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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
As regards the Ristikas, the very name is doubtful. The word has usually been read Râstikas (transcribed Rashtrikas), and understood as meaning 'the inhabitants of Surâshtra.' Dr. Bühler points out that the reading Ristika, which at G. appears to be certain, goes against this interpretation. The identification would, according to him, be in any way inadmissible, 'for the Ristika-Pêtêņikas must be amongst the independent neighbours of Asôka, whereas Sôrath and Lâța were incorporated in his kingdom.' This difficulty would not appear to us to be decisive, after what we have said regarding the position of the provinces in the enumeration of which the Rastikas find entry. If the king delegated officers to them, he could very well have also had inscriptions engraved among them. In fact, if we may attribute some authority to the tradition of which we notice an echo in the inscription of Rudradâman, we should find in it direct evidence in favour of the régime which, on other grounds, I believe to have been, under Asôka, that of Surâshtra. There remains the orthographical difficulty, but, as against the ristika of G. we find the lathika of Dh. and the rathika of K., that is not easy to solve. I cannot admit that the two last forms could represent rishtika as well as ráshtrika; the wearing away of the rock might certainly have caused the sign for i to have disappeared at Dh. and at K.; but the same sign at G. might equally well be only some accidental scratch in the rock. While, therefore, I cannot pronounce between the Rishțikas proposed by Dr. Bühler, and the Rashtrikas, I still do not think that, in the present state of our knowledge, the latter reading deserves as yet to be absolutely abandoned. We must, moreover, take into consideration the opinion lately expressed by Prof. Bhandarkar.57 In the 13th edict, the Râstikas or Ristikas are replaced by the Bhojas, who are similarly associated with the Pêtêņikas.59 Although the territory of this tribe cannot be exactly defined, and has certainly varied from time to time, the name of the Bhôjas, nevertheless, carries us either towards the Narmada, or towards the coast of the Konkana.59 If the two names are not simply equivalent, they agree in bringing us towards the same part of India. Prof. Bhandarkar reminds us that in several inscriptions of the Western caves there appears the name of the Mahâbhôjas; while others have similarly the name of the Maharathis. Our Râshtrikas would be to these Maharathis, as the Bhôjas are to the Mahâbhôjas, and the Rastikas of Piyadasi would in that case be simply the Maharashtris or Marathas of the Dekhan. The Pêtêņikas, being connected with the Bhôjas, should be sought for in the same direction; and, in this respect, their identification with the inhabitants of Paithana, i. e. Pratishthâna, towards the source of the Godavari, co is extremely tempting, so tempting indeed, that I am inclined to pass over the phonetic scruples which Dr. Bühler (p. 32) opposes to it. The Andhras of the 13th edict would well continue the line of enumeration towards the east. The name of the Pulindas is too widely spread, for it to be possible to localise it with precision in the present case. It is certainly met towards the centre of the Dekhan, in the very locality where the continuation of the enumeration would lead us to expect it.62 Regarding the Nabhakas and the Nabhapamtis of the 13th edict, supposing these names to be correct, which is still doubtful, Dr. Bühler (Ed. XIII, n. 8) has cited from the Vaivarttapurána the city Nabhikapura as belonging to the Uttarakurus. He thence concludes that these Nabhakas may have dwelt in the extreme north of India, in the Himalaya. He comes to an analogous conclusion regarding the Visas and the Vrijis, whom he supposes to have been the early predecessors of the Bais and Lichchhavis of Nêpâl. All that is, of course, extremely doubtful. If we take into account the general direction, as I consider it has been followed by our enumerations, it could well be admitted that the king begins with his northern frontiers before going westwards. But the position of the Nâbhakas, coming after the Gandhâras, should be sought for, not so much due north, as somewhere towards the north-west.
[JULY, 1891.
The peoples whom the king enumerates as his independent neighbours (amtá avijitá) are; together with the Greeks of the kingdom of Antiochus and his neighbours, the Chôdas
5 Early History of the Deccan, p. 9. (Extract from the Bombay Gazetteer).
Cf. Vishnu Pur., Wilson, Ed. F. E. Hall, II, 159-159.
61 Cf. Lassen, Ind. Alterth., I, 215 n. and 970.
Bühler, p. 14. 60 Cf. Lassen, Ind. Alterth., I, 216. 62 Cf. Vishnu Pur. Wilson, Ed. F. E. Hall, II, 159.
