Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c14.s3.64

c14.s3.64

³ P. 92 *ante*. In historical times the Andhras are found in possession of the Kṛishṇā and Guṇṭūr districts as we learn from the Mayidavolu plates and other records. The earliest capital of the Andhra country or “Andhrāpatha” known from the inscriptions is apparently Dhaññakaḍa at or near Amarāvati (or Bezvāḍa). Kubiraka of the Bhaṭṭiprolu inscription (*c.* 200 B. C) is the earliest known ruler. One recension, in the Brāhmī script, of the Rock Edicts of Aśoka, has recently been discovered in the Kurnool District (IHQ, 1928, 791; 1931, 817 ff; 1933, 113 ff.; IA, Feb., 1932, p. 29) which falls within the “Andhra” area of the Madras Presidency. Recent discoveries of the Aśokan epigraphs include, besides the Yerraguḍi inscriptions (Kurnool District) two new Rock Edicts at Kopbal in the South-West corner of the Hyderabad State. The Kopbal inscriptions are found on the Gavīmaṭh and the Pālkīguṇḍu Hills. They belong to the class of Minor Rock Edicts.