Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s6.34

c9.s6.34

The *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* alludes⁶ to princes of the South who are called **Bhojas** and whose subjects are called Satvats: "*dakshiṇasyāṁ diśi ye ke cha Satvatāṁ rājāno Bhaujyāyaiva te'bhishichyante Bhoj-etye-nān-abhishiktān-āchakshata*—" "in the southern region whatever kings there are of the Satvats, they are anointed for *Bhaujya*; 'O Bhoja' they style them when consecrated (in accordance with the action of the deities)." In the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*¹ the defeat by Bharata of the Satvats, and his taking away the horse which they had prepared for an Aśvamedha or horse-sacrifice are referred to. These Satvats must have been living near Bharata's realm, *i.e.*, near the Ganges and the Yamunā.² But in the time of the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* they probably moved farther to the south. They are placed in the southern region (*dakshiṇā diś*) beyond the "fixed middle region"—the land of the Kurus, Pañchālas and some neighbouring tribes. The Pañchāla realm, according to epic testimony, extended as far south as the Chambal.³ The Satvat people of the "southern region" mentioned in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*, therefore, in all probability, lived beyond that river. Their kings were called Bhojas. This account of the Satvats and the Bhojas, deduced from the Brāhmaṇic statements, accords with Purāṇic evidence. It is stated in the Purāṇas that the Sātvat(a)s and the Bhojas were offshoots of the Yadu family which dwelt at Mathurā on the banks of the Yamunā.⁴ We are further told by the same authorities that they were the kindreds of the southern realm of Vidarbha.⁵ We have evidence of a closer connection between the Bhojas and the last-mentioned territory. A place called Bhojakaṭa, is included within Vidarbha both by the *Mahābhārata*¹ and the *Harivaṁśa*.² The Chammak grant of the Vākāṭaka king Pravarasena II makes it clear that the Bhojakaṭa territory included the Ilichpur district in Berar, a part of ancient Vidarbha.³ As pointed out by Dr. Smith, the name of Bhojakaṭa, ‘castle of the Bhojas,’ implies that the province was named after a stronghold formerly held by the Bhojas, an ancient ruling race mentioned in the edicts of Aśoka.⁴ Kālidāsa in his *Raghuvamśa*⁵ calls the king of Vidarbha a Bhoja.⁶