Historical Geography of Ancient India c7.487

c7.487

*Pulindarāja-rāṣṭra*.—The Navagrām grant of Mahārāja Hastin refers to it, wherefrom it is clear that the dominion of the chief of the Pulindas may be located within the territory of the Nṛpatiparivrājaka family (*E.I.*, XXI, Pt. III). The Pulindas are referred to in *R.E.*, XIII of Aśoka as a vassal tribe. The *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* (VII, 18) tells us that the Pulindas are mentioned along with the Andhras. In the *Purāṇas* (*Matsya*, 114, 46-48; *Vāyu*, 45, 126) they are mentioned with the Śavaras and are referred to as *Dakṣiṇāpathavāsinaḥ* together with the Vaidarbhas and Daṇḍakas. The *Mahābhārata* (XII, 207, 42) refers to them as the people of the Dakṣiṇāpatha. Pulindanagara, the capital of the Pulindas, was situated near Bhilsa in the Jubbalpore district in the Central Provinces. The Pulindas must have certainly included Rūpnāth, the findspot of a version of Aśoka’s Minor Edicts.