Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.588

c6.588

Pahlava.—It is a corruption of the word Parthava, the Indian name for the Parthians (Rapson, *Coins of India*, p. 37, f.n. 2). The *Vāyupurāṇa* places the territory of the Pahlavas in the north, while according to the *Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa* and the *Bṛhatsaṃhitā* they were located in the south-western region of India (*Vāyupurāṇa*, Ch. 45, V, 115; *Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa* Ch. 58; *Bṛhatsaṃhitā*, Ch. 14). According to the *Rāmāyaṇa* the Pahlavas were created during the dissension between the famous sages Vasiṣṭha and Viśvāmitra regarding the possession of the *Kāmadhenu* (Ādikāṇḍa, LIV, 1018-22). They fought on the side of the Kurus in the Kurukṣetra war. They were the allies of the Haihaya-Tālajaṅghas according to the Epic and Pauranic traditions. They were annihilated by king Sagara along with the Śakas, Yavanas and others. The Junāgaḍh Rock Inscription refers to a Pahlava official named Śivisaka, and Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi is credited in the Nasik Cave Inscription as the uprooter of the Pahlavas, Śakas and Yavanas. For further details, vide B. C. Law, *Tribes in Ancient India*, pp. 6ff.; Law, *Indological Studies*, Pt. I, pp. 39-40.