Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c14.s3.50

c14.s3.50

We learn from the classical writers that the country of the **Gangaridae**, *i.e.*, Bengal,³ formed a part of the dominions of the king of the Prasii, *i.e.*, Magadha, as early as the time of Agrammes, *i.e.*,cont the last Nanda king.¹ A passage of Pliny clearly suggests that the "Palibothri," *i.e.*, the rulers of Pāṭaliputra, dominated the whole tract along the Ganges.² That the Magadhan kings retained their hold on Bengal as late as the time of Aśoka is suggested by the testimony of the *Divyāvadāna*³ and of Hiuen Tsang who saw *Stūpas* of that monarch near Tāmralipti and Karṇasuvarṇa (in West Bengal), in Samataṭa (East Bengal) as well as in Puṇḍravardhana (North Bengal). Kāmarūpa (Assam) seems to have lain outside the empire. The Chinese pilgrim saw no monument of Aśoka in that country.