India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c7.s4.7

c7.s4.7

5. *Sauvīra* (IV.1.148). Pāṇini mentions Sauvīra and gives valuable social history of the region. It was the home of many *gotras* of which he names two, Phāṇṭāhṛiti and Mimata, and the *Kāśikā* following an old tradition adds Bhāgavitti, Tārṇabindava, Ākaśāpeya, Yamunda and Suyāmā. Bhāgavitti is also mentioned by Patañjali (II.243) and may be identified with the present Bugti tribe on the northern border of Sind, numbering about thirty thousand. Pāṇini mentions Śarkarā or Śārkara (modern Sukkur on the Indus) as a town (IV.2.83) The name was suggested by its proximity to the rocky region (*śarkarāyāḥ adūrabhavaḥ*) on the borders of which Sukkur is situated.