The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c30.112

v1.c30.112

For the present we must be content with this brief summary of the relations of Kaliṅga with other countries after the fourth year of Khāravela's reign; and even these few statements raise problems for which no satisfactory solution can yet be proposed. The identification of the kings of Rājagṛiha and Magadha is still uncertain. The former bears no personal name in the inscription, and the question whether the latter is named or not is still undecided¹. Both Bhāratavarsha and Uttarāpatha are often general designations of Northern India; and it is useless to speculate as to what particular regions they may possibly denote in this instance. All that appears to be certain is that Khāravela repeatedly invaded Northern India, and that on one occasion he won a decisive victory over the king then reigning at Pāṭaliputra. Who that king was we do not know. It seems natural to assume that the Çuṅgas were still the lords of Magadha; but there is no undoubted evidence that this was the fact. The Yavana invasion of the capital (p. 544) may have taken place before the twelfth year of Khāravela's reign, and decisive events may have happened of which no record has yet been discovered.