Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.492

c6.492

*Madra-deśa*.—The country of the Madras, mentioned in the Allahabad Pillar Inscription, roughly corresponds to the modern Sialkot and the surrounding regions between the Rāvi and the Chenāb rivers. Pāṇini refers to Madra in his Aṣṭādhyāyī (4. 1. 176, 4. 2. 131, 4. 2. 108). Patañjali also refers to it in his Mahābhāṣya (1. 1. 8, p. 345; 1. 3. 2, p. 619; 2. 1. 2, p. 40; 4. 2. 108). The capital was Śākala,¹ identified with Sialkot. Śākala or (Pali) Sāgala² was a great centre of trade. It was situated in a delightful country, well-watered and hilly. It contained many hundreds of almshalls of various kinds. The old town of Śākala (She-ki-lo), according to Hiuen Tsang, was about 20 li in circuit. There was a monastery here with about 100 priests of the Hinayāna school, and a stūpa to the north-west of the monastery, about 200 ft. high, was built by Aśoka (Beal, Records of the Western World, I, pp. 166ff.). The people of this country were an ancient Kṣatriya tribe of Vedic times. The Madras were a corporation of warriors and enjoyed the status of rājās. Śākala came under the sway of Alexander the Great, in 326 B.C. About 78 A.D., Menander (Pali: Milinda), a powerful Greek king, ruled at Sāgala or Śākala. According to the Milindapañha this king was converted to Buddhism. Even before Menander’s time, Śākala seems to have come under Buddhist influence (see Mrs. Rhys Davids, Psalms of the Sisters, p. 48; Psalms of the Brethren, p. 359). In the fourth century A.D. the Madras paid taxes to Samudragupta. For further details, vide B. C. Law, Tribes in Ancient India, Ch. VII.