Historical Geography of Ancient India c9.222

c9.222

The Kṣatrapas seem to have wrested the country of Sindhu-Sauvīra from the Kuṣāṇas. After the Kṣatrapas the country probably passed over to the Guptas and later to the Maitrakas of Valabhi. In a Nausārī Copperplate grant of the Gujarat Cālukyas, Pulakeśirāja (8th century A.D.) is credited with having defeated the Tājikas, who are generally identified with the Arabas. The Tājikas are reported therein to have destroyed the Saindhavas, Kacchelas, Surāṣṭras, Cāvotakas, Gurjaras, and Mauryas before they were themselves defeated by the Cālukya king (*Bombay Gazetteer*, Vol. I, p. 109). Sovīra has been identified by Cunningham with Eder, a district in the province of Gujarat at the head of the Gulf of Cambay. Its capital was Roruka (*Jāt.*, III, p. 470). The name Sindhu-Sauvīra suggests that Sovīra was situated between the Indus and the Jhelum. A brisk trade existed between Rājagṛha and Roruka (*Divyāvadāna*, 544ff.). King Rudrāyana of Roruka and king Bimbisāra of Magadha were intimate friends. For further details, vide B. C. Law, *Indological Studies*, Pt. I, 40ff.