Historical Geography of Ancient India c10.24

c10.24

Avanti.—It is also called Avantikā according to the *Brahmāṇḍap.* (IV, 40. 91). The Junāgaḍh Inscription of Rudradāman I mentions Ākarāvanti (Malwa),¹ Ākara (identified with east Malwa, capital Vidiśā), Avanti (identified with West Malwa, capital Ujjain) along with Anūpa realm (capital Māhiṣmatī), Ānarta (North Kāthiāwāḍ), Surāṣṭra (south Kāthiāwāḍ), Śvabhra on the river Śabarmatī, Kaccha (Cutch in Western India), Sindhu (west of lower Indus), Sauvīra (east of lower Indus in Northern India), Kukura (near Ānarta in north Kāthiāwāḍ), Aparānta (North Konkan in Western India), Niṣādha¹ and the Yaudheyas¹ who lived in Bijayagarh. Avantī of which Ujjayinī² was the capital finds mention in the Nasik Cave Inscription of Vāsiṣṭhiputra Puḷumāyi as Ākarāvanti³ while the Junāgaḍh Inscription of Rudradāman I speaks of two Ākarāvamtis, namely, Pūrva (eastern) and Apara (western). The first separate Rock Edict of Aśoka refers to Ujjayinī wherefrom the Mahāmātras were sent by the royal prince (kumāra). In the inscriptions of Aśoka, the Bhoja and Rṣṭika-Rāṣṭrika territories and their off-shoots were placed outside the territorial limit of the then Maurya province of Avantī (Barua, *Aśoka and His Inscriptions*, Ch. III). The inscriptions of Uṣavadāta of the time of the Kṣaharāta Kṣatrapa Nahapāṇa of western and southern India, when considered in relation to the inscriptions of the Śātavāhanas and the Śaka Kṣatrapas, involve a knotty chronological problem. There is no conclusive evidence to show that Ujjayinī or Avantī proper formed a dominion of Nahapāṇa. The inclusion of Ujjayinī in Nahapāṇa’s territory is usually inferred from the mention of the Mālayas (Mālavas) in Uṣavadāta’s Nasik cave inscription but one has yet to establish that Ujjayinī was at that time the seat of Government of the Mālavas.