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MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE ANDHRAS
contracted, a fourth or a half, became tadbhavas. Those words consisting of nouns, verbals and verbs, created by the God Brahma, before the time of Hari, the Lord of Andhra, are called atsa (pure)." Campbell does not quote directly from Atharvanacharya, but takes the passage from the Andhra-kaumudi, which quotes it. A manuscript copy of Atharvanâchârya's work is to be found in the Madras Government Oriental Library. Campbell adds in a foot-note that Andhra Vishnu or Andhrarayuda, as he was also called, is now worshipped as a divinity at Srikakulam on the river Krishna and... was the patron of Kanva, the first Telugu grammarian." The utter worthlessness of Atharvanâchârya's testimony for historical purposes is patent on the face of it. There is no Andhra king of the name of Sachandra. The first king, according to the Puranas, of the Andhra dynasty, was Simuka, which name has as variants in the Purdnas, Sindhuka, Sisuka, Sipraka, but not Suchandra. Secondly, Atharvanâchârys quotes in his book a number of authorities, e. g. Vishnu, Indra, Brihaspati, Somachandra or Hemachandra, Kanva, Pushpadanta, Dharmaraja, all giving pronouncements on Telugu, but none traceable anywhere. Atharvanacharya also gives a quotation there which, he pretends, is from the Atharvanasikhopanishad, but it is not found in that Upanishad. From this we may infer that the quotations were made up by Atharvanacharya. This author is desperately anxious to prove that Telugu may be used in books and has hence manufactured these quotations. Possibly Atharvanâchârya is the pseudonymn of a Telugu writer, whose use of Telugu in books was attacked by the purists of the day and who resorted to this method of defending his procedure. This work of A tharvanacharya has not yet been printed, but a karika professing to be from the same man has been printed and it reveals the fact that the author has stolen numerous stanzas from Dandin's Kavyddaria without even the acknowledgement 'iti'. Thirdly, Atharvanacharya quotes the so-called Valmiki-sútrus on Prakrit. These sutras have been proved to be the composition of Trivikrania, who lived in the 14th century. Hence Atharvanâchârya must have lived later. The statement of Atharvanacharya, that Andhra Vishnu lived on the banks of the Godavari, shows that he was a late writer who lived long after Rajahmundry became the capital of Telugu Rajâs.
The earliest reference to the Andhras is the passage in the Aitareya-Brahmana where the Andhras, Pundras, Sabaras, Pulindas and other Dasyu tribes living on the borders of the Aryau tribes, are said to be the descendants of the exiled sons of Visvamitra. As the Aryan cult did not extend beyond the Vindhyas in those days, these tribes must have then lived in the Vindhyan region. Even in the age of Bâua (7th century A. D.) the Sabaras are mentioned in the Kada nbart as living in the Vindhyan forests. The next reliable reference to the Andhras is that in Asoka's Rock Edict XIII, where he claims "the Andhras and Pulindas" as people in his dominions, who, among others, followed the dharma he taught so vigorously. It is to be noted that the Andhras are here grouped together with the Pulindas, thus showing that they were still living in the central parts of the Peninsula, not far from the Vindhyan range. Soon after Asoka's death the Andhras rose to prominence. Raya Simuka Satavahana, who, according to Mr. Vincent A. Smith, lived about 220 B. C., was the first king of the dynasty. His name, as well as that of a later Andhra king, Siri Sâtakani, are cut under figures of persons in the back wall of a cave at Nânâghât. The next king was Krishna, whose lieutenant scooped out a cave at Nasik, which was apparently his capital. The next reference to Andhra kings is found in the inscription of Kharavela, king of Kalinga, in the Hâthigumphâ cave, where Khâravêla says that in the 2 VII.18; also Sankhayana-satra, XV. 16
1 Ante, Vol. XL. p. 219 ff.
The reference to "the Pandyas, Dravidas, Udras, Keralas and Andhras" in Sabha parvan, XXXI and to "the Andhras, Pandyas, Cholas and Keralas" in Ramayana, iv. 41 are not useful for historical purposes, from the fact that these Itihasas have been the result of centuries of growth. The references may prove that either the final reduction of the Itihasas was made, or at least the particular slokas were composed not earlier than the 3rd century, B. C. when these states rose to fame and were first mentioned together.
Arch. Surv. West. Ind., Vol. V. p. 59.
Tr. In Or. Con. III. p. 174.
NOVEMBER, 1913.]
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