The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c30.14

c30.14

From remote ages the country surrounding the city of Thānēsar (Sthānvīsvara)¹ has been holy ground, known as the 'Land of Kuru', and famous as the battle-field of legendary heroes. In the latter part of the sixth century, the Rāja of Thānēsar, Prabhākara-vardhana by name, had raised himself to considerable eminence by successful wars against his neighbours, including the Mālavas, the Hun settlements in the North-western Panjāb, and the Gurjaras, probably those of Rājputāna, but possibly those of the Gurjara kingdom in the Panjāb, now represented by the Gujarāt and Gujrānwāla Districts. The fact that his mother was a princess of Gupta lineage no doubt both stimulated his ambition and aided its realization.¹