India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c7.s4.52

c7.s4.52

¹⁸ *Pratyagratha* (IV.1.173). It is the name of a *janapada* in Pāṇini. While Patañjali and the *Kāśikā* are silent on this name, we have the later authority of Hemachandra referring to the Pratyag-rathas as belonging to the Ahichchhatrā region (*Abhidhānachintāmaṇi*, 4. 22). It may be noted that Pāṇini mentions the river named Rathasthā (=Ruhut or Rāmagaṅgā), ‘that which brings the chariot to a halt,’ a meaning suggested by Pratyagratha also. It may be taken as the ‘chariot’ of Aryan advance marching towards the east.