________________
GUPTA PERIOD
III
C. 400
C. 400
The grant was made at Pracakāśā, identified with Prakasa on the Tāpi in North Khandesh. The village Kupikā granted by the charter cannot now be traced; but Vankikā, the head-quarters of the territorial divisions in which it was situated may be represented by the modern village Vänkad, about 20 miles from Chhota Udaipur. fśvararāta, therefore, appears to have held Central Gujarat and some portion of the Khandesh District.
Isvaradatta's family seems to have been ousted by Sarva Bhattāraka (C. 348-378 A.D.), who appears to have risen to power in Circa 400 A.D. The latter's coins, imitated from those of the Western Kșatrapas are found in abundance in Central Gujarat and Saurāṣtra.-(V. V. Mirashi, CII, Vol. IV, Intro., xxxvii).
The legendary accounts contained in the various Jātakakathās, which can be roughly assigned to the Gupta period at the latest, suggest the antiquity of the introduction of Buddhism in Gujarat. Still their trustworthiness is doubtful. Buddha's preachings during his early days mainly extended to the country of his origin, namely Magadha. Such references as credit Buddha's visit to Western India have to be rejected, as Buddha is never known to have crossed the Narmadā. However, the repeated mention of the centres Sürpāraka and Bharukaccha in early Buddhist literature suggests that these two must have been the earliest in Gujarat to receive it.
The mention of Surattha (Surāştra) as a jānapada-deśa is found in the Milinda-panha (S.B.E. XXXVI, pp. 211, 311, 359 ), in the Peta-vatthu (P.T.S., II, p. 359), in the Apadāna, (P.T.S. II, p. 359) and in the Niddesa (P.T.S.I, pp. 154-55). According to the Peta-vatthu Commentary (P.T.S. p. 244 ), hundred years after the death of Buddha, the king of Surattha was Pingalaka, the tawnyeyed ruler, who was known to have ruled in the times of the Moriyas, (Petavatthu PP. 57-61) and its commentary Paramatthadīpani (P.T.S., pp. 244-57), and who was converted by Aśoka himself, when he went to Pāțaliputra for converting Aśoka to his own faith.-(M. G. Dikshit, History of Buddhism in Gujarat', Guj. Res. Soc. Journal, Vol. VIII, 2 and 3, 1946).
Sovira, associated with the Sindhu country, which obviously refers to parts of modern Sindh adjoining Saurāştra is mentioned in early Buddhist literature. In the Adittha Jātaka (No. 424), the capital of the Sovira country is mentioned as Roruva or Roruka as mentioned in the Digha-Nikāya (II, 235; XIX, 36), a place to be visited by the sea.
In the Ceylonese Chronicles (Geiger, Mahāvamsa, p. 60; Dipavamsa, p. 51) mention of a place like Lāla-rattha is made, which indicates Lāța, the ancient name for Gujarat. According to the Dipavamsa (p. 54), Sihapura is stated to be the capital of this country. According to the Ceylonese Chronicles (Mahāvamsa, Ch. VI; Dipavarsa, Ch. IX ), Sihabāhu, a King of Lāla-rattha is said to
C. 400
C. 400
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