists compiled by Pargiter are Siva Sri' Pulomā and Sivaskanda (or Sivas kandha ) Śātakarņi. Yajñaéri Šātakarņi. 3 The immediate successor of Sivaskanda according to the collated text of Pargiter was Yajña Śri. If the Purānas are to be believed his accession took place more 1 Mirashi in the Journal of the Num. Soc. II (1940), p. 88 attributes to him the coins of "Sivasri Pulumāyi 111"' of the Tarbāla board. He draws a distinction between this king (who was a Pulumāyi) and Väsithiputa Sivasiri Satakamni who is known to Rapson's Catalogue. The Vishnu Purāna, however, represents Śivaấri as a śātakarņi (and not a Pulumāyi). The matter must, therefore, be regarded as sub judice. 2 Mirashi (ibid, 89) identifies him with King Sirikhada or Skanda Satakarni of the Tarhāla hoard (Akola district) and other coins whose name was wrongly read as Chada Sätakarņi by Smith and Rudra Satakarņi by Rapson. This ''Rudra'' was represented as a ruler of the Andhra-desa. 3 In JRAS, July, 1934, 560ff, Dr. D. C. Sircar suggests that the name of this king was Sri Yajña śātakarņi as stated in inscriptions, and not Yajña Śri (as stated in the Purāņas). It should, however, be remembered that Sri is here an honorific 0. P. 90--63 Page #527 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 498 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA than 35 years after the close of the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni, i.e., after A. D. 165 and ended after A. D. 194. Yajna Śri's inscriptions, which prove that he reigned for at least 27 years, are found at the following places, viz., Nasik in Mahārāshṭra, Kanheri in Aparanta, and China in the Krishna district. His coins are found in Gujrat, Kathiawar, Aparanta, the Chanda District in the Central Provinces, and the Krishna district of the Madras Presidency. There can be no doubt that he ruled over both Maharashtra and the Andhra country and recovered Aparanta (N. Konkan) from the successors of Rudradaman I. Smith says that his silver coins imitating the coinage of the Saka rulers of Ujjain probably point to victories over the latter, and that the coins bearing the figure of a ship suggest the inference that the king's power extended over the sea. He thus anticipated the naval ventures of the Kadambas of Goa, of Sivaji and of the Angrias.1 Yajñaśri was the last great king of his dynasty. After his death the Satavahanas probably lost North-Western Maharashtra to the Abhira king Isvarasena. The later and it is frequently used as a suffix in the names of members of the Satavahana royal house (cf. Veda or Skanda-Siri, Haku-Siri, Bala-Śri, Śiva-Śri, etc.; Rapson, Andhra Coins pp. xlvi, 1, lii). The mere fact that in certain documents Śri precedes the name of a king does not prove conclusively that it was never used as a suffix. In the famous inscription of Khäravela the king is called both Siri Khāravela and Kharavela-Siri. In the Mudrarakshasa Śrimat Chandragupta is also styled Chanda-Siri. Cf. Aśoka Śrī in Pariśishta-parvan, IX. 14. 1 Rapson, however, says (Coins of the Andhra Dynasty, p. 22) in reference to certain lead coins (of the Coromandel coast): "obv. Ship with two masts. Inscr. not completely read, but apparently Siri-Pu (lumā) visa." 2 The earliest reference to the Abhiras to which an approximate date can be assigned is that contained in the Mahabhashya of Patanjali. The Mahabhashya as well as the Mahabharata connects them with the Sudras-the Sodrai of Alexander's historians. Their country-Abiria-finds mention in the Periplus and the geography of Ptolemy. In the third quarter of the second century A. D., Abhira chieftains figured as generals of the Saka rulers of Western India. Shortly afterwards a chief named Isvaradatta, probably an Abhira, became Page #528 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LATEST ŚĀTAVĀHANAS 499 Sātavāhana princes-Vijaya, Chanda Śri (variant Chandra Sri) and Pulomāvi of the Purāṇas-seem to have ruled in Berar, the Eastern Deccan and the Kanarese country.' The existence of Vijaya seems now to be confirmed by numismatic evidence. 2 Chanda Śri may have been identical with Vāsisthi-putra “Sāmi siri Chamda Sāta” of the Kodavali rock-cut well Inscription discovered near Pithāpuram in the Godāvari region, while Pulomāvi is, in the opinion of Dr. D. C. Sircar, to be identified with the king of the same name mentioned in the Myakadoniinscription of the Bellary District. Coins disclose the existence of a few other kings of the line who must be assigned to the latest Śātavāhana period. Sātavahana rule in the Mahākshatrapa. His relation to the Abhira king Madhariputra Iśvara Sena, son of Śiva Datta, remains doubtful. But some scholars are inclined to identify the two chiefs. It is also suggested that this dynasty of Isvara Sena is identical with the Traikūtaka line of Aparānta, and that the establishment of the Traikūtaka era in A D. 248 marks the date at which the Abhiras succeeded the Sātavāhanas in the Government of Northern Mahārāshtra and the adjoining region. The last known rulers of the Traikāțaka line were Indradatta, his son Dabrasena (455-56 A. D.), and his son Vyāghrasena (489-90), after whom the kingdom seems to have been conquered by the Vākātaka king Harishena. 1 The Berar (Akola) group includes certain princes, not included in the Purāņic lists, e.g., Śri Kumbha śātakarņi, śri Karņa śātakarņi (unless he its identified with the so-called śvātikarņa, the fourteenth king of Pargiter's list) and Sri Saka Šātakarņi (Mirashi, J. Num. Soc., II, 1940). Mirashi thinks that the real name of the so-called Krishna (11) of the Chanda hoard was Karņa. Among kings of uncertain identity mention may be made of Sri Sivamaka Sāta of the Amaravati inscription and Māthariputra Sri Sāta of Kan heri. . 2 Mirashi, Journal of the Nums. Soc. of India, II (1940), p. 90. The only clear letters are ya Satakani. The ascription to Vijaya must be regarded as tentative. Page #529 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 500 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Krishṇā, Guņtār and Bellary districts was eventually supplanted by the Ikshvākusand the Pallavas.? Provincial Government under the Šātavāhanas. A word may be said here, regarding the internal organisation of the Sāta vāhana empire. The sovereign 1 The Ikshvākus are known from inscriptions discovered on the ruins of the Jagayyapeta stupa in the Kțishņā District and also at Nāgārjunikonda and Gurzala in the Guntūr district (Ep. Ind. 1929, 1f. ; 1941, 123f). They were matrimonially connected with the Kekayas, probably a ruling family of Ancient Mysore (Dubreuil, AHD, pp. 88, 101). The most well-known rulers of the Iksh vāku family of the Eastern Deccan are Chāṁtamūla, Sri-Vira-Purusha-datta, Ehuvala Chämtamāla II and possibly 'Rulupurisadāta' (Ep. Ind. xxvi. 125). The Ikshvākus were succeeded by the "Ananda" kings of Guntūr, the Brihat-phalāyanas of Kudurāhāra (near Masulipatam), the Sālankāyanas of Vengi (cf. IA, 5. 175 and the Salakenoi of Ptolemy), and the Vishņukundins of Lendulura (near Vengi). 2 The Pallavas-a people of unknown origin, claiming descent from Aśvatthāman and Nāga princesses, are the most important of all the dynasties that succeeded the Satavahanas in the Far South. The claim of descent from Brāhmanas of the Bharadvāja gotra, the performance of the Aśvamedha and patronage of Sanskrit learning, connect the dynasty with the Sungas, while the Brāhmana-Näga connection, (cf. Samkirna-jāti, Brahma-kshatra, SII, Nos 7, 48), the performance of Vedic sacrifices including the horse-sacrifice, early association with the śātavāhana Janapada in the Bellary district and the use of Prākrita in their early records, connect the family with the sātavāhanas. There is no question of any Parthian affinity as the genealogical lists of the family are singularly devoid of Parthian nomenclature. The elephant's scalp used as a crown is no test of race. The well-known hostility of the family to the Cholas and the decidedly northern character of their culture preclude the possibility of a pure Tamil extraction. The first great Pallava king. Siva-Skanda-varman, is known from the inscriptions found at Mayidavolu ( in Guntūr) and Hirahadagalli (in Bellary) to have ruled over an extensive empire including Kanchi, Andhrāpatha and Sātahani rattha, and performed the Aśvamedha sacrifice. About the middle of the fourth century A. D. the emperor Samudra Gupta invaded Southern India, defeated the reigning Pallava king. Vishnugopa, and gave a severe blow to the power and prestige of the empire of Kanchi which, in the long run, probably led to its disruption. The evidence of the Penukonda Plates, the Tālagunda inscription and the Hebbața grant (IHQ. 1927, 434) seems to suggest that the Pallava supremacy continued for some time to be acknowledged by the early Gangas of Anantapura and East Mysore and the early Kadambas of Vaijayanti (Banavāsi) and Mahisha-Vishaya (Mysore). The history of the Pallavas Page #530 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PALLAVA GENEALOGY 501 himself seems to have resided in Pratishthāna or in "camps of victory” in Govardhana ( Nāsik district ), during the fifth and sixth centuries is obscure. Certain inscriptions disclose the names of the following kings, but little is known about them :Kings of Krishņā, Guptūr King of Kāñchi and Nellore districts Vishnugopa I Skandamūla Kāņagopa Virakūrcha II* Skandavarman I (Skanda śishya) re Kumāravishnu 1, covered Kanchi. - Buddhavarman, defeated Cholas. Vāyalūr, Velūrpalai yam, Darsi and Chendalur grants. Skanda II Kumāravishnu II Kumāravishnu Buddhavarman Skandavarman III Skandavarman I Vishnugopa 11 Vishnudāsa Viravarman* Skandavarman IV Simhavarman I" (1) Vijaya Skandavarman vir Viravarman* II (Tāmbrāpa”). Skandavarman V (2) Yuva-mahārāja Vishnugopa (Palakkada). Simhavarman II (3) Simhavarman (Dasa-si | A.D. 436 ? Skandavarman VI napura, Menmātura and Vengorashtra). Nandivarman I Simhavarman III, IV, (4) Vijaya-Vishnugopa two kings of this name) Varman (Vijay-Palotkata) Vishnugopa III Simhavarman V Simbavishņu and 11 Uruvupalli, Māngalūr, Pikira, Vilavatti and Chūra grants. V Uda yendiram grant. Lokavibhāga A.D. 458 and Penukonda plates ? Maherdravarman I Narasimhavarman I Contemporary of Pula - . - .kesin II. * Kings marked with asterisks may have been identical. But this is by no means certain. The settlement of early Pallava genealogy and chronology must still await future discoveries. 1 A Sihavarman is mentioned in the Palnād inscription, But his identity and date are uncertain. 2 Tāmbrāpa is identified with Chembrolu. Page #531 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 502 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDİA Vaijayanti (in North Kanara ) and other places. The imperial dominions were divided into administrative units called āhāra or janapada and placed under rulers who fell into two classes, viz., (a) amātyas who were ordinary civil functionaries and (6) military governors and fendatories styled mahāsenāpati, mahārathi, mahābhoja, and even Rājan. Amātyas are mentioned in connection with Aparanta ( North Konkan), Govardhana ( Nāsik), Māmād(1)a (Poona), Banavāsi (North Kanara) and Khaddavali (Godāvari region). Mahārathis are found associated with Chitaldrug, Nánāghāt, Karle and Kanheri (in the North Korkan). They intermarried with the imperial family (and at times adopted its nomenclature) and also with the Chuţi, Kausika and Vāsishtha clans. The Mahābhojas had close relations with Chutu rulers of Banavāsi. Mahāsenāpatis are found in Nāsik in the days of Yajña Śri, and in Bellary in the time of a Pulumāyi. The rule of these military governors, some of whom belonged to the Kuśika family or were matrimonially connected with it, was very much in evidence in the last days of the Sātavāhana empire. · Potentates with the title of rājā ruled in the Kolhapur region. The most notable among these were Vāsishthiputra Vilivāyakura, Māthariputra Sivalakura and Gautamiputra Vilivāyakura (II). The Vilivāyakura group cannot fail to remind one of Baleokouros of Hippokoura mentioned by the Greek geographer Ptolemy (c. 150 A.D.). It is from the ranks of military governors and feudatories that the princes who carved out independent principalities on the dissolution of the Sātavāhana empire, evidently sprang. The śālankāyanas ( Salakenoi ), for 1 E.g. Navanara-perhaps really identical with the port of Calliena (Kalyana, an ancient name of which, according to the Bombay Gazetteer. XIV. 114 is Navānagara). Page #532 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ŚĀTAKARNIS OF KUNTALA 503 example, who appear to have been a feudatory family in the Andhra country, afterwards set up an independent sovereignty. The Pallavas were doubtless connected with the military governors of the Bellary district. . The Śätakarnis of Kuntala. In the days of the great Gautamiputra, son of Bala Sri, Banavāsi or Vaijayanti (Kanara) seems to have been the capital of an imperial province under an amatya named Sivagupta. By an obscure transition the sove reignty of the territory passed into the bands of a family, possibly styled Chutu in inscriptions, whose connection with the Sātavāhana-Sātakarộis is not known. The evidence of the Myakadoni inscription and notices in the Kāmasūtra of Vātsyāyana, the Gāthāsaptaśati and the Kāvya Mimāṁsā, probably suggest that a group of Śātavāhanas preceded the so-called Chutu kula in Kuntala or the Kanarese country. Some of them were great patrons of Prākrit learning. The most famous amongst them was Hāla. Another king of the group was Kuntala śātakarņi mentioned in the Kāmasūtra whom the Purāṇas regard as a predecessor of Hāla. The Chuțu line is represented by Hāritiputra Vishṇukada-Chutu kulānanda Sātakarni, Rājā of Vaijayantipura, and his daughter's son SivaSkandanāga Śri who is identified by Rapson with Skandanāga Sataka of a Kanberi Inscription, and also with Hāritiputra Siva-[Skanda]-varman, lord of Vaijayanti, mentioned in a Malavalli record (in the Shimoga district of Mysore). The last identification seems to be doubtful as the mother and daughter of Vishṇukada could hardly 1. Some scholars do not accept the theory that Chutu is a dynastic designation, They regard it as a personal name. Prog. Rep. of the ASI. W. Circle, 1911-12 p.5. Page #533 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 504 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA have belonged to the same gotra. Hāritiputra Sivavarman was apparently succeeded by the Kadambas.? 1 The Kadamba line was founded by Mayursarman, a Brāhmaṇa, who rose against the Pallavas and helped by "Vrihad Bäņa" and other kings, compelled the lord of Kanchi to confer on him the Pattabandha of military governorship He soon pushed his conquests to the western ocean. His great-grandson Kākustha varman gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings. Krishna varman I performed the Aśva medha. Mpigesa-varman defeated the Gangas and Pallavas and had his capital at Vaijayanti. Junior branches of the family ruled at Palāśikā, Uchchaśțingi and Triparvata. The Kadambas were finally overthrown by the Chalukyas. See Moraes, Kadamba-Kula ; Sircar, JIH, 1936, 301 ff. Page #534 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. THE SAKAS OF UJJAIN AND KATHIAWAR. The The greatest rivals of the restored Satavahana Empire were at first the Saka Kshatrapas of Ujjain. progenitor of the Saka princes of Ujjain was Ysamotika who was the father of Chashṭana, the first Mahakshatrapa of the family. The name of Ysamotika is Scythic. His descendant, who was killed by Chandra Gupta II, is called a Saka king by Bana in his Harsha-charita. It is, therefore, assumed by scholars that the Kshatrapa family of Ujjain was of Saka nationality. The proper name of the dynasty is not known. Rapson says that it may have been Karddamaka. The daughter of Rudradaman boasts that she is descended from the family of Karddamaka kings; but she may have been indebted to her mother for this distinction. The Karddamaka kings apparently derive their name from the Kardama, a river in Persia.2 According to Dubreuil, Chashtana ascended the throne in A.D. 78, and was the founder of the Saka era. But this is improbable in view of the fact that the capital of Chashṭana (Tiastanes) was Ujjain (Ozene of Ptolemy), whereas we learn from the Periplus that Ozene was not a capital in the seventies of the first century A.D. The Periplus speaks of Ozene as a former capital, implying that it was not a capital in its own time. 1 JRAS, 1906, p. 211. Lévi and Konow (Corpus, II. i. lxx) identify Ysamotika with Bhumaka on the ground that the Saka word "Ysama" means earth. But identity of meaning of names need not necessarily prove identity of persons. Cf. the cases of Kumāra Gupta and Skanda Gupta. 2 Pārasika. Shamasastry's translation of the Kauțiliya, p. 86. See also IHQ, 1933, 37 ff. Cf. the Artamis of Ptolemy, VI. 11. 2, a tributary of the Oxus. 3 The Peripuls mentions Malichos (Maliku), the king of the Nabataeans, who died in A. D. 75, and Zoscales (Za Hakale), king of the Auxumites, who reigned from A. D. 76 to 80 (JRAS, 1917, 827-830). O. P. 90-64 Page #535 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 506 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA The earliest known date of Chashtana is S. E. 52, i.e., A.D. 130. We learn from the Andhau inscriptions that in the year A.D. 130 Chashtana was ruling conjointly with his grandson Rudradāman. Professor Rapson and Dr. Bhandarkar point out that his foreign title Kshatrapa, and the use of the Kharoshthi alphabet on his coins, clearly show that he was a viceroy of some northern power--probably of the Kushāns. Jayadāman, son of Chashtana, seems to have acted merely as a Kshatrapa, and to have predeceased his father, and the latter was succeeded as Manākshatrapa by Rudradāman. Rudradāman' became an independent Mahākshatrapa some time between the years 52 and 72 (A.D. 130 and 150). We learn from the Junāgadh Rock Inscription of the year 72 that men of all castes chose him as protector and that he won for himself the title of Mahākshatrapa. This probably indicates that the power of his house had been shaken by some enemy (possibly Gautamiputra), and he had to restore the supreme satrapal dignity by his own prowess. The place names in the inscription seem to show that the rule of Rudradāman extended over Purv-āpar-AkarĀvanti ( East and West Mālwa), Anupa-nivșit or the Māhishmati region ( Māndhātā in Nimād, or Maheśvara ), Ānartta: (territory around Dwārakā), Surāshtra (district 1 For references to Rudradāman in literature, see Chatterjee, Buddhistic Studies (ed. Law), pp. 384 f. 2 IA, 4, 346. 3 Anartta may, according to some, bowever, designate the district around Vadanagara (Bom. Gaz. 1, i, 6). In that case Kukura may be placed in the Dwarakā region. The Bhāgavata Purana refers to Dwārakā as "Kukur. Andhaka-Vrishnibhih guptā" (1. 11, 10). The Vayu Purana (ch. 96. 134) represents Ugrasena, the Yadava rājā, as Kukurodbhava, of Kukura extraction. In Mbh. III. 183. 32, too, Kukuras are closely associated with Daśārbas and Andbakas who are known to have been Yadava clans. In II. 52. 15 they Page #536 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE GREAT SATRAP RUDRADĀMAN I 507 around Junāgadh), Svabhra (the country on the banks of the Sābarmati), Maru ( Mārwār), Kachchha ( Cutch ), Sindhu-Sauvīra (the Lower Indus Valley )' Kukura probably between Sind and the Pāriyātra Mt.), A parānta (N. Konkan), Nishāda (in the region of the Sarasvati and the Western Vindhyas), etc. Of these places Surāshtra, Kukura, Aparānta, Anupa and Akarāvanti formed part of Gautamiputra's dominions, and must have been conquered either from that king or one of his immediate successors. The Junāgadh inscription gives the information that Rudradāman twice defeated Sātakarņi, lord of the Deccan, but did not destroy him on account of their near relationship. According to Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar this Šātakarņi was Gautamiputra himself, whose son Vāsishthiputra Sātakarni was Rudradāman's son-in-law. According to Rapson the lord of the Deccan defeated by the Saka ruler capital. are associated with the Ambashțbas and the Pahlavas. A branch of the people may have lived in the lower valley of the Chenab and the Indus, while another branch occupied a portion of Kathiāwār. 1 Sindhu is the inland portion lying to the west of the Indus (Watters, Yuan Chwang, II. 252, 253, read with 256 ; Vātsyāyana. Kamasutra, Benares Ed., 295). Sauvira includes the littoral (Milinda Panho, s. B. E., XXXVI, 269), as well as the inland portion lying to the east of the Indus as far as Multān (Alberuni. I, 302; IA, 7, 259). The Jaina Pravachanasāroddhāra names Vitabhaya as the capital. 2 Brihat Samhitā, V, 71; XIV, 4. 3 Aparānta in its extended sense (cf. Asoka, RE, V) no doubt embraces not only Śūrpāraka but Näsik, Bharukachchha, the Mahi valley, Catch, Surashtra, Ānartta, Abu, etc. (Vāyu, 45 129 f. ; Matsya, 114 50-51 ; Mārk, 57, 49 f.--the Puranic text is corrupt and surpārakāḥ, Kachchiyāḥ and Anarttāḥ should be substituted for Sūryārakāḥ, Kāśmirāḥ and Āvantyāh). But as the Junāgadh record distinguishes A parānta from Surashtra, Ānartta, etc., it is clearly used here in its restricted sense. 4 Cf. Nishāda-rashtra, Mbh., III. 130. 4 (the place of the disappearanceVinaśana-of the river Sarasvati is described as the dvāra of Nishādarashtra); note also Pariyātracharah-Mbh., XII, 135, 3-5. In Mbh. ii. 31. 4-7 a Nisbādabhūmi is placed between the Matsyas (of Jaipur) and the Chambal. The Vedic commentator Mahidhara explains the word Nishāda as meaning a Bhil (Vedic Index, I. 454). According to Bühler (IA, 7, 263) Nishāda probably corresponded with Hissar and Bhatnir. Page #537 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 508 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA was Pulunāyi. It is more probable that the defeated ruler was Vāsishthiputra Sātakarņi himself, who may have been a brother and a predecessor of Pulumāyi. The Great Satrap also conquered the Yaudheyas, possibly of Johiya-bār along the Sutlej, who are known, from a stone inscription to have occupied also the Bijayagadh region in the Bharatpur state. If the Kusliān chronology accepted by us be correct, then he must have wrested Sindhu-Sauvira from one of the successors of Kanishka I. Rudradāman apparently held his court at Ujjain, which is mentioned by Ptolemy as the capital of his grandfather Chashtana, placing the provinces of Anarta and Surāshțra under his Pahlava (Parthian) Amātya' Suvišākla. The Amātya constructed a new dam on the famous Sudarśana Lake which owed its origin to the "care bestowed by the Maurya government upon question of irrigation, even in the most remote provinces.” The Great Kshatrapa is said to have gained fame by studying grammar (sabda ), polity (artha ), music (gandharva), logic (nyāya), etc. As a test of the civilised character of his rule it may be noted that he took and kept to the end of his life, the vow to stop killing men except in battle. The Sudarśana embankment was rebuilt and the lake reconstructed by "expending a great amount of money from his own treasury, without oppressing the people of the town and of the province by 1 With this bureaucratic designation is to be contrasted the title Rāja applied to Tushāspha, the local ruler of Surāshtra in the days of Asoka, who was more than a mere official' (IA., 7, 257 n.). While some of the Saka provinces or districts were placed under amātyas or officers whose functions were mainly of a civil character, others seem to have been governed by generals (Mahādandanāyaka). The name of such a military governor is disclosed by a Sanchi inscription (JASB, 1923, 343). Page #538 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LATER SATRAPS OF CHASHTANA'S LINE 509 exacting taxes ( Kara ), forced labour ( Vishți ) benevolences (Pranaya), and the like. The king was helped in the work of government by an able staff of officials, who were "fully endowed with the qualifications of ministers” ( amūtya-guna samudyuktaih ) and were divided into two classes, viz., Matisachiva (Counsellors ) and Karma-sachiva (Executive Officers). Rudradāman had at least two sons and one daughter. The princess was given in marriage to Vāsishthaputra Sri Satakarņi of the Sātaväbana family of the Deccan. A Nāgārjunikonda inscription ? refers to a princess from Ujjain named Rudrad hara Bhattārikā who was the queen (Mahādevī) of an Iksh vāku ruler of the Gunţiir district and some adjoining regions in the lower Krishṇā valley. It has been surmised by Vogel that she probably belonged to the house of Chashtana. Her father is styled a Mahārāja, a title which seems to have been formally assumed by one of the latest successors of Rudradāman I, riz., Svāmi-Rudrasena III, who ruled from c. A.D. 348 to. 378, and was, apparently, a contemporary of SamudraGupta. It is, however, difficult to say if the Ikshvāku queen was a daughter of Rudrasena III or of some earlier prince. Rudradāman I, was succeeded by his eldest son Dāmaghsada I. After Dānraghsada there were, according to Rapson, two claimants for the succession : his son Jivadāman and his brother Rudra Siniha I. The struggle was eventually decided in favour of the latter. To Rudra Simha's reign belongs the Guņda inscription of the year 103 ( = A. D. 181) which records the digging of a tank by an Abhira general named Rudrabhūti, son of the general - Bāpaka or Bāhaka. The Ābhiras afterwards 1 Bomb, Gaz, I, 1, 39. 2 Ep. Ind., XX, 1 ff. Page #539 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 510 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA possibly usurped the position of Mahākshatrapa. According to Dr. Bhandarkar ar Ābbira named īśvaradatta was the Mahākshatrapa of the period 188-90-A. D. But Rapson places Iśvaradatta after A.D. 236. Rudra Simha I was followed by his sons Rudrasena 1,' Sanghadāman and Dāmasena. Three of Dāmasena's sons became Mahākshatrapas, viz., Yasodāman, Vijaysena and Dāmajada Sri. This last prince was succeeded by his nephew Rudrasena II who was followed by his sons Visvasimha and Bhartridāman. Under Bhartridāman his son Visvasena served as Kshatrapa. The connection of Bhartridāman and Visvasena with the next Mahākshatrapa Rudradāman II and his successors cannot be ascertained. The last known member of the line was Rudra Simha III who ruled up to at least A.D. 388. Rapson points out that from A.D. 295 to c. 340 there was no Mahākshatrapa. The elder branch of the family came to an end after 305 and passed by an obscure transition to a new line of Satraps and Great Satraps. The rulers from A.D. 295 to 332 held only the subordinate title of Satrap, and the higher title was not revived till a few years before A.D. 348, when Rudrasena III styled himself Rājā Mahākshatrapa and Mahārāja Kshatrapa. Now, it is precisely during the period when the old line passed away in obscurity, and the office of Mahākshatrapa remained in abeyance, that we find Sakasthāna and portions of Hind annexed to the Sassanian empire and dominated by Sassanian viceroys. The Sassanian conquest began before the end of the reign of Varhrān (Bahrām) II (A. D. 293) and the Sassanian suzerainty 1 To Rudrasena's reign belong the Mulwasar tank inscription, and the Jasdhan Pillar Inscription of A. D. 205. In the latter epigraph we have the title Bhadramukha applied to all the ancestors of Rudrasena, exceping Jayadāma. Page #540 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GUPTA CONQUEST OF KĀȚHIĀWĀR 511 was maintained till the early part of the reign of Shāpār II (A. D. 309-79). The hold of the Persians on the distant Indian provinces became weak in the middle of the fourth century A. D. when Rudrasena III assumed the title of Mahārāja, and Samudra Gupta, the prototype of the Raghu of Kālidāsa, forced the foreign potentates of the north-west borderland to do him homage. The revived power of the Sakas of Western India did not last long, being finally destroyed by the Guptas. Already in the time of Samudra Gupta the Sakas appear among the peoples who hastened to buy peace by the offer of maidens and other acts of respectful submission. The Udayagiri Inscriptions of Chandra Gupta II testify to that monarch's conquest of Eastern Mālwa. One of the Inscriptions commemorates the construction of a cave by a minister of Chandra Gupta who "came here. accompanied by the king in person, who was seeking to conquer the whole world.” The subjugation of western Mālwa is probably hinted at by the epithet “Simhavikrānta-gāmini,” resorting to (as a vassal of) Simha Vikrama, i.e., Chandra Gupta II, applied to Naravarman of Mandasor.'' Evidence of the conquest of Surāshtra is to be seen in Chandra Gupta's silver coins which are imitated from those of Śaka Satraps. Lastly, Bâņa in his Harsha-charita refers to the slaying of the Saka king 1 Ind. Ant., 1913, p. 162. The small copper coins of Chandra Gupta II bearing a vase as type were probably struck by him in the Mālava territory which may have been under Śaka domination in the second century A. D. (Allan, CICAI, cvi). Page #541 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 512 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA by Chandra Gupta: Arl ?)ipure cha para-kalatra kāmukam kamini-veśaguptascha aśātayaditi. 1 Chandra Guptah Saka-patim According to the commentator Sankara the Parakalatra and Kamini referred to above was Dhruva-devi, and the ruler of the Sakas was secretly killed by Chandragupta disguised as Dhruva-devi while the former was making advances of love. The Śringaraprakāśa by Bhoja throws additional light on the point quoting passages from the Devichandraguptam (see Aiyangar Com. Vol. 359ff; also Lévi, J. A. 1923, 201 ff; Devichandraguptam by A. Rangaswami Sarasvati, Ind. Ant. 1923, p. 181 ff.). The last mentioned work is a play by Visakhadatta, the author of the Mudrarakshasa. Quotations from the Devichandraguptam are also found in the Natya darpana of Ramachandra and Gunachandra. Page #542 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE SAKAS OF UJJAIN Ysa motika Chashatna A.D. 130 Jayadāman Rudradāman I A. D. 130-150 Dāma (gh) jada śril Rudrasimha I Daughter = Satrap, A.D.180, 188 Väsishthîputra Sri Great Satrap, A. D. Satakarni 181-88, A. D. 191-96 Satyadāman Jivadaman A. D. 178 (?), 197-8. Rudrasena I A. D. 200-222 Sanghadaman A. D. 222-223 Dāmasena Prabhudamā. A. D. 222-226.. Prithivishena Dāmajada Sri Il Vira dāman Yaśo. Vijaya- Dāmajada Satrap. Satrap, A. D. Satrap, dāman I sena Sri III A.D. 222 232-233 A.D. 234-238 A.D. 239 A.D. 240-50 A.D. 251-254 Rudrasena II A. D. 256 (?)-274 Visvasinha A. D. 277-8 Bhartridaman A.D. 289-295 Visvasena Satrap, A.D. 294-301 Svāmi Jivadāman Rudra dāman II Rudrasimha II Satrap A.D. 305 Yasodāman II Satrap, A.D. 317-32 Rudrasena III A.D. 348-378 Daughter Siri.hasena A.D. 382 Satya Simba Rudrasena IV Rudra Simha IH A.D. 388 + x O. P. 90—65 Page #543 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION IV. ADMINISTRATIVE MACHINERY OF THE SCYTHIAN PERIOD.! The little that we know about the administration of the Scythian Epoch leaves no room for doubt that the institutions of the age were not haphazard improvisations of military upstarts, having no relations with the past, but a highly developed and organised system—the fruit of the labours of generations of political theorists and practical statesmen (Vaktri-Prayoktri). The influence of political thinkers (Arthachintakas) on Indo-Scythian Polity is evident. The ablest among the princes of the time assiduously studied the science of polity (Arthavidyā); 2 and the care taken to train the occupant of the throne, the employment of officers endowed with ministerial qualifications ( Amūtyaguna), the classification of ministers and other high officials (Sachivas), abstention from oppressive imposition of Pranaya ( Benevolences ), Vishți (forced labour ) etc., and the solicitude for the welfare of the Pauras and Jānapadas, people of cities as well as country parts, clearly show that the teaching of the writers of treatises on polity (Arthaśāstra) was not lost upon the Scythian conquerors of India. There was no great cleavage with the past, 1 The expression "Scythian Period" has been used in this section in a broad sense to denote the epoch of all the Post-Mauryan dynasties that ruled in India during the centuries immediately preceding and succeeding the Christian era. During the greater part of this period the most powerful potentate in India was the Scythian "King of Kings" who had his metropolis in the North-West, but whose commands were not unoften abeyed on the banks of the Ganges and the Godāvari. See Cal. Rev., Sept., 1925. 2 The Junāgadh Inscription of Rudradāman (Ind. Ant., 1878, p. 261 ; Ep. Ind., VIII, 36 f.). Page #544 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ TRIBAL REPUBLICS · 515 and the references to Mahāmātras, " Rajjukas, 2 and Samcharaṁtaka or Sañchārin 3 spies, indicate that the official machinery of the Maurya period had not ceased to function at least in Southern India. But we must not suppose that the entire administrative structure of the period was a replica of the Maurya constitution. The foreign conquerors of North-Western India brought with them several institutions which had been prevalent for ages in the countries through which they passed. Thus the Persian system of government by Satraps was introduced in several provinces of Northern, Western and Southern India, and officials with the Greek titles of Meridarch* (probably District Officer) and Strategos(general or governor) ruled contemporaneously with functionaries having the Indian designation of Amātya (minister or civil officer in charge of a district) and Mahāsenāpati (great general or military governor ). The tide of Scythian invasion could not sweep away the tribal republics which continued to flourish as in the days of Buddha and Alexander. Inscriptions and coins testify to the existence of many such communities, 5 and like the Lichchhavis and śākyas of old, the most powerful among them were found very often ranged against their aggressive royal neighbours who were now mostly Scythian. Unfortunately, the contemporary records do not throw much light 1 Lüders' Ins., Nos. 937. 1144. Note the employment of a Sramana as Mahāmātra (High Officer) by a śātavāhana ruler. 2 Ins. Nos. 416, 1195. The Rajjukas were Surveyors and Judges in the country parts. 3 Ins.. No. 1200 ; cf IA, 5, 52, 155. 4 A Meridarkha Theüdora is mentioned in a Swāt Kharoshthi epigraph. Another Meridarkha is mentioned in a Taxila Kharoshthi inscription. The two meridarchs are mentioned as establishing Buddhist relics and sanctuaries (Corpus, II. i.xv). 5 E.g., the Mālavas (Mālayas), Yaudheyas, Arjunāyanas and possibly the the Audumbaras, Kulūtas, Kunindas (see Camb, Hist., 528, 529), and Uttamabhadras. Cf. Smith, Catalogue of Coins, Sec. VII. Page #545 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 516 ·POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA on their internal organisation, and it serves no useful purpose to ascribe to them institutions which really belong to their predecessors or successors. Though the Scythians could not annihilate the republican clans, they did destroy many monarchies of Northern and Western India, and introduce a more exalted type of kingship. The exaltation of monarchy is apparent from two facts, namely, the assumption of high-sounding semidivine honorifics by reigning monarchs, and then apotheosis of deceased rulers. The deification of rulers, and the use of big titles are not unknown to ancient Indian literature, but it is worthy of note that a supreme ruler like Aśoka, whose dominions embraced the greater part of India and possibly Afghanistān, was content with the titles of “Rājā” and “Devānampiya Piyadasi.”l. The great rulers of the Scythian age, on the other hand, were no longer satisfied with those modest epithets, but assumed more dignified titles like Chakravartin (emperor of a circle of states), Adhiraja (super-king), Rājātirāja (supreme king of kings), and Devaputra (the son and not merely the beloved of the gods). In Southern India we come across titles of a semireligious character like Kshemarāja, 2 Dharma-Mahārājādhirāja and Dharma-Yuvamahārāja,3 assumed by pious defenders of Indian faiths, engaged in upholding dharma as practised by the ancient teachers and law-givers, and 1 'Of Gracious Mien, Beloved of the Gods.' 2 Lüders' Ins., No. 1345. "The beneficent or propitious king', 'prince of peace'. 3 "The Rightoeus King of Kings", "the Righteous Crown Prince". Lüders' Ins., Nos. 1196, 1200. For the significance of the title, cf. IA, 5, 51, "Kaliyugadoshāvasanna-dharmoddharana-nitya sannaddha." Cf. also the epithets "Manvā-dipranita-vidhi-vidhanadharma Dharmarāja iva," "prakshālitakali-kalankaḥ" applied to the Maitraka Kings of Valabhi (Bhuvnagar Inscriptions, 31.). Sometimes even Saka rulers and generals posed as Dharmavijayi (JASB, 1923, 343). Page #546 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXALTATION OF MONARCHY 517 purging it of the evils of the Kali Age, probably to distinguish themselves from the unbelieving foreigners and barbarian outcastes of the North-West. The assumption of big titles! by kings and emperors was paralleled by the use of equally exalted epithets in reference to their chief consorts. Aśoka's queens appear to have been styled merely Devī. The mother of Tīvara, for instance, is called “Dutīā Devī” (the second queen) and the implication is that the elder queen was Prathamā Devī. But in the Scythian epoch we come across the titles of Agra-Mahishi and Mahādevī which distinguished the chief queen from her rivals. Among such chief consorts may be mentioned A yasi-Kamuia, Nāganikā, and Balasri. The apotheosis of deceased rulers is strikingly illustrated by the practice of erecting Devakulas or "Royal galleries of portrait statues.” The most famous of these structures was the Devakula of the Pitāmaha (grandfather) of Huvishka referred to in a Mathurā inscription. The existence of royal Devakulas as well as ordinary temples, 1 It is a characteristic of Indian history that imperial titles of one period became feudatory titles in the next. Thus the title Rājā used by Aśoka became a feudatory title in the Scythian and Gupta periods, when designations like Rājarājā, Rājādhirāja, Mahārājādhirāja, Parama-Bhattāraka and ParamaRajadhirāja (Allan, 63), came into general use. But even Mahārājādhirāja became a feudatory designation in the age of the Pratibāras when the loftier style of Paramabhattāraka, Mahārājādhirāja, Parameśvara was assumed by sovereign rulers, 2 JRAS, 1924, p. 402. For images of later kings, cf. Beginnings of South Indian History. 144, 153 ; Raverty, Tabaqāt, I, 622 (effigy of Bikramajit); C. S. Srinivasachari, The Evolution of Political Institutions of South India, Section IV ("The Young Men of India." June and July, 1924), p. 5. Images of Sundara Chola and one of his queens were set up in the Tanjore temple and deified. C. V. Vaidya (Mediaeval Hindu India, I, 98) refers to the prevalence of the custom of raising some temple at the place of burning the dead body of the kings. But it is not clear if the temples contained images of the dead king and his queens. The deification and worship of the dead kings may be compared to devapitripūjā referred to in the Kauţiliya (I1. 6). Page #547 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 518 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA and the presence of the living Devaputra probably earned for Mathurā its secondary name of "The city (?) of the gods."1 The exaltation of royalty in the epoch under review had the sanction of certain writers on kingly duty (Rājadharma) who represented the king as a "mahati devatā," a great divinity, in human shape. But it was probably due in the first instance to the Scythians 2 who acted as carriers of Persian, Chinese and Roman ideas of kingship. The title Rājātirāja, supreme king overpassing other kings, as Rapson points out, is “distinctively Persian." "It has a long history from the Xshāyathiyānām Xshāyathiya of the inscriptions of Darius down to the Shāhān Shāh of the present day.” The Kushān epithet “Devaputra” is apparently of Chinese origin, being the literal translation of the Chinese emperors' title “Son of Heaven” (Tien-tze ; tien tzu). 4 If Lüders is to be believed, one at least of the IndoScythian sovereigns (Kanishka of the Ārā Inscription) 1 For a different suggestion see Tarn, The Greeks in Bactria and India, 252. Tarn prefers to translate Ptolemy's phrase as 'daughter of the gods'. But see Lévi, JA. 1915, p. 91. 2 The titles 'Theos' and 'Theotropos' were used by certain Indo-Greek rulers, but their example does not seem to have been widely followed. Gondophernes, it is true, calls himself Devavrata, but not yet Deva or Devaputra. As to theory that the Kushāns had been invested competitively with the title "son of the gods" in opposition to the Hiungnu rather than to the Chinese, it has to be admitted that there is no definite evidence that the title in question originated with the Hiungnu, and was not borrowed in ancient times from the Chinese. Cf. B. C. Law Volume, II. 305 ff. The Kushāns had direct contact with the Chines ine the time of Panchao. 3 Cf. the use of the term 'K'shapayitva in connection with the subversion of the Sunga sovereignty by Simuka. The expressions Kshatrasya Kshatra (Brihad Aranyaka Upanishad, I. 4. 14), Adhirāja, Chakravartin, etc., are, no doubt, known to our ancient literature. But there is no proof of the use of the last two as formal styles of sovereigns till the Post-Mauryan period, while the first is never so used. 4 JRAS 1897, 903 ; 1912, 671, 682. Allan, Coins of the Gupta Dynasties xxvii. Artabanus (I or II) called himself 'son of a God' (Tarn, The Greeks, Page #548 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DIARCHY AND YAUVARĀJYA 519 assumed the Roman title of “Kaisar," and tbe dedication of temples in honour of emperors on the banks of the Tiber may have had something to do with the practice of erecting Devalulas on the banks of the Jumna. A remarkable feature of the Scythian Age was the wide prevalence of the system of Dvairūjya or Diarchy in Northern and Western India and Yauvarājya (rule of a crown-prince) in N. W. India and the Far South. Under both these forms of government the sovereign's brother, son, grandson, or nephew had an important share in the administration as co-ruler or subordinate colleague. In a Dvairājya or Diarchy the rulers appear to bave been of equal status, but in a Yauvarājya (rule of a crownprince) the reigning prince was apparently a vicegerent. As instances of Dvairājya may be mentioned the cases of Lysias and Antialkidas, Agathokleia and Strato I Strato I and Strato II, Spalirises and Azes, Hagāna and Hagāmasha, Gondophernes and Gad, Gondophernes and Abdagases, Chashtana and Rudradāman, Kanishka II and Huvishka etc., etc. Among ruling Yavarājas may be mentioned Kharaosta and the Pallava Yuva-Mahārājas Śiva-skanda-varman, Vijaya-Buddha-varman' and Vishņugopa of Palakkada. The king or viceroy, resided in cities called Adhishthāna. The number of such Adhishthānas and various other kinds of cities ( Nagara, Nagarî ), was fairly numerous. But regarding their administration our information is very meagre. We hear of "nigama-sabhās" p. 92 ). This may suggest Greek influence too. Some writers fail to distinguish between occurrence of similar royal epithets in literature and their formal use in contemporary epigraphic records in the time of the Kings themselves (B. C. Law Volume, II, pp. 305 ff. 1 HQ, 1933, 211. Page #549 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 520 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA or town councils and of a city official called Nagarakshadarśa whose functions are nowhere distinctly stated in the inscriptions but seem to have been similar to those of the Nagaravyāvahārikas, or city judges, of the Maurya Age. Regarding general administration, and the government of provinces, districts and villages, we have more detailed information. The designations of some of the highest officers of state did not differ from those in vogue during the Maurya period. Mahāmātras, and Rajjukas play an important part in the days of the Satavahanas and Scythians as in the time of Asoka. But side by side with these functionaries we hear of others who do not figure in inscriptions of the Maurya Epoch although some of them appear in the Arthaśāstra attributed to Kautilya. The officers most Intimately associated with the sovereign were the privy councillors, the Matisachivas of the Junagadh epigraph and the Rahasyadhikṛta of the Pallava grants. Among other prominent court officials must be mentioned the Raja Vaidya, Royal Physician, and the Raja Lipikara, Royal Scribe.3 No less important than the privy councillors were the high military officials-the Mahasenapati, the Dandanayaka and the Mahadanda-nayaka who probably 1 EHI4, 226; Lüder's Ins., No. 1351 (Udayagiri Cave Inscription). Cf. Akshadarśa, Patanjali, Index of Words. Oka, Amarakośa, 123 ; Agni Purana, 366, 3; Vin. iii. 47. According to the last mentioned text the 'akkhadassas' constituted a class of Mahamattas, like their prototypes in the time of Aśoka. In later ages the Akshadarśa might have had revenue functions. Cf. Kshira's comment on the passage from the Amarakośa referred to above. The duties of the Akshapaṭalikas of the Gupta period may be mentioned in this connection. 2 Ins., 1190-93. 3 Ins., 271; Kaut., II, 10. 4 1124, 1146. 5 1328, cf. Majumdar's List of Kharoshthi Ins. No. 36. For the duties of a Dandanayaka, cf. IA, 4, 106, 275n; 5, 49; Fleet, CII, 16. Daṇḍanayakas sometimes carved out principalities (rajya) for themselves (JASB, 1923, 343). Page #550 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OFFICIALS AND THE TREASURY correspond to the Senapati and Nayaka1 of the Kautilîya Arthasastra. These important functionaries had probably under them subordinates like Senagopas ( captains ), Gaulmikas (commanders of platoons), Arakshadhikritas 3 (guards), Asvavārakas (troopers ), Bhatamanushyas 5 (mercenaries), etc. We have already referred to one class of civil officers (Amatyas or Sachivas), viz., the Mati sachivas (counsellors). There was another class of Amatyas who served as executive officers (Karma sachivas). From them were chosen governors, treasurers, superintendents, and secretaries as in the days of Megasthenes. 521 10 Among treasury officials mention is made of the Gamjavara, the Koshṭhāgarika 11 and the Bhanḍāgārika 12 who was one of the principal ministers of state (Rajamatya). But we have no epigraphic reference to the Sannidhatri (lit. piler) or the Samaharatri (collector) till the days of the "Saila" kings of the Vindhyas and the Somavamsi kings of Kosala. The main heads of revenue received into the Bhāndāgāra or Kosa (treasury) were, as enumerated in the Junagadh Inscription, Bali (extra tribute), Sulk (duty), and Bhaga (customary share of the king). These sufficed to fill the exchequer of a benevolent prince like Rudradāman with 1 Kaut., Bk. X. Ch. 1, 2, 5. 2 Lüders' Ins., 1200; Ep. Ind., XIV, 155; cf. Manu, VII, 190. 3 Lüders, 1200. 4 Lüders, 381, 728. 5 Lüders, 1200. 6 Lüders' Ins., 965. 7 1141. 8 1180. 9 1125. 10 Lüders, 82; Rajatarangini. V. 177. Note the employment of a Brahmana treasurer by a Scythian ruler. 11 Ep. Ind., XX, 28. 12 Lüders, 1141. O. P. 90-66 Page #551 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 522 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA to. us kanaka (gold), rajata (silver), vajra (diamond), vaiduryaratna (beryl), etc. Rulers less scrupulous than the Mahakshatrapa doubtless oppressed the people with and benevolences arbitrary imposts, forced labour (kara-vishti-pranaya-kriya-bhih). Besides the Bhanḍāgāra, whose existence is implied by Lüders' Ins., No. 1141, we have reference the storehouse, Koshṭhāgāra,1 which is described in Book II, Chapter 15, of the Kauṭiliya Arthasastra. The inscriptions afford glimpses of the way in which the revenue was spent. The attempts to provide for "paniya" or drinkable water are specially noteworthy. The Junagadh Inscription tells us how "by the expenditure of a vast amount of money from his own treasury" a great Scythian ruler and his amatya restored the Sudarsana lake. References to the construction or repair of tanks, wells, lakes and other reservoirs of water, Pushkarinis, udapānas, hradas or tadagas, are fairly common. Lüders' Ins., No. 1137, makes mention of makers of hydraulic engines (Audayantrika), while another epigraph refers to a royal official called Paniyagharika or superintendent of waterhouses. Inscription No. 1186, after recording the gift of a taḍuga (pond), a naga (statue of a serpent deity) and a vihara (pleasance, monastery), refers to the Amatya Skandasvati who was the official Karmantika (superintendent of works), an designation known to the Arthasastra. 3 In the department of Foreign Affairs we have the Dūta (envoy or messenger), but we do not as yet hear of dignitaries like the Samdhivigrahika (officer in charge In Ins. No. 937. 1 2 Lüders, 1279. 3 Bk. I, Ch. 12. Page #552 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT 523 of peace and war ) and Kumārāmātya? who figure so prominently in inscriptions of the Gupta and Post-Gupta periods. Inscriptions of the period under review refer also to officials like the Mahāsāmiyas who preserved records, 2 and others whose exact functions and status are nowhere indicated. Amongst these may be mentioned the Abhyamtaropasthāyaka, 'servant of the interior (harem ? ),' Mādabika,: Tüthika and Neyika. The big empires of North-Western India were split up into vast satrapies and smaller provinces ruled by Mahāleshatrapas and Kshatrapas. The satrapies as well as the kingdoms outside the limits of the Scythian Empire, were divided into districts called Rashtra, Ahāra, Janapada, Deśa or Vishaya. We do not as yet hear of the organisation into Bhuktis (lit. allotments, administrative divisions) so widely prevalent in Post-Scythian times. Rāshțra, Āhūra (or Hāra) and Janapada seem to have been synonymous terms in this age, as is proved by the case of the Sātahani-rattha (rūshtra) or Sātavāhanihāra which is styled a janapada in the Myakadoni Inscription. The chief officer in a Rāshtra or Ahāra was the Rāshtrapati, Rāshtrika (Rathika) or Amātya. The Amātya Suvišākha, for instance, governed Surāshtra 1 Kumāra means 'a youth,' 'a prince'. Hence Kumārāmātya may mean "junior minister,' or 'prince's minister'. The word Kumāra as the opposite of Praudha may correspond to Chikka, Chenna or Immadi of the South. Another interpretation is also possible. Kumārāmātya may mean an amātya from one's youth just as Kumāra-sevaka means akaumāraparichārakah 2 For another interpretation see JBBRAS, N.S., IV, 1928, pp. 64. 72; HQ 1933, 221. In the opinion of V. S. Bakhle the Mahāsāmiya "seems to refer to the resolution of the corporate assembly of the city or to that body itself." • 3 - The word Madabika may perhaps be connected with Mādamba of the Jaina Kalpasūtra. 89. Para. 62 refers to an official styled Madambiya (Burgomaster). For a tax Mandapikā see Ep. Ind, XXIII, 137. . . 4 Sircar equates Neyika with Naiyogika, Page #553 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 524 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA under the Mahākshatrapa Rudradāman. The Amātyas Vishnupālita, Syāmaka, and Siva-skanda-datta successively governed the Āhāra or district of Govardhana (Nāsik) in the time of Gautamipntra Śātakarņi and Pulumāyi, while the neighbouring Ahāra of Māmāla (Poona District) was under an Amātya whose name ended in-Gupta. In the Far South, the chief officer of the Ahāra seems to have been called 'Vyūpļita.'1 The Janapadas, particularly those on vulnerable frontiers, were sometimes placed under the charge of military governors ( Strategos, Mahāsenāpati, Mahādandanāyaka, etc.). The Janapada of Sātavāhani-bāra was, for instance, under the Mahūsenapati Skandanāga. Part of Eastern Mālwa seems to have been governed by a Śakå Mahādandanāyaka shortly before its annexation by the Imperial Guptas and portions of the Indian borderland were governed by a line of Strategoi (Aspavarman, Sasa)3 under Azes and Gondophernes. Desa, too, is often used as a synonym of Rūshtra or Janapada. It was under a Deśādhikrita, the Deshmukh of mediaeval times, an officer mentioned in the Hirahadagalli grant of Siva-Skanda-varman. The next smaller unit was apparently the Vishaya governed by the Vishayapati. 4 But sometimes even 'Vishaya' was used as a synonym of Deśa or Rāshtra, and there were cases in the Post-Gupta period of the use of the term to designate a larger area than a Rāshtra.5 The smallest administrative units were the villages called Grāma or Grāmāhāra, and the smaller towns or 1 Lüders, 1327. 1328. 2 Cf. the Myakadoni Inscription. . 3 For an amātya named Sasa, see the Kodavali Rock Inscription of the Sātavāhana king Siri Chamda Sāti or sāta (Ep. Ind, XVIII, 318). 4 929n (Lüders). 5 Fleet, CII, 32 n. 6 Lüders, Ins. No. 1195, Page #554 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ASSOCIATE LIFE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT 525 4 emporia called Nigama.1 The affairs of a Gruma were controlled by officers styled Grameyika Ayutta2 who were apparently headed by the Gramani, Gramika, Grāmabhojaka or (Grāma) Mahattaraka. Lüders' (Mathura) Inscription, No. 48, gives the names of two such Gramikas, Jayadeva and Jayanaga. In Southern India we have the curious title "Muluda" applied to the head of a village. " The chief men of the Nigamas were the Gahapatis, the counterparts of the Gramavriddhas of villages. In Liders' Inscription, No. 1153, we have evidence of the corporate activity of a dhammanigama headed by the Gahapati. The Grama and Nigama organisation was the most durable part of the Ancient Indian system of government, and centuries of Scythian rule could not wipe it out of existence. The village and the Nigamas were also the nurseries of those ideas of associate life which found vent in the organisation of societies, committees, assemblies and corporations styled Goshthis, Nikayas, Parishads, 10 Samghas, etc., about which the inscriptions of the period speak so much. Not the least interesting of these institutions was the "Goshthi" which 9 3 8 1 In Pali literature Nigamas are distinguished from grāmas, villages, as well as from nagaras, cities which had strong ramparts and gateways (dridha präkāra torana). 2 1327. 3 1333, 4 48, 69a, 5 1200. 6 Ins., 1194. Cf Murunda lord (Saka). For the presence of Śakas in the far south, see Ep Ind., XX, 37. 7 Gahapati, house-lord, was a designation specially applied to the leading men of the gentry, the wealthy middle class, Kalyana-bhattiko, men accustomed to a good dietary. They are often distingnished from priests and nobles (Rhys Davids and Stede). 8 Lüders' Ins., 273, 1332, 1335, 1338, 9 1133. 10 125, 925. 11 5,1137. Page #555 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 526 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA afforded a field for co-operation between kings and villagers. Liders' Ins., Nos., 1332 to 1338, speak of a Goshthi which was headed by the Rajan, and which counted among its officials the son of a village headman. A less pleasing feature of ancient Indian polity in the Scythian, as in other times, was the employment of spies, particularly of the "Samcharamtakas," or wandering emissaries, whose functions are described with gruesome details in the Arthasustra. The evidence of foreign witnesses in Maurya and Gupta periods seems, however, to suggest that political morality did not actually sink so low as a study of the Arthasastra would lead us to think. Vatsyayana probably voices the real feelings of his countrymen when he says that every single maxim for which there is provision in a theoretical treatise need not be followed in actual practice, because theoretical manuals have to be comprehensive, but practical application should have a limited range. No sane man will think of eating dog's flesh simply because its flavour, tonic power, dressing, etc., are discussed in medical reatises. Na sastramastitye tavat prayoge karanam bhavet sāstrārthān vyāpino vidyāt prayogāmstvekadeśikān rasa-virya vipākā hi śvamāṁsasyāpi vaidyake kirtita iti tat kim syad bhakshaniyam vichakshanaih. Page #556 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER X. THE GUPTA EMPIRE : THE RISE OF THE GUPTA POWER. Imām sāgaraparyantām Himavad-Vindhya-kundalām mahîm elcātapatrānkām Rājasimha praśāstu nah -Dūtavākyam. SECTION I. THE FOUNDATION OF THE GUPTA DYNASTY. We have seen that the tide of Scythian conquest, which was rolled back for a time by the Sātavāhanas, was finally stemmed by the Gupta Emperors. It is interesting to note that there were many Guptas among the officials of the śātavāhana conquerors of the Sakas e.g, Siva Gupta of the Nāsik Inscription of the year 18, ( Pura or Puru ?.) Gupta of the Karle inscription, and Siva-Skanda Gupta of the same epigraph. It is difficult to say whether there was any connection between these Guptas and the Imperial Gupta family of Northern India, two of whom actually bore the names of Skanda Gupta and Puru Gupta.? 1 With Rājasimha may be compared the epithet Narendrasimha occurring on coins of Chandragupta II (Allan, Gupta Coins, 43). All the letters here are not clearly legible (ibid, cxiii), but on many coins we find the analogous epithet Simha-vikrama (pp. 38 ff.). The reference in the Dutavākya must be to a paramount ruler of Northern India, bounded by the seas and the Himalayan and Vindhyan ranges, who had the epithet 'lion-like king,' The ruler who answers best to the description is Chandra Gupta II. The author of the Dūtavākya possibly refers to this monarch. If he is identical with Bhāsa, a distinguished predecessor of Kālidāsa, his career as a poet may have begun before the accession of Chandra Gupta II, Vikramaditya, 'Narendra-Simha,' i.e., in the time of the great patron and 'king of poets' (Kavirāja) Samudra Gupta. -2 In the Modern Review (November), 1929, p. 499 f. it has been suggested that the Guptas are of Kāraskara origin. But the evidence on the point is hardly conclusive. The identification of the "accursed" Chandasena of the Kaumudimahotsava (adopted son of Sundaravarman), whose family was Page #557 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 528 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Sçions of the Gupta family are not unoften mentioned in old Brāhmi Inscriptions. The Ichchhāwar1 Buddhist Statuette Inscription? mentions the benefaction-ofMahādevî, queen of Sri Haridāsa, sprung from the Gupta race ( Gupta-vamsodita ). A Bharhut Buddhist Pillar Inscription 3 of the Sunga period refers to a "Gaupti" as the queen of Rājan Visadeva, and the grandmother of Dhanabhūti, probably a feudatory of the Sungas. Traces of “Gupta” rule iz Magadha proper, or some neighbouring tract down the Ganges, are found as early as the second century A.D. I-Tsing, a Chinese pilgrim, who travelled in India in the seventh century A.D., mentions a Mahārāja Sri Gupta who built a temple near Mrigasikhāvana “which was about forty yojanas uprooted (p. 500 ) with Chandra Gupta I, son of Mahārāja Śri Ghatotkacha whose dynasty ruled gloriously for centuries, is clearly untenable. The mere fact that Lichchhavis helped Chandasena is not enough to prove that the prince in question is identical with Chandra Gupta I. Lichchhavis appear as enemies of Magadha as early as the fifth century B. C. For a summary of the plot of the drama, which is attributed by some to a feinale writer, see Aiyangar Com. Vol.., 361f. If Sundaravarman, and his son Kalyānavarman are real historical figures, and if they actually ruled over Magadha, they must be placed either before Mahārāja Sri Gupta or after Bālāditya (6th century A. D.). The memory of Varman adhipatya over Magadha was fresh at the time of the Sirpur Stone Inscription of Mahāśiva Gupta (Ep. Ind., XI, 191 ). Cf. also Pūrņavarman and Devavarman mentioned by Chinese writers, as well as kings of the Maukhari line. The origin of the Imperial Gupta family is wrapped up in obscurity, We only know that they probably belonged to the Dhārana gotra (IHQ, 1930, 565). They may have been related to Queen Dhārini, the chief consort of Agnimitra. Dr. R. C. Majumdar points out (IHQ, 1933, 930 ff) that according to a Javanese text (Tantri Kāmandaka ) Māhārāja Aiśvaryapāla of the Ikshvāku race traced his genealogy to the family of Samudra Gupta, Little reliance can, however, be placed on the uncorroborated assertions of late writers. Even more unreliable is the testimony of works like the Bhavishyottara Purāna which, according to some critics, 'is a palpable modern forgery' (N.H.I.P., VI. 133n). 1 Bānda district, 2 Lüders, No. 11. 3 Lüders, No. 687. Page #558 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EARLY TRACES OF GUPTA RULE 529 1 to the east of Nālandā, following the course of the Ganges". I-Tsing's date would place him about A.D. 175.2 Allan rejects the date, and identifies Śri Gupta, with Gupta the great-grandfather of Samudra Gupta, on the ground that it is unlikely that we should have two different rulers in the same territory, of the same name, within a brief period. But have we not two Chandra Guptas and two Kumāra Guptas within brief periods? There is no cogent reason for identifying Sri Gupta of cir. A.D. 175, known to tradition, with Samudra Gupta's great-grandfather who must have flourished about a century later. The names of Śri Gupta's immediate successors are not known. The earliest name of a member of the Gupta family of Magadha which appears in inscriptions is that of Mahārāja Gupta who was succeeded by his son Mahārāja Ghatotkacha. 1 Dr. Majumdar in A New History of the Indian People, VI, 129: Dr. D. C. Ganguli, IHQ,XIV (1938), 332. 2 Allan, Gupta Coins, Introduction, p. xv. Cf. Ind. Ant. X (1881) 110. O. P. 90-67 Page #559 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. CHANDRA GUPTA I. The first independent sovereign (Mahārājādhirāja) 1 of the line was Chandra Gupta I, son of Ghatotkacha, who may have ascended the throne in 320 A.D., the initial date of the Gupta Era.? Like his great fore-runner Bimbisāra he strengthened his position at some stage of his career, by a matrimonial alliance with the Lichchhavis of Vaišáli or of Nepāl, and laid the foundations of the Second Magadlian Empire. The union of Chandra Gupta I with the Lichchhavi family is commemorated by a series of coins * having on the obverse standing figures of Chandra Gupta and his queen, the Lichchhavi princess Kumāradevi, and on the reverse a figure of Lakshmi, the goddess of luck, with the legend "Lichchhavayah” probably signifying that the prosperity of Chandra Gupta was due to his Lichchhavi alliance. Smith suggests that the Lichchhavis were ruling in Pāțaliputra as tributaries or feudatories of the Kushāns and that through his marriage Chandra Gupta succeeded to the power of 1 In the Riddhapur plates (JASB, 1924, 58), however, Chandra Gupta I and even Samudra Gupta are called (carelessly) simply Mahārājas. 2 JRAS, 1893, 80 ; Cunningham, Arch. Sur. Rep., Vol. IX, p. 21. The identity of the Gupta king with whom the era (Gupta prakāla, Guptānan kāla) of 320 A. D. originated, is by no means clear. The claims of Mahārāja Gupta (IHQ, 1942, 273 n) or even (less plausibly) of Samudra Gupta, cannot be altogether disregarded. 3 It is not suggested that the marriage took place after 320 A. D. The chronology of the Guptas before A. D. 380 is still in a stage of uncertainty. Nothing definite can be stated about the relative date of the marriage till we know more about the length of Chandragupta'I's reign, and the exact date of bis accession, and that of his son and successor, Samudra Gupta. Some scholars think that Chandra Gupta I's alliance was with the ruling family of Nepāl (JRAS, 1889, p. 55) or of Pataliputra (JRAS, 1893, p. 81). 4 There is difference of opinion among scholars regarding the attribution of these coins, see Altekar in Num. Suppl. No. XLVII, JRASB, III (1937), No. 2, 346, It is difficult to come to any final conclusion till the discovery of coins whose attribution to Chandra Gupta I is beyond doubt, Page #560 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CONQUESTS OF CHANDRA GUPTA I his wife's relatives. But Allan suggests that Pataliputra was in the possession of the Guptas even in Śri Gupta's time. 1 531 From the record of Samudra Gupta's conquests it has been deduced that his father's rule was confined to Magadha and the adjoining territories. In the opinion of Allan the Puranic verses defining the Gupta dominions refer to his reign: Anu-Ganga-Prayagamcha Saketam Magadhamstatha Etan janapadan sarvan bhokshyante Guptavamsajah. "Kings born of the Gupta family will enjoy all these territories viz., Prayaga (Allahabad) on the Ganges," Saketa (Oudh), and Magadha (South Bihar)." It will be seen that Vaisali (North Bihar) is not included in this list of Gupta possessions. Therefore, it is difficult to concur in Allan's view that Vaisali was one of Chandra Gupta's earliest conquests. Nor does Vaisali occur in the list of Samudra Gupta's acquisitions, though the reference to Nepal as a border state in the famous Allahabad inscription may suggest that North Bihār was included within his dominions. It first appears definitely as a Gupta possession in the time of Chandra Gupta II, and constituted a viceroyalty under an imperial Prince. Prayaga (Allahabad) may have been conquered from a line of kings whose existence is disclosed in certain inscriptions discovered at Bhiṭā. Two of these kings, Mahārāja Gautamiputra Sri Sivamagha and Rajan Vasishṭhiputra Bhimasena are assigned 1 Kielhorn's North Indian Inscription, No. 541, however, suggests some connection between the Lichchhavis and Pushpapura (Pataliputra). 2 Cf. Anu-Gangam Hastinapuram, Anu-Gangam Vārānasi, Anu-Śoṇam Patali-putram-Patanjali, II. 1. 2. 3 And Bandhogarh( Rewa )-Amrita Bazar Patrika, 11-10-38, p. 2; NHIP. VI, 41 ff. The Magha kings also known from coins (Fatehpur hoard). Page #561 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 532 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA by Marshall to the second or third century A.D. The name Sivamegha (or Śivamagha ) reminds us of the ‘Meghas' (Maghas) who ruled in Kosalâ in the third century A.D. Another king, - Mahārāja Gautamiputra Vrishadhvaja, is assigned to a third or fourth century A.D. One of the most memorable acts of Chandra Gupta I was the selection, before the assembled councillors (Sabhyas) and princes of the blood, of Samudra Gupta as his successor. 1 JRAS, 1911, 132; Pargiter, DKA, p. 51 ; see also a note on the Kosam Stone Inscription of Mahārāja Bhimavarman, by Mr. A. Ghosh in Indian Culture, III, 1936, 177, ff; see also I. c., 1. 694, 715, Page #562 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. SAMUDRA GUPTA PARĀKRAMĀNKA.1 The exact date when Chandra Gupta I was succeeded by his son, Samudra Gupta, is not known. If the evidence of the spurious Nālandā plate (issued from Nripura) has any value the event may have happened before the year 5 of the Gupta Era, i.e., A.D. 325. But this is doubtful. It is clear not only from the Allahabad Prasasti but from the epithet "tatpadaparig?rihīta," applied to Samudra Gupta in the Riddhapur inscription, that the prince was selected from among his sons by Chandra Gupta I as best fitted to succeed him. The new monarch may have been known also as Kācha.? It was the aim of Samudra Gupta to bring about the political unification of India (dharani-bandha) and make 1 The titles Parākrama, Vyāghraparakrama, and Parākramānka are found on coins (Allan, Catalogue, pp, cxi, 1f) and in the Allahabad Prasasti (CII, p. 6). Recently a coin has been found with the legend Sri Vikramah on the reverse (Bamnālā hoard, Nimar district, J. Num. Soc. Ind. Vol. V. pt. 2, p. 140. Dec. 1943). 2 The epithet Sarva-rājo-chchhettă found on Kācha's coins shows that he was in all probability identical with Samudra Gupta. Cf. Smith, Catalogue, 96 ; IA, 1902, 259 f. For another view see Smith, JRAS, 1897, 19; Rapson, JRAS, 1893, 81 ; Heras, Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. IX, p 83f. To us it is unthinkable that the style "uprooter of all kings" could have been assumed by a Gupta monarch other than the one who is actually credited with that achievement by a contemporary inscription, before the events presupposed by the expression had actually happened. In the Poona plates we find the epithet applied to Chandra Gupta II, son of Samudra Gupta, along with many other designations of the latter. But it should be remembered that the plates in question are not official records of the Guptas themselves. In no official epigraph of the Imperial Guptas ts the style "Sarva-rājo-chchhetta applied to any other king except Samudra Gupta. The application of the term to Chandra Gupta II in the Poona Plates is due to the same carelessness which led the writer to describe Chandra Gupta I as a mere Māhāraja (and not Mahārājadhiraja). A comparison of the Amgāchhi record with the Bāņagad Inscription shows that writers of Prasastis not unoften carelessly applied to a later king eulogies really pertaining to a preceding ruler, Page #563 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 534 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA himself an Ekarat or sole ruler like Mahapadma. But his only permanent annexation was that of portions of Aryavarta in the upper valley of the Ganges and its tributaries, together with certain districts in Central and Eastern India. Following his "Sarvakshatrāntaka”1 predecessor, this Sarva-rujo-chchhetta, "exterminator of all kings," uprooted Rudradeva, Matila, Nagadatta, Chandravarman, Ganapati Naga, Nagasena, Achyuta, Nandi, Balavarman, and many other kings of Áryāvarta,2 captured the scion of the family of Kota and made all the kings of forest countries (aṭavika-raja) his servants. Rudradeva has been identified by Mr. Dikshit with Rudrasena Vākāṭaka. But the Vākāṭakas can hardly be regarded as rulers of Aryavarta, and they were far from being uprooted in the time of Samudra Gupta.3 Equally untenable is the indentification of Balavarman with a prince of Assam, a province that was then looked upon as a border state (Pratyanta) and not as a part of Aryavarta. Matila has been identified with a person named "Mattila" mentioned in a seal found in Bulandshahr in the Central Doab. The absence of any honorific title on the seal leads Allan to suggest that it was a private one. But we have already come across several instances of princes being mentioned without any honorific. Chandravarman has been identified with the king of the same name mentioned in the Susunia inscription, who was the ruler of Pushkarana and was 1 Destroyer of all Kshatriyas, an epithet of Mahāpadma. 2 Father Heras thinks (Ann. Bhan. Ins., IX, p. 88) that Samudra Gupta undertook two campaigns in Aryavarta. But his theory involves the assumption that Achyuta and Nagasena were "violently exterminated" in the second campaign after being "uprooted" in the first. To obviate the difficulty he takes "uprooted' to mean "defeated". This is, to say the least, unconvincing. 3 Cf. IHQ, I, 2, 254, Rudrasena is connected with Deotek in the Chanda Dist. of C. P. Eighth Or. Conf. 613 ff. Ep. Ind. xxvi. 147, 150. 4 "A sandstone hill 12 miles to the north-west of Bankura." Page #564 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ NAGA CONTEMPORARIES OF EARLY GUPTAS 535 possibly the founder of Chandravarman-kota mentioned in the Ghugrahāti grant. Some scholars identify Pushkarana with Pokran or Pokurna in Mārwār, and further equate Sithavarman, the name of the father of Chandravarman, with Simbavarman of the Mandasor family. But there is very little to be said in support of this conjecture. No mention of Chandravarman, or reference to his exploits, is found in any epigraphic record of the Varman family of Western Mālwa. Pushkarana is really to be identified with a village named Pokharan on the Dāmodar river in the Bankura District, some 25 miles to the north-east of Susunia Hill. Ganapati Nāga, Nāgasena and Nandi seem to have been Nāga princes. That Ganapati Nāga was a Nāga prince is evident. This ruler is also known from coins 1 Cf. Dikshit, ASI, AR, 1927-28, p. 188; S. K. Chatterji, "The Origin and Development of the Bengali Language," II, 1061 ; IHQ, I, 2. 255. Pandit H. P. Šāstri believed that this local ruler who bore the modest title of Maharaja was identical also with the mighty emperor (bhumipati prāpta aikādhirājya) Chandra of the Meharauli Iron Pillar Inscription who "in battle in the Vanga countries turned back with his breast the enemies who uniting together came against him and by whom having crossed in warfare the seven mouths of the Indus the Vāblikas were conquered." Others suggest the identification of the great Chandra with one or other of the famous Chandra Guptas of the Imperial Gupta Dynasty. But Chandra is never styled either Chandravarman or Chandra Gupta and, unlike the court poets of the Varmans and Guptas, the panegyrist of the mighty Chandra, who is said to have carried his arms to the distant corners of India, never gives the slightest hint about his pedigree. He does not even mention the name of his father. It may be noted here that the Purānas represent the Nāgas as ruling in the Jumna valley and Central India early in the fourth century A.D. We learn from the Vishnu Purāna that Nāga dynasties ruled at Padmāvati and Mathurā. A Nāga line probably ruled also at Vidiśā (Pargiter, Kali Age, p. 49). Two kings named Sada-Chandra and Chandramsa, "the second Nakhavant," are mentioned among the post-Andhran kings of Nāga lineage. One of these, preferably the latter, who was obviously a ruler of note, may have been the Chandra of the Meharauli Inscription. The Vāhlikas beyond "the seven mouths of the Indus" are apparently the Baktrioi occupying the country near Arachosia in the time of the geographer Ptolemy (Ind. Ant., 1884, p. 408). An inscription of Mahārajādhiraja Sri Chandra has been discovered on a Jaina image at Vaibhāra hill (ASI, AR, 1925-26, p. 125). The identity of this Chandra is not clear. Page #565 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 536 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA found at Mathurā,' at Pawāyā near Narwar and at Besnagar.? Nāgasena, who met his doom at Padmāvati? near Narwar on the Sindh river between Gwalior and Jhansi, is mentioned as a scion of the Nāga family in the Harsha-charita (Nāga-kula-janmanal sūrikāśrāvita mantrasya āsīdnūšo Nāgasenasya Padmāvatyām. 4 Nandi was also probably a Nāga prince. In the Purūnas Sisu Nandi and Nandiyaśas are connected with the Nāga family of Central India. We know also the name of a Nāga prince named Sivanandi.5 Achyuta was probably a king of Ahichchhatrā, modern Ramanagar in the Bareilly District. To him has been attributed the small copper coins bearing the syllables 'achyu' found at Ahichchhatrā. 6 As to the Kota-kula Rapson' draws our attention to certain coins bearing the inscription Kota. These resemble the "Sruta coins" attributed to a ruler of 1 Altekar, NHÍP, vị, 37. 2 IHQ, 1, 2, 255. Note the importance of the name of this king from the point of view of religious history. Cf. Gajamukha of the Brihat Samhitā, 58. 58. A reference to king Ganapati Nāga in the Bhāva Sataka, a late work, is more than doubtful. Gajavaktra Śri of that work is a misreading for Gata Vaktra Sri (IHQ, 1936, 135ff). 3 Padamāvati-'Padam Pawāyā (25 miles n. e. of Narwar) in the apex of the confluence of the Sindhu and the Pārā. Nāga coins have been found here ; also a palmleaf capital with an inscription of the first and second century B.C." EH1", p. 300 ASI, AR, 1915-16, pp. 101 ff. 4 "In Padmavati Nāgasena, born in the Nāga family. whose confidential deliberations were divulged by a sārika bird, met his doom." 5 Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan. p. 31. It is interesting to note that Garuda was the emblem of the Gupta kings who did much to curb the power of the Nāgas. Cf. the passage of the Junāgadh Inscription of Skanda Gupta : Narapati bhujagānām nānadarpot phanānām pratikrti Garudājñām nirvishim chăvakartā In the Purāņas Kộishna, the deity honoured by the Guptas, crushes the head of the serpent Kāliya. 6 Allan, Gupta Coins, xxii; CCAI, 1xxix. 7 JRAS, 1898, 449 f. Page #566 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SUBJUGATION OF FOREST STATES 537 Śrāvasti and should apparently be referred to the upper Gangetic region. 1 The conquered territories were constituted as Vishayas or Imperial sub-provinces. Two of these vishayas are known from later inscriptions of the family, namely, Antarvedi or the Gangetic Doāb and Airikiņa in Eastern Mālwa. It is significant that a Nāga styled the Vishayapati Sarva-nāga; figures as a ruler of Antarvedi as late as the time of Skanda Gupta. The annexation of the northern kingdoms named above was not the only achievement of Samudra Gupta. He made the rulers of the Āțavilca rājyas, or forest states, his servants. But his most daring exploit was an expedition to the south, which made his power felt by the potentates of the Eastern Deccan. We perceive, however, a difference between his northern and southern campaigns. In the north he played the part of a “digvijayī” or "conqueror of the quarters,” of the Early Magadhan type.” But in the south he followed the Epic and Kautilyan ideal of a "dharmavijayī" or "righteous conqueror," i.e., he defeated the kings but did not annex their territory. He may have realised the futility of attempting 1 Smith (Coins in the Indian Museum, 258) points out that the Kota coins are common in the Eastern Pañjāb and the Delhi bazaar. A Kota tribe is said to exist also in the Nilgiris (JRAS. 1897, 863; Ind. Ant., iii, 36, 96, 205). The passage in the Allahabad Inscription that "Samudra Gupta caused the scion of the Kota family to be captured by his armies and took pleasure at Pushpāhvaya" has been taken by some scholars to suggest that the Kotas were at the time the ruling family of Pataliputra (cf. Jayaswal, History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D., p. 113). The identification of the Kota kula, with the Māgadha family of the Kaumudi-mahotsava lacks proof. 2 This kind of Vijaya or conquest is termed Asura-vijaya "demon's conquest" in the Arthaśāstra (p. 382). The name may have been derived from the Assyrians, the ruthlessness of whose warfare is well-known. For a discussion regarding possible derivation of Asur from Assur, see JRAS, 1916,355 ; 1924, 265ff. Conquest of this type is first met with in India in the sixth century B.C. (cf. Ajātaśatru's subjugation of the Lichchhavis and Vidudabha's conquest of the Sākyas) when Persia served as a link between Assyria and India. 0. P. 90-68 Page #567 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 538 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA to maintain effective control over these 'distant regions in the south from his remote base in the northeast of India. His successor tried to maintain his hold on the Deccan by a system of marriage alliances, The Ațavika rūjyas undoubtedly included the realm of Alavaka (Ghāzipur) as well as the forest kingdoms connected with Dabhālā, or the Jabbalpur territory." The conquest of this region by Samudra Gupta is suggested also by his Eran inscription. The Kings of Dakshiņāpatha who came into conflict with the great Gupta were Mahendra of Kosala, Vyāghrarāja of Mahākāntāra, Mantarāja of Kaurāla, Svāmidatta of Kottūra, a chieftain of Pishtapura whose precise name is uncertain,” Damana of Erandapalla, Vishņugopa of Kāñchi, Nilarāja of Avamukta, Hastivarman of Vergi, Ugrasena of Palakka, Kubera of Devarāshtra, Dhanamjaya of Kusthalapura and others. Kosala in Dakshināpatha, i.e., South Kosala, comprised the modern Bilāspur, Raipur and Sambalpur districts, and Occasionally possibly even a part of Gañjām. Its capital was Sripura, the modern Sirpur, about forty miles east 1 Fleet, CII, p. 114 ; Ep. Ind., VIII, 284-287. In the latter part of 34, fifth and early part of the sixth century A.D., the Dabhālā country was governed by the Parivrājaka Mahārājas as feudatories of the Guptas. The Mbh. ii. 31. 13-15, like the Allahabad Prasasti, distinguishes the Ātavikas from the Kāntārakas. One of the Atavika states may have been Koţātavi mentioned in the commentary on the Rāma.charita of Sandhyākara Nandi (p. 36). In one epigraphic record, Ep. Ind., VII, p. 126, we have a reference to a place called Vatātavi, while another, Lüders' List. No. 1195, mentions Sahalātavi. 2 For the various interpretations of the passage "Paishtapuraka Mahendragiri Kauttūraka Svāmidatta," see Fleet, CII, Vol. 3, p. 7; JRAS, 1897, pp. 420, 868-870 ; IHQ, 1925, 252; Barua, old Brahmi Inscriptions, 224. It is not improbable that Mahendragiri in this passage is a personal name. Cf. the name Kumāra-giri given to a chief of Kondavidu whose territories included a portion at least of the Godavari district (Kielhorn, S. Ins., 596 ). In JRAS, 1897, 870, we have reference to Kamtagir, an ally of Sindhia. 3 Inclusion of Ratnapur, Ep. Ind., X, 26; of Kongoda, Ep. Ind., VI, 141, unless Kosala is a misreading for Tosala. Page #568 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGDOMS OF THE DECCAN 539 by north from Raipur. Mahākāntāra is apparently a wild tract of the Central Provinces which probably included Kantara which the Mahabharata places between Veņvātata (the valley of the Wainganga) and Prak-Kosala, the eastern part of Kosala mentioned above. 2 Kaurala cannot be Kolleru or Colair which must have been included within the territory of Hastivarman of Vengi mentioned separately. Dr. Barnett suggests its identification with one of the villages that now bear the name Korāda3 in South India. This is a place named Kolada near Russelkonda in Gañjam. 4 Koṭṭūra has been identified with Kothoor, 12 miles south-east of Mahendragiri in Gañjām. Pishṭapura is Pithapuram in the Godavari district. Erandapalla is identified by Fleet with Erandol in Khandesh, and by Dubreuil with Erandapali, "a town probably near Chicacole" in the Ganjam district. 5 But G. Ramdas suggests the identification of Erandapalla 1 Fleet, CII, p. 293. Cf. Ep. Ind. xxiii. 118f. 2 Mbh. II. 31. 12-13. G. Ramdas (IHQ, I. 4, 684) identifies Mahākāntāra with the 'Jhad-khand' Agency tracts of Gañjām and Vizagapatam. The sway of the raja of Mahākāntāra or "Greater Kantara", may have extended northwards as far as Nachna in the Ajaygarh (not Jaso) state (Smith, JRAS, 1914, 320). The identification of many of the southern kingdoms suggested by Mr. R. Sathianathaier (in his Studies in the Ancient History of Tondamandalam) does carry conviction. His conclusion that Samudragupta "first emerged on the east coast at Pithapuram and conquered the Western Deccan" is based upon evidence that is clearly inadequate. not 1 3 Cal. Rev., Feb., 1924, 253 n. Cf. Kurṛālam, Tj. 590 ( A Topographical List of Inscriptions of the Madras Presidency, by V. Rangacharya). The identification with Yayatinagari (Ep. Ind. XI. 189), which Dhoyi connects with the sports of the Keralis, was suggested in former editions of this work. But the reading Kerali in the Pavanaduta is not beyond doubt. For Kolada see Ep. Ind. XIX. 42, 4 There is another Kottura 'at the foot of the Hills' in the Vizagapatam district (Vizag., District Gaz., I. 137). See also Koṭṭūru (IA, 4, 329) and Kotturnādu, MS. 333, Rangacharya's List.. 5 Dubreuil, AHD, pp. 58-60. A place called Erandavalli is mentioned in an inscription of Govinda III (Bharata Itihāsa Sam. Mandala, A.R. XVI). 6 IHQ, 1, 4, p. 683. There is an Erandi tirtha in Padma, Svarga khanda, 45, 57, 61. Page #569 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 540 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA with Yendipalli in Vizagapatam or Endapilli in Ellore Taluk. Kanchi is Conjeeveram near Madras. Avamukta cannot be satisfactorily identified. But the name of its king Nilaraja reminds us of Nilapalli, "an old seaport near Yanam" in the Godavari district. Vengi has been identified with Vegi or Pedda-Vegi, 7 miles north of Ellore between the Krishna and the Godavari. Its king Hastivarman was identified by Hultzsch with Attivarman (of the Ananda family). But the more probable view is that he belonged to the Salakayana dynasty. Palakka is probably identical with Palakkada, (or Palatkaṭa) a Pallava royal residence or seat of a viceroyalty in Guntur or Nellore in South India. Allan and G. Ramdas locate it in the Nellore district. Devarashtra is the Yellamanchili taluk of the Vizagapatam district. 5 Kusthalapura is, according to Dr. Barnett, probably Kuttalur, near Polur, in North Arcot." The capture and liberation of the southern kings, notably of the ruler of Koṭṭūra near Mt. Mahendragiri remind us of the following lines of Kālidāsa's Raghuvaṁśam ; Grihita-pratimuktasya sa dharma-vijayî nripah Śriyam Mahendra-nāthasya jahāra natu medinim 1 Gazetteer of the Godavari District, Vol. I, p. 213. Curiously enough, the Brahma Purana (ch. 113. 22f) mentions an Avimukta-kshetra on the bank of the Gautami, i. e., the Godavari. Cf. Avimuktesvara, Anantapur, 164 of Rangacharya's List. 2 Attivarman was wrongly assigned to the Pallava race. Cf. IHQ, I, 2, p. 253 Ind. Ant., IX, 102. But he is actually described as born in the lineage. of the great saint Ananda (Bomb. Gaz., I. ii. 334; Kielhorn, S. Ins., 1015; IA, IX, 102; ASI, 1924-25, p. 118). 3 The name Hastivarman is actually found in a Śālaйkāyana Vamśāvali (IHQ, 1927, 429; 1933, 212; Pedavegi plates of Nandivarman II). 4 IHQ, I. 2, 686. Cf. Ep. Ind. xxiv. 140. 5 Dubreuil, AHD, p. 160; ASR, 1908-09, p. 123; 1934-35, 43, 65. 6 Cal. Rev., 1924, p. 253 n. Cf. Kutalaparṛu, MS. 179 of Rangacharya's List. Page #570 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SAMUDRA GUPTA AND THE VĀKĀTAKAS 541 “The righteous conqueror (Raghu) took away from the lord of the Mahendra Mountain, who was made captive and then released, his glory but not his territory”. It is not a little surprising that the Allahabad Prasasti contains no clear reference to the Vākāțakas who are known to have dominated part of the region between Bundelkhand and the Pengangā in the fifth century A.D. The earliest reference to the Vākāțakas occurs in certain inscriptions of Amaravati.' The dynasty rose to power under Vindhyasakti I and his son Pravarasena I. Pravarasena appears to have been succeeded in the northern part of his dominions by his grandson Rudrasena I. Prithivishena I, the son and successor of Rudrasena I, may have been a contemporary of Samudra Gupta and perhaps also of his son Chandraguptall, inasmuch as his son Rudrasena II married the daughter of the last-mentioned Gupta emperor. Prithivisbeņa l's political influence extended over a fairly wide territory. The Nach-nē-ki-talāiand Ganj regions? were in all probability ruled by his vassal Vyāghra-deva. Professor Dubreuil, however, says that the Nāchnā and Ganj inscriptions, which mention Vyāghra, belong, not to Prithivisheņa I, but to his greatgreat-grandson Pșithivisheņa II. This is improbable in view of the fact that from the time of Prithivisheņa Il's great-grandfather, if not from a period still earlier., down to at least A. D. 528, the princes of the region which intervenes between Nāchnā and Ganj and the proper: . Vākāțaka territory, owned the sway of the Gupta empire. 1 Ep. Ind., XV. pp. 261, 267. 2 Fleet, CII, p. 233; Ep. Ind., XVII, 12. Cf. Ind. Ant., June, 1926. 3 This was Berar with the adjoining regions (cf. Ep. Ind. xxvi. 147). That Nāchna and Ganj were in the Gupta Age apparently included within Dakshiņāpatha is suggested by the Brihat Samhitā (xiv. 13 ) which places even Chitrakūta in the Dakshiņa or Southern Division. A recent Vākāțaka Inscription discovered in the Drug district contains an interesting reference to Padmapura which Professor Mirashi identifies with the ancestral home of Bhavabhūti Page #571 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 542 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Now as Vyāghra of the Nāchnä and Ganj records acknowedges the supremacy of the Vākāțaka Prithivisheņa, this Prithivisheņa can only be Prithivisheņa I, who ruled before the establishment of the Gupta supremacy in Central India by Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II" and not Prithivisheņa II during whose rule the Guptas, and not the Vākāțakas, were apparently the acknowledged suzerains of the Central Provinces as we learn from the records of the Parivrājaka Mahārājas:? The absence of any clear reference to Prithivishena I in Harisbeņa's Prašasti is explained by the fact that Samudra Gupta's operations were actually confined to the eastern part of Trans-Vindhyan India. There is no reliable evidence that the Gupta conqueror carried his arms to the central and western parts of the Deccan proper, i.e., the territory ruled by Prithivisheņa I himself. Professor Dubreuil has shown that the identification of Devarāshtra with Mahārāshtra and of Erandapalla with Erandol in Khandesh is probably wrong. Though Samudra Gupta did not invade the Western Deccan it is clear from his Era Inscription that he did deprive the Vākātakas of their possessions in Central India. These territories were not, however, directly governed by the Vākāțaka monarch, but were under a vassal prince. In the time of Prithivisheņa this prince was Vyāghra. We should naturally expect a conflict between the Vākāțaka feudatory and the Gupta and with the modern Padampur near Amgaon in the Bhandārā District of the Central Provinces. IHQ., 1935, 299; Ep. Ind. xxii, 207 ff. The Basim grant implies control of a branch of the family over the part of Berar south of the Ajanta range. 1 The Eran and Udayagiri Inscriptions. For evidence of Palaeography see JRASB, xii. 2. 1946. 73. 2 Cf. Modern Review, April, 1921, p. 475. For Dubreuil's views, see Ind. Ant., June, 1926. 3 Cf. Modern Review, 1921, p. 457. - Page #572 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AUTONOMOUS STATES IN GUPTA INDIA 543 conqueror. Curiously enough, the Allahabad Prasasti refers to Samudra Gupta's victory over Vyāghrarāja of Mahākāntāra.' It is probable that this Vyāgbrarāja is identical with the Vyāghra of the Nāchnā inscription who was the Central Indian feudatory of Prithivishena. As a result of Samudra Gupta's victory the Guptas succeeded the Vākāțakas as the paramount power in Central India. Henceforth the Vākātakas appear in fact as a purely southern power. The victorious career of Samudra Gupta must have produced a deep impression on the Pratyanta 2 mripatis or frontier kings of North-East India and the Himālayan region, and the tribal states of the Pañjāb, Western India, Mālwa and the Central Provinces, who are said to have gratified his imperious command (prachanda śāsana) - “by giving all kinds of taxes, obeying his orders and coming to perform obeisance." The most important among the eastern kingdoms which submitted to the mighty Gupta Emperor were Samatata (part of Eastern Bengal bordering on the sea, having its capital probably at Karmmānta d-Kamta near Comilla ), Davāka ( not yet satisfactorily identified )* and Kāmarūpa ( roughly in Assam ). We learn from the Dāmodarpur plates that the major portion of Northern Bengal, then known as Pundravardhana-bhukti, formed an integral part 1 Has the title Vyāghra-parākrama, found on a type of Samudra Gupta's coins that represents the king as trampling on a tiger, anything to do with the emperor's victory over Vyāghra-rāja ? It is not a little curious that the next sovereign, conqueror of Rudrasimha III. the last Satrap, assumed the title of Sinha-vikrama. 2 For the significance of the term, see Divyāvadāna, p. 22. 3 Bhattasali, Iconography, pp. 4f. JASB, 1914, 85 ff. Cf. the position of Mahārāja Rudradatta under the emperor Vainya Gupta early in the sixth century A.D. (Gunaighar Ins). 4 Cf. Dekaka (Dacca ). Hoyland, The Empire of the Great Mogol, 14. Mr. K. L. Barua identifies Davāka with the Kopili Valley in Assam (Early History of Kamarupa, 42 n). Page #573 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 544 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of the Gupta Empire from A.D. 443 to A.D. 543, and was governed by a line of Uparikas as vassals of the Gupta Emperor. The identification of Davāka with certain districts of North Bengal is, therefore, probably wrong. The Northern Pratyantas were Nepal and Kartripura. The latter principality comprised probably Katarpur in the Jālandhar district, and the territory of the Katuria or Katyur rāj of Kumaun, Garhwal and Rohilkhand. The tribal states which paid homage were situated on the western and south-western fringe of Āryāvarta proper. Among these the most important were the Mālavas, Arjunāyanas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Ābhiras, Prārjunas, Sanakānikas, Kākas and Kharaparikas. The Mālavas occupied part of the Pañjāb in the time of Alexander. They were probably in Eastern Rājaputāna 2 when they came into conflict with Ushavadāta. Their exact location in the time of Samudra Gupta cannot be determined. In the time of Samudra Gupta's successors they were probably connected with the Mandasor region. We find princes of Mandasor using the reckoning, commencing B.C. 58, handed down traditionally by the Mālava-gara ( Mālava-ganūmnāta ). . The Ārjunāyanas and the Yandheyas are placed in the northern division of India by the anthor of the BrihatSamhitā. They may have been connected with the Pandoonoi or Pāndava tribe mentioned by Ptolemy as settled in the Pañjāb. The connection of the Arjunāyanas 1 EHI4, 302 n; JRAS, 1898, 198. Ep. Ind. XIII. 114 ; cf. J. U. P. Hist. Soc, July-Dec, 1945 p.p. 217 ff, where Mr. Powell-Price suggests 'some sort of connection between the Kuņindas and the Katyurs.' 2 Cf. Smith, Catalogue, 161. Allan, CCAI, p. cv. Málava coins have been found in vast numbers in the Jaipur State (JRAS, 1897, 883): 3 Ind. Ant., XIII, 331, 349. Page #574 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ TRIBAL TERRITORIES 545 with the Pandava Arjuna is apparent.1 Yaud heya appears as the name of a son of Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata. The Harivamsa, a later authority, connects the Yaudheyas with Usinara. A clue to the locality of this tribe is given by the Bijayagadh inscription. The hill-fort of Bijayagadh lies about two miles to the southwest of Byānā in the Bharatpur state of Rajaputāna. But the Yaudheya territory must have extended beyond the limits of this area and embraced the tract still known as Jobiyabar along both banks of the Sutlej on the border of the Bahawalpur state. 5 The Madrakas had their capital at Sakala or Sialkot in the Panjab. The Abhiras occupied the tract in the lower Indus valley and western Rajaputāna, near Vinasana in the district called Abiria by the Periplus? and the geography of Ptolemy. We have already seen that an Abhira possibly became Mahakshatrapa of Western India and probably supplanted the Satayāhanas in a part of Maharashtra before the middle of the third century A.D. A section of the tribe apparently settled in Central India and gave its name to the Ahirwar country between Jhansi and Bhilsa. The territories of the Prarjunas, Sanakānīkas, Kākas and Kharaparikas lay probably in Malwa and the Central Provinces. The Prarjunakas are mentioned in the Arthasastra attributed 1 Their coins are found in the Mathura region (Smith, Catalogue, 160). The Abhidhana-chintamani, p 434, identifies a river called Arjuni with the Bahudā (Ramganga ?). 2 Adi., 95, 76. 3 Pargiter, Markandeya Purana, p. 380. 4 Fleet, CII, p 251, Yaudheya votive tablets have been found in the Ludhiana District (JRAS, 1897, 887). Coins have been found in the area extending from Saharanpur to Multan (Allan, CCAI, cli). 5 Smith, JRAS, 1897, p. 30. Cf. Cunningham, AGI, 1924, 281. 6 Sudrabhiran prati dveshad yatra nashta Sarasvati, Mbh.. IX, 37. 1. 7 Cf. Ind, Ant., III, 226 f.. 8 JRAS, 1897, 891. Cf. Ain-i-Akbari II, 165; Malcolm, C.I. I. 20.. O. P. 90-69. Page #575 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 546 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA to Kautilya1 and are located by Smith 2 in the Narsinhapur District of the Central Provinces. A clue to the locality of the Sanakānīkas is given by one of the Udayagiri inscriptions of Chandra Gupta II discovered in Eastern Malwa. The Kākas find mention in the Mahabharata 3-Rishika Vidabhaḥ Kākās TanganaḥParatanganaḥ. In the Bombay Gazetteer Kāka is identified with Kakupur near Bithur. Smith suggests that the name may be locally associated with Kākanāda (Sanchi). The Kharaparikas may have occupied the Damoh District of the Central Provinces. * The rise of a new indigenous imperial power could not be a matter of indifference to the foreign potentates of the North-West Frontier, Malwa and Surashtra (Kathiawar) who hastened to buy peace "by the acts of homage, such as offer of personal service, the bringing of gifts of maidens, begging for seals marked with the Garuda sign (Garutmadanka) to allow them to rule over their respective districts and provinces (svavishaya bhukti)." The foreign powers that thus established diplomatic relations with Samudra Gupta were the Daivaputra-Shahi-Shāhānushāhi and the Saka Murundas 5 1 P. 194. 2 JRAS, 1897, p. 892, 3 Mbh. VI, 9.64. 4 Bhandarkar, IHQ, 1925, 258; Ep. Ind., XII, 46. H. C. Ray, DHNI, I, 586 mentions a Kharpara padraka apparently in Malwa. A Benṇākārparabhaga is mentioned in the Siwani plate. 5 The presence of Scythian maidens in the Hindu imperial harem is not surprising in view of the known facts about Chandra Gupta Maurya's alliance with Seleukos and the marriage of a Satakarni with the daughter of a great satrap. Cf. also Penzer, II. 47; III. 170. 6 Cf. Nilakanta Sastri, The Pandyan Kingdom, 145. "The victor restored the crown and country of the Chola in the form of a religious gift, which was. confirmed by the issue of a royal rescript with the Pandyan seal on it." 7 As to the form Daiva, see Achaemenian inscriptions of Xerxes, and forms. like Bhaimarathi (instead of Bhimarathi). 8 Note the imitation by Samudra Gupta of coins of Kushan type with Ardochsho reverse (Allan, xxviii, xxxiv, lxvi), Such coins were, according to scholars, issued by Scythians of the North-West. Page #576 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KUSHĀN AND ŚAKA CHIEFTAINS 547 as well as the people of Simhala and all other dwellers in islands.1 The Daivaputra-Shāhi-Shāhānushāhi belonged apparently to the Kushān dynasty of the north-west, which derived its origin from the Devaputra Kanishka.? The Saka Murundas must have included the northern chiefs of Scythian nationality who issued the Ardochsho coins as well as the Śaka chieftains of Surāshtra and Central India, the representatives of a power which once domi. nated even the Ganges valley. Sten Konow tells us that Murunda is a Śaka word meaning lord, Sanskrit Svāmin. The epithet Svāmin was used by the Kshatrapas of Surāshtra and Ujjain. A Sāñchi inscription discovered by Marshall discloses the existence of another Saka principality or province which was ruled about A.D. 319 by the Mahādandanāyaka Sridharavarman, son of Nanda. 3 A Murunda Svūmini (noble lady) is mentioned in a Khoh Inscription of Central India. To Scythian chiefs of the Vindhyan region should perhaps be attributed the so-called "Puri Kushān" coins which are found in large numbers in the neighbourhood of the Eastern Vindhyas and some adjoining tracts. The 1 Some control over the islands in the neighbouring seas is possibly hinted at in the epithet Dhanada- Varunendrāntakasama, the equal of Dhanada (Kuvera, lord of wealth, guardian of the north), Varuna (the Indian Sea-god, the guardian of the west), Indra, king of the celestials and guardian of the east, and Antaka (Yama, god of death, and guardian of the south). The comparison of Samudra Gupta with these deities is apposite and possibly refers not only to his conquests in all directions, but to his possession of immense riches, suzerainty over the seas, the spread of his fame to the celestial region and his extirpation of various kings. Inscriptions discovered in the Trans-Gangetic Peninsula and the Malay Archipelago testify to the activities of Indian navigators (e.g. the Mahānāvika from Raktampittikā mentioned in a Malayan epigraph) and military adventures in the Gupta Age. 2. Smith RAS, 1897, 32) identified him with Grumbates. Some scholars take the expression to refer to different kings and chieftains. Cf. Allan xxvii. There may also be a reference to the Sassanids as well. 3 Ep. Ind., xvi, p. 232 ; JRAS, 1923, 337 ff, Page #577 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 548 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 1 existence of a Murunda power in the Ganges valley a couple of centuries before Samudra Gupta is vouched for by Ptolemy. The Jaina Prabhavaka-charita testifies to the control that a Murunda family once exercised over the imperial city of Pataliputra.2 Samudra Gupta's Ceylonese contemporary was Meghavarna. A Chinese writer, Wang Hiuen ts'e, relates that Chi-mi-kia-po-mo (i. e., Sri Meghavarman or Meghavarna) sent an embassy with gifts to Samudra Gupta and obtained his permission to erect a splendid monastery to the north of the holy tree at Bodh Gaya for the use of pilgrims from the Island.3 Allan thinks that it was at the conclusion of his campaigns that the Gupta conqueror celebrated the horse-sacrifice which, we are told in the inscriptions of his successors, had long been in abeyance. But it should be noted that the Asvamedha was celebrated by several kings during the interval which elapsed from the time of Pushyamitra to that of Samudra Gupta, e.g., Pārāśariputra Sarvatata, Satakarni, the husband of Nayanikā, Vasishṭhiputra Ikshvaku Śri-Chamtamula, Devavarman Salankayana, Pravarasena I Vākāṭaka, Śiva-skandavarman Pallava and the Naga kings of the house of Bharaśiva. It is probable, however, that the court poets 1 Ind. Ant., 1884, 377; Allan, xxix. 2 C. J. Shah, Jainism in N. India, p. 194; cf. Indian Culture, III, 49. 3 Geiger, the Mahavamsa (trans.), p. xxxix; Lévi, Journ. As., 1900, pp. 316 ff, 401 ff.; Ind. Ant., 1902, 194. 4 Cf. Divekar, Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, VII, pp. 164-65, "Allahabad Prasasti and Aśvamedha." In the Poona plates Samudra Gupta receives the epithet anekäśvamedhayajin. He was believed to have celebrated more than one horse sacrifice, Some of the campaigns described in the Allahabad. panegyric may have been actually conducted by Princes or officers who kept guard over the sacrificial horse that was allowed to roam at large. In the inscription of Harisheņa the credit for capturing some of the vanquished chieftains is given to the army. Among the great commanders were men like Tilabhaṭṭaka and Harishena himself, who was the son of Dhruvabhuti, Page #578 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ VERSATILITY OF SAMUDRA GUPTA 549 of the Guptas knew little about these monarchs. After the horse-sacrifice Samudra Gupta apparently issued coins bearing the legend Asva-medha-parakramah, 'whose prowess was demonstrated by the performance of the horse-sacrifice.'1 If Harisheṇa, the writer of the Allahabad Prasasti, is to be believed, the-great Gupta was a man of versatile genius. "He put to shame the preceptor of the lord of Gods and Tumburu and Narada and others by his sharp and polished intellect and choral skill and musical accomplishments. He established his title of Kaviraja by various poetical compositions." "He alone is worthy of the thoughts of the learned... His the poetic style which is worthy of study, and his are the poetic works which multiply the spiritual treasures of poets." Unfortunately none of these compositions have survived. But the testimony of Harishena to his musical abilities finds corroboration in the lyrist type of his coins. Himself a poet like Harsha, Mahendravarman and other kings of a later age, the Gupta monarch associated with men of letters who 1 Rapson and Allan refer to a seal bearing a horse and the legend Parakrama, and the stone figure of a horse, now in Lucknow, which are probably reminiscent of the Asvamedha of Samudra Gupta. (JRAS, 1901, 102; Gupta Coins, xxxi.) 2 For Tumburu see Adbhuta-Rāmāyaṇa, VI. 7; E.I.,I. 236. 3. According to the Kavya Mimamsa (3rd. ed. GOS. pp. xv, xxxii, 19) a "Kaviraja is one stage further than a Mahakavi, and is defined as one who is unrestrained in various languages, various sorts of poetical compositions and various sentiments." For the intellectual activities of the Gupta Age see Bhandarkar, "A Peep into the Early History of India," pp. 61-74 and Bühler, IA, 1913. The son and successor of Samudra Gupta had the title Rupakṛiti, 'maker of plays." 4 A poetical work called the Krishna-charitam is attributed to Vikramāňka Mahārājādhirājā Paramabhāgavata Śrī Samudra Gupta. (IC, X, 79 etc.), But the ascription has been doubted by competent critics (cf. Jagannath in Annals, BORI, and others). 5 A lute-player (Vina-gäthin) plays an important part in the Asvamedha. Page #579 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 550 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA were none too prosperous and "put an end to the war between good poetry and plenty" ( satkāvyasrivirodha ). As a result "he enjoyed in the world of the learned, a farextending sovereignty whose shining glory endured in many poems." Samudra Gupta favoured poetry as well as the Šāstra, while Aśoka seems to have specialised in scriptural studies alone. The former undertook military campaigns with the object of sarva-prithivi-jaya, conquest of the whole earth, as known to his panegyrist, the latter eschewed military conquest after the Kalinga war and organised missions to effect Dhamma-vijaya, conquest of the hearts of men, in three continents. Yet inspite of these differences there was much that was common to these remarkable men. Both laid stress on parālorama, ceaseless exertion in the cause in which they believed. Both expressed solicitude for the people committed to their care, and were kind even to vanquished enemies. And both laid emphasis on Dharma. Samudra Gupta, no less than Dharmāśoka made firm the rampart of the true law (Dharma-prachira-bandhah). The attribution of the coins bearing the name Kācha to Samudra Gupta may be accepted. But the emperor's identification with Dharmāditya ( sun of the true faith) of a Faridpur grant is clearly wrong. The titles used by this monarch were Apratiratha, Sunrivalled car-warrior' Aprativāryavīrya, 'of irresistible valour,' Kritānta-parašu, 'axe of death,' sarva-rāj-ochchhetta,' 'uprooter of all kings,' Vyāghra-parākrama, 'possessed of the strength of a tiger,' Ašva-medhaparākrama, 'whose might was demonstrated by the horsesacrifice,' and Parākramānka, 'marked with prowess,' 1 Cf. the epithet "sarva-kshattrāntaka" applied to his great fore-runner, Mahāp adma Nanda, Page #580 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EPITHETS OF SAMUDRA GUPTA 551 but not Dharmāditya. Most of these epithets are connected with particular types of coins issued by the emperor. Thus Parākrama is found on the reverse of coins of the standard type, Apratiratha on coins of the archer type, K?'îtānta-parašu on coins of the battle-axe type,' sarvarajochchhetta on coins of the Kācha type, Vyāghraparālorama (Rājā) on the tiger type of coins, and Ašvamedha-parākrama on the Aśvamedha type. The appearance of a goddess seated on a lion (simha-vāhini, i.e., Durgā or Pārvati, Vindhya-vāsinī or Haimavati) may point to the extension of the Gupta dominions to the Vindhya and the Himavat. The tiger and river-goddess ( makaravāhini ) type may indicate that the sway of Samudra Gupta spread from the Ganges valley to the realm of the 'Tiger king' in Mahākāntāra. The figures of Gangā and Yamunā occur frequently in door jambs of the Gupta Age. It has been surmised that they symbolise connection with the Gangetic Doāb. Samudra Gupta's 'virtuous and faithful wife,' possibly Datta Devī, appears to be mentioned in an Eran inscription referable to the period of bis rule. We possess no genuine dated documents for the reign of the great emperor. The Nālandā and Gayā grants profess to be dated in the years 5 and 9 respectively, but no reliance can be placed on them and the reading of the numeral in the Gayā record is uncertain. Smith's date (A.D. 330-375) for Samudra Gupta is conjectural. As the earliest known date of the next sovereign is A. D. 1 The battle-axe appears also on coins of the Udumbaras, CHI, 539; and Jayadāman, Rapson (Andhra etc), 76. 2 Cf. 'Horse facing post' which appears also on a square coin attributed to Chashtana frapson ibid, 75) whose dynasty was overthrown by the Guptas. 3 Nana on lion of Huvishka's coins (Whitehead, 207) may have suggested this type. 4 ASI, AR, 1927-28, p. 138. Page #581 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 552 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 380-381' it is not improbable that his father and predecessor died some time after A.D. 375.2 One of the last acts of Samudra Gupta was apparently the selection of his successor. The choice fell on Chandra Gupta, his son by Datta Devi. 1 An inscription of Chandra Gupta 11, dated in the year 61, corresponding to A.D. 380-81 has been discovered recently in the Mathurā district (Ep. Ind., XXI, 1 ff.). . . . .. . .. . . . • 2 Sircar (IHQ, 1942, 272 ) reads the dated portion of the inscription of the year 61 as Sri Chandra Guptas ya vijaye-rājya samvatsare pañchame-the fifth regnal year of Chandra Gupta (II). Therefore, his first year may be taken to be A.D. 376-77. Page #582 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER XI. THE GUPTA EMPIRE-(continued): THE AGE OF THE VIKRAMĀDITYAS. Kāmam nļipāh santu sahasraśo' nye rājanvatîmāhuranena bhūmim nakshatra-tārā-graha sankulāpi jyotishmati Chandramasaiva rūtrih. - Raghuvamsam. SECTION I. CHANDRA GUPTA II VIKRAMADITYA. Epigraphic evidence indicates that Samudra Gupta was succeeded by his son Chandra Gupta II, Vikramāditya, also called Narendra Chandra, Simba Chandra, Narendra Simha and Simba Vikrama, born of queen Dattadevi. Chandra Gupta was chosen out of many sons by his father as the best fitted to succeed him. Another name 1 Cf. the name Vikrama Simba of Ujjayini, Penzer III. 11. The story narrated in Vishamasila Lambaka, has for its hero Vikramaditya, son of Mahendrāditya, who is apparently to be identified with Skanda Gupta. But some of the motifs such as strivesha (Kathā sar. XVIII. 3. 42), visit to the enemy's own place with a Vetāla (5. 40 f) were probably taken from the cycle of legends associated with Chandra Gupta II, father of Mahendra. 2 That Samudra Gupta had many sons and grandsons appears clear from the Eran epigraph. The theory of Dr. Altekar (JBORS. XIV, pp. 223-53; XV, pt. i-ii pp. 134 f.), and others that a king named Rāma ( Sarma ? Sena ? ) Gupta intervened between Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II is unsupported by any contemporary cpigraphic evidence. The tradition that a Gupta king killed his brother and took his wife and crown, dates only from a ninth century epigraph. The literary evidence on the point is discrepant and hardly conclusive. The version given by Bāņa in the seventh century differs in important respects from the story known to the author of the Kavya-Mimārsā Cir, 900JA.D. (Cf. Ind. Ant., Nov., 1933, 201 ff.; JBORS, XVIII, 1, 1932, 17 ff.). The simple story, narrated in the Harsha-Charita, that Chandra Gupta, disguised as a female, destroyed a Saka (not Khasa) king, who coveted the wife of another, in the very city of the enemy, was doubtless embellished by later poets and dramatists, and (as is clear from certain data, to which Mr. V. V. Mirashi draws attention in IHQ, March, 1934, 48 ff.) details, such as fratricide, and association with Ghouls, not found in the earlier account, continued to be O. P. 90–70. Page #583 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 554 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA of the new monarch disclosed by certain Vākāṭaka inscriptions, several types of coins and the Sanchi inscription of A. D. 412-3, was Deva Gupta, Deva-śri or Deva-rāja.1 For the reign of Chandra Gupta II, we possess a number of dated inscriptions so that its limits may be defined with more accuracy than those of his predecessors. His accession should be placed before A.D. 381, and his death in or about A.D. 413-14. The most important external events of the reign were the emperor's matrimonial alliance with the Vākāṭaka king Rudrasena II, son of Prithivishena I, and the war with the Saka Satraps which added Western Malwa and Surashtra (Kāṭhiawar) to the Gupta dominions. Matrimonial alliances occupy a prominent place in the foreign policy of the Guptas. The Lichchhavi connection had strengthened their position in Bihār. After the conquest of the upper provinces they sought alliances with other ruling families whose help was needed to consolidate the Gupta power in the newly acquired territory and prepare the ground for fresh conquests. Thus Samudra Gupta received presents of girls (kanyopāyana) from Saka-Kushan chiefs and other foreign potentates. Chandra Gupta II married added in the days of Amoghavarsha I (A. D. 815-78) and Govinda IV (A.D c. 927-933). The Devi Chandraguptam and smilar works are as much unsuited to form bases of the chronicles of Chandra Gupta II as the Mudrakshasam and the Aśokāvadāna are in regard to the doings of the great Mauryas. The subject has been fully discussed by the present writer in an article entitled "Vikramaditya in History and Legend" contributed to the Vikrama volume contemplated by the Gwalior authorities. The story of Chandra Gupta's adventure in its developed form has absorbed a good deal of folklore, such as tales about Ghouls Pisacha. The motif of the wife leaving a mean-spirited husband is found in Penzer Katha S.S,, III. 290. 1 Cf. Bhandarkar, Ind. Ant. 1913, p. 160. Page #584 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CAPITAL OF THE GUPTA EMPIRE 555 Kuberanāgā, a princess of Nāga lineage, and had by her a daughter named Prabhāvatī, whom he gave in marriage to Rudrasena II, the Vākāțaka king of Berar and the adjoining provinces. According to Dr. Smith ? “the Vākāțaka Mahārāja occupied a geographical position in which he could be of much service or disservice to the northern invader of the dominions of the Saka satraps of Gujrāt and Surāshtra. Chandra Gupta adopted a prudent precaution in giving his daughter to the Vākāțaka prince and so securing his subordinate alliance.” The campaign against the Western Satraps is apparently alluded to in the Udayagiri Cave Inscription of Virasena-Sāba in the following passage "he (Šāba) came here ( to Eastern Mālwa ), accompanied by the king (Chandra Gupta) in person, who was seeking to conquer the whole world." Sāba was an inhabitant of Pataliputra. He held the position, acquired by heredi. tary descent, of a Sachiva or minister of Chandra Gupta II, and was placed by his sovereign in charge of the Department of Peace and War. He naturally accompanied his master when the great western expedition was undertaken. Eastern Mālwa, which had already felt the might of Samudra Gupta, became the base of operations against the Sakas. Inscriptions at Udayagiri and Sāñchí suggest that the emperor Chandra Gupta II - assembled at or near Vidišā in East Mālwa many of his ministers, generals and feudatories, some of whom are 1 Naga-kulotpannā, cf. JASB, 1924, p. 58. It is possible. as urged by many recent writers, that Chandra-Gupta Vikramāditya also entered into marriage alliances with the Kadambas of Vaijayanti or Banawāsi in the Kuntala, or the Kanarese, country. The sending of an embassy to Kuntala by Vikramāditya, is vouched for by Bhoja and Kshemendra. (Proceedings of the Third Oriental Conference, p. 6.) Kākusthavarman of the Kadamba dynasty gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings in or about the fifth century (Talagunda Inscription, Ep. Ind., VIII, 33 ff. ; IHQ, 1933, 197 ff.). 2 JRAS, 1914, p. 324. Page #585 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 556 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA mentioned in records dating from A. D. 402 to 413. The campaign against the Sakas was eminently successful. The fall of the Saka Satrap is alluded to by Bāņa. The annexation of his territory is proved by coins. Chief Cities of the Empire. The first important Gupta metropolis seems to have been at Pātaliputra—"the city named Pushpa” where Samudra Gupta is said to have "rested on his laurels” after one of his victorious cam paigns, and from which a Gupta Minister for Peace and · War went to East Mālwa in the company of his sovereign. From A.D. 402 Chandra Gupta seems to have had a residence in Mālwa, at first possibly at Vidiśā and later on, after his western conquests, at Ujjain. Certain chiefs of the Kanarese districts, who claimed descent from Chandra Gupta (Vikramāditya), referred to their great ancestor as Ujjayinî-puravar-ādliśvara, 'lord of Ujjain, the best of cities, as well as Pāțalipuravar-ādhisvara 'lord of Pātali (putra), the best of cities.' Sir R. G. Bhandarkar identifies Chandra Gupta II with the traditional Vikramāditya Sakāri, “the sun of valour, the destroyer of the Sakas," of Ujjain. The titles Śrî 1 Silver coins of the Garuda type bearing the legend Parama-Bhāgavata, probably struck in Surāshtra (Allan, p. xciv). Some of the coins bear the date 90 ( = A.D. 409, EHI, 4th ed., p. 345 ). It has been suggested recently that, like his father, Chandra Gupta, too, performed a horse sacrifice (IHQ, 1927, p. 725) and that a stone horse lying in a village named Nagawa near Benares, and bearing an inscription containing the letters Chamdragu, commemorates the event. But there is no clear reference to such a sacrifice in the inscriptions or coins hitherto published. 2 In literature Vikramāditya is represented as ruling at Pāšaliputra (Katha-sarit-sagara, VII, 4.3:-Vikramaditya ityāsidrājā Pataliputrake) as well as Ujjayini and other cities. Sāhasanka of Ujjain is said to have ordered the exclusive use of Sanskrit in his harem (Kavya Mimāmsā, 3rd. ed, p. 50). He thus reversed the policy of Adhyarāja (p. 197) or Sātavāhana of Kuntala. C.f. the verse in Sarasvati Kanthābharana IJ. 15. Ke'bhunnādhyarājasya rājye prākrita- bhāshinah kāle śri Sāhasānkasya ke na Samskritavādinah. Among the Kavya-kāras tested in Ujjain mention is made of a Chandra Gupta along with Kālidāsa, Amara, Bharavi and others (Kavya M. p 55). Page #586 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ FA HIEN'S "MIDDLE KINGDOM" Vikramah, Simha-Vikramah, Ajita-Vikramah, Vikramanka and Vikramaditya actually occur on Chandra Gupta's coins. 1 We have no detailed contemporary notice of Ujjayini (also called Visala, Padmavati, Bhogavati, Hiranyavati)2 in the days of Chandra Gupta. But Fa-hien who visited Mid India during the period A.D. 405 to 411, has left an interesting account of Paṭaliputra. The pilgrim refers to the royal palace of Asoka and the halls in the midst of the city, "which exist now as of old," and were according to him "all made by spirits which Aśoka employed, and which piled up the stones, reared the walls and gates, and executed the elegant carving and inlaid sculpture-work, in a way which no human hands of this world could accomplish." "The inhabitants are rich and prosperous, and vie with one another in the practice of benevolence and righteousness. Every year on the eighth day of the second month they celebrate a procession of images... The Heads of the Vaisya families Paramartha, the biographer of Vasubandhu, refers to Ayodhya as the capital of a Vikramaditya while Hiuen Tsang represents Śrāvasti as the seat of the famous king (EHI, 3rd Ed., pp. 332-33). Subandhu refers to the fame of Vikramaditya, but not to his capital city, "like a lake Vikramaditya hath left the earth, save indeed in fame" (Keith, Hist. Sans. Lit., p. 312). Cf. Hala, v. 64. 1 Name, title or epithet. Śri Vikrama Vikramaditya Rūpakṛiti ... Simha-Vikrama, Narendra Chandra, Narendra Simha, Simha Chandra } 557 Ajita-Vikrama Paramabhāgavata Paramabhāgavata Vikramaditya Vikramanka Vikramaditya, Maharaja, Chandra Type of coin. Archer type (gold). Chhattra (Parasol) type (gold). Couch type (gold). Lion-Slayer (gold) Horseman type (gold). Silver coins of the Guruda type. Copper coins (Garuda, Chhattra and Vase type). 2 Meghaduta (1, 31) and Katha-sarit-sagara, Tawney's translation. Vol. II, p. 275. For an account of Ujjayini in the seventh century A.D., see Beal, H. Tsang, II, p. 270; and Ridding, Kadambari, pp. 210 ff. Page #587 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 558 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA establish houses for dispensing charity and medicines." The principal port of the empire on the east coast was Tāmralipti or Tamluk in West Bengal from which ships set sail for Ceylon, Java ( then a centre of Brāhmanism ), and China. Much light is thrown on the character of Chandra Gupta Vikramāditya's administration by the narrative of Fa-hien and the inscriptions that have hitherto been discovered. Speaking of the Middle Kingdom, the dominions of Chandra Gupta in the upper Ganges Valley, the Chinese pilgrim says : "the people are numerous and happy ; they have not to register their households, or attend to any magistrates and their rules; only those who cultivate the royal land have to pay a portion of the gain from it. If they want to go, they go : if they want to stay on, they stay. The king governs without decapitation or other corporal punishments. Criminals are simply fined, lightly or heavily, according to the circumstances of each case. Even in cases of repeated attempts at wicked rebellion they only have their right hands cut off. The king's bodyguards and attendants all have salaries. Throughout the whole country the people do not kill any living creature, nor drink intoxicating liquor, nor eat onions or garlic. The only exception is that of the Chandālas. In buying and selling commodities they use cowries." The last statement evidently refers to such small transactions as Fa-bien had occasion to make.? The pilgrim does not seem to have met with the gold coins which would only be required for large transactions. That they were actually in currency, we know from the references to "dînāras" and "suvarnas" in inscriptions. 1 Legge. 2 Allan. 3 Chandra Gupta II also issued silver and copper coins. The silver coins were mainly intended for the western provinces conquered from the Saka satraps Page #588 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS OF GUPTA INDIA 559 That Chandra Gupta II was a good monarch may be inferred also from the inscriptions. Himself a devout Vaishnava (Parama-bhāgavata), he appointed men of other sects to high offices. His general Amrakārddava, the hero of a hundred fights, anēkasamar-āvāpta-vijaya-yaśaspatākah, appears to have been a Buddhist or at least a à pro-Buddhist, while his Minister of Peace and War, Sāba-Virasena, and perhaps also his Mantrin or High Counsellor, Sikharasvāmin, were Saivas. Regarding the machinery of Government we have no detailed information. But the following facts may be gleaned from the inscriptions. As in Maurya times, the head of the state was the Rājā who was at times nominated by his predecessor. The king is now regarded as a divinity-Achintya Purusha, 'the Incomprehensible Being, Dhanada-Varunendrāntaka-sama, the equal of Kuvera, Varuņa, Indra and Yama, loka-dhāma deva, 'a god dwelling on earth, Paramadaivata, 'the supreme deity. He was assisted by a body of High Ministers whose office was very often hereditary as is suggested by the phrase "anvaya-prāpta Sūchiyya" 'acquirer of the post of minister by hereditary descent,' of the Udayagiri Inscription of Śāba. The most important among the High Ministers were the Mantrin, 'High Counsellor,' the Saidhi-vigrahika, Minister for Peace and War,' and the Akshapatal-ūdhikrita, 'the Lord but they are also mentioned in the time of his son in inscriptions of Northern Bengal. The Baigram inscription.of the year 128 (448 A.D.) for instance refers to rūpakas along with dināras (cf. Allan, p. cxxvii). The copper coins issued by Chandra Gupta II are commonly found around Ayodhyā (Allan, p. cxxxi). 1 The Maha-danda-nāyaka Harishena was the son of the Mahā-danda-nāyaka Dhruva-bhūti. The Mantrin Pșithivishena was the son of the Mantrin Sikharasvāmin. Cf. also the hereditary governors (goptri), of Mandasor, Surāshtra, etc. Things were somewhat different in the Maurya Period. Pushya Gupta, Rashtriya of Surāshtra in the time of Chandra Gupta Maurya, was quite unconnected by blood with Tushāspha, governor or feudatory in the time of Asoka. Page #589 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 560 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Keeper of State Documents.' Like the Kautilyan Mantrin, the Gupta Samdhi-vigrahika accompanied the sovereign to the battle-field. As in the case of most of the Pradhanas of Sivaji there was no clear-cut division between civil and military officials. The same person could be Samdhi-vigrahika, Kumārāmātya (cadet-minister), and Maha-danda-nayaka, 'great commandant of the army,' and a Mantrin could become a Maha-bal-adhikrita 'chief commander of forces.' It is not clear whether the Guptas had a central council of ministers (Mantri-parishad). But the existence of local parishads (e.g., the Parishad of Udanakupa) is proved by a Basarh seal discovered by Bloch. The empire was divided into a number of provinces styled Desas, Bhuktis, etc., sub-divided into districts called Pradesas or Vishayas. Among Desas the Gupta inscriptions mention Sukuli-desa. Surashtra (Kāṭhiāwād), Dabhala (the Jubbalpore region, Dahala or Chedi of later times) and "Kalindi Narmadayor Madhya," the territory lying between the Jumna and the Nerbudda, and embracing, no doubt, Eastern Malwa, are also perhaps to be placed under this category. 1 Among Bhuktis (lit. allotments) we have reference in inscription of the Gupta and early Post-Gupta Age to Pundra-vardhana bhukti (North Bengal), Vardhamana bhukti (West Bengal) Tirabhukti (North Bihar), Nagara bhukti (South Bihar), Śrāvasti bhukti (Oudh), and Ahichchhatra bhukti (Rohilkhand), all situated in the Ganges valley. Among Pradeśas or Vishayas mention is made of Lâța-vishaya (in continental Gujarat), Tripurivishaya (in the Jubbalpure region), Airikina in Eastern 1 The Bilsad Ins. (CII, 44) refers to a [Pa]rshad. But there is nothing to show that it was a central political assembly. The Sabhyas mentioned in connection with the nomination scene in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription may, however, have been members of a Central Curia Regis or Council. Page #590 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE GUPTA EMPİRE 561 Mālwa (called Pradeśa in Samudra Gupta's Eran inscription, and Vishaya in that of Toramāņa), Antarvedi (the Gangetic Doäb), Vālavi (?), Gayā, Koțivarsha ( the Dinājpur region in North Bengal), Mahākhus hāpāra (?), Khādātā pāra (?) and Kundadhāņi.? The Deśas were governed by officers called Goptris, or Wardens of the Marches, as is suggested by the passage Sarveshu Deśeshu vidhāya Goptrin 'having appointed Goptụis in all the Deśas.' The Bhultis were usually governed by Uparikas or Uparika Mahārājas who were sometimes apparently princes of the Imperial family, e.g., Rūjaputra-deva-bhattāraka, Governor of Pundravardhana bhulti mentioned in a Dāmodarpur plate, Govinda Gupta, Governor of Tirabhukti mentioned in the Basārh seals ? and possibly Ghatotkacha Gupta of Tumain in Central India. The office of Vishaya-pati or District Officer was held by Imperial officials like the Kumār-ūmātyas and Āyultakas, as well as by feudatory Mahārājas like Mātrivishņu of Eran. Some of the Vishayapatis, e.g., Sarvanāga of Antarvedi,' were possibly directly under the Emperor, while others, e.g., those of Koțivarsha, Airikiņa and Tripuri, were usually under provincial Governors. The Governors and District Officers were no doubt helped by officials and dignitaries like the Dandika, Chaur-oddharanika and Dandapāśika * (apparently judicial and police officials ), Nagara Śreshthî (President or Alderman of a city-guild), Sārthavāha (lit. caravan-leader or merchant), PrathamaKulika (foreman of artisans), Prathama-Kāyastha (the 1 Cf. Kundadhana, a town mentioned in the Book of the Gradual Sayings, I, 18 n. 2 Govinda Gupta is known also from the newly discovered Mandasor Ins. of the Mālava-Vikrama year 524 (noticed by Garde, ASI, Annual Report, 1922-23, p. 187 ; Cal. Rev; 1926, July, 155, Ep. Ind,, xix-App. No 7) which mentions his Senādhipa or captain Vāyurakshita, and Väyu's son Dattabhata, Commander-in chief of the forces of king Prabhākara (467-68 A.D.). 3 And Kulavriddhi of Panchanagari in North Bengal). Ep. Ind., xxi, 81. 4 Cf. Dandoāsi, village watchman, JASB, 1916. 30. O. P. 90 -- 71 Page #591 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 562 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA chief scribe), Pusta-pāla (record-keeper) and others. Every Vishaya consisted of a number of “grāmas” or villages which were administered by headmen and other functionaries styled Grūmikas, Mahattaras.and Bhojalas. Outside the limits of the Imperial provinces lay the vassal kingdoms and republics, mentioned in the Allahabad prasasti and other documents. The Basārh seals tlırow some interesting sidelight on the provincial and municipal government as well as the economic organisation of the province of Tirabhukti (Tirhut) in North Bihār. The province was apparently governed by prince Govinda Gupta, a son of the Emperor by the Mahadevi Sri Dhruva-svāmini, who had his capital at Vaiśāli. The seals mention several officials like the Uparika (governor), the Kumārūmātya (cadetminister), the Mahā-pratihūra (the great chamberlain), 1 In the Mrichchha katika (Act IX ), which may be a composition of the period between Bana (who knew a king Sūdraka, but no poet of the same name) and Vāmana (8th century) the judge (adhikaranika) in a court of law is accompanied by a Sreshthin and a Kāyastha. Reference is also made to the Adhikarana-Bhojakas and a Mahattaraka in connection with the arrangement of benches in the Vyāvahāra-mandapa (the hall of justice) and the detection of people ''wanted" by the city Police (nagara-raksh-ādhikrita.) The Mudrā. rākshasa which is probably to be assigned to a period anterior to Rājasekhara, the Dasarūpaka and Bhoja, perhaps also to Vāmana but not to Avantivarma (of the Maukhari or Utpala dynasty ) or Dantivarman (Rāstrakūta or Pallava ) whose name or names occur in the Bharata Vākya, makes mention of Kāyastha, Dandapāśika, etc. Village functionaries were ordinarily placed under officials of the Vishaya or district. But in exceptional cases they had direct dealings with the Uparika or governor of a Bhukti (Ep. Ind., XV, 136). 2 It has been taken to mean (1) minister of a Prince as distinguished from that of the King (rājāmātya), (2) minister in charge of Princes, C. V. Vaidya, Med. Hind. Ind., I, 138, (3) a junior minister whose father is alive, or (4) one who has been a minister since the days of his youth. But cf. Ep. Ind., X, 49 ; XV, 302 f. It will be seen that the Kumārāmātyas were, as stated by a recent writer, divided into two classes, viz, (i) Yuvarājapādiya, those serving the Crown Prince, and (ii) Parama-bhattārakapādiya, those serving the Emperor himself. This perhaps makes the interpretation 'counsellor of, or in charge of, the Prince' untenable. See however Penzer, 1, 32; III. 136. The most probable view is that the term Kumāra in the expression Kumārāmātya corresponds to Page #592 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE PARISHAD IN THE GUPTA AGE 563 Talavara (general or local chief ), the Mahā-dandanāyaka ( the great commandant ), the Vinayasthiti? sthāpaka, the censor [?], and the Bhatāśvapati ( lord of the army and cavalry ), and the following offices, e.g., Yuvarāja-pādiya Kumar-āmātya-ūdhikarana (office of the Minister of His Highness the Crown Prince, according to Vogel), Ranabhāndāgār-ūdhikaraṇa+ (office of the chief treasurer of the war department), Balādhikaraṇa (war office), Dandapās-adhikarana (office of the chief of Police), Tira-bhukty-Upārik-ūdhikarna (office of the Governor of Tirhut), Tîrabhuktau Vinayasthiti-sthāpak-adhikaraña (office of the censor [?] of Tirhut), Vaiśāly-ādhishthānūdhikarana (office of the government of the city of Vaišāli), Śri-parama-bhattāraka-pādīya Kumārcūmūtya-ādhilarana (office of the cadet-minister waiting on His Majesty).5 The reference to the Parishad (Council or Committee) of Udānakūpa shows that the Parishad still formed an important element of the machinery of local government. The mention of the 'moot-hall of aldermen of guilds, caravan-leaders and foremen of artisans' (Śreshthi-sārthavāha-kulika-nigama ) is of interest to students of economics. Pina, Chikka, Immadi, Ilaya, of the south, and is the opposite of Peda (Praudha), Piriya. In the Gupta Age the Kumarāmātyas often served district officers. The office was also combined with that of a general, counsellor and foreign secretary. 1 Cf, talâra of the Chirwa Inscription of Samara Simba. 2 Dr. Basak takes Vinaya-sthiti in the sense of law and order (the History of North-Eastern India, p. 312). 3 In the Natya-śāstra Sthāpaka is the designation of the introducer of a play (Keith, Sanskrit Drama, p. 340). Here a different functionary may be meant. 4 The mention of Rana-bhāndāgāra suggests that the finance department had its military as distinguished from the civil side. 5 A distinction is drawn between imperial officials and those connected with viceregal administration and amongst the latter officers of the province of Tirabhukti are clearly distinguished from the public servants in charge of the subordinate administration of the adhishthāna of Vaiśāli. Page #593 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 564 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Chandra Gupta II had at least two queens, Dhruvadevi and Kubera-nāgā. The first queen was the mother of Govinda Gupta and Kumāra Gupta I.1 The second queen had a daughter named Prabhāvati who became queen of the Vākāțakas. The latter was the mother of the Princes Divākarasena, Dāmodarasena and Pravarasena II. Certain mediaeval chiefs of the Kanarese country claimed descent from Chandra Gupta. The origin of these chiefs is probably to be traced to some unrecorded adventures of Vikramāditya in the Deccan. 1 A son of Chandra Gupta styled bhupati (king) Chandraprakasa is mentioned in a verse quoted by Vāmana in his Kāvyālankāra-Sūtravritti (JASB, Vol I, No. 10.[N.S.), 1905, 253 ff.). But the identity of this Chandra Gupta is uncertain. His identification with Vikramaditya (i.e., Chandra Gupta II) rests on the vexed problem of the date of Vasubandhu (or Subandhu ?) alleged to be mentioned by Vāmana, and the question as to whether the personage mentioned may be identified with the Buddhist scholar whose biographer was Paramartha (A.D. 500-69). Paramārtha was a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja family of Ujjayini who stayed for a time in Magadha and then went to China (A. D. 546-69.) According to his account Vasubandhu was born at Purushapura or Peshāwār, of the Brāhmana family of Kausika. He went to Ayodhyā at the invitation of Bālāditya, son of Vikramaditya (JRAS, 1905, 33 ff.). For some recent views about the date of Vasubandhu, see Indian Studies in Honour of C.R. Lanman, 79 ff. 2 Rajasekhara in his Kāvyamimāmsā and Bhoja, in his Sringāra Prakāśikā, mention that Kalidāsa was sent on an embassy to a Kuntala king by Vikramāditya. "Ksemendra, in the Auctiya-Vicāra Carcā, refers to Kālidāsa's Kunteśvara Dautya" (Proceedings of the Third Oriental Conference, 1924, p. 6). That the Guptas actually established contact with Kuntala appears clear from the Tālagund Inscription which states that a Kadamba ruler of the Kanarese country gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings. An important indication of Gupta influence in the South Western Deccan is possibly afforded by the coins of Kumāra Gupta I found in the Satara District (Allan, p. cxxx.) The rôle assigned to Kālidāsa by Rājasekhara, Bhoja and Kshemendra is not unworthy of credence as tradition points to a date for him in the early Gupta Age. For traditions about his synchronism with Mahārājādhirāja Vikramāditya ( Sakārāti) and Digoāga and with king Pravarasena who is held to be the author of the poem Setubandha written in Mahārāshtri Prākrita and is, therefore, presumably identical with one of the kings bearing the same name in the Vākātaka family. (recorded in Abhinanda's Rāmacharita, ch. 32, Hāla, Gāthāsaptaśati, Bhūmikā, p. 8 and other works) see Proceedings of the Seventh Oriental Conference, 99 ff.; Mallinātha's comment on Meghaduta, I. 14; Ind. Ant., 1912, 267. JRAS, 1918. 118f. It has recently been Page #594 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 565 GENEALOGY OF THE VĀKĀTAKAS OF VISHNUVRIDDHA GOTRA Vindhyasakti I (twice-born ) Mahārāja Pravarasena 1.' Bhavanāga, King of the Bhāra śivas (Padmāvati?)? Sarvasena* Gautamiputra---daughter Vindhyasakti II Samudra Gupta Mahārāja Rudrasena I (Deotek) Dharma-Mabārāja (Vatsagulma or Basin Mahārājadhiräia in S. Berar) Chandra Gupta II Mahārāja Prithivisheņa I Pravarasena II ? Prabhāvati-Mahārāja Rudrasena II Agra-Mahishi son | Pravarasena II ? (or III) Yuvarāja Divākarasena Damodarasena Devasena Nandivardhana Rāmagiri Supratishthāhāra Ajjhitabhattārikā--Narendrasena Harishena Princess of Kuntala his minister Hastibhoja Prithivishena II (Vembāra) "raised his sunken family! pointed out by Mr. Mirashi that the Pattan plates of Pravarasena 11 ( year 27 ) refer to a Kālidāsa as the writer of the charter Ep. Ind. xxiii (1935), pp. 81 ff. But the identity of the scribe with the great poet remains doubtful. "It must not be understood that Sarvasena was necessarily the elder of the two brothers. The matter may be settled when further evidence is available. i He performed four Aśvamedhas, and is styled a Mahārāja and Samrāj. His traditional capital Kāñchanakāpura recalls Hiranyapura (Hirapur ? SSE of Sāgar )of the Dudia plates (Ep. Ind. III. 258 ff). The splitting up of the name into Purikā and Chanakā seems hardly justifiable. 2 J. Num-Soc., v pt ii, p. 2. Coins and Identity of Bhavanāga (Altekar). 3 A dharma-vijayi whose kosa-danda-sadhana is said to have been accumulating for a hundred years. 4 Identified by some with Nagardhan near Ramtek (Hiralal Ins. No. 4; Tenth Or. Conf, p. 458) and by others with Nandapur, near Ghughusgarh, north-east of Ramtek (Wellsted, Notes on the Vākāțakas,) JASB, 1933, 160f. 5 Ruler of Pravarapura, Charmmānka and of following rājyas viz. Bhojakata (N. Berar), Arammi, (east of Berar) and of the Wardhā region. Pravarapura has been identified by some with Pavnār in Wardha District (JASB, 1933, 159). 6. His commands were honoured by rulers of Kosalā, Mekalā (at the source of the Nerbudda) and Mālava. 7 Credited with the conquest of Kuntala, Avanti, Kalinga, Kosala, Andhra Trikūța, Lāța, Page #595 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. KUMĀRA GUPTA I MAHENDRĀDITYA. Chandra Gupta Il's successor was Kumāra Gupta Il surnamed Mahendrāditya? whose certain dates range from A.D. 415 to A.D. 455.3 His extensive coinage, and the wide distribution of his inscriptions show that he was able to retain his father's empire including the central and western provinces. * One of his viceroys, Chirātadatta, governed Pundravardhana Biruleti or roughly North 1 The Mandasor inscription of the Mālava year 524 suggests that Kumāra may have had a rival in his brother prince Govinda Gupta. In the record Indra (? Kumāra, who is styled Sri Mahendra and Mahendrakarmā on coins ) is represented as being suspicious of Govinda's power. Ep. Ind., XIX, App. No. 7 and n. 5. 2 Also called Sri Mahendra (on coins of the Archer type), Aśvamedha Mahendra (on coins of the Aśvamedha type), Mahendrakarmā, Ajita Mahendra (on coins of the horseman type and sometimes on the lion-slayer type), Simha Mahendra (on coins of the lion-slayer type), Sri Mahendra Simha (also on coins of the lion-slayer type), Mahendra Kumāra on coins of the peacock type ), Mahendra-Kalpa (Tumain Ins.). Simha Vikrama (on coins of the lion-slayer type ; Allan, Gupta Coins, p. 80). Vyāghra bala-parākrama (on coins of the tiger-slayer type ) and Sri Pratāba. On the swordsman type of gold coins and on copper coins of the Garuda and possibly simha-vāhini types the emperor is simply called Sri Kumāra Gupta. The title Mahendrāditya with the epithet Parama bhāgavata, 'devoted worshipper of the Bhagavat (Vishnu-Krishna ),' is found on silver coins, apparently struck in Surashtra. 3 The date 96 (= A.D. 415) is found in the Bilsar Inscription and the date 136 ( = A.D. 455 ) on silver coins (EHI, 4th ed., pp. 345-46). The Eran inscription of Samudra Gupta refers to his 'virtuous and faithful wife and many sons and son's sons of the royal pair. From this it seems probable that Kumāra Gupta and his brothers were already born during the reign of their grandfather, and that Kumāra had seen not less than some thirty five summers before his accession. As he reigned for at least forty years, he could not have died before the age of 75 (approximately). 4 The possession of the central districts in the Ganges valley is, according to Allan, confirmed by the silver coins of the peacock type (cf. the Ayodhya coins of Aryamitra, CHI, I. 538 ), and the inclusion of the western province by those of the Garuda type. Silver plaited coins with a copper core were intended for circulation in the Valabhi area, and coins of small thick fabric resembling the Traikutaka coinage were apparently struck in South Gujarāt (Allan, pp. xciii ff.). Page #596 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE OF KUMAR GUPTA I 567 Bengal, another viceroy, prince Ghatotkacha Gupta, held office in the province of Eran (in Eastern Mālwa) which included Tumbavana ;? a third viceroy or feudatory, Bandhuvarman, ruled at Dasapura in western Mālwa.3 The Karamadāņde inscription of A. D. 436 mentions Prithivishena who was a Mantrin and Kumārāmātya, and afterwards Mahū-balādhikrita or general under Kumāra Gupta, probably stationed in Oudh. The panegyrist of a Mālwa viceroy claims that the suzerainty of Kumāra Gupta extended over "the whole earth which is decked with the rolling seas as with a rocking girdle, wbich holds in its breast-like mountain altitudes the 1. Cf. the Damodarpur plates of the years 124 and 128. (Ep. xvii. 193 ). The Baigram inscription of the year 128 (A.D. 447-48 ) refers to a Kumārāmātya named Kulavșiddhi who governed a vishaya with its headquarters at Panchanagari, apparently in N. Bengal. Ep. Ind., XXI, 78 ff. The Sultanpur or Kalaikudi Inscription (Bangasri 1350 B.S., Baisakha, pp. 415-51 and Bhādra ; IHQ XIX. 12) of the year 120= A. D. 439 in the Bogra district, makes mention of another officer, the Ayuktaka, Achyutadāsa of Purnakauśikā in Sringaveravithi, The Natore Inscription of A. D. 432 ( JPASB, 1911 ) is another record of Kumāra's reign found in N. Bengal. 2 Tumain in the Guna district of the Gwaliar state, about 50 miles to the north-west of Eran. M. B. Garde, Ind. Ant., xlix 1920, p. 114, Ep. Ind. xxvi (1941), pp. 115 ff; Tumain Inscription of the year 116, i.e., A. D. 435. The identity of the prince mentioned in the record, with Sri Ghatotkacha Gupta of seals and Ghato Kramāditya of coins is uncertain (Allan, xvi, xl, liv ). Hema Chandra (in the Parisishța parvan, xii, 2-3) places Tumbavana in the Avantideśa, 'the ornament of the western half of Bhārata' in Jambūdvipa. Ihaiva Jambūdvipe 'pag Bharatārdha vibhushanam Avantiriti deśo'sti svargadesiya riddhibhir tatra Tumbavanamiti vidyate sanniveśanam 3 Mandasor Inscription of A. D. 437-38. Bhide suggests (JBORS, VII, March, 1921, pp. 33 f.) that Viśva-varman of Gupta Ins. No. 17 is an independent king, who flourished a century before his namesake of ins. No. 18, who is a feudatory (Goptri) of the Guptas. S. Majumdar points out that even Viśvavarman of Ins. No. 17 must be later than Naravarman of V. S. 461 (= A. D. 404-05). In the Bihar Kotra (Rajgadh state, Malwa) Ins (Ep. Ind. xxvi. 130 ff) of Mahārāja Naravarman of the year 474 (i.e., A. D., 417-18) the king is styled ‘aulikara', thus establishing his connection with Vishņuvardhana of the Mālava Era 589 (A. D. 532-33). Page #597 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 568 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA founts of the vivifying liquid, and smiles with the flowers of its forest glens." Like his father, Kumāra was a tolerant king. During his rule the worship of Svāmî Mahāsena (Kārttikeya ), of Buddha. of Śiva in the linga form and of the sun, as well as that of Vishņu, flourished peacefully side by side. 1 The two notable events of Kumāra's reign are the celebration of the horse sacrifice, evidenced by the rare Ašvamedha type of his gold coinage, and the temporary eclipse of the Gupta power by the Pushyamitras. The reading Pushyamitra in the Bhitari inscription is, however, not accepted by some scholars because the second syllable of this name is damaged. Mr. H. R. Divekar in his article "Pusyamitras in the Gupta Period”makes the plausible emendation Yudhy=amitrāmś= ca for Dr. Fleet's reading Pusyamitrās = ca in the Bhitari Pillar Inscription. It is admitted on all hands that during the concluding years of Kumāra's reign the Gupta empire "had been made to totter." Whether the reference in the inscription is simply to amitras (enemies), or to Pushyamitras, cannot 1 Cf. the Bilsa, Mankuwār, Karamadāņde and Mandasor inscriptions. Siva appears to have been the favourite deity of many high ministers, Vishņu of the most powerful ruling race and the sun of traders and artisans in the early Gupta period. The expression Jitam Bhagabatā appears to have been popularised by the king. His example seems to have been followed by Mādhava Ganga of Penukonda plates (Ep. Ind. XIV. 334), Vishnuvarman i Kadamba of Hebbata grant (Mys. A.S., A. R, 1925. 98), Nandivarman Pallava of Udayendiram (Ep. Ind, III. 145) and other kings of the south. The popularity of the cult of Kārttikeya is well illustrated not only by the sanctuaries erected in his honour, but also by the names Kumāra and Skanda assumed by members of the imperial family, and the issue of the peacock type of coins by the emperor Kumāra Gupta I. The Gupta empire reached the zenith of its splendour before its final decline in the time of the originator of the 'peacock' coins, as a later empire did in the days of the builder of the peacock-throne. 2 Cf. Fleet, CII, p. 55 n. 3 Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 1919-20, 99 f. 4 CII, iii, p. 55. Page #598 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ WARLIKE ACTIVITIES OF MEKALA 569 be satisfactorily determined. We should, however, remember in this connection that a people called Pushyamitra is actually referred to in the Vishnu Purāna and a Puslyanitika-Kula in the Jain Kal pasūtra. The Purāņa text associates the Pushyamitras, Pațumitras, Durmitras and others with the region of Mekala near the source of the Nerbudda. References to the warlike activities of Mekala and the neighbouring realm of Kosala that had once been overrun by Kumāra's grandfather, are found in inscriptions of the Vākātaka relations of Kumāra Gupta. Bāņa relates the tragic story of a ruler of Magadha who was carried off by the ministers of the lord of Mekala. A passage in the Mankuwar stone image inscription of the year 129 ( A.D. 449 ) where the emperor Kumāra Gupta I is styled simply Mahārāja Śrī instead of Mahārājādhirūja Šri has been interpreted by some scholars to mean that he was possibly deprived by his enemies of his status as paramount sovereign. But the theory is rendered improbable by the Dāmodarpur plate of about the same date where Kumāra is given full imperial titles. It may be noted in this connection that in several inscriptions, and on certain coins, his immediate predecessors, too, are simply called Rājā or Mahārāja. The assumption of the title Vyāghra-bala-parākrama "displaying the strength and prowess of a tiger”, on coins of the tiger-slayer type, by Kumāra may possibly indicate that he attempted to repeat the southern venture of his 1 SBE, XXII, 292. Cf. the legend Pusamitasa found on Bhițā seals in characters of the Kushān period or a somewhat earlier date (JRAS, 1911, 138). 2 Vish., IV, 24. 17; Wilson, IX, 213. "Pushyamitra and Patumitra and others to the number of 13 will rule over Mekalā." The commentary, however, distinguishes. the 13 Pushyamitra-Patumitras from the 7 Mekalas. But from the context it is apparent that the position of the Pushyamitras was between the Māhishyas (people of Māhishmati ?) and the Mekalas in the Nerbudda valley, if not in a part of the country of the Mekalas themselves. Cf. Fleet, JRAS, 1889, 228; cf. also Bhitā seals. 0. P. 90-72 Page #599 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 570 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA grandfather and penetrate into the tiger-infested forest territory beyond the Nerbudda. Expansion towards the south is also indicated by a find of 1,395 coins in the Satara District. But the imperial troops must have met with disaster. The fallen fortunes of the Gupta family were restored by prince Skanda Gupta who may have been appointed his father's warden in the Ghāzipur region, the Atavi or Forest Country of ancient times.2 The only queen of Kumara I named in the genealogical portion of extant inscriptions is Anantadevi. He had at least two sons, viz., Puru Gupta, son of Anantadevi, and Skanda Gupta the name of whose mother is, in the opinion of some scholars, not given in the inscriptions. Sewell, however, suggests that it was Devaki. This is. not an unlikely assumption as otherwise the comparison of the widowed Gupta empress with Krishna's mother in verse 6 of the Bhitari Pillar Inscription will be less explicable. Hiuen Tsang calls Buddha Gupta (Fo-to-kio-to) or Budha Gupta, a son (or descendent?) of Sakraditya.5 The only predecessor of Budha Gupta who had a synonymous title was Kumara Gupta I who is called Mahendraditya on coins. Mahendra is the same as Śakra. 1 Allan, p. cxxx. Cf. also the Kadamba inscription referring to social. relations between the Kadambas of the fifth century and the Guptas. 2 Cf. the Bhitari Inscription. 3 Historical Inscriptions of Southern India, p. 349. 4 The name Fo-to-kio-to has been restored as Buddha Gupta. But we have no independent evidence regarding the existence of a king named Buddha Gupta about this period. The synchronism of his successor's successor Baladitya with Mihirakula indicates that the king meant was Budha Gupta, cf. also Ind. Ant., 1886, 251 n. 5 That Sakraditya was a reality is proved by a Nālandā seal (H. Sastri, MASI, No. 66, p.38). To him is ascribed an establishment at Nalanda, the far-famed place, which grew into a great university in the seventh century A. D. The pilgrim was not indulging in mere fancy as suggested by a recent writer in a treatise on Nālandā. Page #600 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BUDHA GUPTA AND GHATOTKACHA GUPTA 571 The use of terms conveying the same meaning as titles and epithets was not unknown in the Gupta period. Vikramāditya was also called Vikramūnka. Skanda Gupta is called both Vikramāditya and Kramāditya, both the words meaning "puissant like the sun" or "striding like the sun.” If Śakrāditya of Hiuen Tsang be identical with Mahendrāditya or Kumāra I, Buddha Gupta' was closely related to Kumāra. Another member of Kumara's family was possibly Ghatotkacha Gupta. ? 1 Recent discoveries show that Budha Gupta was really a grandson (not a son) of Kumara Gupta I. The Chinese pilgrim may have failed to distinguish between a son and a grandson. Cf. The Kopparam plates where Pulakesin II is represented as a grandson of Kirtivarman 1. But he was really the son of the latter. It is also possible that Śakrāditya was an epithet of Purugupta, the father of Budha. 2 The Tumain Inscription referred to by Mr. Garde ; cf. also the Basarh seal mentioning Sri Ghatotkacha Gupta. The exact relationship with Kumāra is, however, not stated in the inscription. Page #601 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. · SKANDA GUPTA. VIKRAMĀDITYA. According to the evidence of the Arya-Mañijuśrī-malakalpa, confirmed by epigraphic testimony, the immediate successor of Mahendra, i.e., Kumāra Gupta I, was Skanda Gupta. In an interesting paper read at a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Dr. R. C. Majumdar suggested that after Kumāra's death, which apparently took place while the struggle with the Pushyamitras was still undecided, there was a fratricidal war in which Skanda Gupta came off victorious after defeating his brothers including Puru Gupta, the rightful claimant, and rescued his mother just as Krishna rescued Devaki.' Dr. Majumdar observed that the omission of the name of the mother of Skanda Gupta in the genealogy given in the Bihār and Bhitari Stone Pillar Inscriptions indicated that she was not the chief queen and Skanda ‘bad no natural claim to the throne'. The rightful heir of Kumāra was Puru Gupta, the son of the Mahādevi Anantadevi. We should, however, remember that there was no rule prohibiting the mention of ordinary queens in inscriptions. The mother of Princess Prabhāvati, Kuberanāgā, was not the chief queen of Chandra Gupta II.2 No doubt the title Mahadevî is once given to her in the Poona plates of her daughter in the year 13, but it is not repeated in the Řiddhapur plates of the year 19 where she is called simply Kuberanāgā devī without the prefix Mahadevî, whereas Kumāra-devi, Datta-devi and even her own daughter, Prabhāvati-guptā are styled Mahādevīs. The contrast is full of significance and we know as a matter of fact that the real Mahādevî (chief queen) of Chandra 1 Cf. the Bhitari Inscription, JASB, 1921 (N. S. XVII), 253 ff. 2 JASB, 1924, 58. In IC. 1944, 171. Dr. Majumdar modified his views regarding the omission of the name of the queen mother in the Bhitari ins. and finds the names of Mahādeyi Anantadevi and her son Purugupta in the inscription, Page #602 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EPIGRAPHIC REFERENCE TO QUEENS 573 Gupta II was Dhruva-devi or Dhruva-Svāmini. Though Kuberanāgā was not the principal consort (agramahishi) of her husband, she is mentioned in the inscriptions of her daughter. On the other hand the names of queens, the mothers of kings, are sometimes omitted. In the genealogical portion of the Banskhera and Madhuban plates the name of Yaśomati as Harsha's mother is not mentioned, but in the Sonpat and the Nālandā seals? she is mentioned both as the mother of Rājya-vardhana and as the mother of Harsha. Therefore it is not safe to draw conclusions from a comparison of genealogies given on seals and those given in ordinary praśastis. From a comparative study of the seals and plaques referred to above on the one hand and ordinary panegyrical epigraphs on the other, two facts emerge, viz., (a) genealogies given by the records of the former class are fuller than those given in the others, and (b) names of mothers of reigning kings that are invariably given (even though this meant repetition) in documents of the first group are sometimes omitted by the writers of praśastis, even though they be the names of the chief queens. There is no real analogy between the genealogy on the Bhitarî seal and that in the Pillar Inscriptions. A seal should be compared to another seal and an ordinary praśasti with another document of the same class. 3 1 The name of the father of a reigning king is also sometimes omitted (cf. Kielhorn's N. Ins., Nos. 464, 468). 2 A. R. of the ASI, Eastern Circle, 1917-18, p. 44; Ep Ind, XXI. 74 ff. MASI, No. 66, 68 f. 3 We have already seen that in the opinion of Sewell the name of Skanda's mother is actually mentioned in one epigraph. According to that scholar her name was Devaki. The comparison with Kțishna's mother (who, with all her misfortunes, did not experience the pangs of widowhood) in the Bhitari Inscription would be less explicable, if not altogether pointless, if Devaki was not the name of the mother of Skanda Gupta as well as that of Krishna. Why were Krishna and Devaki thought of in connection with the victory over hostile powers, instead of, say, Skanda (Kārttikeya) and Pārvatî, Indra or Vishņu and Aditi, Page #603 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 574 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA As to the question of rightful claim to the succession, we should remember that the cases of Samudra Gupta and Chandra Gupta II suggest that the ablest among the princes was chosen irrespective of any claim arising out of birth. There is nothing to show that the struggle at the end of Kumara's reign, referred to in the Bhitari Pillar inscription, was a fratricidal conflict. The relevant text of the inscription runs thus : Pitari divam upēte viptutam vamsa-lakshmim bhuja-bala-vijit-arir-yyah pratishthapya bhūyaḥ jitam-iti paritoshūn mātaraṁ sāsra-nettrām hata-ripur-iva Krishna Devakim-abhyupetaḥ "Who, when (his) father had attained heaven (i. e., died), vanquished (his ) enemies by the strength of (his) arm, and steadied once more the drifting fortunes of his family; and then exclaiming the victory has been won' betook himself, like Krishna, when his enemies had been slain, to his weeping mother, Devakî"1 The hostile powers (ari), who made the Vamsalakshmi, goddess of family fortune, of Skanda Gupta "vipluta," 'convulsed,' after the death of his father, were apparently enemies of the Gupta family, i.e., outsiders not belonging to the Gupta line. As a matter of fact the antagonists expressly mentioned in the Bhitari Pillar by the panegyrist of Skanda Gupta who is compared to Sakra (Śakropama, Kahaum Inscription) and Vishnu (Sriparikshiptavaksha, Junagadh epigraph) ? A possible explanation is that the name of his mother coupled with her miserable plight suggested to the court-poet comparison with Krishna and Devaki. Cf. Ep. Ind. I, 364; xiii. 126, 131 (Hampe and Conjeeveram ins. of Krishnadeva Raya) where we have a similar play on the name Devaki : tadvamse Devakijanirddidipe Timma bhupatiḥ Yasasvi Tuluvendreshu Yadoh Krishna ivanvaye sarasadudabhuttasman Narasavanipālakaḥ Devakinamdanat Kamo Devaki namdanadiva. For the reference to Devaki, see Vishnu Purana, V, 79, 1 Page #604 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ NO REFERENCE TO A FRATRICIDAL WAR 575 Inscription were outsiders, e. g., the Pushyamitras' and the Hīņas. There is not the slightest reference to a fratricidal war. There is no doubt a passage in the Junāgadlı inscription of Skanda which says that "the goddess of fortune and splendour (Lakshmi) of her own accord selected (Skanda) as her husband (svayain varayanchaltāra)...having discarded all the other sons of kings (manujendra-putra).” But "Svayameva sriyā grihīta" "accepted by Sri or Lakshmi of her own accord” is an epithet which is applied by Prabhākara-vardhana, shortly before his death, to Harsha whose devotion to his elder brother is well-known. That Skanda Gupta like Harsha was considered to be the favourite of the Goddess of Luck is well-known. Attention may be invited to the Lakshmi type of his coins and the epithet Śrī-parikshiptavakshāh (“whose breast is embraced by Śrī, i.e., Lakshmi'), occurring in the Junāgadh Inscription. The panegyrist of the emperor refers to.a svayambara in the conventional style. A svayambara naturally presupposes an assemblage of princes, not necessarily of one particular family, in which all the suitors are discarded excepting one. But there is no inseparable connection between a svayambara and a fight, and, even when it is followed by a fight, the combatants are hardly ever princes who are sons of the 1 Even if the reference be merely to "amitras" (see ante, p, 568), these amitras could not have included an elder brother, as the passage ''kshitipacharana-pithe sthapita vāma-pādah," "placed (his) left foot on a foot-stool which was the king (of that hostile power himself) clearly shows. The expression samudita bala kosha "whose power and wealth had risen'') would be singularly inappropriate in the case of the rightful heir to the imperial throne of the Guptas with its enormous resources existing for several generations, and can only point to a parvenu power that had suddenly leaped to fame. 2 Allan, p. xcix, 3 Cf. Ep. Ind, I. 25. -Gürjjateśvara-rājya-Śrir Yasya jajne Svayambarā The Svayambara of Lakshmi forms the subject of the drama which Urvasi acts before Indra with her system nymphs (JASB, 59, 32). Page #605 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 576 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDÍA same king. The epigraphic passage referring to Lakshmi's svayambara, therefore, does not necessarily imply that there was a struggle between the sons of Kumāra in which Skanda came off victorious. It only means that among the princes he was specially fortunate and was considered to be the best fitted to rule because of the valiant fight he had put up against the enemies of the empire. In the Allahabad prasasti we have a similar passage :-"who (Samudra Gupta) being looked at with envy by the faces, melancholy through the rejection of themselves, of others of equal birth... was bidden by his father,—who exclaiming 'verily he is worthy' embraced him—to govern of a surety the whole world." It may be argued that there is no proof that Skanda was selected by Kumāra. On the contrary lie is said to have been selected by Lakshmi of her own accord. But such was also the case with Harsha. Skanda like Harsha was called upon to save the empire of his forbears at a time when the fortunes of the imperial family were at a low ebb, and both these eminent men owed their success to their own prowess.' The important thing to remember is that the avowed enemies of Skanda Gupta mentioned in his inscriptions were outsiders like the Pushyamitras, Hīņas,' and Mlechchhas. The manujendra-putras of the Junāgadh inscription are mentioned only as disappointed suitors, not as defeated enemies, comparable to the brothers of Samudra Gupta who were discarded by Chandra Gupta I. We are, therefore, inclined to think that as the tottering Gupta empire was saved from its enemies ( e. g., the Pushyamitras.) by Skanda Gupta it was he who was considered to be the best fitted to rule. There is no evidence that his brothers disputed his claim 1 Bhitari Ins. 2 Junāgadh Ins, Page #606 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ : EPITHETS OF SKANDA GUPTA.: 577 and actually fought for the crown. There is nothing to show that Skanda shed his brothers' blood and that the epithets “amalātmā," "pure-souled,' and parahitakārī, 'the benefactor of others,' applied to him in the Bhitari inscription and coin legends,' were unjustified. The view that Skanda Gupta was the immediate successor of Kumara Gupta I seems to be confirmed by a verse in the Arya-Manjusri-müla-kalpa? which runs thus : Samudrākhya nipaśchaiva Vikramaśchaiva kīrtitah Mahendranripavaro mukhyah ; Sakārādyam atah param . *Devarājākhya nāmāsau yugādhame It is impossible not to recognise in the kings (nripa) Samudra, Vikrama, Mahendra and "Sākārādya” mentioned in the verse, the great Gupta emperors Samudra Gupta, Chandra Gupta II Vikramāditya, Kumāra Gupta I Mahendrāditya, and Skanda Gupta. 3 Skanda Gupta assumed the titles, of Kramāditya and Vikramaditya.* The passage from the Manjuśrī-mula-kalpa quoted above refers to his appellation Devarāja. The titles Vikramāditya and Devarāja were apparently assumed in imitation of his grandfather. The latter 1 Allan, Gupta Coins, cxxi. 2 Vol. I, ed. Ganapati Sāstri, p. 628. Cf. the Rewa Ins, of 141 = A.D. 460/61. Attention was drawn to this record by Mr. B. C. Chhabra at the Oriental Conference, Twelfth (Benares) Session, Summaries of Papers, part II. p. 39. and later by Dr. Majumdar and Sircar. 3 IHQ. 1932 p. 352. 4 Allan, Catalogue pp. 117, 122 ; cf. Fleet, CII, p. 53 : "Vinaya-bata-sunitair-vvikramena kramena pratidinam-abhiyogād ipsitain yena labdhvā." The epithet Kramāditya is found on certain gold coins of the heavy Archer type as well as on silver issues of the Garuda, Bull and Altar types. The more famous title of Vikramāditya is met with on silyer coins of the Altar type. 0. P. 90-73 Page #607 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 578 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA epithet reminds one further of the name Mahendra given to his father. It is also to be noted that in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription Samudra Gupta is extolled as the equal of Indra and other gods and in the Kahaum record Skanda Gupta is called Sakropama. From the evidence of coins and inscriptions we know that Skanda ruled from A. D. 455 to c. 467. The first achievement of the monarch was the resuscitation of the Gupta Empire and the recovery of lost provinces. From an inscriptional passage we learn that while preparing to restore the fallen fortunes of his family he was reduced to such straits that he had to spend a whole night sleeping on the bare earth. Line twelve of the Bhitari Inscription tells us that when Kumāra Gupta I had attained heaven, Skanda conquered his enemies by the strength of his arms. From the context it seems that these enemies were the Pushyamitras "whose power and wealth had (suddenly) gone up." The struggle with the Pushyamitras was followed by conflicts with the Hūņas1 and probably also with the Vākātakas in which the emperor was presumably victorious in the end. The invasion of the Hunas took place not later than A.D. 458 if we identify them with the Mlechchhas or barbarian uitlanders of the Junagadh inscription. The memory of the victory over the Mlechchhas is preserved in the story of king Vikramaditya, son of Mahendraditya of Ujjain, in Somadeva's Katha-sarit-sagara. Central India and Surashtra seem to have been the vulnerable parts of the Gupta empire. The Balaghat plates 3 refer to Narendrasena 1 The Hunas are mentioned not only in inscriptions, but in the Mahabharata, the Puranas, the Raghuvamsa and later in the Harsha-charita and the Nitivakyamṛita of Somadeva. The Lalita Vistara (translated by Dharmaraksha, d. A. D. 313) mentions the Hunalipi ( Ind. Ant., 1913, p. 266). See also W. M. Mc Govern, The Early Empires of Central Asia, 399ff, 455ff, 485f. 2 Allan, Gupta Coins, Introduction, p. xlix. 3 Ep. Ind., IX, p. 271, Page #608 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PERILS OF THE GUPTA EMPIRE 579 Vākāṭaka, son of Skanda Gupta's cousin Pravarasena II (III?) as "Kosala-Mekala-Mālav-adhipatyabhyarchita sasana" 'whose commands were treated with respect by the lords of Kosala (Upper Mahanadi Valley), Mekala (Upper Valley of the Nerbudda), and Malava (probably Eastern Malwa).' The Junagadh inscription tells us that Skanda "deliberated for days and nights before making up his mind who could be trusted with the important task of guarding the lands of the Surashtras." Allan deduces from this and from the words "sarveshu deseshu vidhaya goptrin," "appointing protectors in all the provinces' that the emperor was at particular pains to appoint a series of Wardens of the Marches to protect his dominions from future invasion. One of these Wardens was. Parṇadatta.1 governor of Surashtra. In spite of all his efforts Skanda Gupta could not, however, save the westernmost part of his empire from future troubles. During his lifetime he, no doubt, retained his hold over Surashtra, the Cambay coast and the adjoining portions of continental Gujarat and Malwa.2 But his successors do not appear to have been so fortunate. Not a single inscription or coin has yet been discovered which shows that Surashtra and Western Malwa formed parts of the Gupta empire after the death of Skanda Gupta. On the contrary Harisheņa Vākāṭaka, grandson of Narendrasena, claims victories over Laṭa 1 Persian Farna-data seems, according to Jarl Charpentier, to be the form underlying the name Parnadatta (JRAS, 1931, 140; Aiyangar Com. Vol., 15). 2 The inclusion of Surashtra within his empire is proved by the Junagadh inscription and that of the Cambay coast by silver coins of the 'Bull type.' The type was imitated by Krishnaraja (Allan, ci), who is to be identified with the king of that name belonging to the Katachchuri family. Krishna's son and successor, Samkaragana appropriates the epithets of the great Samudra Gupta. His son Buddharaja effected the conquest of Eastern Malwa early in the seventh century A. D. (c. 608 A. D.; Vadner plates, Ep. Ind., xii, 31 ff.; see also Marshall, A Guide to Sanchi, p. 21n). The dynasty was overthrown by the early Chalukyas and it is interesting to note that three of the characteristic epithets of Samudra Gupta are applied to the Chalukya Vijaya-raja in the Kaira grant; Fleet, CII, 14. Page #609 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 580 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (South Gujarāt) and Avanti (district around Ujjain) besides Trikāta in the Konkan, Kuntala (the Kanarese country), Andhra (the Telugu country), Kalinga (South Orissa and adjoining tracts), and Kosala (Upper Mahānadi Valley), while the Maitrakas of Valabbi, (Wala in the peninsular portion of Gujarāt) gradually assume independence. The later years of Skanda seem to have been tranquil. The emperor was helped in the work of administration by a number of able governors like-Parņadatta, viceroy of the west, Sarvanāga, District Officer (Vishayapati) of Antarvedi or the Gangetic Doāb, and Bhimavarman, the ruler of the Kosam region.2 Chakra pālita, son of Parņadatta, restored in A.D. 457-58 the embankment of the lake Sudarsana at Girnar which had burst two years previously. . The emperor continued the tolerant policy of his forefathers. Himself a Bhagavata or worshipper of Krishņa-Vishņu, he and his officers did not discourage followers of other sects, e.g., Jainas and devotees of the Sun. The people were also tolerant. The Kahāum inscription commemorates the erection of Jaina images by a person "full of affection for Brāhmaṇas. 3 The Indore plate records a deed by a Brāhmaṇa endowing a lamp in a temple of the Sun... 1 Cf. the Kahāum Ins. of 141 = A. D. 460-1. · 2 The inclusion within Skanda's empire of provinces lying still further to the east is proved by the Bhitari and Bihār Pillar Inscriptions and possibly by gold coins of the Archer type struck on a standard of 1446 grains of metal. Allan, p. xcviii, 118. 3 Cf. The Pāhādpur epigraph of the year 159 (A. D. 479) which records a donation made by a Brāhmaṇa couple for the worship of the Divine Arhats, ie., the Jinas. Page #610 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER XII. THE GUPTA EMPIRE (continued): THE LATER GUPTAS. Vasvaukasārāmatibhūya sāham Saurājya vaddhotsavayā bibliūtyā Samagrasaktau tvayi Şūryavarsye Sati prapannā karunāmavasthām -Raghuvamsam. SECTION I. SURVIVAL OF THE GUPTA POWER AFTER SKANDA GUPTA. It is now admitted on all hands that the reign of Skanda Gupta ended about A.D. 467. When he passed away the empire declined, 2 especially in the west, but did not wholly perish. We have epigraphic as well as literary evidence of the continuance of the Gupta empire in parts of Central and Eastern India in the latter half of the fifth as well as the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. The Dāmodarpur plates, the Sārnāth Inscriptions 3 and the Eran epigraph of Budha Gupta prove that from A.D. 477 to 496 the Gupta empire extended from Bengal to Eastern Mālwa. Tlte Betul plates of the Parivrājaka Mahārāja Samkshobha, dated in the year 199 G. E., i.e., 518 A.D., during the enjoyment of sovereignty by the Gupta King,'* testify to the fact that the Gupta sway at this 1 Smith, the Oxford History of India, additions and corrections, p. 171, end. 2. For the causes of decline, see Calcutta Review, April, 1930, p. 36 ff; also post. 3 A.S.I. Report, 1914-15; Hindusthan Review, Jan., 1918 ; JBORS, IV, 344 f. 4 Srimati pravardhamāna-vijaya-rājye sauvatsara-sate nava-navaty uttare Gupta- ripa-rajya-bhuktau. "In the glorious, augmerting and victorious reign, in a century of years increased by ninety-nine, the enjoyment of sovereignty by the Gupta King." Page #611 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 582 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA period was acknowledged iņ Dabhālā, which included the Tripuri Vishaya (Jabbalpur region). Another inscription of Samkshobha found in the valley near the village of Khoh in Baghēlkhand, dated in A.D. 528, proves that the Gupta empire included some of the central districts even in A.D. 528.2 Fifteen years later the grant of a village in the Koţivarsha Vishaya (Dinājpur District) of Pundravardhana-bhukti (roughly North Bengal) during the reign of Paramadaivata (the Supreme Divinity) Parama-blattūrala (the Supreme Lord) Mahūrājādhirāja (King of Kings) Sri................Gupta,” 3 shows that the Gupta dominions at this period included the eastern as well as the central provinces. Towards the close of the sixth century a Gupta king, a contemporary of Prabhākara-vardhana of the Pushyabhūti* family of Srikantha (Thānēsar), was ruling in "Mālava."5 Two sons of this king, Kumāra Gupta and . 1 Ep. Ind., VIII, pp. 281-87. Dabhālā = later Dāhala. 2 Fleet. CII, III, pp. 113-16; Hoernle in JASB, 1889 p. 95. 3 Ep. Ind., XV, p. 113 ff. Corrected in Ep. Ind., XVII (Jan., 1924), p. 193. 4 This seems to be the correct spelling and not Pushpabhūti (Ep. Ind., I, 68). 5 "Mālava" was graced by the presence of the Guptas as early as the fifth century. This is proved by the Udayagiri inscriptions of Chandragupta II and the Tumain inscription of Ghatotkacha Gupta. In the latter part of the sixth and the commencement of the seventh century. it seems to have been under the direct rule of a line of Guptas whose precise connection with the Great Guptas is not clear. Magadha was probably administered by local rulers like Kumārāmātya Mahārāja Nandana (A. D. 551-2?) of the Amauna plate, Gayā Dist., Ep. Ind., X, 49, and the Varmans (cf. Nāgārjuni Hill Cave Ins., CII, 226; also Pūrņavarman mentioned by Hiuen Tsang and Deva-varman, IA,X. 110). For a detailed discussion see Ray Chaudhuri, J BORS, XV, parts ili and iv (1929, pp. 651 f.). The precise location and extent of the "Mālava" of the later Guptas'' cannot be determined. In Ep. Ind., V, 229, the Dandanāyaka Anantapāla, a feudatory of Vikramaditya VI, is said to have subdued the Sapta Mālava countries up to the Himālaya Mountains. This suggests that there were as many as seven countries called Mälava (cf. also Rice, Mysore and Coorg, 46). These were probably : (1) The country of the 'Mālavas' in the Western Ghats (Kanarese Districts, p. 569). (2) Mo-la-po (Mālavaka-ahāra of Valabhi grants) on the Mahi governed by the Maitrakas, (3) Avanti in the wider sense of the term ruled by the Katachchuris or Kalachuris of the Abhona plates (sixth century) and by a Brāhmara family in the time of Page #612 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LAST DAYS OF THE GUPTAS" 583 Mādhava Gupta were appointed to wait upon the princes Rājya-vardhana and Harsha of Thānēsar. From the Aphsad inscription of Adityasena we learn that the fame of the father of Mādhava Gupta, the associate of Harsha, marked with honour of victory in war over Susthitavarman, doubtless a king of Kámarūpa, was constantly sung on the banks of the river Lohitya or Brahmaputra. This indicates that even in or about A.D. 600 (the time of Prabhākara-vardhana) the sway of kings bearing the name Gupta extended from "Mālava” to the Brahmaputra. In the sixth century Gupta suzerainty was no doubt successively challenged by the Huns and their conquerors belonging to the Mandasor and Maukhari families. In Hiuen Tsang the Chinese pilgrim, (4) Pūrva Mālava (round Bhilsa), (5) District round Prayāga, Kaušām bi and Fatehpur in U. P. (Smith, EHI, 4th ed., p. 350n.; IHQ. 1931, 150f. ; cf. JRAS, 1903. 561). (6) part of eastern Rājputāna, (7) Cis-Sutlej districts of the Pañjāb together with some Himālayan territory. The later Guptas probably held (4) and (5) and, at times, Magadha as well. The Bhāgvata Purāna (xii, 1.36) whose date is not probably far removed from that of the later Guptas, associates Mālava with Arbuda (Abu) and distinguishes it from Avanti. The rulers of Mālava and Avanti are also distinguished from each other by Rājasekhara in his Viddhaśāla bhañjikā, Act IV (p. 121 of Jivānanda Vidyāsāgara's edition). Early in the seventh century the Guptas seem to have lost Eastern Mālwa to the Katchchuris. In the Vadner plates issued from Vidiśā (Besnagar) in or about A. D. 608, a Katachchuri king, Samkaragana receives epithets that are palpably borrowed from the Allahabad Prasasti of Samudra Gupta. The overthrow of the Katachchuris was effected by the early Chalukyas of Badami and South Gujarat. Fleet points out (CII, 14) that three of the epithets of Samudra Gupta are 'applied to the Chalukya chieftain Vijayarāja in the Kaira grant of the year 394 (IA, VII, 248.) Adityasena of the later Gupta family, who ruled in the second half of the seventh century A. D., seems to be referred to in Nepalese inscriptions as 'King of Magadha.' Magadha, now replaced Eastern Mālwa as the chief centre of Gupta power. 1 Cf. Hoernle in JRAS, 1903, 561. 2 An allusion to the later Guptas seems to occur in the Kādambari, Verse 10, of Bāņa which says that the lotus feet of Kubera, the poet's great-grandfather, were worshipped by many a Gupta : Babhūva Vātsyāyana vamśa sambhavo dvijo jagadgitaguno' granih satām aneka Guptārchita pada pankajah Kubera nāmāmsa iva Svayambhuvah. . Page #613 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 584 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA the first half of the seventh century the Gupta's lost Vidišā to the Katachchuris and their power in the Ganges Valley was overshadowed by that of Harsha. But, after the death of the great Kanauj monarch, the Gupta empire was sought to be revived by Adityasēna, son of Mādhava Gupta, who "ruled the whole earth up to the shores of the oceans," performed the Asvamedha and other great sacrifices and assumed the titles of Parama-bhattāraka and Mahārājādhirāja. Page #614 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION II. PURU GUPTA AND NARASIMHA GUPTA BĀLĀDITYA. We shall now proceed to give an account of Skanda Gupta's successors. The immediate successor of the great emperor seems to have been his brother Puru Gupta. The existence of this king was unknown till the discovery of the Bhitarī seal of Kumāra Gupta II in 1889, and its publication by Smith and Hoernle.' The seal describes Puru Gupta as the son of Kumāra I by the queen Anantadevi, and does not mention Skanda Gupta. The mention of Puru Gupta immediately after Kumāra with the prefix tat-pād-ūnudhyāta "meditating on, or attached to, the feet of” (Kumāra), does not necessarily prove that Puru Gupta was the immediate successor of his father, and a contemporary and rival of his brother or half-brother Skanda Gupta. In the Manabali grant Madanapāla is described as Śri-Rāmapāla-Deva-pādānu thyūta, although he was preceded by his elder brother Kumārapāla. In Kielhorn's Northern Inscription No. 39, Vijayapāla is described as the successor of Kshitipāla, although he was preceded by his brother Deva pāla. 3 1 JASB, 1889 pp. 84-105. 2 The omission of Skanda's name in the Bhitari seal of his brother's grandson does not necessarily imply that the relations between him and Puru's family were unfriendly as suggested by Mr. R. D. Banerji (cf. Annals of the Bhand. Ins., 1918-19, pp. 74-75). The name of Pulakesin II is omitted in an inscription of his brother and Yuvarāja Vishņuvardhana (Sātārā grant, Ind. Ant., 1890 pp. 227f). The name of Bhoja II of the Imperial Pratihāra dynasty is not mentioned in the Partabgarh Inscription of his nephew Mahendrapāla II, but it is mentioned in an inscription of his brother Vināyakapāla, the father of Mahendrapāla. Besides, there was no custom prohibiting the mention of the name of a rival uncle or brother. Mangaleśa and Govinda II are mentioned in the inscriptions of their rivals and their descendants. On the other hand even an ancestor of a reigning king was sometimes omitted, e. g., Dharapatta is omitted in his son's inscription (Kielhorn, N. Ins., No, 464). 3 Kielhorn, Ins. No. 31. 0. P. 90-74. Page #615 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 586 - POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Smith and Allan have shown that Skanda ruled over the whole empire including the eastern and the central as well as many of the western provinces. He may have lost some of his districts in the Far West. But the cointypes of the successors of Kumāra Gupta, with the exception of Skanda Gupta and Budha Gupta, show that none of them could have held sway in the lost territories of Western India. Epigraphic and numismatic evidence clearly indicate that there was no room for a rival Mahārājādhirāja in Northern India including Bihār and Bengal during the reign of Skanda Gupta. He was a man of mature years at the time of his death cir. A D. 467.1 His brother and successor Puru Gupta, too, must have been an old man at that time. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that he had a very short reign and died some time before A.D. 473 when his grandson Kumāra Gupta II was ruling. The name of Purn Gupta's queen has been read by various scholars as Sri Vatsadevi, Vainyadevī or Śrī Chandradevi.” She was the mother of Narasimha Gupta Bālāditya. The coins of Puru Gupta are of the heavy Archer type apparently belonging to the eastern provinces of the empire of his predecessors. Some of the coins hitherto attributed to him have the reverse legend Sri Vikramah and possible traces of the fuller title of Vikramāditya. Allan identifies him with king Vikramāditya of Ayodhyā, 1 When sons succeed a father or mother after a prolonged reign they are usually well advanced in years. In the case of Skanda Gupta we know that already in A.D. 455 he was old enough to lead the struggle against all the enemies of his house and empire in succession. 2 Ep. Ind., XXI, 77: ASI, AR, 1934-35, 63. 3 Allan, pp. 1xxx, xcviii. 4 Mr. S. K. Sarasvati attributes these coins to Budha Gupta (Indian Culture, I, 692). This view, however, is not accepted by Prof. Jagan Nath (Summaries of paper submitted to the 13th All India Oriental Conference, Nagpur, 1946, Sec. IX p. 11). According to Mr. Jagan Nath the reading is definitely Puru and not Budha. As to the title Vikramāditya, see Allan, p. cxxii. Page #616 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IDENTIFICATION OF PURU GUPTA 587 father of Bālāditya, who was a patron of Buddhism through the influence of Vasubandhu.. The importance of this identification lies in the fact that it proves that the immediate successors of Skanda Gupta had a capital at Ayodhyā probably till the rise of the Maukharis. If the spurious Gayā plate is to be believed Ayodhyā was the seat of a Gupta jaya-skandhāvāra, or 'camp of victory,' as early as the time of Samudra Gupta. The principal capital of Bālāditya and his successors appears to have been Kāśi.1 The identification proposed by Allan also suggests that Puru Gupta could not have flourislied much later than 472 A.D., for a Chinese history of the Indian patriarchs belonging to that year mentions "Ba-su-ban-da." The evidence of the Bharsar hoard seems to show that a king styled Prakāśāditya came shortly after Skanda Gupta. Prakāśāditya may be regarded as possibly a biruda or secondary epithet of Puru Gupta or of one of his immediate successors. Even if we think withi Allan that Puru had the title Vikramāditya there is no inherent improbability in his having an additional Aditya title. That the same king might have two “Aditya" names is proved by the cases of Skanda Gupta (Vikramāditya and Kramāditya) and Sīlāditya Dharmāditya of Valabhi. But the identification of Prakāśāditya still remains sub judice. His coins are of the combined horseman and lion-slayer type. The "horseman type” was associated with the southern provinces of the empire of the Guptas 3 and the lion-slayer type with the north). 1 CII, 285. 2 JRAS, 1905, 40. This is now confirmed by the seal which represents Puru as the father of Budha (476-95.) 3 Allan, p. lxxxvi. 4 Ibid, xci, Page #617 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 588 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA G4 Balas Puru Gupta seems to have been succeeded by his son Narasimha Gupta Bālāditya. This king has been identified with king Bālāditya whose troops are represented by Hiuen Tsang as having imprisoned the tyrant Mihirakula. It has been overlooked that Hiuen Tsang's Bālāditya was the immediate successor of Tathāgata Gupta, who was himself the immediate successor of Bud(d)ha Gupta, whereas Narasimha Gupta Bālāditya was the son and successor of Puru Gupta who in his turn was the son of Kumāra Gupta I and the successor of Skanda Gupta. The son and successor of Hiuen Tsang's Bālāditya was Vajra3 while the son and successor of Narasimha was Kumāra Gupta II. It is obvious that the conqueror of Mihirakula was not the son of Puru Gupta but an altogether different individual. The existence of several kings of the eastern part of the Madhyadesa having the biruda Bālāditya is proved by the Sārnāth Inscription of Prakațāditya. Narasiųha Gupta must have died in or about the year ara 1 Life of Hiuen Tsang, p. 111. Si-yu-ki. II, p. 168. 2 Fo-to-kio-to. Beal, Fleet and Watters render the term by Buddha Gupta, a name unknown to imperial Gupta epigraphy. The synchronism of his second successor Bālāditya with Mihirakula proves that Budha Gupta is meant. We have other instances of corruption of names. e.g. Skanda is transformed into Skandha in several Purāņic lists of the so-called Andhra dynasty. 3 Yuan Chwang II, p. 165. 4 Drs. Bhattasāli and Basāk, who uphold the identification of Hiuen Tsang's Bālāditya with the son of Puru Gupta do not apparently attach due weight to the evidence of the Life of Hiuen Tsang, p. 111, which, as we shall see later on, is corroborated by the combined testimony of the Sārnāth inscription of Prakatāditya and the Arya-Manju-sri-mula-kalba. The evidence of these documents suggests that Hiuen Tsang's Bālāditya was identical with Bhānu Gupta and was the father of Prakatāditya and Vajra. 5 CII, p. 285. A Bālāditya is mentioned in the Nālanda Stone Inscription of Yasovarman (Ep. Ind., 1929. Jan., 38) and also a seal (Sri Nalandāyām śri Balāditya Gandhakudi, MASI, 66, 38). Page #618 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ COINS OF NARASIMHA 589 A.D. 473. He was succeeded by his son Kumāra Gupta II Kramāditya by queen Mitradevi.' The coins of Narasimha and his successor belong to two varieties of the Archer type. One class of these coins was, according to Allan, apparently intended for circulation in the lower Ganges valley, and the other may have been issued in the upper provinces. The inclusion of Eastern India within the dominions of Bālāditya (Bālākchya) and Kumāra (II) is vouched for by the ĀryaManjusri-müla-kalpa.? 1 It is suggested in Ep. Ind., xxi, 77 (clay seals of Nālanda) and ASI, AR, 1934-35, 63, that the name of Kumāra Gupta's mother has to be read as Mitradevi and not Srimati devi or Lakshmidevi. 2 Ganapati Šāstri's ed. p. 630. Cf. Jayaswal, Imperial History, 35. Bālākhya nāmasau nạipatir bhavita Purva-deśakah tasyāpareņa nripatih Gaudānām prabhavishnavah Kumārāk li yo nāmatah proktah so'pir atyanta dharmavan. Page #619 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION III. KUMĀRA GUPTA II AND VISHNUGUPTA, Kumāra Gupta II of the Bhitarī seal, son of Narasinha Gupta, bas been identified with Kramāditya of certain coins of the Archer type that are closely connected with the issues of Narasimha Bālāditya. He is also identified with king Kumāra Gupta mentioned in the Sārnāth Buddhist Image Inscription of the year 154 G. E., i.e., A.D. 473-74. Drs. Bhattasāli, Basāk and some other scholars think that the Kumāra Guptas of the Bhitarı seal and the Sārnāth epigraph were distinct individuals. The former places Kumāra, son of Narasimha, long after A.D. 500.2 But his theory is based upon the doubtful identification of Narasimha with the conqueror of Mihirakula. According to Dr. Basāk Kumāra of the Sārnāth Inscription was the immediate successor of Skanda. In his opinion there were two rival Gupta lines ruling simultaneously, one consisting of Skanda, Kumāra of Sārnāth and Budha, the other comprising Puru, Narasimha and his son Kumāra of the Bhitari seal. But there is not the slightest evidence of a partition of the Gupta empire in the latter half of the fifth century A.D. On the contrary inscriptions and coins prove that both Skanda and Budha ruled over the whole empire from Bengal to the West. We have already seen that according to the traditional account of the Arya-Maijuśti-mūla-kalpa the kingdom of Bālākhya, i.e., Bālāditya and his successor Kumāra embraced the Purva-deśa (Eastern India) including Ganda (Western and part of Northern Bengal). How 1 See ASI, AR, 1914-15, 124, Hindusthān Review, Jan., 1918, Ann. Bhand. Inst., 1918-19, 67 ff. and JBORS, iv, 344, 412, for the views of Venis, Pathak, Panday, Pannalall and others. 2 Dacca Review, May and June, 1920, pp. 54-57. 3 Arya-Manjusri-mūla-kalpa, G. Šāstri's ed., pp. 630 f. Page #620 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IDENTITY OF KUMĀRA GUPTA OF SĀRNĀTH 591 can we reconcile the rule of these kings with the contemporary sovereignty of a rival line represented by Skanda and Budha ?1 There is no cogent reason for doubting the identity of Kumāra of the Bhitari seal with his namesake of the Sārnāth inscription. Kumāra II's reign must have terminated in or about the year A.D. 476-77, the first known date of Budha Gupta.? The reigns of Puru, Narasimha and Kumāra II appear to be abnormally short, amounting together to only ten years (A.D. 467-77). This is by no means a unique case. In Veigi three Eastern Chālukya monarchs, viz., Vijayāditya IV, his son Ammarāja I, and Ammarāja's 1 The seal of Budha Gupta (MASB, No. 66. p. 64) proves conclusively that Budha, far from belonging to a rival line, was actually a son of Puru Gupta. It also negatives the late date for Puru Gupta suggested by Dr. Bhatta sāli. 2 One of the successors of Kumāra (II), son of Bālāditya, is according to the Arya-Manjusri-müla-kalpa, a prince styled Ukārākhya. That appellation may according to Jayaswal apply to Prakāśāditya, for Allan finds the letters ru or 11 on his coins. But the identification of a prince whose designation was u, Ukārākhya), with Budha Gupta (Jayaswal, An Imperial History of India, 38), does not seem to be plausible. The passage in the Arya-Manjusri-müla-kalba suggests a name like Upagupta or Upendra. Though there is no direct epigraphic evidence for the name Upagupta, the existence of such a prince does not seem to be improbable in view of the fact that an Upaguptā is mentioned in Maukhari records as the mother of Iśānavarman (Asîrgadh (Fleet, CII, p. 220) and Nālanda - (Ep. Ind., XXI, p. 74) seals). Cf. Bhānu Gupta and Bhānu Guptā, Harsha Gupta and Harsha Guptā, Mahāsena Gupta and Mahāsena Guptā. On the analogy of these cases it is possible that there was a prince named Upagupta, apparently the brother of Upa Guptā. If this surmise be correct Upagupta may have to be placed in the same period as the mother of Isānavarman, i.e., in the first half of the sixth century A.D., sometime after Budha Gupta. If u is the initial of Upendra (Vishņu or Krishna) and not of Upagupta, it may refer to Vishnu Gupta or to Krishna Gupta, just as Somākhya has reference to the Gauda king Śaśānka. The existence of a son of Kumāra Gupta II named Mahārājādhiraja Sri Vishņu Gupta has recently been disclosed by a fragmentary seal at Nalanda (Ep. Ind. XXVI. 235 ; 1. H. 9. XIX. 19). It is difficult in the present state of our knowledge to say whether he was the immediate successor of his father, or had to wait till the death of his great uncle Budha Gupta. Those who place him and his father after Budha Gupta, have to dissociate Kumāra of the Bhitari and Nālandā seals from the homonymous prince of Sārnāth. This is not improbable but must await future discoveries for confirmation, Page #621 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 592 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA a son, another Vijayaditya, ruled only for seven years and six and half months.1 In Kasmira six kings, Suravarman I, Partha, Sambhuvardhana, Chakravarman, Unmattavanti and Suravarman II, ruled within six years (A.D). 933-39); and three generations of kings, viz., Yasaskara, his uncle Varnata, and his son Samgramadeva ruled for ten years (A.D. 939-49). A fragmentary seal discovered at Nalanda refer to his son Vishnu Gupta who is probably to be identified with Chandraditya of the coins. 1 Hultzsch, SII, Vol. I, p. 46. Page #622 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION IV. Budha GUPTA. For Budha Gupta, now known to have been a son of Puru Gupta' we have a number of dated inscriptions and coins which prove that he ruled for about twenty years (A.D. 477-c. 495). Two copper-plate inscriptions discovered in the village of Dāmodarpur in the district of Dinājpur, testify to the fact that Budha Gupta's empire included Pundravardhana bhukti (roughly North Bengal) which was governed by his viceroys (Uparika Mahārāja) Brahmadatta and Jayadatta.? The Sārnāth inscription of A.D. 476-77 proves his possession of the Kāśi country. In A.D. 484-85 the erection of a alwaja-stambha or flag staff in honour of Janārdana, i.e., Vishņu, by the Mahārāja Mātņivishņu, ruler of Eran, and his brother Dhanyavishņu, while the Bhūpati (King) Budha Gupta was reigning, and Mahārāja Suraśmichandra was governing the land between the Kālindi (Jumna) and the Narmadā, (Nerbudda) indicates that Budha Gupta's dominions included part of Central India as well as Kāśi and North Bengal. The coins of this emperor are dated in the year A.D. C. 495. They continue the peacock-type of the Gupta silver coinage that was meant, according to Allan, for circulation in the central part of the empire 3 Their 1 Seal of Budha Gupta (MASB, No. 66, p. 64.) 2 To the reign of this Gupta king belongs also probably the Pābādpur (ancient Somapura) (Rājshāhi District) plate of A. D. 478-79 (Mod. Rev., 1931, 150 ; Prabāsi, 1338, 671 ; Ep. Ind. XX, 59 ff.) and also a copper-plate of A.D. 488-9 (Ep. Ind. xxiii. 52 ), originally found at Nandapura ( Monghyr District). For a possible reference to Budha Gupta in Purāņic literature, see Pro. of the Seventh Or. Conf., 576. 3 Cf. also Mahābhārata, ii. 32. 4, O. P. 90-75 Page #623 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 594 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA legend is the claim to be lord of the earth and to have won heaven,- found on the coins of Kumāra Gupta I and - Skanda Gupta. Page #624 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SECTION V. SUCCESSORS OF Budha GUPTA. · According to the Life of Hiuen Tsang Budha Gupta was succeeded by Tathāgata Gupta, after whom Bālāditya succeeded to the empire. At this period the supremacy of the Guptas in Central India was challenged by the Hun king Toramāṇa. We have seen that in A.D. 484-85 a Mahārāja named Mātřivishņu ruled in the Airikiņa Vishaya (Eran in Eastern Mālwa, now in the Saugor District of the Central Provinces) as a vassal of the emperor Budha Gupta. But after his death his younger brother Dhanyavishņu transferred his allegiance to Toramāņa. The success of the Huns in Central India was, however, short-lived. In 510-11 we find a general named Goparāja fighting by the side of a Gupta king at Eran and king Hastin of the neighbouring province of Dabhālā to the south-east of Eran acknowledging the sovereignty of the Guptas. In A. D. 518 the suzerainty of the Guptas is acknowledged in the Tripuri vishaya (Jubbalpore District). In the year 528-29 the Gupta sway was still acknowledged by the ParivrājakaMahārāja of Dabhālā. The Parivrājakas Hastin and Sam kshobha seem to have been the bulwarks of the Gupta empire in the northern part of the present Central Provinces. The Harsha-charita of Bāņa recognises the possession of Mālava, possibly Eastern Mālwa, by the Guptas as late as the time of Prabhākara-vardhana (cir. A.D. 600). There can be no doubt that the expulsion of the Huns from parts of Central India was final. 2 The recovery of the Central Provinces was probably 1 Beal, Si-yu-ki, II, p. 168 ; the Life, p. 111. 2 For the survival of the Hụns in the Malwa region, See Bp. Ind. xxiii. 102. Page #625 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 596 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA effected in the time of Bālāditya whose troops are represented by Hiuen Tsang as having imprisoned Mihirakula, the son and successor of Toramāņa, and set him at liberty at the request of the Queen Mother. The Hun king had to be content with a small kingdom in the north.” It is not improbable that Bālāditya was a biruda of the "glorious Bhānu Gupta, the bravest man on the earth, a mighty king, equal to Pārtha” along with whom Goparāja went to Eran and having fought a "very famous battle” died shortly before A.D. 510-11. Mihirakula was finally subjugated by the Janendras Yasodharman of Mandaśor some time before A.D. 533. 1 Si-yu-ki, p. 171. 2 In a Nālanda Stone Inscription (Ep. Ind., XX, 43-45) Balāditya is described as a king of irresistible valour and vanquisher of all foes. The last of the Bālādityas mentioned in a Sārnāth Inscription (Fleet, CII, 285 f.) had a son named Prakatāditya by his wife Dhavalā. In the Arya-Manjusri-müla-kalba (ed. G. Šāstri, p. 637 ff.) Pakārākhya (Prakațāditya) is represented as the son of Bhakārākhya (Bhānu Gupta). Buddhist tradition thus corroborates the identification, first proposed in these pages, of Balāditya with Bhānu Gupta. cf. now Jayaswal, An Imperial History of India, pp. 47. 53. An inscription found at Gunāighara near Comilla and certain seals at Nalanda disclose the existence of a king named (Vai) nya Gu(pta) who ruled in or about A. D. 507 and must have been also a contemporary of Mihirakula or of his father (Prabāsi, 1338, 675 ; IHO, 1930, 53, 561). The seals give him the style Mahārājadhiraja (ASI, | AR, 1930-34, Pt. I, 230, 249; MASI, 66. 67 ; IHQ, XIX. 275) and suggest relationship with the imperial Guptas. Dr. D. C. Ganguly, identifies him with the Dvādaśāditya of coins (IHQ, 1933, 784, 989). But owing to damaged condition of the Nālandā seal his parentage cannot be ascertained. 3 The ascription of the title of Vikramaditya to Yasodharman of Mandasor, and the representation of this chief as a ruler of Ujjain, the father of silāditya of Mo-la-po and the father-in-law of Prabhākara-vardhana are absolutely unwarranted. According to Father Heras (J BORS, 1927. March, 8-9) the defeat of Mihirakula at the hands of Baladitya took place after the Hun king's conflict with Yaśodharman. It should, however, be remembered that at the time of the war with Baladitya Mihirakula was a paramount sovereign to whom the king of Magadha had been tributary, and with whom he dared not fight, being only anxious to conceal his poor person ( Beal, Si-yu-ki, Vol. I, p. 168). This is hardly possible after the Janendra of Mandaśor had compelled the Hun "to pay respect to his two feet". The victory of Bālāditya over Mihirakula was certainly not decisive. The loss of the royal estate" was only temporary, and the tyrant soon pla w ed himself on the throne of Kaśmira and conquered Page #626 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ECLIPSE OF GUPTA RULE IN BENGAL 597 Line 6 of the Mandaśor Stone Pillar inscription leaves the impression that in the time of Yasodharman Mihirakula was the king of a Himālayan country ("small kingdom in the north"), i.e., Kaśmira and that neighbourhood, who was compelled “to pay respect to the two feet” of the victorious Janendra probably when the latter carried his arms to "the mountain of snow the tablelands of which are embraced by the Gargā." Yasodharman claims to have extended his sway as far as the Lauhitya or Brahmaputra in the east. It is not improbable that he defeated and killed Vajra, the son of Bālāditya, and extinguished the viceregal family of the Dattas of Pandra-vardhana. Hiuen Tsang mentions a king of Central India as the successor of Vajra. The Dattas, who governed Pundra-vardhana from the time of Kumāra Gupta I, disappear about this time. But Yasodharman's success must have been short-lived, Gandhāra ( Beal, II, 171). To the court-poet of Yasodharman Mihirakula was pre-eminently a king of the Himālayan region. This is clear from the following passage which was misunderstood by Fleet whose interpretation has been followed by Father Heras (p. 8 n) : "He (Yasodharman) to whose feet respect was paid...by even that (famous) king Mihirakula, whose head had never previously been brought into the humility of obeisance to any other save (the god) Sthānu (and) embraced by whose arms the mountain of snow falsely prides itself as being styled an inaccessible fortress" (Kielhorn in Ind. Ant., 1885, p. 219). Kielhorn's interpretation was accepted by Fleet. [The statement that Mihirakula's head 'had never been brought into the humility of obeisance to any other save (the god) Sthānu" shows that he refused to do homage to Bālāditya, and probably accounts for the order, given for his execution by that king.) 1 CII, pp. 146-147 : Jayaswal, The Historical Position of Kalki, p. 9, 2 If the identification of Bālāditya with Bhānu Gupta first proposed in these pages is correct, his son Vajra may be identified with Vakārākhya, the younger brother (anuja) of the Prakațāditya of the Sārnāth Inscription (Fleet, CII, 284 ff.)-the Pakārākhya of the Arya-Manjusri-müla-kalba who is represented as the son of Bhakārākhya, i. e., Bhānu Gupta (ed. G. Šāstri, pp. 637-44). Prakațāditya is represented in the inscription named above as the son of Bālāditya by Dhavalā. Cf. now Jayaswal, An Imperial History of India, pp. 47, 53, 56, 63. Page #627 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 598 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA because in A.D. 543-44, ten years after the Mandaśor inscription which mentions the Janendra Yaśodharman as victorious, the son (?) and viceroy of a Gupta paramabhattāraka mahārājādhirāja prithivipati, 'supreme sovereign, king of kings, lord of the earth,' and not any official of the Central Indian Janendra, was governing the Pundra-vardhana-bhukti, a province, which lay between the Indian interior and the Lauhitya. Page #628 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE EARLY IMPERIAL GUPTAS. Gupta Ghatotkacha Lichchhavis Chandra Gupta I= Kumāra Devi (?) A. D. 320 Skanda Gupta Vikramaditya II A. D. 455-c 467 Samudra Gupta = Datta Devi 1 A.. D. 381-413 Dhruva Devi Deva Gupta I (Chandra Gupta II) Vikramaditya = Kubera Nāgā 1 Govinda Gupta Kumara Gupta I Mahendraditya (1) Ananta Devi Guttas of Guttal. A. D. 415-455 (2) Devaki ? Puru Gupta = Śri, Chandra Devi (?) ?Ghatotkacha Gupta Narasimha Gupta (Baladitya) == Śrī Mitra Devi 1 Kumara Gupta II, Kramaditya, (?) A, D. 473-474 Vishnu Gupta Budha Gupta, A. D. 477-c. 495. Baladitya II (Bhanu Gupta ?) A. D. 510 Prabhāvati Tathāgata Gupta probably related to (?) Vainya Gupta A. D. 507 Prakaṭāditya Vākāṭaka kings of Bhojakata, etc., in the Deccan Vajra THE EARLY IMPERIAL GUPTAS 599 Page #629 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Section VI. THE LINE OF Krishna Gupta. The name of the Gupta emperor in the Dāmodarpur plate of A.D. 543-44 is unfortunately lost. The Aphsad inscription, however, discloses the names of a number of “Gupta” kings,' the fourth of whom, Kumāra Gupta (III), was a contemporary of Īśānavarman Maukhari who is known from Harāhā inscription to have been ruling in A.D. 554.? Kumāra Gupta III, and his three predecessors, viz., Kộishņa, Harsha and Jivita, should probably be placed in the period between A.D. 510, the date of Bhānu Gupta, and 554, the date of Išānavarman. It is possible, but by no means certain, that one of these kings is identical with the Gupta emperor mentioned in the 1 Although the rulers, the names of most of whom ended in--gupta, mentioned in the Aphsad and connected contemporary epigraphs, who ruled over the provinces in the heart of the early Gupta empire, are called "Guptas" for the sake of convenience, their relationship with the early Gupta-kula or Gupta-vamśa is not known. It is, however, to be noted that some of them (e.g.. Kumāra Gupta and Deva Gupta), bore names that are found in the earlier family, and Krishņa Gupta, the founder of the line, has been identified by some with Govinda Gupta, son of Chandra Gupta II. But the last suggestion is hardly acceptable, because Govinda must have flourished more than half a century before Kộishņa Gupta. And it is surprising that the panegyrists of Krishna Gupta's descendants should have omitted all references to the early Guptas if their patrons could really lay claim to such an illustrious ancestry. In the Aphsad inscription the dynasty is described simply as Sad-vamsa 'of good lineage.' The designation Gupta, albeit not "Early Imperial Gupta," is possibly justified by the evidence of Bāņa. The Guptas and the Gupta Kulaputra mentioned in Bāņa's Kādambari and Harsha-charita may refer to the family of Krishna, if not to some hitherto unknown descendants of the early imperial line. One of the princes of the early Gupta line, Ghatotkacha Gupta of the Tumain inscription is known to have ruled over Eastern Malwa and it is not impossible that Krishna Gupta was, in some way, connected with him. We must, however, await future discoveries to clear up the point. 2 H. śāstri, Ep. Ind., XIV, pp. 110 ff. Page #630 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE LINE OF KRISHNA GUPTA 601 Damodarpur plate of A.D. 543-44.1 The absence of highsounding titles like Mahārājādhiraja or Parama-bhaṭṭāraka in the Slokas or verses of the Aphsad inscription does not necessarily prove that the kings mentioned there were petty chiefs. No such titles are attached to the name of Kumara I in the Mandaśor inscription, or to the name of Budha in the Eran inscription. On the other hand the queen of Madhava Gupta, one of the least powerful kings mentioned in the Aphsad inscription, is called Parama-bhaṭṭārika and Mahadevi in the Deo Baraṇark epigraph. i Regarding Krishna Gupta we know very little. The Aphsad inscription describes him as a hero whose arm played the part of a lion, in bruising the foreheads of the array of the rutting elephants of (his) haughty enemy (driptūrāti), (and) in being victorious by (its) prowess over countless foes. The driptūrāti against whom he had to fight may have been Yasodharman. The next king Deva Śri Harsha Gupta had to engage in terrible contests with those who were "averse to the abode of the goddess of fortune being with (him, her) own lord." There were wounds from many weapons on his chest. The name of the enemies, who tried to deprive him of his rightful possessions, are not given. Harsha's son Jivita Gupta I probably succeeded in re-establishing the of his family in the territory lying between the Himalayas and the sea, apparently in Eastern India. "The very terrible scorching fever (of fear) left not (his) haughty foes, even though they stood on seaside shores power 1 Mr. Y. R. Gupte (Ind. Hist. Journal) reads the name of Kumara in the inscription of A. D. 543-44, but he identifies him with the son of Narasimha Gupta. The ruler whose name is missing may represent one or other of the "Gupta' lines already known to scholars or some new line. Cf. the cases of Vainya Gupta and the princes mentioned on pp. 214-15 of Ep. Ind.. XX, Appendix. O. P. 90-76. Page #631 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 602 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA that were cool with the flowing and ebbing currents of water, (and) were covered with the branches of plantain trees severed by the trunks of elephants roaming through the lofty groves of palmyra palms ;-(or) even though they stood on (that) mountain (Himālaya) which is cold with the water of the rushing and waving torrents full of snow.” The "haughty foes” on seaside shores were probably the Gaudas who had already launched into a career of conquest about this time and who are described as living on the sea shore (samudr-ūśraya) in the Harābā inscription of A. D. 554. The other enemies may have included ambitious Kumārāmūtyas like Nandana of the Amauna plate. The next king, Kumāra Gupta III, had to encounter a sea of troubles. The Gaudas were issuing from their "proper realm” which was Western Bengal as it bordered on the sea and included Karņasuvarņaand Rādhāpuri. The lord of the Andbras who had thousands of three-fold rutting elephants, and the Sūlikas who had an army of countless galloping horses, were powers to be reckoned with. The Andhra king was probably Mādhava-varman (I, Janāśraya) of the Polamuru plates belonging to the Vishņukuņdin family who "crossed the river Godāvari with the desire to conquer the eastern region”4 and performed eleven horse-sacrifices. The Śūlikas were probably the Chalukyas. In the Malākīta pillar 1 Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 110 et seq. 2 M. Chakravarti, JASB, 1908, p. 274. 3 Prabodha-chandroda ya, Act II. 4 Dubreuil, AHD, p. 92 and D. C. Sircar, IHQ, 1933, 276 ff. 5 In the Brihat-Samhitā, IX. 15; XIV. 8, the Sūlikas and Saulikas are associated with Aparānta (N. Konkan), Vanavāsi (Kanara) and Vidarbha (Berar). In Brih. Sai., IX. 21 ; X. 7, XVI. 35, however, they are associated with Gandhāra and Vokkāņa (Wakhan). A branch of the people may have dwelt in the north-west. In JRAS, 1912, 128, we have a reference to Kulastambha of the Sulki family. Tāranātha (Ind. Ant., IV, 364) places the kingdom of "Sulik" beyond "Togara" (Ter in the Deccan ?). Page #632 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LATER GUPTAS AND MAUKHARIS 603 inscription the name appears as Chalikya. In the Gujarāt records we find the forms Solaki and Solanki. Śūlika may have been another dialectic variant. The Mabākūta pillar inscription tells us that in the sixth century A.D., Kirtivarman I of the “Chalikya” dynasty gained victories over the kings of Vanga, Anga, Magadha, etc. His father is known to have performed the Aśvamedha sacrifice, “the super-eminent touch-stone to test the might of warriors conquering the world and an indication of the conquest of all the warriors." Prince Kirtivarman may have been entrusted with the guardianship of the sacrificial steed that had to roam about for a year in the territories of the rulers to whom a challenge was thrown by the performer of the sacrifice. .. A new power was rising in the Upper Ganges Valley which was destined to engage in a death grapple with the Guptas for the mastery of Northern India. This was the Mukhara or Maukhari' power. The Maukharis claimed descent from the hundred sons whom king Ašvapati got from Vaivasvata, i.e., Yama? (not Manu). The family consisted of several distinct groups. The stone inscriptions of one group have been discovered in the Jaunpur and Bārā Banki districts of the United Provinces, while lithic records of another group have been discovered in the Gayā district of Bihār. A third family has left inscription at Badvā in the Kotah state in Rājputāna. The Maukharis of Gayā, namely, Yajñavarman, Sārdalavarman and Anantavarman were a 1 The family was called both Mukhara and Maukhari. "Soma-Sürya-vamśāviva Pushpabhati (sic) Mukhara Vamsau", "sakalabhuvana namaskrito Maukhari vamsal" (Harsha-charita, Parab's ed., pp. 141, 146). Cf. also CII, p. 229. -Mbh., III. 296. 38 ff. The reference is undoubtedly to the hundred sons that Aśvapati obtained as a boon from Yama on the intercession of his daughter Savitri. It is surprising that some writers still identify the Vaivasvata of the Maukhari record with Manu. Page #633 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 604 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA feudatory family. Śārdūla is expressly called sūmanta chadāmani, 'crest-jewel of vassal chiefs' in the Barābar Hill Cave Inscription of his son. The Badvā Maukharis held the office of general or military governor under some Prince of Western India in the third century A. D. The Maukharis of the United Provinces ? probably also held a subordinate rank at first. The earliest princes of this family, viz., Harivarman, Adityavarman, and īśvaravarman, were simply Mahārājas. Adityavarman's wife was Harsha Guptā, probably a sister of king Harsha Gupta. -The wife of his son and successor Žśvaravarman was also probably a Gupta princess named Upa-Guptā. In the Harālā inscription Iśānavarman, son of İśvaravarman and UpaGuptā," claims victories over the Andhras," the Śūlikas and the Gaudas and is the first to assume the Imperial title of Mahārājādhirāja. It was this which probably brought him into conflict with king Kumāra 1 CII, p. 223. The connection of the Maukharis with Gayā is very old. This is proved by the clay seal with the inscription Mokhaliśa, or Mokhalinam (Fleet, CII, 14), to which attention has already been drawn above. A reference to the Mokaris seems also to occur in the Chandravalli Stone Inscription of the Kadamba king Mayūraśarman (Arch. Survey of Mysore, A. R. 1929, pp. 50 ff). Dr. Tripathi finds a possible reference in the Mahābhāshya (JBORS, 1934, March). For the Badvā ins, see Ep. Ind., XXIII, 42 ff. (Altekar). 2 In literature the Maukhari of U. P. is associated with the city of Kanauj which may have been the capital at one time. Cf. C. V. Vaidya, Mediaeval Hindu India, I, pp. 9, 33 ; Aravamuthan, the Kaveri, the Maukharis and the Samgam Age, p. 101. Hiuen Tsang, however, declares Kanauj to have been included within the realm of the House of Pushyabhūti even before Harsha. A Gupta noble was in possession of Kuśasthala (Kanauj) for some time after the death of Rājyavardhana and before the rise of Harsha. (Harsha-Charita. Parab's ed., pp. 226, 249). 3 Fleet, CII. 220. 4 The victory over the Andhras is also alluded to in the Jaunpur stone inscription (CII, p. 230) which, according to Fleet, also seems to refer to a conflict with Dhārā, the capital of Western Mālava (?). Dr. Basāk thinks that Dhārā in this passage refers to the edge of the sword (Hist. N. E. Ind., 109). Page #634 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ DĀMODARA' GUPTA 605 Gupta III. Thus began a duel between the Mauklaris and the Guptas which ended only when the latter with the help of the Gandas wiped out the Maukhari power in the time of Grahavarman, brother-in-law of Harshavardhana.” We have seen that Išānavarman's mother and grandmother were probably Gupta princesses. The mother of Prabhākaravardhana, the other empire-builder of the second half of the sixth century, appears also to have been a Gupta princess. It seems that the Gupta marriages in this period were as efficacious in stimulating imperial ambitions as the Lichchhavi marriages of more ancient times. Kumāra Gupta IIC claims to have "churned that formidable milk-ocean, the cause of the attainment of fortune, which was the army of the glorious īśānavarman, a very moon among kings." 4 This is not an empty boast, for the Maukbari records do not claim any victory over the Guptas. Kumāra Gupta III's funeral rites took place at Prayāga which probably formed a part of his dominions. The son and successor of this king was Dāmodara Gupta. He continued the struggle with the Maukharis 5 and fell fighting against them. "Breaking up the proudly stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the 1 Any one acquainted with the history of Europe knows that enumeration as I, II, III etc, need not imply that the kings in question belonged to the same dynasty. 2 The successors of Grahavarman may have survived as petty nobles. With them a "Later Gupta'' king contracted a matrimonial alliance in the seventh century A. D. 3 Cf. Hoernle, JRAS, 1903, p. 557. 4 Aphsad Ins. 5 The Maukhari opponent of Damodara Gupta was either Süryavarman or Saravarman (both being sons of iśānavarman ), if not iśānavarman himself. A Sūryavarman is described in the Sirpur stone inscription of Mahāśiva Gupta as "born in the unblemished family of the Varmans great on account of their adhipatya (supremacy) over Magadha." If this Suryavarman be identical with, Page #635 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 606 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Mauklari, which had thrown aloft in battle the troops of the Hūņas (in order to trample them to death), he became inconscious (and expired in the fight).” Damodara Gupta was succeeded-by his son Mahāsena Gupta. He is probably the king of Mālava, possibly Eastern Mālwa, mentioned in the Harsha-charita, whose sons Kumāra Gupta and Mādhava Gupta were appointed to wait upon Rājya-vardhana and Harsha-Tardhana by their father, king Prabhākara-vardhana of the Pushyabhūti family of Srikantha (Thānesar ). The intimate relation between the family of Malāsena Gupta and that of Prabhākara-vardhana is proved by the Madhuban grant and the Sonpat copper seal inscription of Harshia which represent Mahāsena Guptā Devī as the mother of Prabhākara, and the Aphsad inscription of Adityasena which alludes to the association of Madhava Gupta, son of Mahāsena Gupta, with Harsha. The Pushyabhūti alliance of Malāsena Gupta was probably due to his fear of the rising power of the Maukharis.? The policy was eminently successful, and or a descendant of, Süryavarman, the son of Iśānavarman, then it is certain that for a time the supremacy of Magadha passed from the hands of the Guptas to that of the Maukharis. The Deo-Baraņārk Inscription (Shāhābad District) of Jivita Gupta II also suggests (CII, pp. 216-218) that the Maukharis Sarvavarman and Avantivarman held a considerable part of Magadha some time after Bālāditya-deva. After the loss of Magadha the later Guptas were apparently confined to "Mālava," till Mahāsena Gupta once more pushed his conquests as far as the Lauhitya. 1 Reference to Mahābhārata, XII. 98. 46-47; Raghuvansa, VII. 53 ; Kāvyādarśa, II, 119; Rajatarangini, I.68. shows that the objections raised against the interpretation of Fleet are invalid. The significance of the touch of Surabadhus as distinct from a human being, is entirely missed by a writer in Bhand. Com. Vol. 181, and a reviewer of Dr. Tripathi's History of Ancient India. 2 And perhaps of other aggressive states mentioned in the beginning of the fourth Uchchhväsa of the Harsha-charita. The Lātas of that passage may have reference to the Kațachhuris who finally ousted the Guptas from Vidiśā in or about A. D. 608. The Katachchuri (Kalachuri ) dominions included the Lāta Page #636 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KĀMARŪPA AND MĀLAVA 607 during his reign we do not hear of any struggle with that family. But a new danger threatened from the east. A strong monarchy was at this time established in Kāmarūpa by a line of princes who claimed descent from Bhagadatta. King Susthitavarman of this family came into conflict with Mahāsena Gupta and was defeated. "The mighty fame of Mahāsena Gupta," says the Aphsaq inscription, "marked with lionour of victory in war over the illustrious Susthitavarman......is still constantly sung on the banks of the river Lohitya.” Between Malıāsena Gupta, the contemporary of Prabhākara-vardhana, and his younger or youngest son Madhava Gupta, the contemporary of Harslia, we have to place a king named Deva Gupta II ? who is mentioned by name in the Madhuban and Banskhera inscriptions of Harsha as the most prominent among the kings "who resembled wicked horses”, who were all punished and restrained in their evil career by Rājya-vardhana. As the Gupta princes are uniformly connected with Mālaya in the Harsha-charita there can be no doubt that the wicked Deva Gupta is identical with the wicked lord of Mālava who cut off Grahavarman Maukhari, and who was himself defeated “with ridiculous ease” by Rājva-vardhana.3 It is difficult country in the latter part of the sixth and the first decade of the seventh century A.D. (Dubreuil, A.H.D., 82). • 1 See the Nidhanapur plates. A writer in the JRAS (1928) revives the theory that Susthitavarman was a Maukhari and not a king of Kāmarüpa. But no Maukhari king of that name is known. The association of Susthitavarman with the river Lohitya or Brahmaputra clearly shows that the king of that name mentioned in the Nidhanapur plates is meant. 2 The Emperor Chandra Gupta II was Deva Gupta I. 3 It is difficult to believe, as does a recent writer, that the Mälava antagonist of Grahavarman and Rajya-vardhana was Buddharāja of the Kalachuri (Katachchuri) family. Had that been the case then it is rather surprising that a shadowy figure like Deragupta, and not Buddha-rāja, would be specially selected in the epigraphic records of the time of Harsha, for prominent notice among "the kings who resembled wicked horses," who received punishment at the hand of Rajyavardhana. It is the 'Guptas' who are associated with Mālava in the Harsha Page #637 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 608 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA to determine the position of Deva Gupta in the dynastic list of the Guptas. He may have been the eldest son of Mahāsena Gupta, and an elder brother of Kumāra Gupta and Madhava Gupta.' His name is omitted in the Aplisad list of kings, just as the name of Skanda Gupta is omitted in the Bhitari list. Shortly before his death, king Prabhākara-vardhana had given his daughter Rājyasri in marriage to Grahavarman, the eldest son of the Maukhari king Avantivarman. The alliance of the Pushyabliūtis with the sworn enemies of his family must have alienated Deva Gupta, who formed a counter-alliance with the Gaudas whose hostility towards the Maukharis dated from the reign of Īsānavarman. As soon as Prabhākara died the Gupta king and the Gauda king, Saśānka," seem to have made a joint attack on the Maukhari kingdom. "Graha-varman was by the wicked rūū of Malaya cut off from the living along with his noble deeds. Rājyasri also, the princess, was confined like a brigand's wife with a pair of iron fetters kissing her feet charita which deals mainly with events till the rescue of Rājyasri. The rulers mentioned in connection with the tragic fate of the last of the Maukharis, the vicissitudes through which Rajyasri passed, and the struggles in which Rajyavardhana engaged, include Guptas and Gaudas but no Katachchuri king. 1 Hoernle. JRAS, 1903, p. 562. The suggestion, however, cannot be regarded as a well-established fact. Devagupta may have represented a collateral line of the Mälava family who continued to pursue a policy hostile to the Pushyabhūtis and the Maukharis, while Kumāra, Madhava, the Gupta Kulaputra who connived at the escape of Rājyasri from Kusasthala (Kanauj), and Adityasena, son of Madhava, who gave his daughter in marriage to a Maukhari, may have belonged to a friendly branch. 2 There is no reason to believe that Saśānka belonged to the Gupta family (cf. Allan, Gupta Coins, lxiv). Even if it be proved that he had a secondary name, Narendra Gupta, that by itself cannot establish a connection with the Gupta line in view of (a) the absence of any reference to his supposed Gupta ancestry in his own seal matrix ins. or in the record of his feudatories, (b) the use of the Nandidhvaja to the exclusion of the Garudadhvaja, (c) his Gauda connection. The epithet 'Samudrāśraya' applied to the Gaudas of the sixth century A. D., can hardly be regarded as an apposite characterisation of the Guptas of Magadha, Prayāga or Mälwa. Page #638 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GAUDAS AND KATACHCHURIS 609 and cast into prison at Kanyakubja.” “The villain, deeming the army leaderless purposes to invade and seize this country (Thanesar) as well.”1 Rājya-vardhana, though he routed the Mālava army “with ridiculous ease," was “allured to confidence by false civilities on the part of the overlord of Gauda, and then weaponless, confiding and alone despatched in his own quarters.” To meet the formidable league between the Guptas and the Gaudas, Harsha, the successor of Rājya-vardhana, concluded an alliance with Bhāskara-varman, king of Kāmarūpa, whose father Susthita-varman Mrigāňka bad fought against Malāsena Gupta. This alliance was disastrous for the Gaudas as we know from the Nid hanapur plates of Bhāskara. At the time of the issuing of the plates Bhāskara-varman was in possession of the city of Karņasuvarņa that had once been the capital of the Gauda king, Śaśānka, whose death took place some time between A.D. 619 and 637. The king overthrown by Bhāskara-varman may have been Jayanāga (nāgarājasamāhvayo Gaudarāja, the king of Gauda named Nāga, successor of Somākhya or Saśāńka), whose name is disclosed by the Vappaghoshavāța inscription. The Gauda people, however, did not tamely acquiesce in the loss of their independence. They became a thorn in the side of Kanauj and Kāmarūpa, and their hostility towards those two powers was inherited by the Pāla and Sēna successors of Saśānka. In or about A.D. 608 the Guptas seem to have lost Vidiśā to the Katachchuris. Magadha was held a little before A.D. 637 by Pūrņavarman. Mādhava Gupta, the younger or youngest son of Mahāsena Gupta, remained a subordinate ally of Harsha of Thanesar and Kanauj, and 1 Harsha-charita, Uchchhvāsa 6, p. 183. 2 Ep. Ind., XVIII, pp. 60 ff; Arya-Mañjuśri-mūla-kalba, ed. G. Šāstri, p. 636. The name Jaya is also given in the Buddhist work. 0. P. 90—77. Page #639 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 610 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA apparently resided at his court. In the period 618-27, Harsha 'punished the kings of four parts of India' and in 641 assumed the title of King of Magadha. After his death the Gupta sovereignty in Magadha was revived by Adityasena, a prince of remarkable vigour and ability, who found his opportunity in the commotion which followed the usurpation of Harsha's throne by Arjuna (?). For this "Later Gupta" king we have a number of inscriptions which prove that he ruled over a wide territory extending to the shores of the oceans. The Aphsad, Shahpur and Mandara inscriptions recognise his undisputed possession of south and part of east Bihar. A Deoghar inscription, noticed by Fleet, describes him as the ruler of the whole earth up to the shores of the seas, and the performer of the Asvamedha and the other great sacrifices. He renewed contact with the Gaudas as well as the Maukharis and received a Gaula named Sukshamsiva in his service. A Maukhari chief, Bhogavarman, accepted the hands of his daughter and presumably became his subordinate ally. The Deo-Baraṇark inscription refers to the Jayaskandhāvāra of his great-grandson Jivita Gupta II at Gomatikoṭṭaka. This clearly suggests that the so-called Later Guptas, and not the Maukharis, dominated about this time the Gomati valley in the Madhya-deśa. The Mandara inscription applies to Adityasena the imperial titles of Parama-bhaṭṭāraka and Mahārājādhirāja. We learn from the Shahpur stone image inscription that he was ruling in the year A. D. 672-73. It is not improbable that he or his son Deva Gupta (III) is the Sakalottara-patha-natha, lord of the whole of North India, 3 1 Ind. Ant. IX. 19. 2 CII, p. 213 n. Aditya is said to have performed three Asvamedha sacrifices. Kielhorn, INI, 541. 3 Page #640 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LAST TRACES OF GUPTA RULE 611 who was defeated by the Chalukya kings Vinayāditya (A.D. 680-96) and Vijayāditya. 1 We learn from the Dēo-Baraņārk inscription that Adityasena was succeeded by his son Deva Gupta (III), who in his turn was succeeded by his son Vishnu Gupta. The last king was Jivita Gupta II, son of Vishņu. All these kings continued to assume imperial titles. That these were not empty forms appears from the records of the Western Chalukyas of Vātāpi which testify to the existence of a Pan-North Indian empire in the last quarter of the seventh century A. D. The only North Indian sovereigns, Uttarāpatha-nātha, who laid claim to the Imperial dignity during this period, and, actually dominated Magadha and the Madhya-deśa as is proved by the Aphsad and Dēo-Baraṇārk inscriptions, were Adityasena and his successors.3 The Gupta empire was probably finally destroyed by the Gaudas who could never forgive Mādhava Gupta's desertion of their cause and who may have grown powerful in the service of Adityasena. In the time of Yaśovarman of Kanauj, i.e., in the first half of the eighth century A. D., a Gauda king occupied the throne of Magadha. 4 1 Bomb. Gaz. Vol. I, Part II, pp. 189, 368. 371 ; and Kendur plates. 2 This king seems also to be mentioned in an inscription discovered at Mangraon in the Buxar subdivision." 3 For a curious reference to the Chalukyas and king Jih-kwan ("Sun army' i. e. Adityasena), see IA, X, p. 110. 4 Cf. the Gaudavaho by Vākpatirāja. Banerji confounds the Gaudas with the later Guptas. In the Harāhā Inscription the Gaudas are associated with the sea coast, Samudrāśraya, while the later Guptas, as is well-known, had their centres in the hinterland including Magadha and Mālwa. The people on the seashore were, according to the evidence of the Aphsad Inscription, hostile to Jivita Gupta I. The Praśastikāra of the Aphsad record is expressly mentioned as a Gauda, & designation that is never applied to his patrons. The family of Krishna Gupta is simply characterised as Sadvamsa and there is not the slightest hint that the kings of the line and their panegyrist belonged to the same nationality. The fact that Gauda is the designation of the lord of Magadha Page #641 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 612 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Petty Gupta Princes, apparently connected with the imperial line, ruled in the Kanarese districts during the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries A. D. and are frequently mentioned in inscriptions. Evidence of an earlier connection of the Guptas with the Kanarese country is furnished by the Tālagund inscription which says that Kākustha-varman of the Kadamba dynasty gave his daughters in marriage to the Gupta and other kings. In the fifth or sixth century A. D. the Vākāțaka king Narendrasena, a descendant of Chandra Gupta II Vikramāditya through his daughter Prabhāvati Guptā; is said to have married a princess of Kuntala, i.e., of the Kanarese region. Curiously enough, the Gutta or Gupta chiefs of the Kanarese country claimed descent from Chandra Gupta Vikramāditya,” lord of Ujjayinī.3 in the days of Yasovarman early in the eighth century cannot be taken to prove that Gauda and later Gupta are interchangeable terms, In this period lordship of Magadha is not inseparably connected only with later Gupta lineage. Cf. the passage Magadhātipatyamahatām jāta kule varmanām, which proves the existence of non-Gupta lines among rulers of Magadha in this age. 1 Jouveau-Dubreuil, AHD, p. 76. 2 Bomb. Gaz., Vol. I, Part II, pp. 578-80. Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, "A Peep into the Early History of India," p. 60. I owe this reference to Dr. Bhandarkar. 3 The account of the Later Guptas was first published in the JASB, 1920, No. 7. Page #642 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE LATEST GUPTAS 613 THE LATEST GUPTAS Krishna Gupta Harivarman Maukar ? Harsha Gupta = Adityavarman Harsha Gupta Jivita Gupta I Isvaravarman Kumāra Gupta III iśānavarman A. D. 554 Damodara Gupta Sarvavarman Sūryavarman Pushyabhūtis Rajyavardhana I Avantivarman Mahāsena Gupta ? Mahāsena Gupta = Adityavardhana Prabhākaravardhana Deva Gupta 11 (?) Kumára Gupta Mādhava Gupta =Śrimati Devi Adityasena = Kona Devi A. D. 672-73 Rajyavardhana II Harshavardhana Rajyasri-Grabavarman A. D. 606-647 Maukhari daughter = Dhruvasena II of Valabhi A. D. 629-639 Bhogavarman = = daughter Deva Gupta III = Kamala Devi Maukhari Vatsa Devi Vishņu Gupta = 1jjādevi Jayadeva Parachakrakāma 748 A. D. ? or 759 Jivita Gupta II. A. D. (?). = Rājyamati, daughter of Harshadeva. 1 A. Ghosh, Two Maukhari seals from Nalanda, Ep. xxiv, 285. We have reference to another son of Avantivarman named Suva or Such................., who seems to have succeeded his father. Grahavarman too, has royal epithets in the Harsha-charita (pp. 149, 183). The order of succession is not, however, clear from available evidence. Page #643 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ APPENDIX A. THE RESULTS OF Asoka's PROPAGANDA IN WESTERN Asia. The vast region beyond the western frontiers of India came within the geographical horizon of Buddhist writers as early as the Bāveru Jātaka, and possibly the Sussondi Jātaka, and its princes figure not inconspicuously in Buddhist inscriptions of the third century B. C. The records of Asoka show that the eyes of the imperial missionary of Magadha were turned more to the West than to the East; and even the traditional account of early Buddhist proselytising efforts given in the chronicles of Ceylon,' does not omit to mention the country of the Yonas where Mahārakkhita "delivered in the midst of the people the Kālakārāma suttanta, in consequence of which a hundred and seventy thousand living beings attained to the reward of the path (of salvation) and ten thousand received the pabbajja." It will perhaps be argued that the Yona country mentioned in the chronicles is to be identified with some district in the Kabul valley, and is not to be taken to refer to the realm of "Antiochos, the Yona king, and the kings, the neighbours of that Antiochos, namely, Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander,” mentioned in the second and the thirteenth rock edicts of Asoka. Rhys Davids, in fact, is inclined to regard the declaration in these edicts about the success of Asoka's 1 Mainly an extract from an article published in the Buddhistic Studies (ed. B. C. Law). 2 Mahāvamsa, Ch. XII. 3 Dr. Jarl Charpentier has contributed a paper to A Volume of Indian Studies presented to Professor E. J. Rapson in which he revives the suggestion of Prinsep (Hultzsch. Asoka, xxxi) that "Amtiyaka' referred to by Asoka is Antiochos Soter (c. 281-61 ), and not his son Antiochos Theos (261-46). But his theory requires that Chandragupta ascended the throne in 327-25 B.C., that he was identical with Xandrames and that the story of his visit to Alexander (recorded by Justin and Plutarch) is a myth. The theory is opposed not only to the evidence of Justin and Plutarch, but to the known facts about the ancestry of Chandragupta. Unlike Xandrames, Chandragupta is nowhere represented as of barber origin. His paternal ancestors are described as rulers by Brāhmaṇical and Buddhist writers alike, Page #644 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BUDDHIST INFLUENCE IN EAST AND WEST 615 missionary propaganda in the realms of Yona princes as mere "royal rhodomontade". "It is quite likely," says he, "that the Greek kings are only thrown in by way of make-weight, as it were; and that no emissaries had been actually sent there at all." Sir Flinders Petrie is, however, of opinion that in the Ptolemaic Period Buddhism and Buddhist festivals had already reached the shores of Egypt. He infers this from Indian figures found at Memphis. An epigraph from the Thebaid mentions as the dedicator "Sophon the Indian". " Alberuni, writing in the eleventh century A.D. says, "In former times Khurasan, Persis, Irak, Mosul, the country up to the frontier of Syria, was Buddhistic, but then Zarathustra went forth from Adharbaijan and preached Magism in Balkh (Baktra). His doctrine came into favour with king Gushtasp, and his son Isfendiyad spread the new faith both in East and West, both by. force and by treaties. He founded fire-temples through his whole Empire, from the frontiers of China to those of the Greek Empire. The succeeding kings made their religion (i.e., Zoroastrianism) the obligatory state-religion for Persis and Irak. In consequence the Buddhists were banished from those countries, and had to emigrate to the countries east of Balkh......Then came Islam." The above account may not be correct in all its particulars. The statement that Buddhism flourished in the countries of Western Asia before Zoroaster is clearly wrong. But the prevalence of the religion of Sakyamuni in parts of Western Asia in a period considerably anterior to Alberuni and its suppression by Zoroastrianism and Islam may well be based upon fact. The antagonism of Buddhism to the firecult is hinted at in the Bhuridatta Jātaka. * It has even been suggested that Zoroastrian scriptures allude to disputes with the Buddhists.5 Four centuries before Alberuni, Hiuen Tsang bore witness to the fact that Lang kie(ka)-lo, a country subject to Persia, contained above 100 monasteries and more than 6,000 Brethren 1 Buddhist India, p. 298. 2 Mahaffy, A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty, 155 f. 3 Sachau, Alberuni's India, Vol. I. p.-21. 4 No. 543. 5 Sir Charles Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, III, 450. Page #645 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 616 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA who applied themselves to the study of the Great and Little "Vehicles". Persia (Po-la-sse ) itself contained two or three Sanghārāmas, with several hundred priests, who principally studied the teaching of the Little Vehicle according to the Sarvāstivādin school. The pătra of Sākya Buddha was in this country, in the King's palace. The Chinese pilgrim did not probably personally visit Persia. But no doubt need be entertained regarding the existence of Buddhist communities and Sanghārāmas or monasteries in Irān. Stein discovered a Buddhist monastery in "the terminal marshes of the Helmund”in Seistān.2 Mäni, the founder of the Manichæan religion, who was born in A.D. 215-16, at Ctesiphon in Babylonia, and began to preach his gospel probably in A.D. 242, shows unmistakable traces of Buddhist influence. In his book Shābūrqān (Shapurakhan) he speaks of the Buddha as a messenger of God. Legge and Eliot refer to a Manichæan treatise which has the form of a Buddhist Sūtra. It speaks of Māni as the Tathāgata and mentions Buddhas and the Bodhisattva. In Bunyiu Nanjio's Catalogue of the Chinese translation of the Buddhist Tripitaka, App., II, No, 4, we have reference to a Parthian prince who became a Buddhist śramana or monk before A.D. 148. In his History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, Dr. Vincent Smith refers to a picture of a fourarmed Buddhist saint or Bodhisattva in the guise of a Persian with black beard and whiskers, holding a thunderbolt (vajra) in his left hand, which has been found at a place called DandanUiliq in Turkistan. Such figures are undoubtedly the products of a type of Buddhism which must have developed in Iran, and enjoyed considerable popularity as late as the eighth century A.D. which is the date assigned by Dr. Smith to the fresco or distemper paintings on wood and plaster discovered at Dandan-Uiliq. It is difficult to say to what extent Buddhist literature made its influence felt in Western Asia. Sir Charles Eliot points 1 Beal, Records of the Western World, Vol. II. pp. 277-78 ; Watters, Yuan Chwang, II, 257. 2 Sir Charles Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, III, 3. 3 Ibid, p. 446; The Dacca University Journal, Feb. 1926, pp. 108, 111; JRAS, 1913, 69, 76, 81. 4 P. 310. Page #646 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BUDDHIST INFLUENCE ON MANICHAEANS 617 out the close resemblance between certain Manichæan works and the Buddhist Suttas and the Pātimokkha, and says that according to Cyril of Jerusalem, the Manichæan scriptures were written by one Scythianus and revised by his disciple Terebinthus who changed his name to Boddas. He finds in this "jumble' allusions to Buddha Sakyamuni and the Bo-tree. It may further be pointed out that some Jātaka tales show a surprising similarity to some of the stories in the Arabian Nights. The Samugga Jātaka, for instance, tells the story of the demon who put his beautiful wife in a box and guarded her in this manner in order that she might not go astray. But this did not prevent her from taking pleasure with others. The tale in all its essentials recurs in the Arabian Nights. The Jātaka verse, "He his true bliss in solitude will find, Afar from woman and her treachery" is comparable to the statement of the poet in the Arabian Nights : "Never trust in women; nor rely upon their vows; For their pleasure and displeasure depend upon their passions. They offer a false affection ; For perfidy lurks within their clothiny." Whatever may be the case at the present day, in times gone by Western Asia was clearly not altogether outside the sphere of the intellectual and spiritual conquests of Buddhism. 1 Cf. McCrindle, Ancient India as described in Classical Literature p. 185. "Terebinthus proclaimed himself learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and gave out that his name was no longer Terebinthus but that he was a new Buddha (Buddas) and that he was born of a virgin. Terebinthus was the disciple of Scythianus, who was a Saracen born in Palestine and who traded with India." 2.No. 436.. . . 3. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights, I. 12ff ; Olcott, Stories from the Arabian Nights, p. 3; Lane's Arabian Nights, pp. 8-9. A similar story is found in Lambakax, taranga 8 of the Kathā-sarit-sāgara : Penzer. The Ocean of Story, Vol. V. pp. 151-52. "So attachment to women, the result of infatuation produces misery to all men. But indifference to them produces in the discerning emancipation from the bonds of existence." 0. P. 90—78 Page #647 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ APPENDIX B. A NOTE ON THE CHRONOLOGICAL RELATION OF KANISHKA AND RUDRADĀMAN I. In recent years' Mr. Haricharan Ghosh and Professor Jayachandra Vidyalankar contributed two very interesting notes on the date of Kanishka. The latter upholds the theory of Dr. Sten Konow, fortified by the calculations of Dr. Van Wijk, that the great Kushän Emperor began his rule in A.D. 128-29, and criticises the view put forward in this work that Kanishka I's rule in the "Lower Indus Valley" (this and not "Sind," is the expression actually used) could not have synchronised with that of Rudradāman I, who, "did not owe his position as Mahākshatrapa to anybody else.” The conclusions of Professor Konow and Dr. Van Wijk are admittedly hypothetical, and little more need be said about them after the illuminating observations of Professor Rapson in JRAS, 1930, January, pp. 186-202. In the present note we shall confine ourselves to an examination of the criticism of Professor Jayachandra Vidyalankar and Mr. Haricharan Ghosh of the views expressed in the preceding pages. The Professor has not a word to say about the contention that Kanishka's dates 1-23, Vāsishka's dates 24-28, Huvishka's dates 318-60, and Vāsudeva's dates 67-98 suggest a continuous reckoning. In other words, Kanishka was the originator of an era. But we know of no era current in North-West India which commenced in the second century A. D. He only takes considerable pain to prove that Rudradāman's sway over Sindhu-Sauvīra (which he identifies with modern Sind) between 130 and 150 A.D. does not imply control over Sui Vihār and Multān, and consequently Kanishka's sovereignty over Sui Vihār in the year 11 of an era starting from 128-29 A.D., i. e., in or about 140 A.D., is not irreconcilable 1 IHQ, March, 1930, pp. 149 ff. 2 IHQ, V, No. 1, March, 1929, pp. 49-80, and J BORS, XV, parts I & 11, March-June, 1929, pp. 47-63. 3 The earliest recorded date of Huvishka is now known to be the year 28. Page #648 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SINDHU AND SAUVĪRA 619 with the rule of the Great Satrap in Sindhu-Sauvira at about the same time. He is not oblivious of the difficulty of harmonising this limitation of Rudradāman's power with the known fact of the Great Satrap's campaign against the Yaudheyas in the course of which he claims to have uprooted that powerful tribe "in their country proper which was to the north of Suē Vihār" and, according to the theory advocated by the Professor, "formed part of Kanishka's dominions" at that time. He meets the difficulty by saying that "the pressure of the Kausāna armies from the north had driven the Yaudheyas to the desert of Marwar". Such surmises to explain away inconvenient details, are, to say the least, not convincing, especially in view of the fact that Maru finds separate mention in the inscription of Rudradāman as a territory under the rule of the mighty Satrap. But is the contention of the Professor that Sindhu-Sauvira did not include the country up to Multān correct ? Alberuni, who based his assertions on the geographical data of the Purūnas and the Brihatsamhitā, made the clear statement that Sauvira was equivalent to Multān and Jahrāvār. Against this Professor Vidyalankar quotes the evidence of Yuan Chwang who says that in his days 'Mou-lo-san-pu-lu," i.e., Mūla-sthāna-pura or Multān was a dependency of the “Che-ka". or Takka country in the C. Panjāb. It should be noted, however, that the Chinese pilgrim is referring to political dependence, and not geographical inclusion. India was a dependency of Great Britain. But geographically it was not a part of the British Isles. On the other hand, Alberuni does not give the slightest hint that what he actually means by the equation "Sauvira, i.e.. Multān and Jahrāvār" is political subjection of Multān to Sind. His account here is purely geographical, and he is merely giving the names of the countries, as taken from the Samhitā of Varāhamihira with his own comments. Far from making Multān a political dependency of Sind he carefully distinguishes "Sauvira, i.e., Multān and Jahrāvār" from "Sindhu” which is mentioned separately. The view that ancient Sauvira was confined to Southern Sind and that Sindhu and Sauvira together correspond to 1 1. 302 Page #649 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 620 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA modern Sind, and nothing but Sind, is unsupported by any early evidence. Yuan Chwang went east from Sin-tu above 900 li and, crossing to the east bank of the Indus, came to the Mou-lo-san-pu-lu country. This proves that Sin-tu lay to the west of Mou-lo-san-pu-lu (Multān), and was situated on the west side of the Indus. The commentator of the Kāmasutras of Vātsyāyana makes the clear statement frafata FESSITAT PER AT FAPTER 17 HAFI The major part of modern Sind was clearly outside the geographical (as opposed to political) limits of ancient "Sin-tu” or Sindhu and was, in the days of Yuan Chwang, included in the countries of A-tien-p'o-chih-lo, Pi-to-shih-lo, and A-fan-tu. Part of the modern territory of Sind may have been included in Sauvira whose southern limits undoubtedly reached the sea, because the Milinda-Panho mentions it in a list of countries where "ships do congregate". We are informed by the author of the Periplus that "ships lie at anchor at Barbaricum" (at the mouth of the Indus). But the evidence of Alberuni leaves no room for doubt that the northern limits of Sauvira reached Multān. A scholar like Alberuni thoroughly conversant with Purāņic lore, is not likely to make an unwarranted statement. In fact, the inclusion of Multan within Sauvīra receives striking confirmation from some of the Purāṇas The Skandapurāna, for instance, referring to the famous temple of the Sun at Mūla-sthāna or Multān, says that it stood on the banks of the river Devikā (Devikātaţa) :- . ततो गच्छेन्महादेवि मूलस्थानमिति श्रुतम् । देविकायास्तटे रम्ये भास्करं वारितस्करम् ॥ In the Agnipurāņathe Devikā is brought into special relations with the realm of Sauvira : सौवीरराजस्य पुरा मैत्रेयोभूत् पुरोहितः। तेन चायतनं विष्णोः कारितं देविकातटे ॥ According to Yuan Chwang, Sin-tu and Multān were neighbouring countries lying on opposite sides of the Indus. 1 Watters, II. 254. 2 Benares edition, p. 295. 3 Prabhāsa-kshetra-Māhātmya, Ch. 278. 4 Ch. 200. Page #650 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE KANISHKA ERAL 621 This is quite in accordance with the close association of Sindhu and Sauvira in early literature. पतिः सौवीरसिन्धूनां दुष्टभावो जयद्रथः ।। कञ्चिदेकः शिवीनाढ्यान् सौवीरान् सह सिन्धुभिः । शिविसौवीरसिन्धूनां विषादश्चाप्यजायत ।" Rudradāman's mastery over Sindhu and Sauvira (in the sense in which these terms were understood by the Purānas, the commentator on the Kāmasūtras of Vātsyāyana, Yuan Chwang and Alberuni) is clearly irreconcilable with the simultaneous sovereignty of Kanishka over Sui Vihār. Apart from the identification of Sauvira with Multān and Jahrávār, is it unreasonable to hold that a power which exercised sway over ancient Sindhu and Maru, and fought with the Yaudheyas of Johiyawar, had the Sui Vihār region under its control ? Mr. H. C. Ghosh asserts that it cannot be proved that Rudradāman heid Sindhu and Sauvira some time from 136 A.D. at least. He also thinks that the argument that Kanishka started an era "involves a petitio principii.” Now, we know that by 150 A.D. Rudradāman was "the lord of the whole of eastern and western Akarāvanti, Anupanivrid, Anartta, Surāshtra, Svabhra, Maru, Kachchha, Sindhu, Sauvira, Kukura, Aparānta, Nishāda, and other territories gained by his own valour.” The conquest of so many countries must have taken a long time, and the Andhau inscriptions show that one of the countries, at any rate, namely, Kachchha, had come under the sway of the Great Satrap as early as 130 A.D. On p. 277 of the Political History of Ancient India (second edition) it has been pointed out that "the name of the capital of Scythia (i.e., the Lower Indus Valley) in the time of the Periplus was Minnagara, and this was evidently derived from the city of Min in Sakasthāna mentioned by Isidore. Rapson points out that one of the most characteristic features in the name of the western 1 Mbh. III. Ch. 266. 2 Mbh., III, Ch. 266. 3 Mbh., III, Ch. 270. 4 IHQ, 1929, p. 79. Page #651 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 622 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kshatrapas of Cashta na's line, viz., 'Daman' (-dama) is found also in the name of a prince of the Drangianian house of Vonones. Lastly, the Kārddamaka family, from which the daughter of the Mahākshatrapa Rudra claimed descent, apparently derived its name from the Karddama river in Persia." ! The facts noted above indicate that the Saka sept to which Chashtana and Rudradāman belonged came from Sakashthāna in Irān through the Lower Indus Valley to Cutch and other places in Western India. In view of this and the contiguity of Cutch to the Lower Indus Valley, it is permissible to think that the date of the conquest of Sindhu and Sauvira could not have been far removed from, and may have even preceded, that of Cutch (Kachchha). As the Great Satrap retained his hold on these provinces till 150 A.D. it stands to reason that he was their ruler from c. 136 A. D. As to the second contention of Mr. Ghosh, it may be pointed out that Kanishka's dates 1-23, Vāsishka's dates 24-28, Huvishka's dates 31-60, and Vāsudeva's dates 67-98, do suggest a continuous reckoning. To deny that Kanishka started an era is tantamount to saying that the dates of his successors, Vasishka, Huvishka, and Vāsudeva are regnal years. But no serious student will contend that Vasudeva's dates 67-98 are to be taken as regnal years. Page #652 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ APPENDIX C. A NOTE ON THE LATER GUPTAS.1 It was recently urged by Professor R. D. Banerji that Mahasena Gupta of the Aphsad inscription, father of Madhava Gupta, the associate of Harsha, could not have been a king of East Malava, and secondly, that Susthitavarman whose defeat at the hands of Mahasena Gupta, in the Lohita or Lauhitya region, is mentioned in the Aphsaḍ inscription, was not a Maukhari, but a king of Kamarupa. The second proposition will be readily accepted by all careful students of the Aphsad epigraph and the Nidhanapur plate inscription, though some western scholars are still, I know not why, of a contrary opinion. As to the first point, viz., whether Mahasena Gupta was a direct ruler of East Malava or of Magadha, a student will have to take note of the following facts: (i) In the Dêô-Baraṇark Inscription of Jivita Gupta II, which records the continuance of the grant of a village in South Bihar, we have reference to Baladitya-deva, and after him, to the Maukharis Sarvavarman and Avanti-varman. Not a word is said about their later Gupta contemporaries in connection with the previous grants of the village. The inscription is no doubt damaged, but the sovereignty of Sarvavarman and Avanti-varman undoubtedly precludes the possibility of the direct rule of their contemporaries of the later Gupta line. 1 Mainly an extract from an article published in JBORS, Sept.-Dec., 1929, p. 561 ff. 2 JRAS, 1928, July, pp. 689f. 3 Dr. R. C. Majumdar's suggestion that the village in question may have been situated in U. P. has been commented upon by Dr. Sircar who points. out that Fleet's reading of the name of the village ( on which Dr. Majumdar bases his conclusions) is tentative and unacceptable. Page #653 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 624 POLÍTICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA (ii) Inscriptions discovered in the Barābar and Nāgārjuni hill caves disclose the existence of another line of Maukhari "Varmans" who were feudatory (sāmanta) chiefs of the Gayä district in the time of the later Guptas. . (iii) Yuan Chwang who visited Magadha in the time of Harsha mentions Pūrņa-varman as the occupant of the throne of Magadha." He does not say a word about Madhava Gupta or his father in connection with Magadha. (iv) Bāņa indeed, refers to Madhava Gupta, the, asso ciate of Harsha, but he expressly mentions his father as the king of Mālava, and not of Magadha. The existence of two associates of Harsha, each bearing the name of Mādhava Gupta, one of whom was the son of a king of Magadha, is not known to the biographer of the great emperor. From the evidence adduced above two facts emerge, viz., that the father of the only Mādhava Gupta whom the biographer of Harsha knew to be the associate of his royal patron, was a king of Mālava, and that before Harsha's conquest of the province in A. D. 641," direct control over Magadha was exercised, not by the Guptas, but by the "Varmans". The memory of "Varman" adhipatya (supremacy) over Magadha had not died away even in the time of the Sirpur stone inscription of Mahāśiva Gupta. The only relevant argument that Professor Banerji urged against the view that Mahāsena Gupta, the father of Madhava Gupta, the associate of Harsha, was "probably" 3 a king of Mālava, is that "it was impossible for a king of Mālava to reach the banks of the Lauhitya without strenuous opposition from the kings" who governed the intervening region. But how did Professor. Banerji solve the problem ? By making Mahāsena Gupta king of Magadha, and assuming that "Assam 1 Watters, III, 115. 2 Ind. Ant., IX, 19. 3 Political History of Ancient India, Second Edition, p. 373. Page #654 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MAHASENA GUPTA 625 very probably lay on his frontier and Rādhā and Vanga or Mithila and Varendra were included in his kingdom." Anything in the nature of a proof he failed to give, but we were asked to accept his surmise because "in this case only is it possible for Mahāsena Gupta to have fought with Susthitavarman of Assam." Regarding the possibility of a king of Mālava carrying his arms to the banks of the Lauhitya, attention may be invited to the Mandasor inscription of Yasodharman. In the case of Mahāsena Gupta a careful student of the Aphsad inscription cannot fail to note that the way before him had been prepared by his immediate predecessors. Kumāra Gupta, his grandfather, had pushed to Prayāga, while Dāmodara Gupta, father of Mahāsena Gupta, claims to have "broken up the proudly stepping array of mighty elephants, belonging to the Maukhari" --the same power which we have already seen, held control of Magadha a little before Harsha's conquest of the Province. The Gauda expansion had already been stopped for a time by the victories of Išānavarman Maukhari. What was there to prevent the son of Dāmodara Gupta (who must have assumed command after the death of his father on the battle-field) from pushing on to the Lauhitya ? 1 Cf. Fleet, Corpus III, pp. 203. II 206. Cf. also Viraśayyā motif. 0. P. 90—79 Page #655 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ APPENDIX D. THE DECLINE OF THE EARLY GUPTA EMPIRE. Towards the close of the fifth century A.D. the empire built up by the genius of Samudra Gupta and Vikramāditya was fast hastening towards dissolution. Skanda Gupta (A.D. 455- c. 467) was the last king of the Early Gupta line who is known to have controlled the westernmost provinces. After A.D. 467 there is no evidence that the Imperial Guptas had anything to do with Surāshtra or the major part of Western Mālwa.” Budha Gupta (A.D. 476-77 to c. 495) was probably the last prince of the family to be implicitly obeyed on the banks of the Lower Ganges as well as the Narmadā. The rulers who came after him retained a precarious hold for some time on Eastern Malwa and North Bengal. But they had to fight with enemies on all sides, and, if a tradition recorded 1 First published in the Calcutta Review, April, 1930. 2 The identity of the supreme lord (Parama-svā min) mentioned in connection with the consecration of the early Valabhi king Droņasimha, is unknown. The surmise that he was a Gupta, though plausible, lacks convincing proof. Some scholars lay stress on the fact that the era used is the Gupta era (IC, v, 409). But the use of an era instituted by a dynasty does not always indicate political subordination to that line. It may simply have a geographical significance, a continuation of a custom prevailing in a particular locality. Even undoubted Gupta vassals used the Malava-Vikrama Samvat in Mandaśor. Conversely the Gupta era is found used in regions, e.g., Shorkot and Ganjam, beyond the proper limits of the Gupta empire. Tejpur, too, should possibly come under the category, as we are not sure as to whether it formed a part of the state of Kāmarūpa in the fourth century A.D. Equally conjectural is the identification of the ruler in question with a Hun or a sovereign of Mandaśor. Theories and speculations in the absence of clear data are at best unprofitable. Some connection of the later kings of the Gupta line with the Mandaśor region in W. Mālwa in the first quarter of the sixth century A. D. may possibly be hinted at by the expression Guptanāthaih 'by the Gupta lords' used in the Mandaśor prasasti or panegyric of Yasodharman. The term nätha may have reference to the fact that the Guptas were once overlords of Mandaśor. But the analogy of Hūnādhipa occurring in the same record may suggest that nātha simply means 'lord' or 'king' without reference to any special relations subsisting between Mandaśor and the Guptas in or about 533 A.D. Page #656 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CAUSES OF DECLINE OF GUPTA EMPIRE 627 by Jinasena, is to be believed, their power collapsed in A.D. 551 (320 +231) : Guptānām cha śata-dvayam eka-trimsachcha varshāni kāla-vidbhir udāhritam.? The supremacy over Aryāvarta then passed to the houses of Mukhara (cir. A.D. 554)3 and Pushyabhūti (family of Harsha, A.D. 606-47) under whom the centre of political gravity shifted from Magadha to Kanauj and that neighbourhood. Attempts were no doubt made by a line of so-called later Guptas to restore the fallen fortunes of their family, but these were not crowned with success till after the death of Harsha. The causes of the decline of the early Gupta Empire are not far to seek, though a detailed presentation of facts is impossible in view of the paucity of contemporary records. The broad outline of the story is, however, perfectly clear. The same causes were at work which proved so disastrous to the Turki Sultanate of Delhi in the fourteenth century, and to the so-called Mughul Empire in the eighteenth, viz., outbreak of rebellions within, devastating invasions from without, the growth of a class of hereditary governors and other officials who commanded enormous influence in local centres, and assumed the titles of Mahärāja and Mahārājādhiraja, and dissensions in the imperial family itself. Already in the time of Kumāra Gupta I, the stability of the empire was seriously threatened by a turbulent people whose name is commonly read as Pushya-mitra. The danger was averted by the crown prince Skanda Gupta. But a more formidable enemy appeared from the steppes of Central Asia. Inscriptions discovered at Bhitarî, Kura, Gwalior and Eran, as well as the records of several Chinese pilgrims, prove that shortly after the 1 Harivansa, Ch. 60... 2 Ind. Ant., 1886, 142 ; Bhand. Com., Vol., 195. 3 Ep. Ind., XIV, pp. 110-20 ; JRAS, 1906, 843 f. About this time (A. D. 554 or A. D. 564) as pointed out by Drs. Bhattasali and Sircar, king Bhūtivarman of Assam is found arrogating to himself imperial titles by the performance of an Ašvamedha sacrifice, Cf. Bhāratavarsha, Ashādha, 1348, p 83 etc. Page #657 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 628 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA death of Kumāra Gupta I, the fierce Huns swooped down upon the north-western provinces of the empire and eventually made themselves masters of the Pañjāb and Eastern Mālwa.... The newcomers were long known to the people of India as a race of Uitlanders closely associated with the Chinese. The Mahāvastu' mentions them along with the Chînas, while the Sabhāparva of the Mahābhārata? includes them in a list of foreign tribes amongst whom the Chinas occupy the first place : Chinān sakaṁs tathā ch Odrān (?) 3 Varvarān Nanavāsināh Vārshneyān (2) Hāra-Hünāmscha Krishnan Haimavatamistatha. A verse in the Bhishmaparva * brings the Huns into relations with the Pārasikas or Persians : Yavanūs China-Kambojā dārunā Mlechchhajātayah Sakridgrahāh Kulatthāścha Hūnāḥ Parasikaiḥ saha. This verse is reminiscent of the period when the Huns came into contact with the Sassanian dynasty of Persia. Kālidāsa, too, places the Huns close to Persia-in the saffron-producing country watered by the river Vankshu, the modern Oxus. Early in the reign of the Emperor Skanda Gupta they poured into the Gupta Empire, but were at first beaten back. The repulse of the Huns is mentioned in the Bhitari Inscription and is also probably alluded to by the grammarian Chandragomin as a contemporary event. With the passing away of Skanda Gupta, however, all impediments to the steady advance of the invaders seem to have been removed and, if Somadeva, a Jaina contemporary of Kțishņa III, Rāshtrakūta, is to be 1 I. 135. 2 II, 51. 23-24. 3 The mention of the Odras in this connection is odd. It is tempting to read in the epic verse Chadotāmcha (instead of tathāchodrān). Chacota is the name of a territory in Central Asia near Khotan. 4 9. 65-66. 5 Smith, EHI, 4th edition, p. 339. See also W. M. McGovern, the Early Empires of Central Asia. 6 Ind. Ant., 1912, 265f. 7 Ind. Ant., 1896, 105. Page #658 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE MAITRAKAS 629 believed, they penetrated into the Indian interior as far as Chitrakūta. They certainly conquered the Eran district (Airikina pradeśa ) in the northern part of the present Central Provinces. The principal centres of their power in India, in the time of their kings Toramāṇa and Mihirakula, were Pavvaiya on the Chināb? and sākala, modern Siālkot, between the Chināb and the Degh, in the Upper Pañjāb. Next to the Hun inroads must be mentioned the ambition of generals and feudatories. In the time of the Emperor Skanda Gupta, Surāshtra was governed by a Goptri or Margrave named Parņadatta, who was appointed by the emperor himself to the Viceroyalty of the Far West. Shortly afterwards, Bhaţārka, a chief of the Maitraka clan, established himself in this province as general or military governor, with his capital probably at Valabhi. He, as well as his immediate successor, Dharasena I, was satisfied with the title of Senāpati or general, but the next chief Droņasimha, the second son of Bhațārka (A.D. 502-03) had to be installed as Mahārāja by his suzerain. A branch of the dynasty established itself in Mo-la-po (Mālavaka)3 or the westernmost part of Mālwa in the latter half of the sixth century, and made extensive conquests in the direction of the Sahya and Vindhya Hills. Another, and a junior, branch continued to rule at 1 Bhand., Com. Vol., 216. Chitrakūta may be Chitor in Rajaputāna, or more probably the equally famous Chitrakūta on the Mandakini in Central India, where Rāma lived for a short time during his banishment. A Hūnamandala is mentioned in an inscription as being situated in the Malwa region (Ep. Ind. XXIII, 102). 2 JBORS, 1928, March, p. 33; C, J. Shah, Jainism in Northern India, 210, quoting Kuvalayamālā (? 8th century A. D.). 3 Smith, EHI, 4th edition, p. 343. 4 Dharasena II, king of Valabhi, left two sons, viz., Silāditya II Dharmāditya and Kharagraha I. The account of Hiuen Tsang seems to suggest that in his time (i. e., shortly after Sīlāditya) the Maitraka dominions split up into two parts, one part including Mo-la-po and its dependencies probably obeying the line of Silāditya-Dharmāditya, the other part, including Valabhî, obeying Kharagraha and his sons, one of whom was Dhruvasena II, Bālāditya or Dhruvabhata, who married the daughter of Harsha of Kanauj. The account of the Chinese pilgrim seems to receive confirmation from the Alina plate of Siladitya VII (Fleet, CII, 171 f. esp. 182n) which associates Derabhata, the son of Šilāditya I Dharmāditya, with the region of the Sahya and Vindhya mountains, while the descendants of Kharagraha I are connected with Valabhi. The Navalakhi and Nogā wā plates, however, suggest that occasionally the same Page #659 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 630 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Valabhi. In the seventh century Dhruvasena II of Valabhi married the daughter of Harsha. His son Dharasena IV (A.D. 645-49) assumed the imperial titles of Paramabhattāraka Parameśvara Chak avartin. But the Maitrakas of Mo-la-po and Valabhi were not the only feudatories who gradually assumed an independent position. The rulers of Mandaśor pursued the same course, and their example was followed by the Maukharis of the Madhyadeśa and the kings of Navyāvakāśikā-Vardhamāna and Karnasuvarna in Bengal. Mandasor, the ancient Dagapura, was one of the most important Viceregal seats of the Early Gupta Empire. It was the capital of a long line of margraves belonging to the Aulikara family' who governed part of Western Mālwa on behalf of the Emperor Chandra Gupta II Vikramāditya and his son KumāraGupta I Mahendrāditya. With the sixth century A.D., however, a new scene opened. Yasodharman, ruler of Mandasor about A.D. 533, emboldened no doubt by his success over the Huns, defied the power of the Gupta lords (Guptanātha), and set up pillars of victory commemorating his conquests, which, in the words of his court panegyrist, embraced the whole of Hindusthän from the river Lauhitya, or the Brahmaputra, to the Western Ocean, and from the Himālayas to the mountain Mahendra or the Eastern Ghāts. After his death the Guptas figure again as lords of Mālava (Eastern Mālwa) in literature and possibly in inscriptions of the time of Harsha. But Western Mālwa could not be recovered by the family. Part of it was, as we have already seen, included within the dominions of the Maitrakas. Another part, viz., Avanti or the district round Ujjain, the proud capital of Vikramāditya and Mahendrāditya in the fifth century A.D.,' is found in the next centuries in the ruler governed both Mālavaka and Valabhi. In the latter half of the seventh century A. D. the line of Kharagraha I became extinct, and the Maitraka dominions were once more united. For an alleged connection of the Valabhi dynasty with the Kanarese country, see Moraes, Kadamba-kula, 64 f. The recently discovered Virdi copperplate grant of Kharagraha I of the year 297 (= A.D. 616-17) shows that for a time that ruler held Ujjain (Pro. of the 7th Or. Conf. 659 ff.). It is from the camp at Ujjain that the grant was issued. 1 Ep. Ind. XXVI. 130 ff; Fleet, CII, 153. 2 Somadeva, Kathā-sarit-sāgara, Bk. XVIII; Allan, Gupta Coins, xlix n; Bomb. Gaz, I, ii. 578. Page #660 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ IMPERIAL AMBITION OF THE MAUKHARIS 631 possession of Sa karagana of the Katachchhuri or Kalachuri dynasty 1 and Kharagraha I of the Maitraka line which gave way to a Brāhmana family in the days of Hiuen Tsang," which in its turn, was replaced by the Rāshțrakūtas, the Gurjara Pratihāras and other families. 3 Another family which came to the forefront in the sixth century A.D., was the line of the Mukharas or Maukharis. The stone inscriptions of the princes of this dynasty prove their control over the Bārā Banki, Jaunpur and Gayā districts of the United Provinces and Bihār. All these territories formed integral parts of the Gupta Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. In the next century they must have passed into the hands of the Maukharis. The feudatory titles of the earlier princes of the Mukhara line leave no room for doubt that they occupied a subordinate position in the first few decades of the sixth century A.D. In or about the year A.D. 554, however, Išāna-varman Maukhari ventured to measure swords with the Guptas, and probably also with Huns, and assumed the Imperial title of Mahārājādhirāja. For a period of about a quarter of a century (A. D. 554-cir. A. D. 580) the Maukharis were beyond question the strongest political power in the Upper Ganges Valley. They anticipated to some extent the glorious achievements of Harsha, the brother-in-law, and, apparently, the 1 G. Jouveau Dubreuil, Ancient History of the Deccan, 82. 2 Watters. Yuan Chwang, ii. 250. This family may have been connected with the viceregal line of Naigamas mentioned in the Mandaśor Inscription of the Mālava year 589, of the time of Yasodharman and Vishņuvardhana. Abhayadatta of this family was the viceory (Rajasthāniya, Sachiva ) of a district bounded by the Vindhya, the Pāriyātra (Western Vindhyas including the Aravalli range) and the Sindhu (the sea or a Central Indian stream bearing the same name). His nephew is called a nripati (king). Daksha, the young brother of the ruler, excavated a well in the year 589 (= A. D. 533-34), 3 Ind. Ant., 1886, 142 ; Ep. Ind., XVIII, 1926, 239 (verse 9 of Sañjam grant); cf. Ep. Ind., XIV, p. 177 (reference to a governor of Ujjain under the Pratihāra King Mahendra pāla II). In the Sanjam inscription it is claimed that at Ujjain an early Rāshtrakūta king made the Gurjara and other lords his door-keepers (Pratihāra). It is not improbable that, like the Paramāras, the Gurjara lords brought to Ujjain were for a long time feudatories of the Rashtrakūtas and the name Pratihāra had reference to their status under the Rästrakūtas, before the theory of descent from Lakshmaņa was adumbrated. Incidentally it may be pointed out that the home territory (Svavishaya) of Nāgabhata's line was in Marwar as is clear from the Jaina Kuvalayamāla and the Buchkala inscription. Page #661 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 632 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA successor ( on the throne of Kanauj?) of their last notable king Grahavarman. Like the Maukharis, the rulers of Bengal, too, seem to have thrown off the Gupta yoke in the second half of the sixth century A.D. In the fourth and fifth centuries Bengal undoubtedly acknowledged the suzerainty of the Gupta Empire. The reference to Samatata in Eastern Bengal as a pratyanta or border state in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of the emperor Samudra Gupta proves that the Imperial dominions must have embraced the whole of Western and Central Bengal, while the inclusion of Northern Bengal (Pupdravardhana bhukti) within the empire from the dars of Kumāra Gupta I (A. D. 443-44) to A. D. 543-44' is sufficienly attested by the Dāmodarpur plates. Samataţa, though outside the limits of the Imperial provinces, had, nevertheless, been forced to feel the irresistible might of the Gupta arms. The Harāhā Inscription of Išānavarman, however, shows that the political situation had changed completely about the middle of the sixth century A.D. A new power, viz , that of the Gaudas, was first rising to importance in the valley of the Lower Ganges. Gauda was already known to Pānini ? and the Kautiliya Arthaśāstra. The grammarian seems to associate it with the East. A passage occurring in the Matsya, Kūrma and Linga Purānas 5 has, however, been taken to mean that the Srāvasti region was the cradle of the Gauda people. But the passage in question does not occur in the corresponding text of the Vāyu and Brahma Purūnas and the Mahabharata. In early literature the people of the Srāvasti region are always referred to as the Kosalas. Vātsyāyana, the author of the Kāmasūtra, writing probably in the third or fourth century of the Christian era, refers to Gauda 1 For the date, see Ep. Ind., XVII, Oct., 1924, p. 345. 2 VI. ii. 100. 3 ii. 13. 4 Cf. VI. ii, 99. 5 Nirmitā yena Srāvāsti Gauda-deće dvijottamāḥ. Matsya, XII, 30, cf. Linga, I. 65. Nirmitā yena Śrāvasti Gaudadeśe mahāpuri (Kurma, I. 20. 19). 6 Yajne Śrāvastako rāja Srāvasti yena nirmitā (Vāynt, 88. 27; Brahma, VII, 53). Tasya Śrāvastako jñeyaḥ śrāvasti yena nirmitā (Mbh., III, 201. 4). Page #662 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE GAUDA EXPANSION 633 and Kosala as names of distinct countries. Gauda in the MatsyaKurma-Linga MSS. may have been inserted as a Sanskritised form of Gonda in the same way as the term Madra-mandala is employed to denote the Madras Presidency, by some modern pandits of the Southern Presidency, as well as other scholars and journalists who are unacquainted with the topography of Ancient India.2 In the Central Provinces the name "Gond" is very often Sanskritised into Gauda. Varahamihira, writing in the sixth century A.D., places Gaudaka in the Eastern division of India. He does not include Gauda in the list of countries situated in the Madhyadeśa. Mention is no doubt made of a place called Guda. But, if Alberuni is to be believed, Guda is Thanesar and not Oudh. The use of the term Pancha Gauda as the designation of a territory embracing Northern India as far as Kanauj and the river Sarasvati, is distinctly late and dates only from the twelfth century A. D. The term is possibly reminiscent of the Gauda empire of Dharmapala and Devapāla, and cannot be equated with the ancient realm of the Gaudas in the early centuries of the Christian era. The distinct statement in the Haraha Inscription that the Gauḍas were on the sea-shore clearly suggests that the Bengal littoral and and not Oudh, was the seat of the people in the sixth century A. D. In the next century, their king Sasanka is found in possession of Kargasuvarna near Murshidabad. In the century that follows, a Gauda appears, in the Gauḍa-vaho of Vakpatiraja, as the occupant of the throne of Magadha. The zenith of Gauḍa power is reached in the ninth century when the Gauda dominion extends over the Gangetic Doab and Kanauj. About the early kings of the Gaudas our information is meagre. Certain copper-plate inscriptions, discovered in the Faridpur and Burdwan Districts, disclose the existence of three kingsDharmaditya, Gopachandra and Samacharadeva, who are 1 For Kosala, see daśanachchhedya prakaraṇam; for Gauda, see nakhachchhedya prakaraṇam and dararakshika-prakaranam. 2 Cf. Geiger's translation of Mahavamsa, p. 62n. 3 Cf. Imperial Gazetteer of India, Provincial Series, Central Provinces, p. 158. 4 i. 300. 5 Mallasarula Plate (S. P. Patrika, 1344, 17). 6 Gopachandra may be the Gopakhya nṛipati who was apparently a contemporary and rival of Prakaṭāditya, son of Bhanu Gupta (Arya-Mañjuśri-mula O. P. 90-80 Page #663 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 634 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA described as overlords of Navyāvakāśikā, Vāraka-mandala, and, in one case, of Varddamāna-bhukti (Burdwan Division). The Vappaghoshavāța inscription introduces to us a fourth king, viz., Jayanāga, who ruled at Karņasuvarņa. These kings are, however, not expressly referred to as Gaudas. The earliest king, to whom that epithet is applied is the famous Saśānka, the great rival of Rājya-vardhana of Thanesar and his brother Harsha. The title Mahārājādhirāja assumed by the Bengal kings mentioned above, leaves no room for doubt that they no longer acknowledged the suzerainty of the Guptas and set themselves up as independent sovereigns. The uprising of the Pushyamitras, the invasions of the Huns and the intransigentism of provincial governors and feudatories, were not the only sources of trouble to the Guptas in the last days of their sovereignty. Along with foreign inroads and provincial insubordination we should not fail to take note of the dissensions in the Imperial family itself. The theory of a struggle amongst the sons of Kumāra Gupta I may or may not be true, but there is evidence to show that the descendants of Chandra Gupta II did not pull on well together, and the later kings who bore the Gupta name sometimes took opposite sides in the struggles and convulsions of the period. The later imperial Guptas do not seem to have been on friendly terms with their Vākāțaka cousins. Narendrasena Vākāțaka, a great-grandson of Chandragupta II through his daughter Prabhāvati, seems to have come into hostile contact with the lord of Mālava. Narendrasena's cousin Harishena claims victories over Avanti. Inasmuch as the Guptas are associated with parts of Mālava as late as the time of Harsha, some of the victories gained by the Vākāțakas must have been won over their Gupta cousins. In the seventh century A.D. Deva Gupta appears as an enemy of Harsha's family, while Mādhava Gupta was a friend. Lastly, it is interesting to note that while the earlier Guptas were staunch Brāhmanists, some of whom did not scruple to kalpa, ed, G. Šāstri, p. 637). It is not altogether improbable that Dhakārākhya (ibid, p. 644) is identical with Dharmāditya. Was he a younger brother (anuja) of Vakārākhya (Vajra) and Pakārākhya (Prakatāditya)? If this surmise turns out to be correct he may have belonged to the Gupta line. Page #664 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ MISPLACED CLEMENCY OF BĀLĀDITYA 635 engage in sacrifices involving the slaughter of living beings, the later kings or at least some of them, e.g., Budha (Buddha) Gupta, Tathāgata Gupta and Bālāditya had Buddhist leanings. As in the case of Asoka after the Kalinga war and Harsha after his intimate relation with the Chinese Master of the Law, the change of religion probably had its repercussions on the military and political activities of the Empire. In this connection it is interesting to recall a story recorded by Hiuen Tsang. When "Mahirakula,” the Hun tyrant ruling at Sākala, proceeded to invade the territory of Bālāditya, the latter said to his ministers, "I hear that these thieves are coming, and I cannot fight with them (their troops); by the permission of my ministers I will conceal my poor person among the bushes of the morass." Having said this he withdrew to an island with many of his subjects. Mihirakula came in pursuit but was taken alive as a captive. He was, however, set free and allowed to go away on the intercession of the Queen Mother. We do not know how far the story is authentic. But it seems that Indians of the seventh century A.D. from whom the Chinese pilgrim must have derived his information, did not credit the later Buddhist rulers of the Gupta dynasty with the possession of much courage or military vigour, though they bear testimony to their kindness and piety. The misplaced clemency of Bālāditya and his mother helped to prolong the tyrannical rule of Mihirakula and gave Yasodharman and the succeeding aspirants for imperial dominion, viz., Išānavarman and Prabhākara-vardhana, an opportunity of which they were not slow to take advantage and thereby seal the doom not only of the Hun (Yetha), but also of the Gupta domination in Northern India. 1 Beal, Si-yu-ki, I, 168 f. ; Watters, 1, 288-89. Page #665 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ APPENDIX E. KINGDOMS, PEOPLES AND DYNASTIES OF Trans-VINDHYAN INDIA CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED. 6 . Brāhmaṇa Period :-1. Nishadhas (capital Giriprastha, Mbh., III, 324. 12). 2. Vidarbhas (capital Kundina ) and other Bhojas. . 3. Dasyu tribes-Andhras, Sabaras, Pulin das and Mūtibas. Sūtra Period :-1. Māhishmati (Māndhätā or Maheśvara, IA, 4, 346). 2. Bhrigu-Kachchha (Broach). 3. Surpāraka (Sopara in the Konkan). 4. Asmaka (capital Paudanya, Bodhan). 5. Mülaka (capital Pratishthāna). 6. Kalinga (capital Dantapura). 7. (?) Ukkala (N. Orissa). Rāmāyaṇic Period :- Aryan Expansion south of the Godāvari settlement on the Pampā-exploration of Malaya, Mahendra and Lankā. Maurya Period :- 1. Aparāntas proper (capital Sürpāraka) 2. Bhojas (capital Kundina ?). 3. Rāshțrikas (càpital Nāsik ?). 4. Petenikas (of Pratishthāna ?). 5. Pulindas (capital Pulinda-nagara). Maurya Empire. 6. Andhras (capital Bezvāda etc. ?). 7. Atayi. 8. Kalingas (including Tosali and Samāpā). 9. Viceroyalty of Suvaryagiri. 10. Ahāra of Isila. 11. Cholas. 12. Pāṇdyas. 13. Keralaputra. 14. Satiyaputra (Satyabhūmi of Keralolpatti ?). 15. Tāmraparpi (Ceylon). Page #666 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ EARLY KINGDOMS OF SOUTHERN INDIA 637 Early Post-Maurya Period :-1. Kingdom of Vidarbha.. 2. Šātavāhanas of Dakshiņāpatha. 3. Chetas of Kalinga. 4. Kingdom of Pithuda near Masulipatam. , , Chola. ., Pāņdya. ,, Kerala.. ,,Ceylon (sometimes ruled by Chola princes). Age of the Periplus :-1. Ariake under Mambarus (or Nam banus ?). 2. Dachinabades under Saraganus and his successors (i.e., the Deccan under the Sātavāhana-Satakarnis). 3. Damirica (Tamilakam, Dravida) includ ing: - (a) Cerobothra (Keralaputra). (6) The Pandian Kingdom. (c) (Kingdom of) Argaru (=Uragapura). 4. Masalia (Masulipatam). 5. Dosarene (=Tosalī). . Age of Ptolemy :-1. Kingdom of Baithana (Pratishthāna) ruled by Pulumāyi (sātavāhana). 2. Kingdom of Hippokoura (Kolhapur). ryled-by Baleokouros (Vilivāyakura). 3. Kingdom of Mousopalle (in the Kanarese Country). e , Karoura ruled by Kerobothros (Keralaputra). 5. Pounnata (S. W. Mysore). 6. Kingdom of the Aïoi (capital Kottiara in S. Travancore). 7. Kingdom of the Kareoi (Tāmraparội Valley). 8. Kingdom of Modoura (Madurā) ruled by 'Pandion' (Pāņdya). Page #667 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 638 POLITICAL'HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA 9. Kingdom of the Batoi (capital Nikama ). 10. Kingdom of Orthoura, ruled by "Sornagos" (Chola-Nāga ?). 11. Kingdom of Sora ( Chola ) ruled by Arkatos. 12. Kingdom of Malanga (Kanchi ? Mavil angai ?), ruled by Basaronagas ( °Naga?) 13. Kingdom of Pitundra (Pithuda). A. D. 150-350 :-1. Abhiras (N. Mahārāshtra and W. India). 2. Vākāțakas (Borarand adjoining provinces), and chiefs of Mahākāntāra. 3. Kingdoms of South Kosala, Kaurāla, Kottura, Erandapalla, Devarāshtra (under the Vašishtha family ?), Pishţapura (under the Māthara-kula ?), Ayamukta, Palakka, Kusthalapura. 4. Kingdom of Andhrāpatha (and Vengi) : (a) Ikshyākus. (6) Rulers of the Ananda-gotra (Kandarapura). (c) Brihatphalāyanas of Kudura etc. (d) Sālankāyanas (Salakenoi of Ptolemy ?) of Vengipura, one of whom was Hastivarman of Vengi. 5. Pallavas of Kāñchî. 6. Sātakarņis of Kuntala. A.D. 350-600:-1 Traikutakas and Mauryas of the Konkan; and Lāțas, Nāgas and Gurjaras of South Gujarāt. 2. Vākāțakas (C. Deccan). 3. Katachchuris (N. Mahārāshtra and Mālwa). 4. Kings of Sarabhapura (S. Kosala ?). 5. Kingdoms of Udra, Kongoda, Kalinga [under the Vašishtha family, the Mathara-kula, the Mudgala family (Ep. Ind. xxiii. 199 ff) and Eastern Gangas) ; Le dulura (under Vishņukundins) in East Deccan. Page #668 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ LATER DYNASTIES OF SOUTHERN INDIA 639 6. Pallavas of Kāñchi (in Dramila or Dravida). 7. Cholas, Pāņdyas, Mūshakas and Keralas of the Far South. 8. Gangas and Alupas of S. Mysore, Shimoga and S. Kanara. Bānas of E. Mysore and N. Arcot, Kekayas of Dāvangere tāluk, Kadambas of Vaijayanti etc. and Sendrakas of Nāgarakhanda (N. W. Mysore), or of the Tumkur region. 0. Nalas of (a) Pushkari who governed the Podāgadh region (Jeypore Agency), (6) Yeotmal in Berar and perhaps also (c) the Bellary District. 11. Early Chalukyas of Vātāpi. - After A. D. 600:-1. Silāhāras of Konkan. 2. Early Chalukyas, Rāshtrakuțas includ ing the lines of Mānadeśa etc., Later Chalukyas, Kalachuryas and Yādavas of W. Deccan. 3. Haihayas, Kalachuris or Chedis of Tripuri and Ratnapura, and Nāgas of Chakrakūta (C.P.). 4. Eastern Chālukyas, Chiefs of Velnäodu, and Kākatiyas of the Telugu Country, Eastern Gangas of Kalinga and Orissa, Karas, sābaras (? Śāsadhara and Pandu family) and Somavamģi Guptas of Mahanadi Valley (N. E. Deccan). 5. Western Gangas, Sāntaras and Hoysalas (Mysore). 6. Pallavas of Kāñchi, Vaidumbas of Renāndu, Kalabhras of the Tinnevelly District, Cholas of Tanjore, Varmans of Kerala and Kolamba, and Pandyas of Madurā (Far South). Page #669 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #670 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX* Α . Abhidhāna Chintamani, 112, 432 Abhidhānappadipikā, 198 Acta Orientalia, 373, 378. 418, 467 Advance, 409 Aelian, 275, 328 A Guide to Sānchi, Marshall, 267, 393, 416, 579 A Guide to Taxila. Marshall, 60, 429, 464 Ain-i-Akbari, 86 Aiyangar Commemoration Volume, 202, 274, 309, 314, 330, 479, 512, 528, 579 Aiyangar, S. K, 269, 328n, 329 Ājivikas, Barua, 323 Alberuni, 5, 333, 475, 479, 615, 619, 632 Allan, 393, 527, et passim Altekar, 553 Amarakośa, 391 Oka, 391, 520 Amrita Bāzār Patrikā, 300, 393 An Account of the Kingdom of Kābul, 149 Ancient Geography of India, 94, 100, 127, 191, 193, 259, 433, 444, 474, etc. Ancient Hindu Polity, N. Law, 330 Ancient History of the Deccan, G. Jouveau Dubreuil, 64, 89, 468, 500, 536, 539f, 607 n, 631 n Ancient India, Aiyangar, 328 Ancient India, Rapson, 191, 240, 444 Ancient India as described in Classical Literature, McCrindle, 240, 251, 276, 333 Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, Pargiter, 8, 17, 18, 72, 81, 102, 255 Ancient Mid-Indian Kshatriya Tribes, B. C. Law, 26, 145 Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan Inscriptions. H. C. Tolman, 147, 240 A New History of the Indian People, 398 An Indian Ephemeris by Swami Kannu Pillai, 227 Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, 202, 205, 317, 391, 412 Annals of the First Han Dynasty, 433, 459 Annals of the Later Han Dynasty, 436, 460 Anspach, 251 Anukramani, 66 A padāna, 65 Apastamba, 35 A Peep into the Early History of India, R. G. Bhandarkar, 549, 612 n A Political History of Parthia, Debevoise, 451 Apollodorus of Artemita, 380 Apollonios, 454 Appianus, 272 Arabian Nights (Burton), 617 -Lane, 617 -Olcott, 617 Aranyaka Aitareya, 310 Kaushitaki (Sāņkhāyana) 33, 35, 113 ---Taittiriya, 22, 41 Aravamuthan, 413, 604 Arch. Expl. Ind, Marshall, 129 Archaeological Report, Cunningham, 23 Archaeological Survey of Mysore, A. R., 604n Archaeological Survey of India, 126, 329, 402, 416, 418, 454, 503, 535, 540, 552, 573, 581, et passim Archaeological Survey of Western India. 405, 503, Aristobulus, 250 Arrian (Chinnock's translation), 239, et passim Arthaśāstra-Barhaspatya, Ed. by F. W. Thomas, 248, 255 - Kauțiliya, (Shama Sastry), 9, et passim Aryabhata, 27 Ārya Manjusri Mülakalpa, 199, 214, 572, 577, 588f, et passim Aryanisation of India, N. Dutt, 19 Aryan Rule in India, Havell, 345 Aryans, V. Gordon Childe, 8 Aryaśūra, 10, Ashtadhyāyi of Panini, Ed. by S. C. Vasu, passim Asoka, Bhandarkar, 303, 315 Asoka Edicts in a New Light, Barua, 337 Asoka, Macphail, 276 Asoka, Smith (3rd edition), ch. iv, passim Asoka Text and Glossary, Woolner, 311 Asokāvadāna, 6, 222, 554 Ašvaghosha, 83, 193 . A * This Index purports to give a general idea of the kind of literature that has been utilised in preparing the work. It may also be of some little use to students. In the case of the more well-known authorities no detailed reference has been deemed to be necessary; such references will ordinarily be found in the text itself. O. P. 90–81 de the case for preparing the cork.general ide Page #671 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 642 A Survey of Persian Art, 239, 451 Athenaios, 277 Atthakatha, 214 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Aucitya-Vicara Carca, 564 Avadana-kalpalată, 381 Avasyaka-Kathanakas, 204 A volume of Indian Studies presented to Prof. E. J. Rapson, 341, 432 B Babar-nama (in English), A. S. Beveridge, 268 Bakhle, V. S., 523 Bāna, pt. II, passim Banerji, R. D., 223, 404, 471, 482, 495, 585, et passim Barhaspatya Artha-Sastra, 248 Barnett, L. D. 8, 218, 223, 270, 331, 376, 413, et passim Barua, B. M., 125, 236, 275, 336, 343, 375, 394, 420, et passim Barua, K. L., 543 Basak, R. G., 563, 588, 604n Bauddha Dharma Kosha, 236 Beal, 63, 126, 215, 333, 460, 557, 595 Beginnings of Buddhist Art, Foucher, 430 Beginnings of South Indian History, 231, 269, 328, 517 Beloch, 331 Bevan, 258 Bhandarkar Commemoration Volume, 200, 409, 606 n Bhandarkar, D. R., 182 Bhandarkar, R. G., pt. ii, passim Bharata Mallika, 256 Bhartavarsha, 627n Bhasa, 47. 131, 203 Bhaṭṭaśāli, N. K., 543, 588, 627 Bhavabhuti, 56, 80, 171 Bhavanagar, Inscriptions, 516 Bhilsa Topas, 238, 298 Bhoja, 512, 564 Bigandet, 295 Black Yajus (Keith), 165, 168 Bloch, 560 Bloomfield, 13 Bodhayana, 309 Bombay Gazetteer, see Gazetteer, Bombay Book of Kindred Sayings, (where the volume is not specified, volume I is to be understood) Mrs. Rhys Davids, 120, 124, 155, 198, 206 f, 210, 349 Bose, A, K, 336 Brāhmaṇa -Aitareya, Part I., pt. II, ch, i-iv, 3, et passim -Aitareya (Keith), 37, 157, 163 -Aitareya (Trivedi's Trans.) 44 -Gopatha, 39, 51, 66, 68, 100 Jaiminiya, 46, 51, 86 -Jaiminiya Upanishad 25, 44. 101, 102, 175 -Kaushitaki, 62, 73 -Panchavimśa or Tandya, 36, 44 46, 48, 81, 101, 359 -Samhitopanishad, 71 -Satapatha, Eggeling, pt. i, pt. ii. ch. i-ii, 3, et passim -Vamsa, 44, 50, 149, 370 Brihat Katha 202, 221 Brihaddevata, 25 Brihat Samhita (Varahamihira, ed. Kern), 29, 249, 300, 330, 352, 386, 485, 491, 602, 619, et passim Buddha, Oldenberg, 24, 52, 72, 113, 131, 191 Buddha Charita, 88, 193 Buddhaghosha, 111, 207, 312 Buddhist Conception of Spirits, Law, 133, 150, 289 Buddhist India, Rhys Davids, 57, 100, 105, 108, 132, 147, 154, 191, 614 Buddhist Studies (ed. Law), 221, 475, 506 614 Buddhist Suttas, see Suttas, Buddhist Bühler, pt. II, passim Bunyiu Nanjio, Catalogue, 3, 469, 616 Bury, 121, 261 с Caland, 1, 37, 46, 359 Calcutta Review, 4, 8, 432, 453, 466, 473, 479, 514, 540, 581, 626 Cambridge Ancient History, vol. I. 1391 Cambridge History of India, vol. I. 167, 240, 247, et passim Cambridge History of India, vol III, 449 Cambridge Shorter History of India, 452, 463, 467, 477, 485 Carl Cappeller, 5 Carlleyle, 127 Carmichael Lectures (1918), 67, 74, 76, 117, 133, 143, 225, 253, 308, 397, 475 Catalogue of Coins, Allan (Ancient India), 373, 391f, 393, 402, 511, 544 Catalogue of Coins, Allan (Guptas), 377, 529, et passim -Gardner, 424 --Rapson (Andhras and W. Kshatrapas), 314, 404, 408, 415, 444, 448, 469, 475, et passim -Smith (Indian Museum), 402, 428, 463, 482, 515, et passim -Whitehead (Indo-Greeks and Indo-Scythians), 385, 420, 425, 438, 452, 459, 463, 477, 478, et passim Ceylonese Chronicles, passim Chakravarti, M., 602 n Champa, R. C. Majumdar, 148 Chanda, R. P., 218, 223, 224, 375 f, 388 404 Chandragomin, 628 Charpentier, 296, 340, 479, 579 Chatterji, B. R., 148 Chatterji, S. K., 535, Page #672 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 643 Chattopadhyaya, K. P., 409 Chaucer, 382 Chhavillākara, 309 Coins of Ancient India, Cunningham, 391, 393 Corporate Life in Ancient India, R. C. Majumdar, 140 Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. I Hultzsch, passim Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. II, Konow, passim Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, Vol. III. Fleet, passim Cunningham, passim Curtius, 232; et passim Cyril, 617 Early History of India, Vincent Smith, passim Early History of the Vaishnava Sect, Raychaudhuri, 31, 41, 141, 171, 263, 430 Early Pallavas, D. C. Sircar, 523 Eggeling, 1, 39, et passim Eliot (Hinduism and Buddhism), 108, 148, 333, 469, 615 f Elphinstone, 149 Epigraphia Indica, passim Erskine, K. D. (Rajputāna Gazetteer), 266 Essay on Gunadhya, 117, 146, 147, 202, 204, 221 Excavations at Harappa, 122 D Fa Hien, Legge, 194, 209, 558, et passim Fan-ye, 429, 460 f Felix Lacote, 202 Fergusson, 469 Ferishta, 479 n Fick, The Social Organization in North East India, trans., S. Maitra, 1, 146, 177, 318 Fleet, pt. II, passim Foreign Elements in the Hindu Population, 383 Foucher, 60, 423, 430, 432 Franke, 466 Fundamental Unity of India, Radha. kumud Mookerjee, 163, 165 Dacca Review, 590 Dacca University Journal, 616n Dasa-kumāra-Charita, 107, 148, 253 Desikar, S. S., 310 Devibhāgavatam, 45 Devi-Chandraguptam, 512, 554 Devi-Mahātmya, 5 Dey, N. L. 67, 108, 129, 330 Dhammapada Commentary, 120, 124, 333, Dhoyi, 99, 539 Dhruva, 352 Dialogues of the Buddha, 75, 87, 109, 124, 126, 127, 128, 154, 198, 214, 256, 323, 327, 341, 408 Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names, Malalase kera, 36, 85, 88, 131, 192, 194, 195, 200, 201, 202, 208, 211, 214. Die Kosmographie Der Inder, 95, 330 Dikshit, 409, 535 Dikshitar, 413 Diodorus, 237, et passim Dīpavamsa, 331 Divekar, 548, 568 Divyāvadāna (Cowell and Neil), 66, 135, 196, 267, et passim Dowson, 452 465 D. R. Bhandarkar Volume, 383 Dubreuil, 64, 89, 373, 468, 469 ff, 500, 536, 539 ff, 602 n, 612 n Dvātrimsat-puttalikā, 219 Dynasties of the Kali Age, Pargiter, 17, 22, 29, 113, 114, 201, 220, 236, 355, et passim -Kanarese Districts, Fleet, 23, 235. Ganapatha, 252 Gandavyūha, 306 Gangooly, 0. C., 223 Ganguly D. C., 596 n Garde, 561, 567, 571 Gardner, see Catalogue of Coins Gārgi Samhita, 217, 352, 360, 365 Gaudavaho, 611, 633 Gazetteer-Amraoti, 87 -Bombay, Vol. I, Pt II, passim. -Godavari District, 540 - Rājputāna, IIA, the Mewar Residency, 266 -Vizagapatam, 539 Geiger, passim Geographical Dictionary, 67, 129 Ghosh, A., 613 n Ghosh, Bhramar, 413 Ghosh, Haricharan, 618, 621 Ghoshal, U. N., see Hindu Revenue System Gitā, 141, 395 Goldstücker, 34, 383 Goswami, K. G. 473 Early Empires of Central Asia, McGovern, 628 n Early History of Bengal, see Monahan Early History of the Dekkan, R. G. Bhandarkar, 401, 413, 417, et passim Page #673 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 644 Great Epic of India, Hopkins, 4, 40, 142, 171 Gunadhya, Essay on, see Essay on Gunadhya Gune, 202 Gupte, Y. R., 484, 601 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA H Hala, 407, 557, 564 Hamilton and Falconer, pt. II, ch. iii-viii, passim Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, 110 Harisvamin, 17, 69, 131 Harit Krishna Dev, 76, 423 Harivamsa, 15, 87, 91, 107, 131, 133, 141, 145, 193, 327, et passim Harsha Charita, ed. Parab, 6, 182, et passim --Cowell and Thomas, 222, 469 Harvard Oriental Series (28-30), 108, 136, et passim Hastings. 475 Havell, 345 Heaven and Hell in Buddhist Perspective, B. C., Law, 143, 155 Hemchandra, 207, et passim Heras (JBORS), 596 Hermann, 431 Herodotus, 240 Herzfeld, 182, 240, 428, 431, 482 Hillebrandt, 164 Hinduism and Buddhism, see Eliot Hindu Civilisation, Mookerji, 356 Hindu Polity, Jayaswal, 258 Hindu Revenue system, Ghoshal, 283 Hindusthan Review, 581, 590 Historical Inscriptions of Southern India, 570 Historical Position of Kalki, Jayaswal, 597 History of Ancient India, Tripathi, 606 n History of Bengal (D. U.), 256 History of Buddhist Thought. E. J. Thomas, 96 History of Central and Western-India, Ghosh, 391, 418 History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty, (Mahaffy), 615 n History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, Smith, 345, 430 History of Greece for Beginners, Bury, 121, 261 History of Ghoshal 160 Hindu Political Theories, History of India, K. P. Jayaswal, 537, 589, 597 n Art History of Indian and Indonesian Coomaraswami, 308, 430 History of Indian Literature, Weber, 49, 65, 69, 113 History of Indian Literature, Winternitz, 11 History of Mediaeval India, C. V. Vaidya, 24 History of Sanskrit Literature, Keith, 391, 430 History of Sanskrit Literature, Macdonell, 3, 54 History of Sanskrit Literature, Max Muller, 356 Hiuen-Tsang, passim Hoernle, 199, 583, 605 n, 608 n Hoey, 193 Hoffmann, 442 Holdich. 247 Hopkins, 2, 4, 40, 171, 430 Hoyland, (The Empire of the Great Mogol), 543 Hultzsch, see Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, F Iconography, Bhattasali, 543 Illustrated London News, 242 Imperial Gazetteer, the Indian Empire 94, 430 -C. P. 633 Imperial History et passim India in 1932-33, 441 India, What it can teach us, 430 Indian Antiquary, passim Indian Culture, 10, 87, 99, 109, 125, 155, of India, Jayaswal, 171, 199, 265, 269, et passim Indian Cultural Influence in Cambodia, 148 Indian Historical Journal, 507 Indian Historical Quarterly, passim Indian Studies in Honour of C. R. Lanman, 467, 564 Indica, see Megasthenes Indraji, Bhagwanlal, 374 Intercourse between India and Western World, Rawlinson, 384 Introduction to the Pratimanāṭaka, 316 Introduction to the Kalpa Sutra of Bhadra bahu, Jacobi, 350 Invasion of India by Alexander, McCrindle, 232, 237, et passim Isidor of Charax, 382, 431 I-Tsing, 108, 305 Iyengar, Srinivasa, 92 J Jackson, 182, 202 Jacobi, 1, 11, 213, 350 Page #674 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 645 Jaina Canon, 11 Jainism in North India, C. J. Shah, 295, 548, 629 n Jataka, Camb. ed ; also Fausböll, 11, 99, 107, et passim --Ārāmadūsa (268), 98 ---Asātarūpa (100), 154 -Assaka (207), 98, 144 -Atthāna (425), 76 . Bäveru (339), 614 -Bhaddasāla (465), 97, 99, 128, 209 -Bhallatiya (504), 98 -Bhojajāniya (23), 98 -Bhūridatta (543), 96, 149, 615 -Brahāchatta (336), 97, 153 --Brahmadatta (323), 135 -Champeyya (506), 107, 110 -Chatta (336), 105 -Chetiya (422), 129 --Chullakālinga (301), 124, 143, 144 --Chulla Sutasoma (525), 173 Darimukha (378), 76, 161 Dasa Brāhmana (495). 41, 133 -Dasaņņaka (401), 161 -Dasaratha, (461).78, 162 -Dhajavihetha (391), 74 -Dhonasākha (353), 97, 133, 192 -Dhumakāri (413), 133 -Dummedha (50), 76, 175 -Ekapanna (149), 119, 124 -Ekarāja (303), 154 Gagga (155). 201 -Gandatindu (520), 135 -Gandhāra (406), 53, 146 -Gangamāla (421), 76 -Ghata (454), 105, 141 -Ghata (355), 154 -Guttila (243), 96 --Haritamāta (239), 154, 206, 210 -Hatthimangal (163), 323 -Jayadissa (513), 135 -Kalinga Bodhi (479). 65 -Khandahāla (542), 176 Kosabmi (428), 97, 153 -Kumbha (512), 105 -Kumbhakāra (408), 82, 86, 135, 146 -Kummāsapinda, (415), 76, 210: -Kunāla (536), 97, 153, 192 -Kurudhamma (276), 133 -Kusa (531), 65, 100, 126, 127, 162 -Lomasa Kassapa(433), 76 ---Machchha (75), 105 - Mahāassāroha (302), 173 - Mahājanaka (539), 53, 107 - Mahā Kanha (469), 66 - -Maha Narada Kassapa (544), 66 - Mahāsilava (51), 154 -Mahāsutasoma (537), 134 ---- --Mahā Ummagga (546), 53, 136 -Mamgala (87), 323 --Mātanga (497), 203 --Mātiposaka (455), 76 --Mūsika (373), 206 --Nandiya Miga (385), 105 ----Nimi (541), 55, 66, 82, 83, 135 - Padakusalamānava (432), 176 -Padanjali (247), 161, 174 -Sabbamitta (512), 105 Sachchamkira (73), 161, 176 Sambhava (515), 96, 134 -Sambulā (519), 76 Samkichcha (530), 142 Samugga (436), 617 Samvara (462), 161, 174 Sarabha miga (483), 96 Sarabhanga (522), 91 -Sattubhasta (492). 75 -Serivānij (3), 92 -Setaketa (377), 62 Seyya (282), 154,-Somanassa (505), 73, 135 -Sonaka (519), 161, 174 Sona Nanda (532), 98, 143, 153 Suruchi (489), 53, 97, 162 Susima (163), 59 -Susima (411), 76, 146 Sussondi (360), 614 Tachchhasūkara (492), 206, 210 -Tandulanāli (5). 74 -Telapatta (96), 59, 146, 177 Tesakuna (521), 154 -Thusa (338), 206 Udaya (458), 98 -Uddalaka (487), 61, 77 -- -Ummadanti (527), 253 --Vaddhakisūkara (283). 154, 206, 210 --Vedabbha (48), 130 --Vessantara (547), 175, 253, 418 ---Vidhurapandita (545). 97, 106, 110, 134 Jätakamāla, 10 Jayaswal, pt, II, passim Jinacharita, 125 Jinaprabha sūri, 351 Jinasena, 627 Jõānaprasthāna, 3 Tohnston, 10 Jolly, 251 Journal Asiatique, 109, 150, 305 --of the American Oriental Society, 86 -of the Andhra Research Society, 397 -of the Asiatic society of Bengal, passim of the Bihār and Orissa Research Society, passim -of Indian History, 49, 51 -of the Dacca University, 616 --of the Department of Letters (Cal cutta University). 429, 433, 447 of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, passim --of the U. P. Historical Society, 256 Justin, 233, 238, et passim к Kadambakula (Moraes), 505, 630 n Kādambari, Ridding, 557, 583 Page #675 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 646 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kalakacharya Kathanaka, 433 Kalhana, see Rajatarangini Kalidasa, 203, 389, 540, 564 Kalpadruma Kalikavyakhyā, 125 Kalpanamaṇḍitikā, 182, 473 Kamandaka, 5, 237 Kamasutra, Vatsyayana, 507, 620, 632 Kanakasabhai Pillay, 328 Karpūramañjarī, 129 Kathaka Samhita, 25, 159 Kathakośa, 209, 211, 216 Katha-Sarit-Sagara, Durgāprasād Parab, 32 f, 66, 114, 220, 224, 630 -Tawney, 203, 221, 556 Katyayana (grammarian), 328 Kaumudi-mahotsava, 527 Kautilya (see Artbaśāstra). Kaveri, Maukhari and the Sangam Age, see Aravamuthan Kavyadarśa, 606 n. Kavya-mimämsä, 221, 407,478, 549 Keith, 1, 6, 13, 19, 77, 82, 136, 158, 164f 168 f, 171, 370, et passim Kennedy, 456,466, 478 Keralotpatti, 330 Kern, 319, 354, 386 Kielhorn, passim Kingsmill, 458 Kittel's Dictionary, 45 Knights Tale, 382 Konow, see Sten Konow Kramadiśvara, 382 Kshemendra, 223, 381, 564 Kshiraśvāmin, 290 Kumāralata (Kalpanamaṇḍitika), 473 Kuvalayamālā, 629 n, L Lalitavistara, 578 Lane, see Arabian Knights Lassen, 1 133, 143, 145 and, Law, N. 330 Legge, 309, also see Fa Hien Le Monde Oriental, 298 Levi, Sylvain, passim Life of Alexander, 233, 268 of Apollonius, 439, 455 f -of Buddha (Rockhill), 120 of Hiuen Tsang, 111, 557, 588, 595 -of Vasubandha, Paramartha, 182 List of Southern Inscriptions, Kielhorn, 253 -Northern Inscription's, 472 Lokavibhāga, 501 Lüders, passim M Macauliffe's Sikh Religion, 235 Macdonell, passim, esp. 1, 3, 13, 77, 81, 370 Macphail, Asoka, 276 Mc Govern, Early Empires of Central Asia, 628 n. Malalankäravatthu, 116 Malavikagnimitram, 329, 369 ff, 390 -Tawney, 369 ff, 390 Malcolm, 64 Mamulanar, 269 Manasi O Marmavāṇī, 309 Manual of Buddhism, 110 Manusamhita, 68, 123 Margahbumi Sūtra. 469 Marshall, Sir John, passim McCridle, passim Mediaeval Hindu India, 253, 517 Megasthenes and Arrian, 273 ff, 282, 292, 330 Meghaduta, 94, 203, 557 Law, B. C., 26, 65, 111, 122, 124, 128, Mehta, Ratilal, 136 Mahabharata, 3, et passim -translation by Dutt (M. N.), 17, et passim -by Ray (P. C.), 17 A Criticism, C. V., Vaidya, 42 -Java text, 16, 19 Mahabhashya, Patanjali, passim Mahabodhivamsa, 222, 231, 236, 287 Mahaffy, A History of Egypt under the -Ptolemaic Dynasty, 615 Mahāmāyüri, 434 Mahavagga, passim, esp. 97, 106, 111, 124, 153, 155, 173 Mahāvamsa, 6, 225, 331, 614, et passim Mahavamsa, Geiger, 117, et passim -Tikā, 219, 248, 269 -Turnour, 117, 219, 267, 281 Mahävastu, 89, 91, 95, 100, 334, 628 Mahavibhasha. 3 Mahavira-Charita, 56, 80 Majumdar, R. C., passim Majumdar, N. G., 434, 520 Majumdar, S. N., 193, 567 Matala, 423 Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, 224, 240, 404, et passim Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, 404 Milinda Panho, (S. B. E.), 238, 269, 418, 432, 507, 620 -(Trenckner), 381, 388 Mirashi, 497 Mitra, S. N., 65 Mitra, R. L., 3, 61, 300 Modern Europe, Lodge, 176 Modern Review, 122. 214, 223, 371, 426, 431, 527, 542, 593 Monahan, 277, 281, 285, 339 Monuments of Sanchi, 405 Page #676 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 647 Moraes, see Kadam bakula Michchhakatika, 562 Mudrārākshasa, 237, 266, 269, 295, 512, 554, 562 Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions, see Rice N Nāgari Prachāriņi Patrikā, 371 Nandisūtra, 9 Nariman, 202 Nātyadarpana, 512 Nātyaśāstra, 563 Nazim, Life and Times of Sultan Mahmud, 482 Nikāya- Anguttara, passim -Digha, 99, 207, et passim -Majjhima, passim -Samyutta, 155, 206, 210 Nilakantha Sastri, K. A., see Pandyan Kingdom Nilakantha, (Commentator). 67, 145 Nirukta, Yaska, 111, 112, 161 -ed. Kshem araja Srikrishna Das Sresthi, 25 Nitisāra, Kamandaka, 237 Nitivākyāmțita (Somadeva), 578 Norris, 331 Notes on the Ancient Geography of Gandhāra, Foucher, 60 Numismatic Chronicle, 252 Paramatthajotikā, 83, 124, 125 Paranar, 269 Pargiter, 1, et passim Parisishta parvan, 207, 216, 224, 231, 265, 269, 295, 296, etc. Parthian Stations, Schoff, 427 f, 430 Patimokkha, 617 Pataliputrakalpa, Jinaprabhasuri, 351 Patanjali (see Mahābhāshya), - Index of words, 520 Pavanadūtam, 539 Penzer, The Ocean of Story, 617 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Schoff, 60, 263, et passim Pischel, 162 Philostratos, 430, 456 Pliny, 93, 239, 281, 299, 310, 462 Plutarch, 233, 260, 261, 268, 269, 272 Political History, Raychaudhuri, 41 Polybius, 361 f, 379 Pompeius Trogus, 426 Prabodha-chandrodaya, 602 n, Prachanda-Pāņdava, Cappelle 5 Prajñāpana, 309 Pratijñā Yaugandharayana, 47, 131 Pravachanasāroddhāra. 507 Prabāsi 593 n, 596 n Pre-Aryen et Pre-Dravidien dans l'Inde, S. Lèvi, 109, 150, 305, 309 Pre-Buddhist India, 136 Priyadarsikā. Sri Harsha, 110, 203 Proceedings of the Second Oriental Con ference, 296 Proceedings of the Seventh Oriental Con ference, 593 Proceedings of the Sixth Oriental Con ference, 148 Proceedings of the Third Oriental Con ference, 369, 555 Proceedings of the Seventh session of the Indian History Congress, 465, 593 Przyluski. 413 Ptolemy, Geographer, passim Ptolemy, Historian, 250 Purāņa -Agni, 520, 620 Bhagavata, 4, 5, 15, 350, 380, et passim -Brahma, 71, 72, -Brahmānda, 407 f -Brihaddharma, 112 -Kalki, 220 -Kūrma, 304, 632 -Linga, 632 -Mārkandeya, Pargiter, 5, 72, 94 et passim -Matsya, passim -Padma, 414 Skanda, 620 -Vāyu, passim Vishnu, passim Ogden, 202 oid Brähmi Inscriptions, Barua, 312,419 Oldenberg, 1, 13, 24, 52, 54, 58, 72, 113, 131 Olcott, see Arabian Nights Oldham, 544 Onesikritos, 251 Origin and Development of Bengali Language (Chatterji), 535 Origin of the Chalukyas, R. S. Satyasray, Orosius, 255, 425 Oxford History of India, V. A. Smith, 223, 276, 295, 302, 348, 373, 463, 581 603 Pali English Dictionary, Rhys Davids, - and William Stede, 290, 520, 525, etc. Pandyan kingdom, 328 f, 420, 488, 546 Panku, 456, 459 Pan-yong, 460 Papanchasūdani, 26 Para matthadipani, 65 Page #677 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 648 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA ! R Siddhanta; N. K., Heroic Age of India, 17 Raghuvamsa, 91, 281, 304, 327, 479, 578, Sigālovāda, 341 606 n Sircar, D. C., 171, 393, 497, 507, 523. 602 n, Rājasekhara, 5 627 n Rajasthān, Tod, 268 Si-yu-ki, Beal, 63, 126, 215, 333, 588 Rājatarangini, Kalhana, 148, 325, etc 595 Rājāvalikathe, 294, 296 Sketch of the Sikhs, (Malcolm), 64 Räma-charita (Sandhyākara Nandi), 538 Smith, V.A., 1, et passim Rāmdās, 539 Somadeva (Author of the Katha-SaritRāmāyaṇa, 3, et passim Sāgara) 223, et passim Rapson, passim Somedeva (Nītivākyāmţita). 578 Ratnāvali, 203 Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India, Raverty (Tabaqāt), Vol. I, 517 65, 124, 128 Rawlinson, 300 Sonadanda sutta, 207 Ray, H. C., 65 South Indian Inscriptions, Hutzsch, 16, Records of the Western World, see Beal, 323, 328, et passim 460 Spooner, 276 Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Sridhara, 112 Upanishads (Keith), 19, 164 f Sțingāraprakāśa, 512, 564 Religions of India, Hopkins, 40, 430 Srinivasachari, C. S., 466, 517 Renou, Louis, 165 Sse-ki, 459 Rhys Davids: 1, passim Ssu-ma-chien, 458 Rhys Davids, Mrs. 200 Stede, 99, 525 Rice, 235, 270, 295, 356, 582 Stein, Sir Aurel, Benares Hindu UniverRidding, 557 sity Magazine, Jan , 1927, 246 Rig Veda Brāhmaṇas, Keith, 37, 157 Stein, Sir Aurel, Kalhana's Rājatarangini, Rivett-Carnac, 391 305 Rockhill, 120 Stein (Megasthenes and Kautilya), 285 Roth, 13 Sten Konow, passim, 618 Strabo, see Hamilton and Falconer Studies in Indian Antiquities, H. C. Ray Chaudhuri, 25, 454 Subandhu, 296 Subramaniam, 329 Sahitya Parishat Patrikā, 633 Successors of the Sātavāhanas in the Sachau, Alberuni's India, see Alberuni Eastarn Deccan, see Sircar, D. C. Sahni, Dayārām, 464 Saint-Martin, V. De, 257 Sukhthankar, 47, 412, 496 Sukraniti, B. K. Sarkar, 158 Saletore, B. A., 330 Sellet, 385 Sumangalavilāsini, 211, 343 Samkhya System, Keith, 5 Sung-yun, 460 Sangharaksha, 469 Sūrya Kānta, 255 Sanskrit Drama (Keith), 391, 430, 563 SutraSanskrit English Dictionary, Apte, 365 --Dharma :Sankara (Commentator), 512 -Āpastamba, 35 Sarkar, B. K., 158 -Bodhāyana (Baudhāyana), 85, 88 Saraswati, Rangaswami, 512 -Gșihya :Sarasvati, S. K., 586 -Āśvalāyana, 33, 41 Šāstrī, Pandit Ganapati, 47, 131, 316 -Sankhāyana, 33 Šāstrī, Pandit H.P., 223, 354 ff, 535, 600 n -Jaina : Saundarānanda, 145 -Aupapātika, 209 Sāyaṇa, 158 -Āvasyaka,417, 485 Schoff, 60, 263, 435, 482, 505 -Ayāranga, 118, 487 Schwanbeck, 274 -Bhagavati, 94, 207 Sen, J., 202 -Kalpa, 123, 125, 128, 209, 213 Sen, P. C., 275 -Nirayāvali, 125, 207, 212 Sen, Sukumar, 147 -Sūtrakritānga, 118 Senart, passim -Uttarādhyayana, 57, 81, 82, 86, 87, 136 f, Shābūrquan, Shapurkhan, 616 146 f Shah, C. J., 295, 548 Sūtra, Srauta Shah. H. A., 369 Āpastamba, 103, 170 Shāma Sastry (see Arthaśāstra) -Asvalāyana, 58, 370 Page #678 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INDEX 649 94, 102 vāsas, 199, 262, 211 1 328 --Baudhāyana, 18, 36, 39, 101, 103, 369, -Praśna, 33, 79, 86, 101 f, 166, 293 398 -Taittiriya, 101 Kātyāyana, 158 Uttara-Rāma-Charita, 80, 171 -Sankhāyana, 42, 44, 74, 94, 102 Uvāsagadasão, Horenle, 95, 118, 119, Sutta, Buddhist, 11 120, 199, 202, 211 -Agganna, 99 -Ambattha, 34, 99, 256 Chakkavatti Sihanāda 327 Kālakārāma, 614 Lohichcha, 34, 154 -Mahāgovinda, 75, 87, 109, 144, 170 Mahāli, 124 -Mahāparinibbāna, 105, 107, 119, 120, Vaidya, C. V. 24, 253, 517 122, 126 f., 212, 267 • Vaishnavism, Saivism and Minor Religious -Mahāsudassana, 126 Systems (R. G. Bhandarkar), 475 -Makhādeva, 82 Vākpatirāja, see Gaudavaho -Pāyāsi, 99, 155 Varahamihira, See Brihat Samhita Sangiti, 126 Vārshaganya, 5 Sutta Nipäta, 89, 99, 120, 198 Vāsavadattā Nātyadhārā, 296 Suvarnadvipa, R. C Majumdar, 330 Vasu, S. C., see Ashtadhyāyi Svpana-vāsavadattā, 47, 131, 133, 203, 216 Vats, 122 Vātsyāyana, see Kamasutra Veda Samhita Atharva. passim -Bloomfield's translation, 13 -Paippalada, recension, 74 Kathaka, 25, 159 -Maitrāyanī, 159 Tabard, 202 -Rik passim Tabaqāt-i-Nasiri, 517 Takakusu, I-tsing, 340 -Taittiriya, 166 Vedic Index, Macdonell and Keith, Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, passim Tantri Kamandaka, 528 Venkatesvaraiyar, 329 Tāranāth, 236, 296 f, 351, 371, 602 Vidyābhūshana,, S.C., 122 Tarn, Greeks in Bactria and India, 262, Vidyālankār, Jaychandra, 618f 272 f, 317, 380, 456 Vimānavatthu, 155 Tawney, see Kathā-Sarit-Sāgara, Vinaya Texts, 11, 97 - The Ocean of Stories, Penzer: 617 - Chullavagga, 198, 204 The North Western Provinces of India Mahāvagga, 97, 106,111, 124, 173, 200, (Crooke), 241 207, 212 Therigātha, 65 Viracharita, 417 Thoma, 330 Višākhadatta, 186, 512 Thomas, F. W., 248291, 334, 376,419, Vogel, 253, 450 430, 434 f, 466, et passim Volume of Indian studies presented to Tirthakalpa, 417 Prof. Rapson, 341, 614n Tod, see Rajasthān Tolman, 147, 240 Trenckner, 384. 388 Tripathi, 604 Tripitaka, (Chinese), 469 Turnour, see Mahāvamsa, 117 Warren, 125 Watson, 233, 264, 271, 384 Watters, see Yuan Chwang. Weber, 1, 49, 65, 69, 113, 162, 254 Wei-lio, 464 Wenger, J. 111 Upanishad : Westergaard, 331 Brihadaranyaka, 3, et passim Whitehead, see under Catalogue -Chhāndogya, 3, et passim Wijk, Van, 464, 618 -Rajendralál Mitra's translation, 3, 61 Wilkie, W. One World, 289 Jaiminiya, 25, 50 Wilson, 126 Kaushitaki, 66, 77, 172 Winternitz, 11, 37 Mundaka, 355 Woolner, 312 0. P. 90-82 w Page #679 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 650 POLITICAL HİSTORY OF ANCIENT ÍNDIA z ZDMG, 428, 433 Zimmer, 13, 64 Yāska, 5, 25, 111, 149, 161 Young Men of India, the, July, (1926), 466, 517 Yuan Chwang, Watters, 107, 118, 308, 432 Yu-Houan, 464 Page #680 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX . Abastanoi, Sambastai, Sabarcae, Sabagrae, 255 f Abdagases, 454, 519 Abhaya, Prince of Magadha, 209 n. Abhayadatta, 631 n Abhipratārin Kākshaseni, 44 ff Abhira, Abiria., 257, 446, 498, 509, 544 Abhisāra, Abisares, 2487, 260 Abhisāraprastha, 443 Abhisheka, 167, 302 Abhyamtar opasthāyaka, 523 Abisares, see Abhisára Achyuta, 534, 536 Adhiksitas, 166 n Adhisimakrishna, 43, 69, 105 Adhishthana, 519 Adhyakshas, 283 ff Adityasena, 583, 606, 610 Adityavarman, 604 Adraistai, 250 Agalassoi, 254 Agathokleia, 384, 386, 422 Agathokles, 422 Agesilaos, 476 Agikhamdha, 340 n Agnimitra, Sunga 369, 371 ff, 391 ff Agra-mahishi, 517 Agrāmätya, 302 Agrammes, 232 f, 236 f, 261 Agronomoi, 284 n, 294, 318 Ābāla, Ahāra, 317, 523 Ahichchhatra Adhichhatrā, or Chhatra vati, 135, 393, 536, 560 Ahvara, 66 n Aikshvāka, 120 and note Aila, see Purūravas Aindra mabābhisheka, 163 f, 168f Airikina, 537, 595, 629 Aiśvaryapāla 528 n Aioi, 637 Ajaka, 220 f' Ajatasatru Kasya, 66, 76 f, 83 A jātasatru Kūņika, 209, 210 ff Ājivika, 213, 326, 345, 351 Akarāvanti, 506 f, 621 Akouphis, 247 Akshadarśa, 520 n Akshapatal-adhikrita, Keeper of the Re cords, 559 Akshāvāpa. 166 Alasanda, Alexandria. 307, 381 Alavi, Alabhiya, Alavaka, 197 f, 538 Alexander of Corinth, 331 f . Alexander of Epirus, 331 f Alexander the Great, 234, 244 f, 260 ff Alexandria in Kabul, 26% Alexandria in Sind, 262 Alikasudara, 332 Allakappa, 193 Allitrochades, 296 Amachcha, Amātya, 280 ff, 372, 515, 521 f Ambashtha, Ambattha, see Abastanoi, Āmbhi, 248, 260 Ambhiyas, 248, 418 Amgiya family, Ambhiya family, 417 f Amitraghāta, Amitrakhāda, Amitrachates, see Bindusāra, 277 n. 296 Amrakārddava, 559 Amta-mahāmātras, 317 Amtekina, 332 Amyntas, 425 Ananda kings, 500 n. 638 Anantadevi, 570 Anantanemi, 146 n Anantapāla (Dandanayaka), 582 Anantavarman, 603 Anarta, 506, 621 Ancestry of Chandragupta, 266 f, 355 ff Andhapura, 92 Andhau Inscriptions, 486 f, 506 Andhra, 5, 92, 312, 398, 403 ff, 602, 604 Andhräpatha, 92, 492 Androkottus, see Chandra Gupta Maurya Androsthenes, 361, 380 Anga, 98, 106 ff, 152, 310 n, 603 An-Shih-Kao, 469 Antapāla, 317 Antarvamśika, 166, 317 n Antarvedi, 537 Antialkidas, Antalikita, 384, 394, 404 n, 424 Antigonos Gonatas, 331 f Antimachos, 422 Antiochos Soter, 614 n Antiochos Theos, 299, 307, 331, 614 Antiochos the Great, 381, 385, 423 Anupa, 491, 506 f, 621 Anupiyā, 128 Anuruddha, 218 Anusamyāna, 319, 336 Anyataplakshā, 23 Aornos, 246 n Apara Matsyas, 67 Aparāntas, 314, 491, 502, 507,526, 602 n Aphrikes, 246 Apollodotos, 384, 386 f, 422 Apollophanes, 422 Ārakshādhikrita, 521 Archebios, 425 Ardeshir Bābagān, 479 n Argaru (Uraga-pura), 637 Aria, 273 Ariake, 637 Aritthapura, 253 Arjuna, of Kanauj, 610 Page #681 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 652 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Arjuna (Matsya), 138 Arjuna Pandava, 123, 545 Arjunayanas, 515 n, 544 Arsakes (Parthian), 379 Arsakes (Urasā), 248 Arta, 445 n Artemidorus, 425 Arthachintakas, 514 Arthavidya, 9 n, 514 Aruni, 33, 49, 58, 61 f, 64 Aryaka, 220 f Aśoka, (in the epic), 5 Aśokachandra, 209 Aśoka Maurya, 5, 302 ff, 614 ff Aspasian, 245 Aspavarma, 445, 454 Aspionus, 425 Assakenoi. 240, 245 f Assalayana Aśvalayana, 33, 79 Assembly of Village Headmen, 173 Astakenians, 239 Astes, 247, 261 Astynomoi, 284 Asuravijaya, 537 n Asvaghosha, 476 Aśvalayana, see Assalayana Aśvamedha, 170, 377, 388 f, 416, 480, 500 n, Asaḍhasena, 393 Asandhimitra, 367 Asandivant, 23, 39 Asiani, 426 Asii, 426 Asika, 491 Asitamṛiga, 38 Asmaka, Assaka, Asaka, 89, 143 f, 233, Baladita I, see Narasimha Gupta 245 f, 491 504 n, 548, 568, 584 Aśvamedha (king), 43 Aśvamedhadatta, 44, 69 Aśvamedha Parakrama, 549, 550 Aśvapati, King of the Kekayas, 56, 63 f Aśvapati, King of the Madras, 65 n Asvavārakas, 521 Atavi, 307, 311 Aṭavika, 538 Athama, 442 Atnāra, 81, 102 Attivarman, 540 Auchchamanyava, see Girikshit Audumbaras, 575 n Augrasainya, 236 Aulikara Family, 630 Avachatnuka 108 n Avanti, 96, 144 f, 204, 214 f, 580 Avantiputra, 142 Avantivardhana, 221 Avantivarman, 606 n, 608, 623 Aya, 453, 466 Ayama, 484 Ayaputa, 316 Azes II, 442 Azilises, 441 f Ayasi-Kamuia, 517 Ayodhya, 99 f, 104, 586 f Ayogava, 160 Ayukta, Ayuktaka, 316, 320, 561 Azes I, 429, 439 ff B Bactrians 4, 244, 272, 379ff, 426 Bad-kämta, 543 Bahasatimitra, see Brihaspatimitra, 373 Bahli, 25 and note Baimbika, 369f Baithan, see Pratishthana Bajji, see Vajji Balabhadra, 350Baladhikaraṇa, 563 Baladhyaksha, 285 Baladitya II, 588n, 595f, 606, 623 Balapradhana, 285n Balaśrī, 491ff, 517 Balavarman, 534 Balhika, 25, 26 Bali, 293, 521 Bandhula, 199 Bandhupalita, 350 Bandhuvarman, 567 Barabar Hill Cave Inscription, 510 Bārāṇasi, Benares 74f, 96, 100n Barbaricum, 435, 455, 620 Barhadrathas of Magadha, 113f Barhadrathapura, 111 Barygaza, 483 Batoi, 638 Benākaṭaka Svāmi, 494 Bengal, History of, 309, 535, 543f, 632ff Berar, see Vidarbha Besnagar Inscription, 394 Bhadda, 219 n Bhaddasala, 239 Bhaddiya, 108 Bhadra-ghosha, 392 Bhadraka, Ardraka, Odruka, Andhraka, Antaka, 393 Bhadramukha, 488 Bhadrabahu, 295 Bhadrayasas, 429 Bhaga 293, 521 Bhagabhadra, 393 Bhagadatta, 607 Bhagadugha, 166 Bhagala, 252 Bhagavata (King), 394f Bhagavata religion, 369, 394 Bhaggas, 133, 192f Bhageratha, 101 Bhallaveya, see Indradyumna, 51n. Bhandagāra, 521 Bhandagarika, 521 Bhanu Gupta. 588n, 596, 597n, 600 Bharadvajas, 370 Bharaśivas, 480 Bharata Dauḥshanti, 24n, 25, 90 Page #682 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX 653 Buddhism in Irān, 6151 Buddhist Council, 215, 222 Bulis, 193 Bharata, son of Rishabha, 24n Bharata of Sovira, 144 Bharatas, 23, 24, 40, 73, 75, 142 Bhāratavarsha, 420 Bhārata War, 27, 40 Bharga, see Bhagga Bharsar hoard of coins, 587 Bhartridāman, 510 Bhāskaravarman, 609 Bhatamanush yas, 521 Bhatarka, 629 Bhatāśvapati, 563 Bhattiprolu Inscription, 312n Bhattiya, 117 Bhaujya, 175f Bhava Nāga, 480 Bhimasena, Rājan, 531 Bhima, King of Vidarbha, 86 Bhimavarman, 580 Bhitari Inscription, 568, 572 Bbogas (clan), 120 and noteBhoganagara, 120 and note Bhogavarman, 610 Bhoja, Dāndakya, 91 Bhoja (title), 159 Bhojaka, 562 Bhojakata, 91 Bhojanagara, 66 Bhojas, 89f, 139, 146, 311ff Bhujyu, Lāhyayani, 49, 58 Bhukti, 560f Bhūmaka, 484 Bhūmimitra, 392 Bhūtapāla, 236 Bhūtaviras, 38 Bhūtivarman, 627n Bimbaka, 369n Bimbasārapuri, see Girivraja, 111 Bimbisara, 115, 155, 204ff Bindusāra, Amitragbáta, 267, 282a, 295, 296ff Boar worship (significance) 186 Boards of Five, 285f Boddas, 617 Bouke phala, 262f Brahmadatta of Anga, 110 Brahmadatta of Assaka, 144, 170n Brahmadatta of Kāśi, 75f, 153 Brahmadatta of Panchāla, 136 Brahmadatta (Uparika Mahārāja), 593 Brahmakshatra, 132 and note Brahmamitra 392 Brahmarshideśa, 68 Brahmavarddbana, 74 - .Brihadishu, 71nBrihadratha (of Girivraja), 113f Brihadratha, Maurya, 350, 353 Brihaduktha, 82, 135 Brihaspati Mitra, 373f, 420 Brihatphalāyana, 500n, 638 Buddhagupta, 570, 588n, 593 Budha Gupta, 588, 593 Budharāja, 607n Budhavarman, 5010. Cacouthes, 126 Cadrra Kaņishka, 476 n Calingae, see Kalinga Cambodia, 148 Care of foreigners, 292 Ceylon, Simhala, 330 f, 547 f Chadota, 628 n Chakrapalita, 580 Chakravarti-kshetra, 271 n Chākrāyaṇa, 45, 58 Chalikya, 602 f, 610 f Chalukyas (Eastern), 591 f Champā City, 107 f, 198, 207, 300 Chāņakya, Kautilya 237 f, 265 n, 268, 277, 296 Chandanā, 109 Chandradevi, 586 Chanda Pradyota Mahāsena, 204 Chandasena, 527 Chandra of the Meharauli Iron Pillar Ins cription, 481, 535 n Chandrabālā, see Chandana Chandragomin, 628 Chandra Gupta I, 528 n, 530 ff Chandra Gupta II, 478 f, 511 f, 553 ff, 600. 612 Chandragupta Maurya, 194 n, 238, 264 ff, 355 n, 614 n Chandragupta's government, 277 ff Chandra Gupta Vikramaditya, see Chandra Gupta II Chandraprakāśa, 564 n Chandravarman of Bengal, 534 Chandravarman of Kamboja, 150 Chang-K-ien, 459 Chapada, 320 Chāra, 320 Charaka, 476 Chārāyana, 211 Chashtana, 469 n, 486 f, 505 f, 622 Chatarapana, see Vāsishthiputra Chatara pana Satakarņi Chauroddharanika, 561 Checks on absolutism, 172 ff Chedis, 68, 128 ff, 151, 418 Chellanā, 209 n. 211 Chera, see Kerala Chetaka, 125, 211 Chetas, 418 ff Chhavillākara, 309 China, 9 n, 474, 628 Chirātadatta, 566 Chitrakūta, 629 Chitraratha Arya, 78 Chola, 328 Chora Rajjukas, 318 Chouang-mi, 459 Page #683 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 654 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Chronology of the Bimbisara-Siśunāga group, 225 ff Chuksba, 444 Chūrņi, 330 Chinapatta 9 n, 277 Chuţukula, 503 Cleisobora 138 Cophaeus, see Kophaios, 260 Cophen, see Kābul, 239 Coronation Oath, see Oath, 168 Courts of Justice, 208, 279, 286, 317, 318, 562 Cutch, 381 n, 486, 488 Cyrene. 331 Cyrus. 239 f D Dabbasena, 154 Dabhālā, 560, 595 Daddarapura, 130 Dadhivāhana, 109, 133, 170 n Dahæ, 260 Dbarasena, 499 n Daivāpa, see Saunaka, Indrota Daivāpa Daivaputra-Shāhi-Shāhānushahi, 482, 546 f Dakash, 139 n Daksha, 139 n Dakshina Mathura, 328 Dakshinapadā, 85 Dakshinapatha, 85, 288, 403, 538, 636 ff Dakshināpatha-pati, 411, 415, cf. 495 n Däksinātya, 85 Dālbhya Chaikitāyana, 74 Dālbhya Kesin, 73 Dāmaghasada 1, 509 Dāmajada Sri, 510, 513 Dāmana, 538 Dāmasena, 510 Damijada (or Namijada),437 ff, note Damodara Gupta, 605 f, 625 Damodarasena, 564f Dāmodarpur plates, 543, 561, 567 n, 593 Dandaka, 91 Dandanāyaka, 520, 563 Danda-pas-adhikarana, 563 Danda-pāśika, 561 Danda-samatā, 358 f Dāndika, 561 Dantabala Dhaumra, 39 n, 51 n Dantakūra, 89 n, 305 Dantapura-nagara, 89, 305 n Dantavaktra 89 n Darius I, 147, 240, 518 Darius III, 244 Dasaka, 216 Dārvābhisāra, 248 Darayavaush, 240 Daśapura, 484, 567, 630 Dasaratha (Ikshvāku), 78, 101 Dasaratha, Maurya, 351 Daśārna, 94, 95 n Dattadevi, 551 f Dattāmitra, 5, 382 Dāttämitri, 382 Dattas of Pundravardhan, 597 Davāka, 543 Deccan, see Dakshiņāpatha Deimachos, 299 Demetriaspolis, 382 Demetrios, 5, 382 ff, 422 Democracies, 256, 288 Derbkata; 629 n Desa. 523. 560 Desādhikrita, 524 Deśika, 285 n Devabhūmi, Devabhūti, 395 Deva Gupta I, 554 Deva Gupta 11, 607 Deva Gupta III, 610 f Deva Sri Harsha Gupta, 601 Devaki, 141 n, 570, 572, 573 n Devakulas, 477, 517 Devānāmpiya, cf, 271, 303, 326, 351 Devānāmpiya Tissa, 333 Devapāla Gauda, 537 Devapāla (Pratihāra). 585 Devāpi, 161 Devaputra, 477, 516, 518, 547 Devarāja Chandra Gupta II, 554 Devarāja Skanda Gupta, 577 Devarashtra, 538, 540, 638 Devasri, 554, 601 Devavarman (Eastern India), 528 n, 582 n Devavarman Maurya, 350 Devavarman sälaikāyana, 548 Devavrata, 452 n Devikā, 620 Dhamma, Law of Piety, 324 f, 335, 338 f Dhammaghosha, 327, 365 Dhamma-mahāmātra, 315, 336 f, 357 f Dhamma-nigama, 525 Dbamma-niyama, 343 n Dhamma Vijaya, Dharma Vijayi, 327, 332, 365, 516 n, 537, 540 Dhamma-yutas, 336 f Dhamñakada, Dbaññakada, 92, 312 n Dhana (Nanda), 237 Dhanabhūti, 528 Dhanada Varunendrāntaka-sama, 547 n, 559 Dhanamjaya of Kusthalapura, 538 Dhananjaya Koravya, 134 Dhanika, 353 Dhanyavishņu, 593, 595 Dhārā, 604 n Dharasena II (Valabhi), 629 Dharasena IV, 630 Dharmāditya of Eastern India, 550, 633 Dharmāditya (Śilāditya I), see Silāditya Dharma-mahāmātras, see Dhamma maha mātras . Dharma-Mahārājādhirāja, 516 Dharmapāla, 537 Dhammarakkhita, 304 n Dharmāranya-Vihāra, 308 Dharmasthas, 283 n Page #684 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX 655 Euthydemia, 383 Euthydemos, 379 f Euthymedia, 383 Female guards, 276 f Fo-to-kio-to, 570, 588 n, 593 Dharmayuta, 336 f Dhauli, 306 Dhavala, 353 Dhavalā, 596 n, 597 n Dhavalappadeva, 353 Dhộishtadyumna, 21 n, 73 n Dhritarashtra, Prince of Kāśi 44, 75, 97 Dhrtarashtra Vaichitravirya, 7, 25, 351, 487 n Dhruvabhata, 629 n Dhruva-Devi, Dhruvasvāmini, 512 n, 562, 564, 573 Dhyasan Dvaitavana, 67 Dighati (Dighiti), 106, 153, 173 Dighāvu, 173 Diodotos I (King of Bactria), 379, 426 Diodotos II, 379 Diomedes, 420 n, 425 Dion, 394 Dionysios, Ambassador, 299 Dionysios, king, 422 Dioscuri, 424 Dirgha Chārāyana, 199 Divākara, 105, 114 Divākarasena, 564 Divodāsa (of Kāśi) 75 Divodāsa Panchāla, 73 Drangians, 427 f, 621 Dridhavarman, 110 Drona of the Epic, 21 n, 371 n Dronamukha, 283 n Drona Simha, 626n, 629 Druhyu, 146 Drupada, 73 Dummukha Lichchhavi, 124 Dummukha Panchāla, 82, 135 f Durdharā, 295 Duryodbana, 487 n Dushtaritu, 175 Dūta, 316, 320, 522 Dvādaśādītya, 596 n Dvairājya, 487 n, 519 Dvaitavana, 68 Dvārakā, 150, 506 Dvimukha, see Dummukha Panchāla Gad, 452 Gahapatis, 525 Gaggarā, 109 Gamjavara, 521 Ganapati Nāga, 534. ff Ganarājas. 125, 212 Gandaris, 250 Gandhāra, 59 f, 146 ff, 152, 197, 240 ff, 247, 250, 273, 308, 438, 444, 466, 473, 482, 597 n, 602 n Gandhāri, 60 Gangas of Mysore, 639 f Gangaridae, 236, 261, 309 Gardabhilla, 466 n Gārgi, 58 Gārgya Bālāki, 77 Gaudas, 602, 604 ff, 608 f, 625, 632 ff Gaulmikas, 521 Gaupālāyana, see Suchivriksha, 44 Gaupālāyana Sthapati, 44 n Gautami Balasri, see Balasri, 347, 491 Gautamiputra Satakarni, 410 n, 413, 429, 491 Gaya (Prince), 114 Gedrosia, 239, 273 Ghatāka, 450, 484 Ghatotkacha (Gupta), 529 Ghatotkacha Gupta: prince: 561, 567, 571, 600 n Ghato Kramaditya, 567 n Ghora Angirasa, 141 n Girinagara (Girnar), 314 Girivraja (in Kekaya), 62 Girivraja (in Magadha), 62, 110 Glauchukāyana, 250 n Glaugånikai, Glausians, 250 Go'dhyaksha, 286 Gomatikottaka, 610 Gomitra, 401 Gonarda, 397 Gondophernes, 429, 440, 452 f Gopa, 293 Gopachandra, 633 Gopāli Vaihidari, 393 Goparāja, 595 f Goptri, 317, 371, 561, 579 Gorathagiri, 420 Gosāla Mańkaliputta, 213 Gosh this 525 f Govardhana, Nāsika, 91, 494, 501 f Eastern Chalukya, 591 Egypt, 276, 284, 290, 331 Ekachakrā, 71 Ekarāt, 164, 233, 534 Embers Tope, 194 Emetreus, 382 Epander, 425 Epirus, 331 Episkopai, 290 Era of Samprati, 376 n Eran, 593 Eranda palla, 538 f Erannobaos, 274 Eudemos, 262 Eukratides, 383 ff, 386, 422 ff Page #685 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 656 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Govikartana, 167 Heliodoros, son of Diya (Dion), 394 Govindachandra Gähadavāla, 347 Heliokles, 385 ff, 425 Govinda Gupta, 561, 566 n, 600 n Hephaestion, 247 Govindarāja, 367 Hermaois, 384, 425, 429, 441, 461, 470 Govishāņaka, 237 Hidus, 240 Grahavarman, 605, 607 f Hieou-mi, 459 Grāma, 292, 524, 562 Hi-heou, 460 Grāmabhritaka, 293 Himsrikäs, 286 Grāmábára, 524 Hippokoura, 502, 637 Grāmani, 163, 166, 173, 174, 525 Hippostratos, 422 Grāmavriddha, 292 n. 525 Hiranyavāha, 274 n Grāmeyika, Āyutta, 525 Hiranya pābha, 79, 101 ff Grāmika, 174. 208, 292, 525, 562 Hiranya vati, 126 Grāmabhojaka, 525 Hi-thun, 460 Granavhryaka. 443 Hi-touen, 460 Grumbates, 468 Hiung-nū, 431, 458 f Guda, 633 Ho-ling, 305 n Gūdha-Purusha, 320 Hormisdas, 481 Guduvhara,,452 Ho-ti, 463, 474 Gunākhya Sankhāyana, see Sänkhāyana, Hunas, Huns, 575 ff, 583, 595 f, 606, 626n, 33 ff 628, 630 f Gupta administration, 558 ff Hunamandala, 629 n Gupta Era, 530, 626 n Huvishka, 464, 476 f Gupta (King), 529 Hydaspes, battle of, 261 Guptas (Early), 527 ff, 626 ff Hydraces, 240 Guptas (Later), 581 ff, 623 ff, 626 ff Hyparch, 319 Guraeans, 245 Gusana, see Kushān Gushtasp, 615 Guttas (Kanarese), 518, 564 H Hagāmasha, 445 Hagāna, 445 Haihaya, 98, 145 f, 233 Hairanyanābha, 101 ff Hakusiri, 417 Hāla, 407 n Halla, 209 n, 211 Harappa, discoveries at, 2 Harischandra, 101 Harishena, Prasastikära and General, 542 549 Harishena, Vakataka king, 499 n, 579, 634 Hāritiputra Siva-Skanda-Varman, 503 Hāritiputra Vishņukada Chuțukulānanda Satakarni, 503 Harivarman, 604, Harsha of Kanauj. 583, 600, 605 f, 609, 624, 629 n Harsha Gupta, 600 f, 604 Harsha, Guptā, 604 Haryanka-kula, 115 Hastidasanå, 340 n Hastin, 313 n, 595 Hästinapura, 22, 23, 43 Hastivarman, 538 f Häthi Gumpha inscription, 235, 373 ff, 418 ff Hathisimha, 419 Hatthālavaka, 198 n Hatthigama, 120 and note Ibhyas, 337 Ikshvākus, 100 f, 127, 143, 233, 500 Indradatta, 499 n Indradyumna, 51 n, 64 Indramitra, 392 Indra-pālita, 350 Indraprastha, Indrapatta, Indrapattana, 97, 133 Indravarma, 445 Indrota, 17, 18, 38, 50 Irāvati, 38 n Irrigation in the Maurya Period, 284 Isamus, 380 iśānavarman (Maukhari) 600, 604 ff, 625 631 Ishukära, 134 Isila, 307, 317 iśvaradatta, 498 n. 510 iśvarasena, 499 n Isvaravarman, 604 f Ithijhaka-mahāmātras, 317 Jaivali, 74 Jala Jātukarnya, 74 Jala uka, 349 f, 361 Talika. 222 Jambudipa, Jam budvipa, 97, 357 Janaka (father of Sita). 54 Janaka of Käsi, 74 Janaka of the Upanishads, 48 ff, 55 ff, 74 Page #686 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX 657 Janaka vamsa, 55 Janamejaya 13, 16 f, 36 ff, 50, 51 n Jana Särkarākshya, 64 Jarāsandha, 113 Jāratkārava, 58 Jaugada, 306 Jaya (Itihāsa). 42 Jayadāman, 4878, 506 Jayadatta, 593 Jayadeva, 525 Jayanāga headman, 525 Jayanāga (Gauda king), 538, 634 Jethamitra, 393 Jettuttara, Jetuttara, 198, 253 Jih-kwan, same as Āditya Sena, 61'in Jihonika, 444, 462 Jinasena, 627 Jivadā man, 509 Jivaka, 206 Jivita Gupta I, 601 Jivita Gupta II, 606, 610, 623 Jiyasattu, 198 Jñatrikas, 119 Jogalthem bhi, 489 Junāgadh Rock Inscription, 9n, 270, 280n, 282n Junha, 202 Jushka, 465, 476 Jushkapura, 476 -jyeshtha, see Vasu Jyeshtha, 392 Kālāśoka, 221f, 232f Kalidāsa, 564n Kālindi, 593 Kalinga, 87ff, 233, 304ff, 324, 363f, 373f, 403, 580 Kalinga-nagara, 89n, 419 Kaliyuga Era, 27 Kallár, 479n, 482 Kalliope, Calliope, 384, 425 Kalsigrāma, 381 Kalyanavarman, 528n Kāmandaka, 5 Kämarūpa, 310, 546, 607ff Kamboja, 148f, 248, 288, 307 Kamchana-pura, 89 Kammāssadamma, 134 Kāmpilya, Kampilla, 135, 198 Kamsa of Kosala, 154 Kamsa of Mathurõ, 141 Kamvuja, 148 Kāmyaka, 22 Kanakagiri, 311 Kanakhala, 66 Kanauj, 136, 532, 584, 604n, 608n Kāñchi, 501, 538f Kanishka I, 365ff, 618ff Kanisk ha II, 465ff, 477 Ka niskha III, 478n Kanishka-pura, 474 Kanka, 166n Kantaka-sodhana, 319 Kantha, 251 Kantipuri, 481 Kanvas, 398ff Kanyākubja, see Kanauj, 136 Kao-fou, 455f Kapa, 456 Kāpatika, 291 Kāpeya, 44 Kapilavastu, Kapilā vata, 191 Kāpisa, Kapisi, 239, 386f 422, 425, 434, 443, 473 Kapsha, See Kujula Käpya Patañchala, 65 Karakandu, 82, 147 Karāla, 81, 82 Kāranaka, 316 Karandu, 87 Karas, 639 Kāraskara, 527n' Karatai, 436, 484 Kārddamaka, 437, 505, 622 Kareoi, 637 Karmmānta, 543 Karmantika, 522 Karma Sachivas, 282n, 509 · Karna, 148, 152 Karnadā, 112 Karņasuvarna, 310, 602, 609, 630 Kartripura, 544 Kārttikeya (worship), 478, 568 Kárusha, 93 к Kabandhi Kátyāyana, 34 Kābul, 239, 381 Kacha, 533 Kachchha, 507, 621 Kadambas 504n, 555n, 564n, 612 Kadphises I, see Kujula Kadphises II, see Wema Kahola Kaushitaki, 33, 58 Kairići Sutvan, 192 Kaisara, 477 Kaivarta (king). 237 Kākanāda (Säăchi). 546 Käkas, 545f Kākakarpa, 112 Kākavarna, 112, 221f, 232f. Kakshasena, 16, 44 Kākshaseni, 44 Kakuda Kachchāyana, see Pakudha Kakutstha, 120 Kakusthavarman, 504n, 612 . . Kalabbras, 639 Kalachampā, 107 Kalachuri Era, 468 Kalachuris, 579n, 583n, 606, 607n, 608n, 009, 631 Kālaga, 299n Kālāmas, 99, 155, 193 Kalara Janaka, see Karila Kalasa, 449n Kalasena, 105 O. P. 90-83 Page #687 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 658 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kāruvāki, 343 Käsi, Kasi, Kāśi, 74ff, 83, 96f, 153f, 206, 210, 212, 233, 587, 593 Kasia, 126 Käsiputra, Kautsiputra, 393 Käsmira, Kaśmira, 308, 473, 482, 596n Kaspetroioi, 447 Kassapiya Arhats, 393 Kassites, 139n Kasu Chaidya 130 Kaśyapa Mātanga, 478 Kaspayas, 18, 369n Katachchuris, see Kalachuris Katha, 251 Kathaioi, 2501 Katur (Katuria or Katyur) rājas, 544 Kaundinya-pura, 87 Kaupdinya, Vidarbhi, 87 Kaurāla, 538f Kauravas, 120, and note Kaušām bi, Kosambi, 43, 47, 70f, 131, 275, 307, 401 Kausiki river, 23 Kausiki, (lady), 392n Kautilya, see Chāņakya, 62, 237, 268, 277, 298 Kautza, 51 Kāvasheya, see Tura Kavirāja, 549 Käviripattinam, 328 Kekaya, 621 Keralaputra, 330 Kesaputta, 99, 193 Kesins, 72, 93 Ketumati, 74 Kevatta, Minister, 136 Khaddavali, 502 Khallataka, 298n Khalatika-pavata, 307 Khãndava, 22 Khapimgala, 307 Kharagraha I, 629n, 631 Kharaosta, 449 Kharapallāna, 473 Kharaparikas, 544, 546 Khāravela, 373ff, 405ff, 418ff Khasa, 123. 298 Khemā, 206n Khotan, 309n Khshayārshā, see Xerxes Kidara Kushāns, 482 Kien-chi, 459 Kieou-tsieou-kio, 460ff Kikata, 111f Kinds of rulership, 156ff King-maker, 173 Kingship, 156ff Ki-pin, 432f, 436n, 456ff, 466, 479, 482 Kiusha, 473 Kirtivarman I (Chalikya), 603 Kleophis, 246 Koliyas, 192 Kolkai, 328 Kollāga, 119 Konakamana, 342, 345 Kongoda, 538n Konkan, 580 Kophaios (Cophaeus) 260 Korandavarna, 222 Kosala (North), 74, 77ff, 97, 99ff, 151, 152f, 199ff, 211, 212, 235, 371 Kosala (South), 306n, 469, 538, 580 Kosthāgāra, 522 Kota, 402, 534, 536 Kotätavi, 538n Kotigama, 119 Kotivarsha, 561, 582 Kotta-Vishayas, 317n Kottura, 538f Kouii chouang (Kushān), 458 Krakuchchhanda, 309 Kramaditya, see Ghatotkacha Gupta Kramāditya, see Kumāra Gupta II Kramāditya, Skanda Gupta, 577 Krātha, 251 Krimilāśva, 71n Krishna Gupta, 600f, 611n Krishna Sātavāhana, 414f Krishṇavarman, 504n Krishna Vasudeva, Devakiputra, see Vasudeva Krishna Kritakshana, 81 Kritamālā, 328 Ksita-Mālava-Vikrama Era, 439 Kriti, 54, 81 Krivis, 71f. Kshaharāta, 444, 483 Kshatrapas, 443ff, 483ff, 491ff, 523 Kshatri (tribe), 257 Khattri (official) 166 Kshemarāja, 516 Kshitipāla, 585 Kshudrakas, 254, 260 Kubera (ancestor of Bāņa), 583n Kubera of Devarāshtra (king), 538 Kuberanågā, 555, 564, 572 Kubiraka, 312n Kujula Kadphises, 441, 461ff, 470f Kukura, 491, 507 Kukutthā, 127 Kulastambha, 602n Kulūta, 515n Kumāras, 288, 317, 349 Kumāradevi (Gāhadavāla Queen), 304 Kumāradevi (Lichchbavi princess), 530 Kumāragiri, 538n Kumāragupta I, 566ff, 627 Kumāragupta II, 589, 590ff Kumāragupta III, 600, 602, 604f, 606, 625 Kumāragupta, Prince, 583 Kumārāmātya, 390n, 523, 560, 562n, 567n Kumāra pāla, 585 Kumāravishņu, 501 Page #688 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX : 659 659 M Kumbhavati, 91 Kunāla, 350f, 363 Kundadhāni, 561 Kundagrāma, Kundapura, 119 Kundina, 87 Kūņika, see Ajātaśatru Kunindas, 515n Kuntala, 235, 369, 407, 503f, 580 Kuntala Satakarni, 407f, 503 Kuraraghara, 145 Kuru (Kingdom). 211, 45, 68, 1331 Kuru (dakshina). 26n Kurubindas, 129n Kurujangala, 22 Kurukshetra, 22 Kurukshetra, battle of, 40 Kurus, 12ff, 21ff, 25, 41, 68, 73, 233 Kurush, 239 Kurusravana, 23, 25n Kusadhvaja, 54 Kuśāgrapura, 111, 208 Kušavati, 126 Kushāns, 455ff, 458ff, 618ff Kushāns (Later). 480ff Kusinārā, 126 Kusathala, see Kanauj Kusthalapura, 538, 540 Kusuluka, 444 Kusumadhvaja, 354 Kusumapaura, 217 Kuvinda, 143 Kuyula (Kujula) Kadphisee, Kadphises I Kuyulakara Kapsa 470n Machalas, 86 Machcha, see Matsy Madavika, 523 Madda, 206n Madhava Gupta, 583, 601, 606, 609f, 623 Madhavasena, 373 Madhavavarman I, 602 Madhumanta, 91 Madhurā, Uttara, 138 Madhyadeśa, Majjimadeśa, 65, 142, 264, 288, 353, 611. Madhyamikā, 253, 387 Madra, Madrakas, 63, 64, 152, 250n, 544f Madragāra, 65 Madravati, 16, 20 Madură, 328 Magadha, 96, 110ff, 151, 205ff, 307, 377, 400f, 420, 5291,' 530f, 582n, 603, et passim Māgadhapura, 111 Magandiyā, 203 Magas, 3311 Mahābalādhikrita, High Officer in charge of the Army, 560 Mahābhāratācharya, 41 Mahābhisheka, 136, 168 Mahābhoja, 314 Mahādanda-näyaka, general, 520, 547, 559n, 563 Mahājanaka I, 57 Mahājanaka II, 57 Mahājanapadas, 95ff Mahākāntāra, 538f Mahākosala (king) 103, 154f Mahākhushåpära, 561 Mahāmandala, 222n Mabāmätras, 208, 280, 288, 316, 336ff, 515, 520 Mahānāman, 200 Mahānandin, 218, 223 Mahāpadma (father of Bimbisāra). 117n Mahāpadma (Nanda), 231f, 231, 377 Mahapra tibāra, 562 Māhārājya, 163 Mahārāshtra, 314, 483ff, 542 Mahārathis, 314 Mahāsāmiyas, 523 Mabāsena, Pradyota, see Chanda Pradyota Mahasena Mahāsena Gupta, 606f, 623ff Mahåsena Gupta Devi, 606 Mabā senāpati, 371n, 515, 520 Mahasilākantaga, 213 Mabāsilava, 154 Mahāśiva Gupta, 605n, 624 Mahāsthångarh, 275n Mahāsudassana, 127 Mahattara, Mahattaraka, 525, 562 Mahāvira, 119, 213, 323 Mahendra Maurya. 300, 333, 349 Mahendra (of Kosala), 538 Lagatūrmān, 479n Lala (general) 473 Lāla, 3310 Lālāka, 419 Lalliya, 482 Lampāka, 433 Lankā, 433, see also Tāmraparņi Lan-shi, 460 Laodike, 385 Lätavishaya, 579, 606n Lauhitya, Lohitya (Brahmaputra), 597. 625 Lekhaharas, 320n Lekhakas, 283 Liaka, 444, 473, 484 - Licheh havís, 83, 118ff, 122ff, 211, 401, 530, 605 Lipikaras, 316, 320 Lumminigāma, 307 Lysias, 384, 424 Page #689 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 660 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Meghavarņa, 548 Mekal-Ambashṭha, 256n Menander, 381ff, 423f Meridarch, 319, 512 Mevaki, Mauakes, Mevaces, 435f Mihirakula, 588, 595f, 629, 634 Milinda, see Menander Min, 437, 621 Mahendraditya, Mahendrakarma, Śri Mahendra, see Kumara Gupta I, 566 Mahendragiri, 538f Mahendrapala II (Pratihāra), 585, 631n Mahendravarman I, Pallava, 328, 501n Mahesvara (sect), 369 Maheśvara Naga, 480 Mahirakula, see Mihirakula Mahishi, 162, 166, 517, 573 Mahiśmati, 140, 144f Mahodya, 130 Maitrakas of Valabhi, 580, 629f Makhadeva, 55 Malava, Malaya, 96, 250n, 254, 260, 484, 489, 515n, 544, 582, 595f, 606 et passim Malavagana, 544 Malichos, Maliku, 505n Malini, 107 Malla, Mallki, 95, 126ff, 212 Mallasarul plate, 633n Mallika, 201 Malloi, 254f Māmāla, 491 Mambarus, 437, 485 Mandakini, .372n, 380n Mandasor, et passim Mandavya (of Vedic texts), 51 Mandavya (of epic) 359 Mangala, Mamgala, 323, 339 Mangalesa, 585n Mangura, 222 Māni, 616f Manigul, 444 Maniyatappo, 281 Mankhaliputta, see Gosala Mankhaliputta Manoja, 98 Mantraraja of Kaurala, 538 Mantrin, 280ff, 559f Mantriparishad, 281f, 315f, 389f, 560 Maru, 507, 621 Marutta, Avikshita, 72 Masala, 637 Maski, 303, 357 Massaga. 261 Massanoi, 257 Matachi, 45, 70 Mathara, 476, 638 Mathava, 77 Mathura, Methora, 138, 381, 401, 468, 481 Matila, 534 Matisachivas, Councillors, 509, 520 Matrivishnu, 593, 595 Matsya, 66f, 137 Mauakes, Mavaces, 436 Maues, 428, 437ff Maukhari, 400, 583, 603ff, 608n, 610, 623ff, 627, 630ff Mauryas, Moriyas, 5n, 191, 194, 264ff. Mayuraposhaka, 266 Mayurasarman, 504n, 604n Medus Hydaspes, 426n Meghas, 532 Megasthenes, 273ff Minnagara, 435, 453, 485, 621 Mitanni, 139n Mithradates, Mithridates, 425 Mithi, 54 Mithila, 53, 118 Mitras, 391, 400ff, 433 Mitra coins, 390ff Mitradevi, 589 Mokhalisa or Mokhalingam, 604n Mondo-galingae, 94 Mondubae, 94 Moga, 437 Mo-la-po, 629 Moli, 96 Molini, 74 Mophis, Ambhi, 248 Mou-lo-san-pu-lu, see Mulasthana-puła Mousikanos, 258 Mousopalle, 637 Mrigadhara, 202 Mrigasikhavana, 528 Mrigeśa-varman, 504n Müchipa. Mütiba, Mūvipa, 94 Muchukarna, 258n Mudgala, 71n Mujavats, 60 Mukhalingam, 89n Mukhara, see Maukhari Mülaka, 143,491 Mulasthana-pura, 619 Muluda, 525 Munda (king), 218 Mundas (class of spies), 291 Muriyakala, 373ff Murunda, 401, 430, 546f Mushika, 94, 258n, 330 Musikanagara, 419 Mūtibas, 94 Muziris, 330 N Nabataeans, 505n Nabhaka, 309 Nabhapati, 309 Nächne-ki-talai, 541 Naga, 145, 413 468, 480f, 500n, 535f, 555 Nagabhaṭṭa, 480 Naga Dāsaka, 216, 218 Nagadatta, 534 Nagala Viyohalaka, Nagaravyāvahārika, 317, 520 Naganika, Nayanika, 404f, 417, 517 Page #690 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX 661 Nilarāja, 538f Nimi, 54, 135 Nigranthas, 323 Nirvana, (of Mahāvira and Gotama), 213n, 215, 226f Nirvāna Temple, 126 Nishāda, 507 Nishadha, 636 Nisrishtårtha, 283, 320 Nomarch, 250 Nyagrodhavana, 194 Nysa, 246 320 Oath (coronation), 168 Oddavādi, 138 Oddiyāna, 245 Odraka, Udāka, 393 Ohind, 482 Okkāka, 127, 162 Omphis, 248 Ophir, 2 Orthagnes, 452 Ossadiai, 257 Oxydrakai, see Kshudraka, 254 Oxykanos, 259 Ozene, see Ujjain Nagaraka, 317 Nagara-bhukti, 560 Nagarādhyaksha, 285 Nagarākshadarsa, 520 Nagarasresh thin, 561 Nāgārjuna. 468, 476 Nāgārjuni, Hill, 351 Nāgasā hvaya (Hastinapura). 23 Nāgasena, Sage, 381 Nāgasena, King, 534ff Nagnajit, Naggaji, Naggati, 146 Nahapāna, 469n, 484ff, 495 Naigamas, 631n Naimishas, 151 Nakhavant, 481, 535n Naksh-i-Rustam, 240 Nalas, 639 Nambanus, 437, 485. Nami, Säpya, 55, 57, 81f Nāņaka coins, 475 Nanda, 219n, 224, 229ff, 375n, 376f, 419 Nandi, King, 534ff Nandinagar, 150 Nandivardhana, 218, 222 Nandivarman, 501n Nandiyasas, 536 Na-pei-kea, 309 Narasimha Gupta, Bālåditya, 588f, 601n, 635 Narasimha Varman, 501n Naravarman, 567n Nārāyana Kānva, 398 Nārāyaṇapāla, 403n Narendrachandra, 553 Narendragupta, 608n Narendrasena Vākātaka, 579, 634 Narendrasimha, 553, Nāsatyas, 139n Nāsik Prasasti, 491ff Nātikas, 119 Nau-Nand-Dehra (Nander), 235 Navadhyaksha, 286 Navananda, 223 Navanara, 496 Navy, 286, 498 Navyāvakäsikā, 630, 634 Nayaka, 521 Nāyanikā, 404f Nemi, 81 Nepāl, 53, 309, 530n, 544 Neyika, 523 Ngansi, 460 Nichakshu, 43, 70f, 131 Nichchhivi, see Lichchhavi Nigama, 525 Nigamapradhänāh, 285n Nigamasabhā, 519 Nigantha Nataputta, see Mahāvira, 323 Nijhati, 337 Nikaia, 262 Nikias, 425n Nilapalli, 540 P 624 Pabhosa Inscription, 393 Padmāvati, city, 468, 480, 536n Padmāvati, queen of Ajātasatru, 211 Padmavati, queen of Udayana, 203 Pahlavas, 451ff Paithan, see Pratishthāna Paithanakas, 311n Pakores, 454 Pakthas, 241, 253 Paktyike, 241 Pakudha, Kachchāyana, 34 Paladas, 311, 313 Palaesi mundu, 330n Palāgala (courier), 167 Pālāgali, 162 Pālaka, 218 Pāla Kings, 371n, 475n, Palakka, Palakkada, 538, 540 Palāśikā, 504n Palibothra, Palim bothra, 235 Palibothri, 310 Pallava, 500 Paloura, 305n Pampā, 540 Pancha Gauda, 633 Pañchāla, 90, 134ff, 151, 233, 391 Pañchamaka, 222. . Page #691 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 662 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Peukelaotis, 247 Peukalaos, 425 Phegalas, (Phegeus), 252 Philadelphos, (Ptolemy, II), 299 Philippos, 262 Philoxenos, 425 Pan-chlao, 474 Pandavas, Päṇḍus 38, 40f, 147, 329, 544 Pandion, 486n Pāṇḍugati, 236 Pāṇḍuka, 236 Pandya, 328, 421 Paniyagharika, 522 Panku, 455, 459 Pantaleon, 422 Para Atpara, see Aṭņāra Pāradas, 313 Parakramanka, 533, 550 Paramadaivata, 559 Parameshṭhya, 163 Parasamudra, 330 Pārasika, 505n, 628 Parasurama, 414 Parikshit, 12ff, 27f Parikshitas, 12ff, 48 Parimitarthaḥ, 320 Parishad (Parisha), 174f, 280n, 281, 315f, 341, 525 Parivakra, Parichakra, 71 Parivrājaka Mahārājas, 542, 595 Parivrăjikās, 291 Parivrikti, 162 Päriyatra, 491 Parkham Statue, 214n Parṇadatta, 579f, 629. Paropanisadai, 273 Parsus, 139 Pārsva, Jina, 97 Parsva (Buddhist), 475 Partha of Kasmira, 449n Parthalis, 305 Parthians, 425, 429 Parushni, 63 Pasenadi, see Prasenajit Patala, Patalene, see Tauala, 259, 381, 446 Pātaliputra, 217, 234, 274f, 288, 307, 310, 351, 401, 473, 530, 548, 557 Patanchala, 65 Patika, 444, 447f, 484 Pativedaka, 316, 320, 337 Patna statues, 218n, 222n Patrokles, 299 Paudanya, 143n Paūmāvai, see Padmavati, Ajātasatru Paurava, 23, 249 Paura Vyavahārika, 317 Paushkarasadi; 34 Pāvā, 127 Pavvaiya, 629 Payasi, chief of Setavya, 155 Pedda-Vegi, 540 Perimuda, 328n Periyar, River, 330 Persians, 239f Pettanika, Pitinika, 311 wife of Phraotes, 451 Phryni, 381 Pihunda, 420 Pimprama, 250 Pindola, 203 Pingala, 289 Pippalåda, 79 Pipphalivana, 194, 267 Piprāwā, 191n Pishtapura, Pithapuram, 538f, 638 Pithunda, Pitundra, 420 Piyadasi, see Aśoka Podiyil, Hill, 269, 310 Po-ho, 63 Pokharana, 534f Poling, 305n Polyandry, 41 Poros, 249, 252n Portikanos, 259 Po-ta, 456, 460 Potali, Potana, 89, 98, 143 Po-t'iao, 464, 479 Pounnata, 637 Prabhakara, 561n Prabhakaravardhana, 595f, 605f, 608 Prabhavati, (of Utkala), 137 Prabhavati (Gupta), 564 Prachaṁta, see Pratyanta, 315, 328, 543 Prachinasala, Aupamanyava, 64 Prachya, 156, 288 Prachya Panchālas, 71 Pradeśas, 317n, 560 Pradeśikeśvara, 319 Pradeshtris, 293, 319 Pradesikas, Prādesikas, 316, 319, 336 Pradyota of Avanti, 114, 146, 204 Praesti, 259 Prakāśaditya, 587, 591n Prakaṭaditya, 588, 596n, 597n, 633n Pramaganda, 113 Pranaya, 9n, 509, 522 Prarjunas, 544f Prasenajit (Pasenadi), 102f, 154f, 199f, 210 Prasenajit, successor of Kakavarnin, 222n Prasians, Prasii, 236, 261, 310 Praśniputra, 51 Pratardana, 75, 83, 98 Prathama-Kayastha, 561 Prathama-Kulika, 561 Pratihāras, 631 Pratipa, 13 Pratishthana, 311n, 369, 415, 495 Pratiśravas, 13 Pravahana Jaivali, see Jaivali Pravarasena I, 541f Pravarasena II, 564, 579 Page #692 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX 663 Prithivishena I, 541f, 554 Prithivisheņa II, 541 Prithivishena, mantrin, 569n, 567 Priyaka, 219n Proti Kausambeya, 69 Ptolemy Philadelphos, King, 331f Puā-d'ien, 464 Pugar, 328 Pukkusati, 147, 227 Pulakesin II, 328, 585n Pulika, Puņika, Puņaka, 146 Pulindas, 94, 313 Pulisā, 316, 320 Pulumävi of Satavahanihāra, 412 Pulumāvi of Baithana, 495f Punarabhisheka, 163, 1671 Pundranagara, 275 Pundravardhana, 310, 453, 560, 593, 597, 632 Pupphavati, 74 Puru Gupta, 560, 572, 585ff, 593 Purikā, 396 Pūrpavarman, 353, 528n, 609, 624 Purohita, 166, 359 Pūru, 23f, 249 Purukutsa, 100 Purūravas, 25. Purushapura, 473f Purva-Mālava, 582n Pushkara, 484 Pushkarana. 534f Pushkarāvati, 60, 247, 260, 422, 425, 444 Pushpapura, 354, 401, 443 Pushyabhūti, 582, 604n, 606ff, 608n, 627 Pushyadharman, 350 Push yagupta, 271, 289 Pushyamitra (King), 350, 360n, 361, 368ff, 385, 429 Pushyamitras, 568f 575f 627 Pustapāla, 562 Rajasasana, 279 Rajasimha, 527 Rājasūya, 159, 165f Rājātirāja, 516 Räjavaidya, 520 Rājavishaya, 310, 315 Rājayuktas, 316n Rajjugăbaka, 318 Rajjuka. Rājukas, 286, 287, 318f, 336, 366n, 515, 520 Rajula, Räjuvula, 445f Rajyasri, 608 Rājyavardhana, 583, 604n, 606n Rāma, 78, 101 Rāmagama, 191 Rāma (Sarma) Gupta, 553n Rāmapāla, 585 Ramma, city, 74 Raņa-Bhāņdāgär-adhikarana, 563 Rashada, 291 Rashtra, 12, 523 Rāshtrakuțas, 631 Rashtrapala, King, 236 Rashtrapāla official, 317 Rashtrapati, 523 Rāshtrikas, 311f Rāshtriya, 289, 318n Rathagņitsa, 44 Rathika, 290n, 311f, 315 Ratnin, 166, 173 Ravideva, 371n Renu, 87, 89, 144 Republics, 121, 128, 134, 137, 140, 150, 173, 191ff, 245ff, 515, 544f Revottaras Pātava Chakra Sthapati, 175 Riksha (mountain), 145n Rishabhadatta, see Ushavadāta Rituparna, 101, 103 Roads (Maurya), 284, 343 Rohiņi, 192 Romakas, Rome, 4, 462 Roruka, 197 Rudrabhūti, 509 Rudradāman I, 9n, 304, 467, 486f, 496, 505ff, 618ff Rudradāman II, 510 Rudradeva, 534 Rudradhara, Bhattărikā, 509 Rudrasena I, Kshatrapa, 510 Rudrasena 11, 510 Rudrasena III, 511 Rudrasena (1) Vākåtaka, 534, 541 Rudrasena II, 541, 554 Rudrasimha I, 509 Rudrasimha III, 510f, 543n Rudrāyana, 197 Rummindei, 309, 342 Rūpadarsaka, 285 Rūpnath, 313 SAR Rādha, Radhāpuri, 331n, 602 Rādhagupta, 302 Rahamusala, 213 Rahasyadhikrita, -520 Rahula, 102 ! Räjāgriha (Kekaya), 62 Rājagļiba (Magadha). -63,-106, 110, 111, 116, 209, 220, 374, 420 Rājagriha (Balkh). 63 Rājakartņi, Rājakrit, 163, 173 Rajalipikara, 520 Rājāmātva, 521 Rajan, 58, 159 Rājapura (Kalinga) 89 Rajapura (Kamboja), 148f Rajaputra-deva-bhattāraka, 561 . .. , 12 Page #693 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 664 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA S Saba, 555, 559 Sabarae, 93 Sabbamitta, 105n Sabbatthaka, 208 Sacarauli, 426 Sachiva, 280, 372, 555 Sadā nirā, 52 Saffarids, 482 Sāgala, Sāgalanagara, 64, 65n, 381. 422, 545, 629 Sahadeva Sārñjaya, 121 Sahaja, 137 Sahajāti, 129 Sabalātavi, 538n Sahāli, 222, 236n Sahasrāņika, 132 Saivism, 464, 478 Sai-wang, 431f Saka (people). 3, 425f, 431ff, 505ff Saka era, 29, 469n, 618f Sākala, see Sāgala Sakalya, 65 Saka Murunda, 546f Sakasthāna, 434f 479, 483. 621 Sāketa, 99, 105, 378 Sakrāditya, 501.570F Sakti-Kumāra, Sakti-Sri, 417 Sākya, 102 Sākyas, 99, 155, 191 Salakenoi, śālankāyanas, 500n, 540 Saliśūka, 350, 352 Salivāhana, 403n, 466n Salvas, 68, 151 Samāchāradeva, 633 Samāhatri, 293, 319, 521 Samājas, 326, 334f, 366n Samāpā, 306, 311 Samatata, 310, 632 Sambhuttara, 96 Sambodhi, 339 Sambos, 259 Samcharamtaka, Sanchārin, 291, 515, 526 Sämdhivigrahika (Minister of Peace and War), 522, 560 Samgrabitri, 166. Samiti, 174 Samkara-gana, 631 Samkassa (Sankaśya), 54, 198 Samkshobha, 580, 595 - Samprati, Sampadi, 351f Samräj. Samrat, 58, 159 Sām rājya, 1571 Samsthāh, 291 Samtanu, 25 Samudra Gupta, 468, 482, 533ff Samudra vijaya, 114 Sanabares, 454 Sanakānikas, 544f Sandanes, 483 Sandrokottus, see Chandragupta, Maury Sangaeus, 260 Sangala, 251 Sanghadaman, 510 Sanghamukhya, 140 Sangharaksha, 476 Sangrahaņa, 283n Sanjaya of Magadha, 222 Sanjaya of Pañcbāla, 137 Sanjaya of Pushkarāvati, 260 Sanjaya (Sūta). 166n Sankaragaņa, 631 Sankhyāyaka, 285 Saukhāyana, (Gunākhya). 33 Sannidhātri, 166, 294, 521 Sapedanes, 454 Sarabha, 246 Saraganus. 415, 483 Śaravarman, 605n Śārdulavarman, 603f Śarpikā, 99 Sārthavāha, 561 Sārvabhauma, Sarvabhūmi, 37, 163, 170 Sarva-kshatrāntaka, 233, 534 Sarvanāga, 537, 561 Sarvanjaba, 222 Sarvarāj-ochchettā, 533f, 551 Sarvāstivādin School, 616 Sarvatata, 398n, 548 Sarvavarman, 606, 623 Sāsana-hara, 320 Sasanka, 608f, 633f Sasa, 445, 454 Sassanians, 479, 510, 628 Satadhanvan, Sātadhanus, 350, 352 Satahanirattha, 412.523 śātakarņi I, 406ff, 410n, 414n, 548 Satānika, of Kausambi, 132, 202 Satānika Sātiājita, 44, 75, 97, 169 Satānika, son of Janamejaya, 43, 50 Śātavāhana, 395, 403ff, 433, 483 Sātavahana-bāra, 412, 523 Satavastra, 454 Satiyaputra, 329 Sātrāsaha, 71 Satri, 291 Sattabhu, 87, 144, 170n Satvats, Satvatas, 26, 87, 90, 138ff, 142 Satyayajña, 50, 64, 69 Saubhūti (Sopeithes., Sophytes), 251 Saudyumni, 25 Saunaka, Indrota Daivāpa, 17. 18, 38, 44, 50 Saunaka Kāpeya, 44 Sauvira, Sovira, 2, 197, 507 Savaras, 93f Sävatthi, (Srāvasti in Kosala), 99, 105, 198, et passim, 632 Page #694 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX 665 Scylax, 241 Scythian Administration, 514ff. Seleukos, 271ff, 299 Senāgopas, 521 Sena king, 132 Senanāyaka mahämättas, 208 Senani, 166 Senãpati, 202, 278, 320, 521 Seniya, 205 Seres, 381 Seri, 92 Setakaņņika, 412 Setavyä, 99, 155 Seyanāga, 211 Seyaviya, 64Shāhān-Shāh, 518 Shapur II, 479n, 481, 511 Śibi, Siboi, 66, 95n, 252f, 257 Sibipura, 253 Sibyrtios, 274 Siddhārtha, father of Mahavira, 119 Siddhārtha (Buddha), 102 Sigal, 428n Sigerdis, 381 Sihapura, 130 Sikhandin. 73 Sikharasvămin, 559 Silāditya Dharmāditya of Mo-la-po, 596n, 629n Silaka Sālāvatya, 74 Silavat, 209 Silavati, 162 Simhachandra, 553 Simhala, see also Ceylon, 547 Simhapura, 89 Simbasena, 295, 298 Simhavarman (Mandasor), 535 Simhavarman (Pallava), 5010 Simba Vikrama, (Chandra Gupta II), 553 Simhavishnu, 501n Simuka, 403ff, 416 Sindhu-Sauvira, 257, 467, 507, 618ff Singupuram, 89n Sinthus, 435 Sin-tu, see Sindhu, 620 Siradhva ja, (Janaka II), 54, 56, 80 Siri-Vaddha, 202 Sisikottos (Sasigupta), 260 Sisunāga (Susunāga), 115, 219f Siśunandi, 396, 536 Siśupāla, 130 Sitā, 78 Şiva, (worship of), 322n, 464, 568 Śivas, Sivis, see sibi, Siboi Siva-Bhagavata, 464 Siva-datta, 499n Siva Gupta, 526 Sivalakura, 502 Sivamegha, 531 Śiva Nandi, 536 0. P. 90-84 Sivapura, 253 Şivasena, 444 Siva-Skanda-Dutta, 524 Siva-Skanda-Gupta, 503 Siva-Skanda-Nāga Sri, 503 Siva-Skanda-Varman, 548 Siva-Sri, Sivasri Apilaka, 409, 497 Sivi, 176, 2521 Skanda (God), 322n Skanda Gupta, 481, 560, 572ff, 628 Skanda Nága, 483 Skanda Nāga Sātaka, 407, 503 . Skandasvāti, 407, 522 Skandavarman, 501n Slaves, 258, 276n, 339 Soastus, 247 Sodása, 446 Sodrai (Sogdoi). 257 Sogdians, 244, 426f, 436 Soked (Sāketa), 473 Solaki, Solanki, 603 Solar race, 99 Solasa Mahājanapada, 95ff Somadeva, 628 Somakas (tribe), 73 Somaka Sāhadevya, 82, 86, 121 Somašarman, 350 Sona, 274n Soņa danda, 207 Soņa Kolivisa, 174 Sona Bātrāsäha, 71 Sophon the Indian, 615 Sophagasenus, see Subhāgasena Sophytes, see Saubhuti Sotthisena, 76 Sotthivatinagara, 129 Sovira, see Sauvira Spalagadama, 428 Spalahara, 428 Spalirises, 428, 440 Spies, 298f Sramaņa mahămātra, 340n Srāvasti, see Savatthi Srāvasti bhukti, 560 Śrenika, 205 Srenya, 115, 205 Śrestbisarthavāha-kulika-nigama, 563 Sridharavarman, 457 Sri Gupta, 528f Sri Haridāsa, 528 Srikantha, 582, 606 Srimāra rāja, (kings of the family of), 108n Srinagari, 308 Sriñjaya of Vaibāli, 123 Śrīñjayas (tribe), 26, 40n: 711 Sri Pratāpa, 566n Sripura, 538 Srirajya, 92 Sri Sāta, 415 Page #695 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 666 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Sushkaletra, 308 Susima, 303 Susthita-varman, 583, 607, 609, 623 Sūta, 163, 166, 173, 174 Sutasoma, 134 Suvarnabhūmi, 107, 333 Suvarnagiri, 288, 307, 311 Suvāstu (Swāt), 245, 247 Suvisakha, 508 Suyaśas, 350 Svabhra, 507, 621 Svāmidatta, 538 Svārājya, 157f Svarjit, 147 Svaśa, 298, 304, 309n Svayamvara, 576 Svetaketu, 49, 62, 74, 174 Syandikā, 99 Symbouloi, 283 Synedroi, 283 Syrastrene, 446 Sri Vijaya, 92n Sri Vikramah, 556 Sri Vira Purushadatta, 500n Sri Vishaya, 92n Śruta coins, 536 Sthānika, 293 Sthāniya, 283n Sthapati, 167n Strategos, 443, 515 Strato, 384, 386f, 422 Stryadhyaksha, 317 St. Thomas, 452n, 453 Suari, 93 Subābu, 197 Subandhu, 298 Subhāgasena, 350, 3611 Suchivriksha, 44 Sadakshiņa, 150 Sudās, Sudāsa, 73 Sudarśana Lake, 271, 580 Sudarśana-pura, 145 Sudassana, 74 Suddhodana, 102• Śūdra kings, 355 Sūdra (Sodrai of Alexander) (tribe), 257, 498n, 545n Sugānga palace, 275n Sui Vihār, 435, 455, 467, 618ff Sujyeshtha, see Vasujyeshtha, 392 Sukalpa, 236 Sukeśa Bhäradväja, 79, 102 Suketuvarman, 367 Sūkhamśiva, 610 Suktimati, Suktisā hvaya, city, 129 Suktimati river, 129 Sukulidesa. 560 Sulikas, 6021, 604 Sulka, 521 Sumana, 300 Sumantra, 166n Sumati of Vaisali, 120 Sumatra, 92n Sumsumāragiri, 133, 193 Sunahsepa, 165 Sunakkhatta, 124 Sungas. 368ff, 398ff Sung-yun, 460n Sunidha, 212 Sunitha, 130 Suplan Sārñjaya, 120 Sūrasenas, Sūrasenakas, 68, 138, 142, 151, 197, 234 Surāshtra, 270, 288, 297, 314, 381. 434, 446, 491, 506f, 546 Suraśmichandra, 593 Sürpāraka, 484, 507n Surundhana, 74 Süryavarman, 605n Sušarman, 398, 403 Susbena, 16 Ta-hia, 427, 479 Takka country. Che-ka, 619 Takshasila, Taxila, 36, 59, 61, 146, 2174, 275, 287, 307, 309n, 363, 422, 4461 Talavara, 563 Taxila University, 62 Tālagund, 500n Tālajanghas, 176 Tambapamni, Tamraparni 330 Tāmraparni, river, 331 Tāmralipti, 558 Taprobane, see Tambapamni Tathāgata, 3 Tathāgata Gupta, 588, 595 Tauala, 259 Ta-yue-tchi, see Yue-chi Tel or Telavāha, 92 Telephos, 425n Terebinthus, 617 Thānesar, 606f Theodamas, 429n Theüdora, 515n Thullakotthita, 128 Tiastanes, 504 Tien-tchou, 429, 464, 479 Tikshna, 291 Timitra, 382 Tirabhukti, Tirhut, 52, 560ff Tirabhukty-Upārik-adhikarana, 563 Tishya, 300 Tish yarakshitā, 367 Tissa, king of Ceylon, 331 Tivara, 343, 349 Tochari, 426f Togara, 602n Page #696 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GENERAL INDEX : 667 Toramāņa, 561, 595f, 629 Una, 246n Tosali, 288, 305n, 306, 311 Upachara, 130 Tou-mi, 455, 460n Upagupta, 591n Traikūtaka, 499n Upagupta, 591n, 604 Traikutaka Era, 468 Upaplavya, 67 Tranaka yiro, 417 Uparichara, 130 Trasadasyu, 101 Uparika Mahārāja, 561 Trigartas, 68 Uragapura, 328, 541 Trikamala, 400 Uraiyūr, see Uragapura Trikūta, 580 Uraśā, 248, 447 Triparvata, 504n Uruvelakappa, 128 Tripuri, 129 Ushasti Chākrāyaṇa, see Chārkäyana Tripuri Vishaya, 560, 595 Ushavadāta, 484ff Trisalā, 123 Usinara, 65f Trisämā, 380n Utkala, 137, 636 Tsenn-Hoang, 458 Uttamabhadras, 489,1 550 Tsung.ling mountains, 474 Uttamaujas, 73 Tukhāras, 148n, 427 Uttarādhyakshas, 285 Tulakuchi 222n Uttara Kurus, 64, 157 Tulus, 329 Uttara Madra, 64, 157 Tumain, Tumbavana, 567 Uttara Pañcbāla, 70, 134 Tundikeras, 146 Uttarā patha, 59, 308, 420 Tura Kāvasheya, 13. 15, 17, 19, 32 Uttara Tosala, 306n Turamāya. 332 Uvima Kavthisa, 462 Tūrghna, 22 Turiva, 425 V Turvasas, 711 Tushāspba, 263, 289, 304, 314, 508n Tūthika, 523 Vachabhūmika, 316, 320 Vachchha, see Vatsa Vählikas, Bāhli, 25, 535n Vaichitravirya, see Dhritarashtra Vaichitar virya Ubbhataka, 127 Vaidehas, Later, 80f Uberae, 94 . . Vaidehīputra, Vedehiputta, 132, 206n Ubhaka, 222 Vaidyas, 256n Uchchaihấravas, 25, 26 Vaigai, 328 Uchchaspingi, 504n Vaihāra, 111 Udāka, 393 Vaijayanti, 492, 502, 504n Udakasena, 98n Vainyadevi, 586 Udanakūpa, 560, 563 (Vai)nya Gu(pta), 596n, 601n, Udasthita, 291 Vairājya, 1581 Udaya of Käsi, 76, 98n Vairochana, 108 Udaya, Udayibhadda, Udáyin of Magadha, Vaiśālī, 118, 206, 211, 219, 531, 562 216, 2176 Vaisālika Dynasty, 120f Udayana, 47, 2026 Vaiśāly-adhisthān-adhikaraņa, 563 Uddalaka, Aruni, see Āruni Vaišampāyana, 7, 18, 39, 41 Udichyas, 66, 157 Vaisravaņa, 218n Udyana, Oddiyāna, 245 Vājapeya, 159, 163f Ugra, Ugraputra, Ugras, 120 and note Vajheshka, 465, 477 Ugrasena, Mahāpadma, 231ff, 239, 263 ...Vajira, 201, 210 Ugrasena of Palakka, 538 Vajji, 83, 118ff, 212, Ugrasena Pārikshita, 16 Vajra, 588, 597 Ujjain (Ujjeni) Visla, Padmavati; Bhoga. Väkātakas, 541ff, 554, 564, 578, 612, 634 vati, Hiranyavati, 275, 287, 298, 307, Valabhi, 580, 626, 629 352, 304, 434, 505, 557, 596n Vālavi, 561 Ukkachetā, 110n Vāmadeva, 82 Ukkattha, 99, 198 Vamataksha (ma ?), 459n Ukkāvelā, 110n Vamba Moriyar, 270 02 Page #697 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 668 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Vamsa, see Vatsa Vamsadharā, 89n Vanashpara, 473 Vanavāsi, 602n Vanga, 106, 309n, 331n, 535n, 603, 624 Våniyagåma, 198 Vañji 330 Vanka, 105, 154 Vankshu, 628 Varadā, 373 Varadātata, 86 Vårakamandala, 560, 634 Vārānasi, see Bārānasi Våranávata, 134 Vardhamānabhukti, 560, 634 Vardha måna, see Nigantha Nātaputta Mahāvira Varhran, 479n, 481, 510 Varmans, 605n, 624 Varshaganya, 5 Vasas, 65, 131ff Vasabha-Khattiyā, 200 Vasati, 257 Väsavadatta, 202 Vasetthas, 127 Väsishka, 465, 477 Vasishtha dynasty, 542 Vāsishthiputra Chatárapana Sātākaņi, 496 Vāsishthiputra Ehuvula Chämtamüla II, 500n Vāsishthiputra Pulumāyi, 410n, 492ff Vāsishthiputra Siva Sri Sātākarni, 496 Väsishthiputra Sri Chanda Sāti 497n Vāsisthiputra Sri Satakarņi, 496, 507 Vas Kushāņa, 464n Vassakāra, 212 Vasubandhu, 564n, 587 Vasu of Chedi, 113, 130 Vasudāna, 132 Vasudeva Kāņva, 392, 395, 398 Väsudeva Krishna, see Krishna Vasudeva, 141, 394, 478 Vasudeva Kushān, 468, 478 Vasu Jyeshtha, 392 Vasuladattā, see Väsavadatta Vasumati 111 Vasumitra, King, 379, 388, 393, 475 Vasumitra, sage, 475 Vatâtavi, 538n Vatsa, Vamsa, 131, 192, 202ff Våtsyāyana, 408, 526 Vāvātā, 162 Vāyurakhita, 561n Vedehaputta, 76 Vedehiputta, 206n Vedhas, 104 Vehalla, 209n, 211 Vejayanti, 491n Vengi, 500n, 538f Vesali, see Vaibali Vespasi, 473 Vessantara, Prince, 176 Vethadipa, 193 and note Vichitravirya, 302 Vidagdha, Såkalya, 58 Vidarbha, 86, 91, 148, 3728, 602n Videgha, Māthava, 54, 77 (Videha, 48f, 528, 74, 807, 118, 132, 209n Vidisā, 369ff, 393f, 396, 480, 555, 606n, 609 Vidudabha, 200, 211, 323n, 537n Vigatasoka Tishya, see Tishya Vigataśoka II, 300 Vigra hapāla, 223n Vihārayātrā, 323 Vijaya (conquest), 327, 365, 537 Vijaya (prince), 330n Vijayakirti, 468 Vijaya Buddha Varman, 519 Vijayeśa, 308 Vikrama era, 465f, 472n Vikramaditya, Chandragupta II, 553 Vikramaditya of Ayodhyā, 586 Vikramaditya (Skanda), 577 Vikramaditya Sakári, 465n, 556, 596 Vikrama, Puru (Buddha ? ) Gupta, 586 Vilivāyakura, 502, 637 Village administration, 292, see Grāma Vima Kadphises II, see Wema Vimala-Kondañña, 209n Vimānadasānā, 340n Vinaśana, 545 Vinayaditya, 611 Vināyakapāla (Pratihära). 585n Vinaya-sthiti-sthåpaka, 563 Vindhyasaki, 541 Vipasa, 380n Vira Choda, 16 Virakūrcha, 5010 Vira Matsyas, 67 Virasena, General, 371, 390n Virasena Maurya, 350, 361 Virasena, Saba, 555, 559 Virata, 67, 137 Virātanagara, 67, 137 Viravarman, 5010 Visadeva, 528 Viśākha, 323n Viśākhayūpa, 220n Viśāla, King, 120 Visala (Vaiśālı), 120 Viśālā (Ujjain), 557 Vishanins, 253 Vishaya, 321, 523, 537, 560 Vishayapati, 524,537, 561 Vishņu Worship, 568 Vishnugopa, 538 Vishnugopa (Palakkada). 519 Vishņugupta, Chandråditya, 611 Vishnukada-Chutu-Kulānada Satakarni, 503 Page #698 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Vishnukundin, 500n, 602, 638 Vishnumitra, 401 Vishnupada, 106 Vishņupalita, 524 Vishnuvardhana, 585n 631n Vishți, 9n, 284n, 514, Vishvaksena, 98u Viśvasimha, 510 Viśvavarman, 567n Vitabhaya, 507n Vitahavyas, 98 Vitankapura, 106 Vitastātra, 308 Vitihotras, 146, 233 Voharika Mahamattas, 208, 286 Vokkāņa, 602n Vonones, 427f, 622 Vraja, 320 Vratya, 112, 123, 127, 142 Vriddhadyumna, 44 Vrihaspati (king), 350, 352 Vrijika, 309 Vṛishala, 295n, 355n Vṛishalis, 291 Vṛishasena, 350 Vrishņis, 140ff Vyaghra-bala-parakrama, 566n, 569 Vyaghradeva, 541f Vyaghra-parakrama, Vyaghra-raja, 538 Vyaghra-sena, 499n Vyapṛita, 524 Vyavahāra Samatā, 358f Vyavaharika Mahāmātras, 208, 286 Vyasa, 49 Vyutha, 341n GENERAL INDEX 550 W Wardad, 435 Wei, 464 Wema Kadphises, 463f, 470 Wu-sun, 458 Wu-t'-ou-lao, 432 X Xandrames, 233, 236, 519n Xathroi, 257 Xerxes, 242f Y Yahgou, Yavuga, 460 Yadava, Yadu, 138, 145 Yajnasena of Panchala, 73 Yajñasena of Vidarbha, 373 Yajna śri, 497f, 502 Yajnavalkya, 49f Yajnavarman, 603 Yasaskara, 592 Yasodaman, 510, 513 Yasodharman, 596ff, 601, 625, 630 Yasomati, 573 Yasovarman, 588n, 611 Yaudheyas, 250, 467f, 508, 515n, 544f 619, 621 Yauna, Yavana, Yona, 3, 5, 307, 354, 366, 378ff, 397 Yauvarajya, 519 Yayati, 25, 63 Yayatinagari, 539n Yen-kao-tchen, see Wema Kdphises Yin-mo-fu, 432, 439, 466 Ysamotka 487, 505 Yudhishthira, Yudhitthila, 46, 81, 133, 166 Yueh-chi, Yue-en (Yue-ti, Yuo-teni), 427, 431, 458ff, 473 Yuktas, Yutas, 316, 319f, 336 Yung-ku, 432 Yuva Maharaja, 519 669 Z Za Hakale, Zoscales, 505n Zeda, 473 Zeionises, see Jihonika, 462 Zoilos, 422 Zoroastriara, 276, 475, 615 Page #699 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOME ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS Page Line For Read 23 20 131 145 fnl fn2 148 fal 15111 155 182 188 194 34 fnl 27 fn2 208 2404 laud land Vatsas Vasas a rdly is hardly fication identification Add "in the Pala-Pratibåra age they are also found in Pehoa (Ep. Ind. I. 247) and Bengal, Кавуа Kaвaya say gs sayings Vim na Vimåna Davadaha Devadaha AJSB JASB Chandasoka , Chaņņāsoka Mayӣra Mayūra Mahaparinibbānau Mahaparinibbana amachchs amachcha For the contacts between the Medes and India, see India Antiqua, 1947, 180ff. 486 B.C. 513 B.C. (Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, P145. Some scholars believe that the conquest of Sind preceded Scylax's exploration of the Indus-India Antiqua, P.181). after 'was' add 'at first'. tracted traced after 'Ambastha' add 'Note also the attribution of the Surjancharita to a Gauda Ambashtha (DHNI, ii, 1061n4) of the time of Akbar. Scythiads Scythians Dr. G. C. Raychaudhuri draws my attention to another Aramaic inscription of Devānampriya found at Laghman (ancient La mpaka, BSOAS, Vol. XIII, pt. I, 1949, 80ff). This confirms the Greek evidence about the inclusion of Kabul and its neighbourhood within the dominions of the early Mauryas. Pratipära Pratibāra objects object Kasas Khasas Srinagari Srinagari ci. Strabo, XV. 1. 27-"We became acquainted with the eastern parts of India on this side the Hypanis and whatever parts beside which have been described by those who after Alexander, advanced beyond the Hypanis to the Ganges and Palibothra". 241 243 256 17 35 21 290 298 304 354 Page #700 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOME ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 671 Page Line For Read 362 18 372 33 386 27 18. fn2 29 443 he 35 445 fn 4 fn1 480 482 500 513 25 19 22 or Add after Seleukos "The Antiochos-Sophagasenus alliance may also have been directed against the Imperial Mauryas of Pätaliputra'. Greek intrigue may have played a part in the disintegration of the empire, before the Greek raids. A Sungarāja is known from certain coins found at Kausāmbi (INSI, IV, i, 14). His identity is however uncertain. bronze copper (CHI, 555, 690, Whitehead, Indo-Greek Coins, 26) After "Strato I" add the following "Seltman (Greek Coins 235) refers to a large gold coin which Eukratides struck to mark his triumph over Demetrius. 0 or (Rşika) the paro pars Add at the end "Also Whitehead, Numismatic Chronicle, 1944, pp19-104. Apacharaja of the Bajour inscription is taken by some to mean 'ruler of the West'. Before "A survey of Persian Art'' insert "Pope and Ackerman". Basnagor Besnagar of After SII, add Vol. XII. Chashatna Chashtana Satyasimba Satyasimbai Read dots above to indicate indefinite relathionship wit daughter of Rudra II. Chines ine Chinese in to a third to the third Recently Dr. D. C. Sircar has come across evidence ( in an Orissa inscription) which indicates that in 569 one PrithiviVigraha held Kalinga apparently as a Gupta vassal. Capital of the Gupta Empire Fall of the Western Satraps Guruda Garuda Sába Śāba Bhāgabata Bhāgavata Bhitari Bihar System Sister grandson cousin Asyamedha A śvamedha his Kumara's Add after 476-7 "together with the Benares ins. of 159 (JRASB, 1949, 5ft) Isänavarman isánavarman Saravarman Sarvavarman Isänavarman īsā navar man Mankar Maukhari 31 318 5326 540, 627 33 555 557 559 568 572 575 579 26 49 584 592 593 9 11 606 22 6134 Page #701 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 672 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Page Line For Read 628 630 631 639 Nanavāsinah Chakavartin Samkaragņa sabara śāśadhara Vanavāsinah Chakravartin Samkaragaña Sabara. Śaśadbara 29 Page #702 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OPINIONS AND REVIEWS 1.-Political History of Ancient India From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty Published by the Calcutta University Opinions on the earlier editions and on Part I : W. THOMAS: Political Historind judgment THE HINDUSTHAN REVIEW.-It is learned and luminous and is a scientific treatise based on the results of research into the records and materials of ancient Indian history, of which it is a sound and an accurate digest, interestingly put together. It is about the best text-book of the subject it deals with. DR. L. D. BARNETT. LONDON.---The author treats his materials with a certain degree of originality, but at the same time he preserves throughout a wellbalanced judgment and never sacrifices critical caution to the passion for novel theories...... This interesting book......shews judgment, ingenuity, and learning. And not the least of the author's merits is that he can write plain English. DR. F. W. THOMAS.--I have profited by a closer acquaintance with your Political History and other writings, which are really models of sound judgment combined with full knowledge. PROFESSOR HULTZSCH, HALLE, GERMANY.-Your valuable work......is the outcome of extensive researches and throws much light on darkest and most debated periods of Indian history. You have succeeded in building up an intelligible account from the stray and imperfect materials which are available to the historian of those times. PROFESSOR JOLLY, WÜRZBURG, GERMANY. -Your splendid volume...... What an enormous mass of evi. dence has been collected and discussed in this work. an important feature of which is the quotation of the original texts along with their translation which makes it easy to control the conclusions arrived at. The ancient geography, not less than the ancient 0. P. 90-85 Page #703 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 674 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Binal). history of India, has been greatly furthered by your researches and much new light has been thrown on some of the most vexed problems of Indian Archaeology and Chronology. The indices are very copious and the study of your work is greatly facilitated by them. PROFESSOR PELLIOT, PARIS.-Le nom de l'auteur est garant du serieux du travail. PROFESSOR JARL CHARPENTIER, UPSALA, SWEDEN.Professor Ray Chaudhury belongs to a set of young Hindu scholars who, combining the traditional education of a Pandit with a thorough training in English, German or French Universities, have lately been carrying on deep and fruitful' researches in the various domains of Indian lore...... Even the student, who on essential points does differ widely from the opinions expressed by Professor Ray Chaudhuri, must willingly recognize his high merits as a scholar. PROFESSOR A. SCHEPOTIEFF, UFA, RUSSIA.-For our study of the history of the Ancient Age your Political History of Ancient India is of very great importance (trans. from original). C. E. A. W. OLDHAM (J. R. A. S., 1928, JULY) — Part I of Professor Ray Chaudhuri's work deals with the period from Pariksit to Bimbisāra. The author seeks to show, as he tells us in his preface, "that chronological relation of the national transactions before 600 B.C. is not impossible." He has laid under contribution the usual authorities, the Vedic, Puranic, Buddhist, and Jaina texts-though he does not appear to place much reliance upon the last-named (cf. pp. 6 and 72). A vast mass of records has been collated, and the evidence marshalled in a very concise and able, and in some respects original, manner. The apposite quotations from the original texts are useful. Professor Ray Chaudhuri regards Parikşit I and Parikşit II, as they are named by the late Mr. Pargiter in his Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, as being probably one and the same king, and as identifiable with the Vedic Parikşit. By "the great Janaka" he refers to the Janaka of the later Vedic texts, whose court is said to have been thronged with Brāhmaṇas, and not to the traditional first king Janaka, the eponymous founder of the Janakavamsa, or to Janaka Siradhvaja, the reputed father of Sitā. Synchronizing Gunākhya Sankhāyana with Asvalayana and the Buddha, he inclines, it seems, to place Pariksit in the ninth, and the "great Janaka'' in the seventh century B.C. though he wisely avoids coming to any positive conclusion as to these debatable dates, and points out that if the evidence of the n his proisara.ork deals ULY horihough heast-named and th Page #704 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OPINIONS AND REVIEWS 675 Puranas were accepted we would have to place them soine five centuries earlier. If it could be established that Parikşit came into power at the beginning of the ninth century, or the end of the tenth, this would help to corroborate the approximate chronology suggested by Mr. Pargiter, having regard also to the synchronism between Senājit Bārhadratha and Adhisimakršņa. But until more convincing evidence is discovered most scholars will probably agree in the verdict of Vincent Smith that nothing approaching exact chronology is yet available for periods anterior to about 650 B.C. Much of the matter in Part II will perhaps be familiar to students of Indian history ; but it has been arranged in a fresh and scholarly manner, while several important suggestions have been made on different questions. One or two of these may be cited as examples. On pp. 72-73 reasons, are set forth for accepting the Ceylon tradition that Sisunāga was later than Bimbisāra. The view recorded by Mahamahopadhāya (sic) H. P. Sāstri that the ultimate dismemberment of the Mauryan empire was due to a reaction promoted by the Brāhmanas, is vigorously controverted. Whatever other causes may have operated, and Professor Ray Chaudhuri undoubtedly lays his finger on more than one such, Brahmanical influences cannot be ignored. The arguments used for holding that Demetrius, rather than Menander, was the Yavana invader of the Madhyadeśa in the time of Pusyamitra, and that Simuka, the founder of the Satavahana dynasty, must be placed in the first century B. C., deserve careful consideration. Since Hoernle made his well-known suggestion as to the identity of Devagupta, mentioned in two inscriptions of Harşavardhana, se yeral writers have attempted to frame the history of the later Guptas of Eastern Mālava and Bihār and the Maukharis of Kanauj. The period presents many difficulties, which are not likely to be solved until some further evidence reveals itself. Having regard to the conditions of the times and the bitter enmity of the Maukharis, who were then very powerful, it seems unlikely that the Susthitavarman mentioned in the Aphsand (sic) inscription of Adityasena as having been defeated by Mahāsenagupta of E. Mālava, could have been the king of Kāmarūpa, as the author states. Fleet's suggestion that he was the Maukhari king of that 1. For the latest reading of the Häthigumphī inscription reference to the Yavana king, see J BORS., XIII, 228. Page #705 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 676 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA name, whom we know to have been contemporaneous with Mahasenagupta, seems more probable. Not the least valuable part of the contents of this volume are the numerous comments on the geographical information supplied in the records quoted;" and it is a matter of regret that of the five maps entered in the table of Contents (p. xvi), only one, viz., that of "Bharatavarsha" appears in the volume before us. As regards this map we are not told what specific period, if any, it refers to. In any case, the positions assigned to the Nisadas, S. Kosala. Kamboja, and the Riksa mountains seem to call for some explanation. On the other hand, the geographical information given in the text is extensive, and often suggestive, and it indicates that much attention has been devoted to this important auxiliary to ancient Indian historical research. The indexes, both bibliographical and general. have been very well prepared. PROFESSOR A. BERRIEDALE KEITH, EDINBURGH.-I have read through the work and find it to contain much that is valuable. The author has arrived at clearly cut opinions on many of the chief difficulties in the history of early India; he has formulated them effectively, and as a result, even when they do not commend themselves as final solutions, they will serve to promote the discussion and to facilitate further fruitful research. He observes a due sense of proportion and is well read in the literature. The work accordingly may justly he deemed a most valuable contribution to the subject-matter of which it treats. PROFESSOR WILH GEIGER, MUNCHEN-NEUBIBERG, GERMANY.-I highly appreciate Mr. Ray Chaudhuri's work as a most happy combination of sound scientific method and enormous knowledge of both Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical literature. The work is written in lucid style in spite of its intricate subject and affords a mass of valuable evidence, throwing much light on the whole period of Indian History dealt in it. I see with special pleasure and satisfaction that we now are enabled by the author's penetrating researches to start in Indian chronology from the 9th instead of the 6th or 5th century. B. C. PROFESSOR JACKSON, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK. I can see the scholarly research which you have put into the volume, and am glad to have such a work for future reference in my historical studies. 1 No Maukhari king of that name is known (H. C. R. C.). Page #706 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ .: OPINIONS AND REVIEWS: 677 PROFESSOR LOUIS DE LA VALLEE POUSSIN, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.-I believe that the book is well designed and has the twofold merit of collecting a vast amount (and in some chapters, an exhaustive one) of references, and of giving a clear and reasonable expose of the main line of this history. I agree with the author on several controverted points of chronology. Mrs. C. A. F. RHYS DAVIDS.-Dr. Chaudhuri has made debtors of us all. S. M. EDWARDES (The Indian Antiquary, July, 1927. p. 140).-Professor Raychaudhuri's book forms a solid contribution to the discussion of the various problems implicit in the early history of India. PROFESSOR E. J. RAPSON, CAMBRIDGE.- My best thanks for the kind present of a copy of the Political History of Ancient India," which I am very glad to possess and which I shall find most useful for reference. PROFESSOR STEN Konow, NORWAY.-The book is a very useful contribution. DR. V. S. SUKTHANKAR.-I have to refer to it very often, both for corroboration of historical facts of the epic and for geographical information and the excellent maps included in the volume. It has been always a matter of great gratification to me that you have adopted my views with reference to the Sātavāhanas and at last given them, in a standard history of India the appellation by which they call themselves...rather than accept the doubtful description of them given by the late Purāṇas. PROFESSOR NILAKANTA SASTRI.-Your excellent Ancient History of India. I have been using it on every conceivable occasion. SITARAM KOHLI, LAHORE,-I have immensely liked your book "Political History of Ancient India." C. S. SRINIVASACHARI, SOUTH INDIA.-Our author rightly holds the balance between the views of Pargiter which would give excessive value to Kshatriya tradition whose date allowed of manipulation to serve dynastic ends and the value of Vedic tradition whose two strong points are its priority of date and freedom from textual corruption. W. CHARLES DE SILVA, COLOMBO.-I have the greatest pleasure to express my high appreciation of your very valuable and learned article (Part I of the Political History). PROFESSOR E. WASHBURN HOPKINS.-It is a fine augury for Indian scholarship when native scholars of the first rank take seriously in hand the great Page #707 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 678 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA problem of untangling the web of Indian history. To this work your book is a valuable contribution. PROFESSOR H. JACOBI, BONN.--Very suggestive and contains some important details. PROFESSOR F. OTTO SCHRADER.-I have read the book with increasing interest and do not hesitate to say that it contains a great many details which will be found useful by later historians. The portion I enjoyed most is that on the sixteen Mahajanapadas. II. The Early History of the Vaishnava Sect Published by the Calcutta University PROFESSOR E. WASHBURN HOPKINS, YALE UNIVERSITY, AMERICA.-Your book has given me great satisfaction......I am particularly pleased to see an incisive study of this kind in the realm of religious history......Believe me, in the hope of further contributions of this character from your able pen......... PROFESSOR A. BERRIEDALE KEITH, EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY. While I do not concur in your view as to the original character of Krsna, I recognise the care with which you have investigated the issue, and value highly the elaborate collation of the evidence which your work contains, and which will render it of much service to all students of this doubtless insoluble problem. The stress laid on the epigraphic evidence and the full use made of it is of special value, while in many details your opinions are of interest and value, as in the case of the date of Pāṇini... SIR GEORGE GRIERSON.-Very interesting and informing......The book is full of matter which is of great importance for the history of religion in India and will form a valued addition to my collection of books on the subject... F. E. PARGITER, OXFORD.-I agree with you in discarding various theories, but I don't think Krsna Devakiputra is the famous Krsaa, and it seems to me your exposition can stand just as well without the identification as with it. Your book will help to elucidate the whole matter, but are you sure that the cult does not owe something to Christianity? Page #708 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OPINIONS AND REVIEWS PROFESSOR F. OTTO SCHRADER, KIEL, GERMANY.-I perfectly agree with your opinion that Chandogya passage on Krsna Devakiputra and his teaching is to be considered as the first historical record of Bhagavatism. There were, of course, many Krsas, but to conjecture that more than one was also a Devakiputra, is to my mind an unscientific boldness which is the less justifiable as the teachings mentioned in that passage, as you show, perfectly agree with those, e,g., of the Bhagavad-gita and the Rk. quoted with the famous तद्विष्णोः परमं पदं.. 679 PROFESSOR GARBE, TUBINGEN, GERMANY.-I have read your book with the greatest interest and perfectly agree with you in the main points, as to the personality of Krsia and the development of Bhagavatism......You have brought together much important material and elucidated the dark early history of Bhagavatism as far as possible. THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT, MAY 12, 1921.The lectures of Mr. Hemchandra Ray Chaudhuri on the early history of the Vaishnava Sect read almost as would a Bampton lecture on the "Historical Christ" to a Christian audience. They are an attempt to disentangle the authentic figure of Krishna from the mass of Puranic legend and gross tradition, from the wild conjectures and mistaken, if reasoned, theories which surround his name. The worship of Krishna is not a superstitious idolatry; it is the expression of the Bhakti, the devotional faith of an intellectual people, and many missionaries, ill-equipped for dealing with a dimly understood creed would do well to study this little volume..... JOURNAL ASIATIQUE, JANUARY-MARCH, 1923. PARIS,Dans le domaine historique, signalons un travail plein de merite de M. Hemchandra Ray Chaudhuri. Materials for the Study of the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect (Dr. Jules Bloch of Paris). DR. JULES BLOCH, PARIS.-My Guru, Sylvain Levi. who has come back from his travels, told me also of his esteem for that book. JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN. The scope of this small book is rightly expressed in its title. The author who is Lecturer in History in the Calcutta University, has collected and discussed statements, references, and allusions from the early literature to throw light on the position and life of Krsna and the growth of Bhagavatism. He deals with the various theories that have been put forward, and with good reasons discredits the views that Krspa Vasudeva was a solar deity or a tribal god Page #709 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 680 STUDIES IN INDIAN ANTIQUITIES or a vegetation deity. He is right in treating Krsoa Vāsudeva as one person, the Vrsai chief, but he unnecessarily identifies him with Kệsaa Devakiputra. the scholar mentioned in the Chāndogya Upanishad ..................(F. E. Pargiter). TAE BOMBAY CHRONICLE, JUNE 19, 1921.--Mr. Hemchandra Ray Chaudhury of the Calcutta University has collected much valuable material from which he has succeeded in tracing the origin and growth of the Vaishnava creed. The Historicity of Srikrishnaor as the author calls him, Krishna Vasudeva, is also handled with remarkable clearness......... A GOVINDACHARYA SVAMIN.--I pay you a most deserved compliment upon your acquaintance with the Azhvars and Sri Vaishnavism of southern India as evidenced in your learned book the Early History of the Vaishnava Sect. III. Studies in Indian Antiquities Demy 8vo. Pp. xvi, 211 Published by the Calcutta. University PROFESSOR E. J. RAPSON, CAMBRIDGE.-Dr. Raychaudhur's essays on Indian History and Antiquities are always well-informed, thoughtful and suggestive. E. J. THOMAS (J. R. A. S., OCTOBER, 1933, p. 925).The study which Dr. Raychaudhuri has already devoted to ancient Indian history is well known. In the present book he discusses some of the geographical problems which still face the historians, as well as Vedic, epic, and specially historical questions ... ...He has shown that Indian historical scholarship is proceeding on sound lines of its own and achieving independent results. . 0. C. GANGOLY.-Permit me to thank you for your valuable gift of Studies in Indian Antiquities in which I have read with great profit your article : Vanga Kon Des ? It is an excellent contribution to our knowledge of the little known phase of old Bengal. You do not try to prove too much, yet you have given very much based on solid data. It is a pity many scholars do not know of this article-buried in a series of Essays in English. Page #710 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OPINIONS AND REVIEWS 681 Opinions on some of the Papers incorporated in the Volume. DR. BARNETT.-They are very interesting and critically sound. DR. KEITH.-They are ail very interesting, and I am glad to note the very useful information elicited as to Bhoja. PROFESSOR DR. STEN KONOW, KRISTIANIA, NORWAY. --They are written in a thoroughly scholar-like way, and more especially it seems to me that your paper about the Laksmana Sena era deserves very careful attention. PROFESSOR H. JACOBI.-The verification of the Bhāgavata credo in the Besnagar inscription is a find on which you may be congratulated. PROFESSOR SCHRADER, KIEL, GERMANY. - The Antiquity of the Rig Veda is a sober and useful little piece of research work with which, on the whole, I fully agree. If we follow Jacobi and Tilak we create a gap (which we cannot bridge over) between the Mantras and "the Brāhmaṇas, for the latter are certainly not far removed from early Buddhism, On the other hand, if Hertel were right, the Rg Veda would immediately precede Buddhism, and there would be no room at all for Brāhmaṇas and Upanisads. Your important paper on the inter-relation of the two epics : The opinion held by Macdonell, Winternitz, and others, viz., that the heroes of the Mahābhārata are unknown to the Rāmāyāna, seems, indeed, to be untenable... Again, I find it difficult, as you do, to distinguish between a Pāndava story and a Kuru-Bhārata Epic, PROFESSOR JARL CHARPENTIER.—The identification of some words in this very important document (the Besnagar Inscripition) with a passage in the Mahābhārata seems to be a most happy find. PROFESSOR E. WASHBURN HOPKINS.--It is certainly a remarkable resemblance which you have established and I should be inclined to agree with your conclusion. 0. P. 90—86 Page #711 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 682 AN ADVANCED HISTORY OF INDIA IV. An Advanced History of India Opinion on the book and particularly on the chapters contributed by the author of the --- Political History of Ancient India PROFESSOR LOUIS RENOU, PARIS. C'est un ouvrage tout-à-fait remarquable, destiné a mon avis à remplacer pour les étudiants avancés le Vincent Smith (et autres) un peu vieillis. Vatre exposé est très clair, sobre, prudent, éloigné de toute hypothèse inutile. of colleges The 5 to wdarklinan suurten wie fruit ." In orks, many Indian scho advance Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. Parts 1 & 2, 1949 Pp. 103-104. L. D. Barnett. An Advanced History of India. By R. C. Majumdar, H. C. Raychaudhuri, Kalikinkar Datta. Second edition. pp. ix, i, 1081 ; 10 maps. London: Macmillan and Co., 1948. One of the most hopeful features in the mental life of modern India is its thirst for history. Schools, Colleges and Universities pursue this study with vigour. The favours of Clio are not easy to win: she loves to walk especially in the domain of India's past, though darkling ways,........ ........... But her Indian suitors have urged their quest with courage and often with notable skill, and their labours have borne fruit in a large number of works, many of high merit. In this book three distinguished Indian scholars have collaborated in order to produce for advanced students an outline of their country's history from - the earliest ages down to our time, in which are summarized the main results of modern studies. In this they have been on the whole very successful. Their attitude is generally fair and reasonable, their narrative lucid and straightforward. Naturally specialists, particularly in the realm of ancient Indian annals, on which opinions are very often divergent, will find food for criticism in some of the views presented ; but our authors may justly claim a right to their opinions. It must, however, be acknowledged that in at least one respect their work shows some lack of proportion. They are Bengalis whose studies have been mainly concerned with the history of Northern India ; and this has led them to allot a very small space to the annals of the great kingdoms of the South from the decline of the Sātavāhanas to erare Bework shoodged the Page #712 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OPINIONS AND REVIEWS 683 the end of the rule of the Calukyas, the Côlas, and their epigoni (pp. 172-180 and 188-190). In some minor matters also there is room for improvement. Thus, the account of administration on p. 71 f. seems a little too summary and hardly critical enough ; and the statement on p. 81 that "another (highway) stretched from Rājagriha in South Bihār by way of Srāvasti in Oudh to the banks of the Godavari" contradicts the facts, for the highway ran from Śrāvasti through Rājagriha to the Godāvari. The diacritic marking length of vowels is so often misplaced that one is led to think that the authors would have done better to have never used it at all. To quote a few examples, we find passim errors such as "Konkān" "Mālābār", "Peshāwār", "Māndālay", "Kathakāli”, “Ali", "Alivardi" (for "Ilahvirdi”), "Kāshmir", "Wāzir”, and both “Qāsim" and "Kāsim”, with other inconsistencies in representing the Arabic gutturals. On p. 71 we note with sorrow the misspelling "diarchy"; on p. 202 f. we regret to see Basava presented as "Vasava", while on p. 203 Vātsyāyana appears as 'Vātsāyana", both errors being due to the influence of Bengali pronunciation. It is disagreeable also to meet hybrid spellings of names such as "Hyder 'Ali" and "Omdut-ul-Umarā". In a work of this kind there should have been some recognition of Warren Hastings' enlightened and successful efforts to revive Hindu education and law ; absence is to be regretted. This book, now in its second edition, will surely be soon reprinted ; and then, we hope, blemishes will ba eliminated. 1 Not, it may humbly be pointed out, the facts record in some early Buddhist texts (cf. Sutta-Nipāta and its trans. by Fausböll, 1881, SBE, X, pt. ii, pp. 187-188, 209) which narrate a journey from Patitthāna (on the Godavari) to several places including Sāvatthi and thence to the city of Magadha and to Pāsanaka cetiya in Magadha. 2 That the errors in spelling are not all due to the influence of Bengali pronunciations will be apparent from the Political History of Ancient India, 4th ed. 1938, p. 339, line 29; and the GroundWork of Indian History by Sen and Raychaudhuri, seventh edition (1945). p. 112, which gives a brief account of "Basava''. As to "diarchy' for which the authors are criticised attention may be invited to the Universal Dictionary of the English Language, edited by Henry Cecil Wyld (sixth impression, 1946) p. 304 where we have the following: "diarchy......the irregularly formed dyarchy is common and should be avoided." That form irregular found on p. 124 of the Advanced History of India, is not commented on by the learned reviewer. The explanation for many of the blemishes will be found in the Preface, especially on. p. vi. Page #713 --------------------------------------------------------------------------  Page #714 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ - DR. F. W. THOMAS.--I have profited by a closer acquaintance with your Political History and other writings, which are really models of sound judgment combined with full knowledge. PROFESSOR HULTZSCH, HALLE, GERMANY.--Your valuable work.........is the outcome of extensive researches and throws much light on the darkest and most debated periods of Indian history. You have succeeded in building up an intelligible account from the stray and imperfect materials which are available to the historian of those times. PROFESSOR A. SCHEPOTIEFF, UFA, Russia. For our study of the history of the Ancient Age your Political History of Ancient India is of very great importance (trans, from original). PROFESSOR STEN KONOW, NORWAY.--The book is a very seful contribution. PROFI Very suggestive and conta