An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c42.70

v2.c42.70

**Paithan** (19°28'; 75°24'), Dt Aurangabad, on the Godavari at a distance of 56 km s. of Aurangabad, famous in ancient Indian literature as Pratiṣṭhāna, a town of consequence referred to in Jaina, Buddhist and Brāhmaṇical literatures. The Jaina literature especially and more so the *Bṛhat-Kalpasūtra-bhāṣya* associate it with the Sātavāhanas and the Nāgas and recent several stories emphasizing the association of both these with the ancient town. It is referred to in foreign accounts as well. The *Periplus* calls it Paethana and places it at 20 days' march s. of Barygaza (BHARUCH). The work further says that Paithan exported large quantities of onyx. Ptolemy refers to it as capital of king Pulumāvi of the Sātavāhana dynasty and places it in Ariake. Pratiṣṭhāna was connected with Madhyadeśa by land routes.