________________
INTERNAL EVIDENCES
277
One more point in connection with the Greek advance to Patliputra must be noticed. One need not waste time over the belief of some writers that the Greek kings were condottiere and their conquests were raids, beyond hoping that such writers have clear ideas of what a raid from Rawalpindi upon Patna would mean.
Phrase 'Ti-Vasa-Sata'
There is a phrase 'ti-vasa-sata' occurring in the fourth line of the inscription. The following renderings have been proposed in regard to that:(a) 'He opened the three-yearly almshouse of Nanda.
rāja' as translated by Indraji. He took sata as sattara which is equivalent to satra in Sanskrit, and it means almshouse. But this rendering is not
accepted by scholars now. (b) 'He has an acqueduct conducted into the city
which has been used for 103 years since king
Nanda.' This translation has been proposed by trius or to Diyumeta or Diomedes as suggested by Whitehead (IndoGreek Coins, p. 36) cannot be taken to be correct, since Diomedes belonged to the House of Eukratides and hence was confined to the north-western part of India (Tarn, GBI, p. 315; Rapson, CHI Vol. I, p. 556), and, therefore, nothing to do not only with Patliputra but even the eastern part of the country to river Jhelum.
1. Shri Parameshwari Lal Gupta, M.A., (now Curator, Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay) has suggested to the present author that the ruler mentioned may have been Wema of the Kadphises group of the Kushanas. He has, however, not put forth any argument in favour of his theory. But were it Wema Kadpbises. we shall, in that case, have to place Khāravela in the middle of the first Century A. D. which might be too late while we take into consideration the dates of other contem. porary rulers.
2. Original :-"Panchame cha dāni vase nandaraja ti-vasa-rata ogha. titam tanasuliya-vātā panādim nagara in pavesayati,"
3. The international Oriental Congress Proceedings, Leidon, 1884, Pt. III, p. 135.
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
