Historical Geography of Ancient India c7.432

c7.432

*Paithān.*—It is the modern name of ancient Pratiṣṭhāna which was a flourishing city during the rule of the Sātavāhana kings. It is on the north bank of the Godāvarī in the Aurangabad district of Hyderabad. In the Suttanipāta (P.T.S., p. 190) this city is mentioned as the capital of the Assaka or Aśmaka country. It is the same as Potana which is described as the (capital) city of the Assakas in the Pali Nikāyas (Dīgha Nik., II, 235). It was also the capital of king Śātakarṇi (Sātavāhana or Śālivāhana) and his son Śaktikumāra who are generally identified with the king Śātakarṇi and the prince Śakti-śrī of the Nānāghāṭ Inscriptions (Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, p. 531). According to the Jaina tradition Sātavāhana defeated Vikramāditya of Ujjayinī and made himself the king of Pratiṣṭhānapura. He conquered many territories between the Deccan and the river Tāpti. He embraced Jainism and established the image of Mahālakṣmī on the bank of the Godāvarī. (Law, Some Jaina Canonical Sūtras, p. 185.) For further details vide B. C. Law, Indological Studies, Pt. I, 46. See Pratiṣṭhāna.