Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c13.s2.78

c13.s2.78

They were the inhabitants of the Shorkot region in Jhang district below the junction of the Jhelum and the Chenāb.¹ They were probably identical with the Śiva people mentioned in a passage of the *Ṛig-Veda*² where they share with the Alinas, Pakthas, Bhalānases, and Viṣāṇins the honour of being defeated by Sudās.³ The *Jātakas* mention a Sivi country and its cities Ariṭṭhapura⁴ and Jetuttara.⁵ It is probable that Śiva, Śivi, Śibi, and Siboi were one and the same people. A place called Śiva-pura is mentioned by the scholiast on Pāṇini as situated in the northern country.⁶ It is, doubtless, identical with Śibipura mentioned in a Shorkot inscription edited by Vogel. In the opinion of that scholar the mound of Shorkot marks the site of this city of the Śibis.⁷