The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c30.54

v1.c30.54

We may conclude, then, that the Çuṅgas were a military power, and that they became puppets in the hands of their Brāhman counsellors. They ruled originally as feudatories of the Mauryas at Vidiçā, the modern Besnagar, on the Vetravatī (Betwa), near Bhīlsa and about 120 miles east of Ujjain. In the letter, which is read in the last Act of the *Mālavikāgnimitra*, both Pushyamitra and Agnimitra are ‘of Vidiçā’; and Vidiçā remained their western capital after no small portion of the Maurya empire had fallen into their hands, and many, perhaps most, of the kings of Northern and Central India had become their feudatories.