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it. Nor is there any reason to believe that the Greeks picked up Indian proper names from Prakrit and not from Sanskrit, (2) Regarding the ERANNOBOAS, it may be the HIRANYAVĀH4 but that does not establish its identification with SON. The Greeks could not have called it "the third largest river" as the three largest rivers known to them were undoubtedly the Sindhu, Gangā and Yomunā. ERANNOBOAS is referred to by ARRIAN and PLINY only, ARRIAN calls it the third largest river of India at one place, and mentions ERANNOBOAS and SONUS together as the tributaries of the Ganges at the other. Pliny mentions it once only alongwith the Sonus as tributaries of the Ganges. 81 If ERANNOBOAS is ident fied with the SON, the SONUS remains unidentified. These are the only references to the ERANNOBOAS in the classical accounts and too obvious to leave room for any doubts. Attempts to identify the ERANNOBOAS with the SON despi e that, show that the prejudices have prevailed over reason, that holds good about the baseless propaganda that the PALIBOTHRA lay on the confluence of the GANGA and the SON, (3) As Magadha is situated in the eastern part of India it can be called 'PRĀCHYA JANAPADA' or PRĀCHI but the words are by no means the monopoly of Magadh?. None of the rulers of Magadha had a title like Pātaliputrīya as Strabo's information would demand, nor were the people of Magadha ever known as PĀȚALIPUTRI as Pliny would have it. Finally, Magadha was never known as PĀȚALIPUTRI as SOLINUS asserts.
There is no dispute as to who founded PĀȚALIPUTRA and when. Udayī, son of Darśaka of Siśunāga dynasty founded the city on the south bank of the Ganga during the fourth year of his reign :
उदयी भविता तस्मात् त्रयस्त्रिंशत्समा नृपः । स वै पुरवरं राजा पृथिव्यां कुसुमाह्वयम् ।।
गङ्गाया दक्षिणे कूले चतुर्थेब्दे करिष्यति ।।32 But Palibothra was founded by HERACLES who belonged to the sixteenth generation from DIONYSUS. DIODORUS says that HERACLES founded numerous cities of which most famous and the greatest was PALIBOTHRA 33 It is remarkable that the classical authors have assigned to the foundation of Palibothra a date millenia before Alexander If the invasion of Alexander took place during the last days of the Nanda rule, less than three centuries would have passed since Udayı. How could such brief period be mistaken for millenia ? There is dispute regarding the identity of Heracles but has
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