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Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c9.s2.t2: C. Successors of the Achaemenids

Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c9.s2.t2

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C. Successors of the Achaemenids

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The little states in North-western India and the borderland that rose on the ruins of the Persian Empire may be grouped under three heads : (a) kingships, mainly of a tribal character, in the region between the Kunar and the Ravi, with a solitary hill-state apparently under oligarchical rule; (b) the autonomous tribes east of the Ravi and south of the junction of the Jhelum and the Chenab; and (c) monarchies and one state under 'diarchy' in the lower Indus valley below Mithankot, in parts of which Brāhmaṇas seem to have exercised considerable political influence.

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The first group begins with the principalities in the hill country drained by the northern affluents of the Kabul river comprising the valleys of the Kunar, the Panjkora and the Swat, occupied by the Aspasians, the Gaureans and the Assakenians respectively. The name Aspasian is derived from the Iranian 'Aspa', horse, corresponding to the Sanskrit 'Aśva' or 'Aśvaka'. They were thus identical with, or kindreds of, the Assakenians or Aśvakas. The ruler of the Aspasians is styled a *hyparch*. The chief wealth of the people seems to have consisted in cattle, 230,000 of which were captured by Alexander.

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The territory occupied by the Assakenians lay in the Swat valley and was known in the Gupta Age as Suvāstu and Udyāna. The royal seat of the country was Massaga, a great city well fortified both by nature and art. It was surrounded by a wall of 35 stadia in circumference, built of sun-baked brick on a foundation of stone work. Towers and engines had to be employed by Alexander to bring about its fall. The Assakenian king had a powerful army of 20,000 cavalry, more than 30,000 infantry and 30 elephants. He was probably in alliance with the king of Abhisāra, as his brother, when attacked by Alexander, took shelter with the latter.

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Somewhere in the rugged country to the west of the Indus stood the small hill-state Nysa "at the foot of Mt. Meros." Holdich locates it on the lower spurs and valleys of Kohi-Mor in the Swat country. The Nysaeans are alleged to have been Greek colonists, descendants of men who came to India with Dionysus. The presence of a Yona or Greek *janapada* on the Indian borderland in the days of the Buddha is vouched for by the *Majjhima-nikāya*. The people of Nysa lived under an aristocratic government and their laws received the approbation of Alexander. The members of the Governing Body numbered 300. Akuphis held the office of the President at the time of the Macedonian invasion.

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The old territory of Gandhāra was in the latter part of the fourth century B. C. divided between two *hyparchs* viz., those of Pūshkalāvati and Takshaśilā or Taxila. Pūshkalāvati, or Peuc laotis of the Greeks, lay to the west of the Indus in the modern district of Peshawar. Taxila stood in the eastern part of ancient Gandhāra. The oldest city of that name is probably represented by the present Bhir mound near Saraikala, 20 miles north-west of Rawalpindi. It was a great and prosperous city in those days, "the largest of all which lay between the river Indus and Hydaspes (Jhelum)." Plutarch, giving an exaggerated estimate of the size of the realm of "Taxiles", says that it was "as large as Egypt, with good pasturage, too, and in the highest degree productive of beautiful fruits". Strabo refers to its "most excellent laws" and speaks of it as spacious and very fertile, adding that "some say that this is larger than Aegypt." The wealth of the country is testified to by the fact that one of its chiefs presented to Alexander 200 silver talents, 3,000 cattle for sacrificial offering, over 10,000 sheep and 30 elephants. The succeeding ruler gave Alexander and his friends golden crowns and 80 talents of coined silver. The attitude of Taxila towards its neighbours throws welcome light on interstate and inter-tribal relations in the later half of the fourth century B. C. It entertained no friendly feelings towards Pūshkalāvati and was actually at war with "Abisares" (the Abhisāra chief) and "Porus" (the Paurava) both of whom held sway beyond the river Jhelum. It is difficult to determine the exact political status of the ruler of Taxila at the time of Alexander's invasion. Arrian styles him a *hyparch* but Strabo calls him a *basileus*. It is possible that he was one of the subordinate governors or vassal chiefs of the Persian empire and took advantage of the collapse of Achaemenian authority to declare his independence. The cases of several *nawabs* of the eighteenth century furnish us with close parallels.

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"The hilly region above the Taxila country was occupied by Arsakes or the chief of Uraśā (Hazara district) and Abisares or Prince of Abhisāra (Punch and Nowshera districts)." It is interesting to note that like many of his brother chieftains on the borderland Arsakes is described as a *hyparch*.

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The ruler of Abhisāra, on the other hand, is styled by Arrian as a *Basileus* or king. He was a very powerful prince and a man of shrewd political sense. He seems to have been a member of a powerful combination of chiefs consisting of Porus, Arsakes and possibly Assakenus. He was no friend of the king of Taxila and is known to have led an expedition against the Cathaeans and other self-governing tribes of the Punjab in alliance with Porus. He sensed the danger of the Macedonian invasion and tried to stop the invader at the gate of India. Thus he sent help to the frontier city of Ora and gave shelter to the brother of Assakenus. When Alexander actually arrived at Taxila he sent envoys offering his submission and yet before the battle of the Hydaspes (Jhelum) he made preparations for joining his forces with Porus.

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To the south-east of Taxila between the Jhelum and the Ravi lay the twin territories of the Purus or Pauravas, a people already famous in the *Rig Veda*. The realm of the elder of the two chieftains roughly corresponded to parts of the modern districts of Gujarat and Shahpur. It was an extensive and fertile region containing three hundred cities. The second Paurava or Porus, styled a *hyparch* by Arrian, governed a principality between the Chenab and the Rāvi. A man of undaunted courage, brave as a lion, Porus the Elder towered like a triton among minnows. The king of Taxila on the west and his own nephew or cousin, styled the Younger Porus, on the east were both afraid of him. The Cathaeans and other self-governing tribes also had a wholesome respect for his prowess. Diodorus informs us that he was in alliance with Embisaros (Abisares or king of Abhisāra) and in the battle of the Hydaspes he received help from Spitaces, a *nomarch* who possibly owed him allegiance. The army he marshalled against Alexander numbered more than 50,000 foot, about 3,000 horses and above 1,000 chariots and 130 elephants.

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Not far from the domains of the Pauravas stretched the principality of the *nomarch* Sophytes or Saubhuti. It included a mountain composed of fossil salt sufficient for the whole of India; Saubhuti is therefore sometimes represented as the "lord of the fastness of the Salt Range" stretching from the Indus to the Jhelum. Classical writers, however, agree in placing his territory to the *east* of the Jhelum. We have some coins of this potentate bearing on the obverse the royal head and on the reverse the figure of a cock. The issue of coins, like the assumption of the title of *Basileus* by the chief of Taxila, may point to the assumption of the rank of an independent king. Both Curtius and Diodorus agree that the people of the kingdom of Saubhuti lived under good laws and customs and beauty was held by them in the highest estimation. "Officers were appointed to discriminate between children with deformed or defective limbs and those with perfect and healthy constitutions and features. The former were put to death, and the latter were reared, not according to the will of the parents but according to the wishes of the state. In contracting marriages they did not seek an alliance with high birth nor did they care whether a bride had dowry or a handsome fortune, but made their choice by the looks and other advantages of the outward person. The inhabitants were therefore held in higher estimation than the rest of their countrymen and also excelled in wisdom."¹

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¹ M'Crindle *Invasion* pp. 219, 279.

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With the Pauravas and Saubhuti we take leave of the tribal chieftains, who held sway on the borderland and the western Punjab under the titles of *hyparch*, *nomarch* and, more rarely, *Basileus*. We now come to the territories of the autonomous clans. We have to mention first the Glauganikai or Glausians, whose country lay to the west of the Chenab close to the territory of the Pauravas. In their land were no less than thirty-seven cities; of these, the least populated had above five thousand inhabitants many of them had over ten thousand. There was also a large number of populous villages.² We have next to mention the Kathaioi or Cathaeans, who are placed by some on the far side of the Chenab and the Ravi. The name possibly stands for the Sanskrit Katha. A brave and warlike race, the Cathaeans had their stronghold at Sangala, probably situated in the Gurudaspur district not far from Fathgarh, though some prefer the claims of Jandiala to the east of Amritsar, or that of Lahore itself. The people had a keen sense of beauty. Strabo, on the authority of Onesicritus, tells us that they chose the handsomest person as their king, and had customs that remind one of the realm of Saubhuti. Other observations of Onesicritus on the Cathaeans will be cited later.

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² Arrian (Loeb) II 63, 65.

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Not far from the Cathaeans on the eastern side of the Ravi lived the Adraistai. Their main stronghold was Pimprama. Between the Ravi and the Beas we find mention of a chief named Phegeus or Phegelis. The name of the king probably answers to the Sanskrit Bhagala, known from the *Gaṇapāṭha* as a designation of a royal race of Kshatriyas.

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Below the junction of the Jhelum and the Chenab, in the Shorkot region of the Jhang district lay the territory of a people, called the Siboi. They were probably identical with the Śiva people mentioned in the *Rig Veda* and the Śibis of the later literature. They were dressed with skins like Herakles and had clubs for their weapon, and further branded their cattle and mules with the mark of a club.¹ The nation mustered 40,000 soldiers to oppose Alexander. This people had the Agalassoi as their neighbours. Their army too numbered 40,000, besides 3,000 horse. Curtius tells us that "three largest rivers in India washed the line of the fortifications of their stronghold. The Indus flows close up to it, and on the south the Akesines unites with the Hydaspes."²

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¹ *Geography of Stabo* (Loeb) VII 11.

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² M'Crindle, *Invasion* p 233.

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Below the confluence of these rivers, on the confines of a waterless tract and along the Ravi and the Chenab lived the people called Malloi. Their name, as is well known, represents the Sanskrit Mālava. Closely connected with them in Sanskrit and Greek literature were the Oxydrakai or Oxydracae (variously called Sydracae, Sudracae, Syrakousai) or the Kshudrakas. Strabo informs us that they were regarded as the descendants of Dionysus, judging from the vine of their country and their bacchanalian procession. Pāṇini refers to the Mālavas as living by the profession of arms. Arrian includes them among self-governing Indians and says that they were the most numerous and the most warlike of the Indians in these parts. The evidence of Strabo seems to suggest that the Kshudrakas were ruled by petty kings (*basileus*), comparable to the *Rājās* among the Lichchhavis and the Mallas of Eastern India. Arrian in one passage refers to the mayors of the cities and rulers of districts (*nomarchai*) among them, who were entrusted with full power to negotiate with foreign potentates. Before the invasion of Alexander the Mālavas and the Kshudrakas were often at war with one another. But at the approach of the common enemy they decided to join forces. According to Curtius the combined army numbered 90,000 foot, 10,000 cavalry and 900 war chariots and they placed at their head a brave warrior of the nation of the Kshudrakas. A somewhat different account is given by Diodorus who says that the two nations at first mustered a force of 80,000 foot, 10,000 horse and 700 chariots and cemented their alliance by intermarriages, each nation taking and giving in exchange 10,000 of their young women for wives; but subsequently a dispute arose among them regarding leadership and they drew off into adjoining towns. Arrian's narrative seems to imply that Alexander reached the territory of the Mālavas before any help could come to them from their neighbours.

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The territory on the lower Chenab, situated between the confluence of that river with the Ravi and the junction with the Indus respectively was occupied by several autonomous tribes, such as the Abastence, also called Sambastai, Sabaragae (Ambashṭhas), the Xathroi (Kshatri) and the Ossadioi (Vasāti). The Ambashṭhas find prominent mention in Sanskrit and Pāli literature, including the great epics, along with the Śibis, the Kshudrakas, the Mālavas and the Sindhavas. Curtius and Diodorus both agree that they were a powerful people with a *democratic* government. Their army consisted of 60,000 foot, 6,000 cavalry and 400 chariots in Alexander's time. The Xathroi and the Ossadioi possibly the Kshatris and Vasātis of Sanskrit texts, do not seem to, have shared the eminence of their famous neighbours.

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Below the confluence of the five rivers lived the Sodrai and the Massanoi. The river Indus seems to have separated the territories of the two. The Sodrai are, in all probability, the Śūdras of the epic, a people closely associated with the Ābhiras dwelling on the Sarasvati.

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The major part of Sind from Sukkur to the delta was divided among a number of potentates of whom the most important was Mousikanos. The capital of this prince is usually placed at or near Alor. His country was reported to be the richest in India and Arrian tells us that Alexander much admired it and its capital. Strabo gives interesting information about the kingdom of Mousikanos on the authority of Onesicritus and this will be reproduced elsewhere.

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From the account left by Arrian it appears that the "Brahmans" or Brāhmaṇas exercised considerable influence in the country. They instigated a revolt against the Macedonian invader. Nearchus informs us "that the Brachamanes engage in affairs of state and attend the kings as councillors".

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Not far from the territory of Mousikanos lay the principality over which Oxykanos or Portikanos held sway. Arrian calls him a *nomarch*. The inhabitants of the region are styled by Curtius Praesti, possibly the Proṣṭhas of the epic.

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In the mountainous country adjoining the kingdom of Mousikanos ruled Sambos, called Sabus by Strabo and Sabbas by Plutarch. His capital was Sindimana or Sindomana, which has been identified, with little plausibility, with Sehwan, a city on the Indus. Arrian informs us that Sambos and Mousikanos were at enmity with one another. Sambos was appointed satrap of the Indian hillmen by Alexander; but if Plutarch is to be believed he rose in rebellion at the instance of the *gymnosophists*. This hints at the fact that "naked philosophers" who were either Brāhmaṇas or followers of the Jina had considerable political influence in the country of Sambos. Conditions therefore were not unlike those in the realm of Mousikanos. Diodorus makes explicit mention of a nation and country of the Brāhmaṇas in the neighbourhood of the Sindian chiefships. He also places at the extremity of the "country of the Brāhmaṇas" a city, called Harmatelia, which, as the evidence of Justin suggests, was ruled by a chief named Ambigerus.

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In the delta of the Indus lay the territory of Patalene, referred as Pottala and identified with Tauala of Diodorus. The capital probably stood near the site of Bahmanabad. Diodorus tells us Tauala had a political constitution like that of Sparta. The army was commanded by two kings belonging to separate families, while a Council of Elders directed the affairs of the state with supreme authority. One of the kings in the time of Alexander is styled by Curtius Moeres, a name that sounds like Moriya or Maurya of Indian records.

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To sum up, North-West India presented on the whole a picture of disunion when the Nandas held sway in the Ganges valley. Constant references to *hyparchs* and *nomarchs*, however, indicate that, as in the eighteenth century, agents of a defunct empire were, with few exceptions, still content with the subordinate titles they had in the palmy days of the rule of their former imperial masters. The time was ripe for interference from powers that dominated the tableland of Iran on the west and the valley of the Ganges in the east.

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