Tribes in Ancient India c6.40

c6.40

According to Cunningham, the most ancient capital of Gandhāra was Puṣkarāvatī, which is said to have been founded by Puṣkara, son of Bharata and nephew of Rāma.² Puṣkalāvatī’s antiquity is undoubted, as it was the capital of an Indian Prince named Hasti (Greek Astes) at the time of Alexander’s expedition (326 B.C.). It is called Peukelaotis by Arrian and Peukalei by Dionysius Periegetes. Together with Takṣaśilā, Puṣkalāvatī came under the Śaka rule during the reign of Maues³ (c. 75 B.C.). Tārānātha mentions the town as a royal residence of Kaniṣka’s son (Vincent Smith, *Early History of India*, 4th Ed., p. 277, f.n. 1).