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JANUARY, 1926 ) ANCIENT TOWNS AND CITIES IN GUJARAT AND KATHIAWAD
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his journey to Katch, he observes From this going north 1,000 li or so, we come to Fa-la-pi (Valabhi).68' Now Valabhi is 1,000 li or 140 miles to the south and not to the north of Katch. Here Hiuen Tsiang gives us accurate distance, but commits a mistake of direction. The same might be the case with Anandapura.
Then again, in the days of Hiuen Tsiang both Katch and Anandapura were under Malwa rule. If by Anandapura we understand the town in Kathiawad, this would appear very improbable. Anandapura is only 50 miles from Valabhi, and from the dimensions of the kingdom given by Hiuen Tsiang, it would appear that the extent of the Anandapura province must have come well within thirty miles of Valabbi. Now in the time of Dhruvabhajta, Valabhi was a powerful principality; even the chief of Junagad owed allegiance to the Valabhi ruler. Besides, the grant of Druvasena II dated 316 G.E. shows that in about 640 A.D., the Valabhi dominion extended much beyond modern Anandapura right up to Kalapaka or modern Kalwad. On the other hand, if by Anandapura we understand Wad. nagar, this difficulty does not arise. It is 140 miles distant from Valabhi, and it is in the fitness of things that the Malwa king who held Katch should also have held Wadnagar, situated on the highway from Malwa to Katch.
Nor does the reference to the death of the son of Dhruvasena by the Jain Kalpa Sutra writer residing in Anandapura support Burgess' inference that it must be situated fairly near Valabhi, since an author residing there refers incidently to Dhruvasena's bereavement. A Jain author residing in Wadnagar may well refer to the incident. For, according to the testimony of the Chinese traveller, Dhruvasena was a liberal ruler, who every year distributed lavish charity to all types of Bhikshus who used to come to Valabhi from even the distant corners of India. His fame then must have travelled much beyond Wadnagar, which after all was only 150 miles from Valabhi.
From the inscriptional references to the city, it is clear that Anandapura was a famous centre of learning and Brahmaņism.69 Neither Ånandapura in Kathiawad nor Ananda in Kaira are known to have ever possessed this reputation. Wadnagar, on the other hand, is famous as a centre and home of the Nagara Brahmanas. Abul Fazl notes in his Ain-j. Akbari that Wadnagar is a large and ancient city, chiefly inhabited by Brahmanas. The Anan lapura prasasti found on a tank stone at Wadnagar, besides proving that modern Wad. nagar was called Anandapura in the days of Kumara pala, shows that long before ita date the place was famous as a centre of learned Brahmaņas. Anandapura of the fifth and sixth centuries, described as a home of 'traividya' and 'chaturvidya' Brahmanas, must be modern Wadnagar-and no other place.
Nor does the circumstance that villages in Kaira district are assigned to Brahmaņas residing in Anandapura support the claim of modern Ananda. Anandapura was only 70 miles from Khetaka; the villages were in Khetaka vishaya, so their distance from Anandapura may have been considerably less.. A Bramaņa at Anandapura oven in old days could well manage properties situated in a village about thirty or forty miles distant. Besides, it is well known that it is the Government's convenience rather than the convenience of the donees, which determines the selection of the villager to be granted. Thus a Dantivarman
88 Beal, Vol. II, p. 260. Compare for instance: wadiad
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ora...regat.-Dharasena II Grant. froidSiladitya II Grant. Tarafiq..Kharagraha II Grant.
