India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashtadhyayi c7.s5.74

c7.s5.74

8. *Saubhūta* (IV.2.75), usually identified with the kingdom of the Sophytes mentioned by the Greek writers (M'Crindle, *Alexander*, p. 280). The place is especially noted by the Greeks for a ferocious breed of dogs whose fame spread to Greece even before Alexander's time (*ibid.*, p. 364). The *Rāmāyaṇa* also refers to similar dogs bred in the Kekaya country of the Salt Range. It describes them as bred in the royal kennels (*antaḥpuréti-saṁvṛiddhān*), strong like tigers *vyāghra-vīrya-balopamān*), big in size (*mahākāyān*) and with big teeth (*mahādaṁshṭrān*, *Rāmāyaṇa*, II. 70.20). It was probably this breed of dogs that was referred to by Pāṇini as *kauleyaka* (IV.2.96). Saubhūta was thus a part of Kekaya in the Salt Range.