History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c14.s6.20

v1.c14.s6.20

That the Aryans invaded and settled in the Deccan nobody now denies. This event is placed by Dr. Bhandarkar between Pāṇini and Kātyāyana; i. e. approximately between the 9th and 4th centuries B. C. But it is possible even to go earlier. For Pāṇini explains in a sūtra that Aśmaki is the name of the king as well as the king's son and this Aśmaka in Pāṇini is probably the country about Paithana though Aśmaka as a northern country or people does find a mention in ancient books. The first settlement was Vidarbha or modern Berar. And the next settlement was Paithana or Pratisthāna on the Godavery. The region of the Godavery pleased the invading Aryans so much that this land is praised in many Purāṇas as the best in the world. The river struck the Aryans forcibly and was at once likened by them to the Ganges of their old country. The town too was named Pratisthāna after its namesake on the Ganges namely modern Prayāga. Thereafter the new-comers settled in many parts further south and the different countries or districts settled were called by the name of Rāshtras. Their names occur in the Mahābhārata list of kingdoms in the Bhishma Parva chapter 9, namely Pāndu Rāshtra, Gopa Rāshtra and Malla Rāshtra which together with Aśmaka form the modern Mahārāshtra. We shall show further on that Rāshtra was a favourite name with the Mahārāshtras for a district or a small kingdom. Then there was the Kuntala country on the upper course of the Krishna. This country is strangely included both among the countries of the north and the south in the Mahābhārata list i. e. among Aryan countries or countries which had come under Aryan influence and were mixed Aryans in the language of the Mahābhārata as also among the southern mlechchha kingdoms. It was most probably the meeting ground between the Aryans and non-Aryans. The Aryan advance and settlement received a check probably at the lower Krishnā and the Tungabhadrā beyond which the country was more thickly populated by the Dravidians. The Mahābhārata gives all the countries and people to their south, in a separate list and this list is headed as usual by the noted Dravida peoples Chola, Pāndya, Kerala and so on. These were undoubtedly aboriginal peoples and aboriginal kingdoms i. e. kingdoms which in the beginning did not claim to be Aryans.