The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c6.s8.10

v1.c6.s8.10

Kātyāyana, the famous grammarian, whom tradition assigns to the fourth century B.C., mentions the town of Nāsikya or Nāsik. It figures also in several Bhārhut and Beḍsā inscriptions of an early date. Scholars identify it with the famous Pañchavatī of the Rāmāyaṇa.¹ It seems to have been the headquarters of an important district or tāluk (vishaya, deśa) in the Rāṣṭrakūṭa period. In the Sātavāhana age it would appear to have been outshone by Govardhana, which lay six miles to the west of it. Ptolemy, however, recognizes its importance in the second century A.D. and places it to the ‘west’ (really south) of the river ‘Namados’, i.e. the Narmadā. The name has been analysed as Nav Sikh, i.e. nine-peaked. Some find in it a reference to the nose of Śūrpaṇakhā, sister to Rāvaṇa.