Book Title: Political History Of Ancient India
Author(s): Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta

Previous | Next

Page 427
________________ CHAPTER VII. THE FALL OF THE MAGADHAN AND INDO-GREEK POWERS. SECTION I. The Kanvas, THE LATER ŚUNGAS AND THE LATER MITRAS. Vasudeva at whose instance, the "over-libidinous Śunga” was "reft of his life® founded about 75 B.C. a new line of kings known as the Kāņva or Kāṇyāyana dynasty. The Purānas give the following account of this family. “He (Vasudeva), the Kāņvāyana, will be king 9 years. His son Bhūmimitra will reign 14 years. His son Nārāyaṇa will reign 12 years. His son Sušarman will reign 10 years. These are remembered as the Gunga-bhritya Kāņvāyana kings. These four Kāņva Brāhmaṇas will enjoy the earth. They will be righteous. In succession to them the earth” will pass to the Andhras.” Bhūmimitra may have been identical with the king of that name known from coins. 1 Possibly only Eastern Malwa where stood the later "Sunga" capital Vidiśā or Besnagar, and some adjoining tracts. 2 Mr. J. C. Ghosh is inclined to include among the Kāņva kings a ruler named Sarvatāta who is known (from the Ghosundi Inscription, Ind. Ant. 1932, Nov., 203 ff; Ep. Ind., xxii, 198 ff.) to have been a devotee of Samkarshana and Väsudeva and a performer of the horse-sacrifice. But the identification of the Gājāyana family, to which the king belonged, with the Gādāyanas or Godayanas (cf. IHQ, 1933, 797 ff) does not seem to be plausible. There seems to be no more reason to identify the Gājāyanas with the Gādāyanas than with the Gābāyanas or Gāngāyanas of the Sunaka or Kaśyapa group (Caland, Baudh. Srauta Sutra, III, 423-454). It is important to remember the fact that the Harivainsa refers to a Kaśyapa dvija as the reviver of the Aśvamedha in the Kali Age. The Gangāyanas no doubt also recall the Gangas of Mysore who claimed to belong to the Kāņvāyana gotra (1 New History of the Indian People, Vol. VI. p 248). But the equation Gājāyana = Gāngāyana is not proved.

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714