Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c25.29

c25.29

§ 136. As to the Andhras, the problem is more difficult. There is no corroborative evidence about them. Two generations before, in the time of Chandragupta, the Andhras were a great kingdom, second in power only to Magadha.³ But under Aśoka we find them 'a ruling country' within the precincts of Aśoka's empire. It seems that the Andhra power had been broken under the reign of Bindusāra, Aśoka's father, who is credited with having carried on the policy of his father, Chandragupta, in unifying India: 'between the eastern and western oceans' he is said to have annexed sixteen Capitals.⁴ This must point to the land of the Southern Deccan, as the area above it had already been under Chandragupta. After victory, the Maurya politicians (Kauṭilya is said to have been alive) seem to have removed the royal family of the Andhras, and probably as a compromise allowed self-government under some Saṁgha constitution.