Tribes in Ancient India c77.3

c77.3

The Peṭenikas of Aśokan inscriptions have been plausibly identified with the Paithānikas or inhabitants of Paithān on the Godāvarī¹ in North-Western Hyderabad. Paithān is the present name of ancient Pratiṣṭhāna which was a flourishing city during the rule of the Sātavāhana kings. Pratiṣṭhāna, the modern Paithān on the north bank of the Godāvarī in the Aurangabad District of Hyderabad, is famous in literature as the capital of King Śātakarṇi (Sātavāhana or Sālivāhana) and his son Śakti-kumāra who are generally identified with the king Śātakarṇi and the prince Śakti-Śrī of the Nānāghāṭ inscriptions.² According to Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar the word ‘Pitinika’ of Aśokan inscriptions, as mentioned in Rock Edicts V and XIII, should not be treated as a separate word and is to be regarded as an adjective qualifying Rāṣṭrika (mentioned in Edict V) and Bhoja (mentioned in Edict XIII) which are mentioned along with it. In this connection Dr. Bhandarkar points to certain passages in the *Aṅguttara Nikāya*¹ where the term Pettanika occurs in the sense of one who enjoys property given by father.² Other scholars, however, identify the Pitinikas with the Paithānakas or natives of Paithān and some go so far as to suggest that they are the ancestors of the Sātavāhana rulers of Paithān.³ Both the author of the *Periplus* and Ptolemy mention Paithāna or Baithāna. Paithān is placed by the author of the *Periplus* at a distance of twenty days' journey to the south of Barugaza (identified generally with Bharukaccha or modern Broach), and is spoken of as the greatest city in Dakhinabades or Dakṣiṇāpatha and Tagara (identified by some with Devagiri, by others with Junnar and by R. G. Bhandarkar with Dharur in Nizam's territory), ten days' east of Paithān.