Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.458

c9.s7.458

² We need not infer from this statement that the family of Puṇika sprang from one of the lower orders of society (*e.g.*, cowherds). The point in the Purāṇic account is that the dynastic change was brought about by an *amātya*, a civil functionary (not a *senāpati* like Pushyamitra), and that the army (Kshatriyas) looked on, *i.e.*, treated the matter with indifference or silent approval. In the time of Megasthenes soldiers (*kshatriya*, *khattiya-kula*) and councillors (*amātyas*, *amachcha-kula*) were distinct orders of society (*cf.* also Fick, Ch. VI). The Tibetans style Pradyota's father Anantanemi, *Essay on Guṇāḍhya*, p. 173.