The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v1.c7.s6.4

v1.c7.s6.4

Simuka is called a Rājā by the Purāṇas and he is styled Rāya Simuka in the Nānāghāṭ inscription. This title itself need not mislead us into thinking that he was in any sense of the term the supreme sovereign of an independent state. The inscription was a later one, subsequent to the attainment of Sārvabhaumatva by a descendant of Simuka. The authors of the Purāṇas were writing the past history of a contemporary royal family, an old old family of unbroken succession, which could proudly trace its beginnings to the early half of the third century B.C. If through the whole line the succeeding chieftains were all kings, the authors would surely not refer to their great ancestor as being anything less than a king.