Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c8.s1.21

c8.s1.21

6. The appellation Candra (supposed to be associated with Candana of Iranian origin) is sometimes prefixed to the name of the Yueh-tchi (literally ‘the moon-race’, Candra-vaṃśa) or Kuṣāṇa king Kaniṣka I in Chinese, Tibetan and Khotanese traditions ; cf. Chinese Chen-t’an (Chan-t’an, Chan-t’o) Chia-ni-cha. On this basis, it has been suggested that Sandanes of the *Periplus* may be either Kaniṣka I or one of his successors, since Candra may have been their dynastic appellation. The tradition regarding the said Kaniṣka’s supremacy over South India seems to be corroborated by the fact that the Śaka Satraps of Western India, who appear to have owed allegiance to the Kuṣāṇas of Kaniṣka’s house, were in occupation of Northern Maharashtra during the rule of Satrap Nahapāna (119-24 A.D.) who is often wrongly identified with Mambarus of the *Periplus*. See S. Lévi in *Journ. As.*, Tome ccxxviii, pp. 61ff. ; H. W. Bailey, *Khotanese Texts*, Vol. ii, pp. 201ff. ; *Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies*, Vol. xiii, pp. 926ff. ; cf. B. N. Mukherjee in *Jour. As. Soc.*, Vol. v, 1963, pp. 83ff. In this connection, it may remembered that Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi ruled over a portion of South India, but claimed suzerainty over the whole land. See Sircar, *Select Inscriptions*, 2nd ed., p. 203, note 4.