The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c8.s4.63

c8.s4.63

I cannot close this account without noting that M. Vivien de Saint-Martin has stated his suspicion that the name of Dandaka is connected with *Dhanakaṭa*.* The *Daṇḍakāraṇya*, or forest of Dandaka, is celebrated in Indian story. *Varāha Mihira*,† the great astronomer, mentions Dandaka along with other places in the South of India as follows: *Kerala, Karṇāṭa, Kāñchipura, Koṅkaṇa, Chinna-paṭṭana* (or Madras), etc. In this list Dandaka is distinct from Koṅkaṇa, or the Upper Kistna; and may, therefore, perhaps be identified with the lower valley of the Kistna of which *Dhanakaṭa* was the capital. But as the latter name is found in the early inscriptions of the western caves, it is probable that the mere verbal resemblance of Dandaka may be quite accidental.