History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c7.s1.10

c7.s1.10

*Views of L. Rice.*—This view of foreign origin was also shared by L. Rice. In his *Mysore and Coorg from Inscriptions* he points out that the Pallava kings of South India were identical with the Pahlavas who, with the Yavanas and Śakas, were destroyed by Gautamīputra-Śātakarṇi and that the word Pahlava is a Prakṛit form of Parthava meaning Parthian, especially the Arsacidan Parthians.² As we have already pointed out this conjecture that the Pallavas of the south are identical with the Pahlavas of the west and ultimately with the Parthians and the Persians is based entirely on the similarity of the words Pahlava and Pallava, whereas everything known about the Pallava kings of the south, inscriptions, traditions and monuments indicate that they were a peninsular race; they are probably identical with the class of people described as Toṇḍaiyar in Tamil literature and also familiar as Kāḍavas or foresters. Vincent Smith totally rejected this theory of foreign origin in the third edition of his *Early History of India*, and has expressed his conclusion on the subject in the following terms:—