Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s3.1

c12.s3.1

An important feature of Indian history throughout the ages is the presence of numerous petty *Rājās* holding their courts either in some forest region, mountain fastness, or desert tract away from the main currents of political life, or in a riperian or maritime district, each separated from his neighbour by a range of hills, a stream, a forest or an expanse of sandy waste. It is impossible to enumerate all such tiny states that flourished and decayed in the days of Bimbisāra. But a few deserve notice. Among these were Gandhāra ruled by Paushkarasārin or Pukkusāti, a remote predecessor of Āmbhi, Madra governed by the father of Khemā, a queen of Bimbisāra, Roruka (in Sauvīra or the Lower Indus Valley) under the domination of Rudrāyana,¹ Śūrasena ruled by Avantiputta (either a successor of, or identical with, Subāhu), and Aṅga under the sway of Dṛiḍhavarman and Brahmadatta.