India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c7.s4.9

c7.s4.9

6. *Brāhmaṇaka*. It is mentioned in Pāṇini's *sūtra* V.2.71. Patañjali definitely calls it a *janapada* (*Brāhmaṇako nāma janapadaḥ*, II.298). The significance of its name is brought out by the *Kāśikā*, which describes it as the land of Brahmins who were *āyudhajīvins* or followers of military art, (*yatrāyudhajīvino Brāhmaṇāḥ santi*). Their military traditions continued up to the time of Alexandar whose invasion they resisted with patriotic heroism (Plutarch, *Alex.*, 59). The Greeks call them *Brachmanoi* and locate them in middle Sind (*Arrian*, VI.16), of which the capital is still called Brahmanabad (Cunningham, *Ancient Geog.*, p. 310).