The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c29.64

c29.64

The so-called 'Western Satraps' comprise two distinct dynasties, ruling in widely separated territories. The Kshaharāta Satraps of Mahārāshtra, with their capital probably at Nāsik in the Western Ghāts, who had established their power at some time in the first century after Christ, were destroyed by Gautamīputra, an Āndhra king, in or about A. D. 119, their dominions being annexed to the Āndhra monarchy. The second satrapy of the west, founded by the Śaka Chashtana at Ujjain in Mālwā late in the first century after Christ, was immensely extended by Chashtana's grandson, Rudradāman I, who at some date between A. D. 128 and 150, and probably before A. D. 130, conquered from Gautamīputra's son, Pulumāyi II, all or nearly all the territory which Gautamīputra had taken from the Kshaharātas a few years earlier. The power of Rudradāman I was thus established not only over the peninsula of Surāshtra, but also over Mālwā, Cutch (Kachchh), Sind, the Konkan, and other districts—in short, over Western India. The capital of Chashtana and his successors was Ujjain, one of the most ancient cities of India, the principal dépôt for the commerce between the ports of the west and the interior, famous as a seat of learning and civilization, and also notable as the Indian Greenwich from which longitudes were reckoned. The place, which is still a considerable town with many relics of its past greatness, retains its ancient name, and was for a time the capital of Mahārāja Sindia.