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CHAPTER XXIII THE ĀRJUNĀYANAS AND THE PRĀRJUNAS
The Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta (fourth century A.D.) (i, 22) refers to a host of tribes-Mālavas, Arjunāyanas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas, Ābhiras, Prārjunas, Sanakānīkas, Kākas, Kharaparikas, and others—that obeyed the imperial commands and paid all kinds of taxes. Research has ascertained that all these tribal states were located along the north-western, western and south-western fringes of the N. Indian kingdom of Samudragupta. The Mālavas, Yaudheyas, Madrakas and Abhīras are more or less wellknown, but very little is known about the other tribes.
The names of the two tribes, Arjunāyanas and Prārjunas, apparently have some connection with the name of the I Arjuna, though this is not certain. The Allahabad Pillar Inscription, as we have seen, connects the Arjunāyanas with the Yaudheyas, which is significant, inasmuch as the Adiparvan (95, 76) of the Mahābhārata gives the name of one of Yudhisthira's sons as Vaudheya; so that the connection of the Vaudheyas and Arjunāyanas appears to be warranted by the Epic.
The author of the Byhatsamhitā also connects these two tribes, and locates them both in the northern division of India. Ray Chaudhuri 1 locates the Yaudheyas in the Bharatpur State of Rajputana ; and the Arjunāyanas may have occupied a contiguous position. The Arjunāyanas are also known from coins, which do not, however, give any clue to their geographical location.
Vincent Smith 2 places the Prārjunas in the Narasimhapur district of the Central Provinces, but a more plausible location is Narasimhagarh in Central India,3 inasmuch as three other tribes which are coupled with the Prārjunas, the Sanakānikas, Kākas and Kharaparikas, seem to have occupied regions more or less within the bounds of Central India.
1 Political History of Ancient India, 4th Ed., p. 458. 2 J.R.A.S., 1897, p. 892.
3 1.H.Q., Vol. I, p. 258.
