Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c11.17

c11.17

Early Greco-Roman writers represent the emperors of the Nanda and Maurya dynasties of Magadha as the rulers of the Prasii and the Gangaridae and speak of Palibothra (i.e. Pāṭaliputra, near modern Pāṭnā, Bihar) as the capital of the country of the Prasii. There is little doubt that the Prasii represented the Prācyas (i.e. the people of the Eastern Division of ancient Bhāratavarṣa) of Indian literature. But there is some confusion about the Gangaridae, their name being often Indianised as Gaṅgā-rāṣṭra, Gaṅgā-rāḍha and Gaṅgā-hṛdaya. Greek Gangaridae is however the plural form of Gangarid from a base like Gange or Ganges; cf. Sasan—Sasanid—Sasanidae; Akhamenes—Akhamenid—Akhamenidae. The word Gangaridae therefore means ‘the Gangetic people’. The land inhabited by this people is clearly indicated by the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (circa 80 A.D.) and the Geography of Ptolemy (circa 140 A.D.).