The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s5.19

v1.c7.s5.19

If then the language of the Girnār *praśasti* was Sanskrit at a time when Prākṛit held a position of supreme dominance, it was not a solitary linguistic island in the midst of the Prākṛitic ocean. There exists a second example in Vāsiṣṭhīputra’s Kānheri record. When we recall that the language of the Andhau records is Prākṛit it is not difficult to assume a later date for this Kānheri record. When after some years of preparation Rudradāman took the field against Yajña Śrī Sātakarṇi about the sixteenth regnal year of the latter, and after inflicting two crushing defeats on him, robbed him of his western provinces, this Vāsiṣṭhīputra Sātakarṇi, the son-in-law of Rudradāman, was holding his court in the west as a feudatory of Ujjain. The Nānāghāṭ inscription of his thirteenth year may be taken to indicate the duration of his newly found authority.