Tribes in Ancient India c64.8

c64.8

The Surāṣṭra country is referred to in Baudhāyana’s *Dharmasūtra*, where it is coupled with Dakṣiṇāpatha (Deccan). The country came to be included in the Maurya empire as early as the reign of Candragupta; for the Junāgaḍh Rock Inscription of Rudradāman refers to Candragupta’s Rāṣṭrīya (= Viceroy) Puṣyagupta the Vaiśya, who constructed the Sudarśana lake. It was included in Aśoka’s dominions, for the same inscription refers to Tuṣāspha, a Persian contemporary and vassal of Aśoka, who carried out supplementary operations on the lake. This Tuṣāspha was Rājā of the Surāṣṭra Samgha (community). That Surāṣṭra enjoyed the democratic form of government implied by the use of the word ‘Samgha’ is also testified to by Kauṭilya¹ (*Arthaśāstra*, p. 378), who refers to a number of Samghas, among which were included Kamboja and Surāṣṭra.