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KANISHKA
311 nakataka or Amarāvati, at the mouth of the Krishņa. We know little of its history in early times (after the death of Asoka), but later on, though it was never able to conquer the other Dravidian states in the south of India, it pushed its conquests to the north, and conquered a large province in the Dekkan. There in Patiţthāna, the subordinate Andhra capital, ruled a viceroy who was often at war with the sovereigns of Avanti and Gujarat.
The south of the peninsula was occupied with the three kingdoins of the Cholas, the Keralas, and the Pāndyas. All the ancient traditions of these peoples have been lost. But it is evident from the few references to them in the second Rock Edict of Asoka, and in the Chronicles of Ceylon, that they had attained, at and shortly after Asoka's time, to a civilisation not incomparable with that of the Aryan settlements. The conquest of Ceylon by the Chola Tamils under their prince Elāra, and the victorious combat afterwards waged against him by the Sinhalese national hero, Dushța Gāmini, form the inain episode in the Great Chronicle. This must have been about the beginning of the second century B.C. Twice afterwards, in the middle and at the end of the same century, the Chola Tamils, under Bhalluka and Bāhiya respectively, issued froin their capital, Madhura, overran the north of Ceylon, and remained for some years in possession of Anurādhapura, the capital of the island. It is true that they were each time driven back again out of the island. But this shows us at least an amount of military organisation which may make it easier to understand
Shree Sudharmaswami Gyanbhandar-Umara, Surat
www.umaragyanbhandar.com
