History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c33.s5: Sanskrit Texts

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c33.s5

Language: English

Sanskrit Texts

v1.c33.s5.1

Pāṇini attests to the existence of an over-land trade-route. He speaks of travellers going by Uttarāpatha and of goods gathered by that route. Pāṇini and Patañjali mention chief cities like Bālhika, Kapiśi, Puskalavatī, Masakavatī, Takṣaśilā, Sakala, Hastināpur, Kausāmbī, Kāsī and Pāṭaliputra. Takṣaśilā, by virtue of her strategic geographical position as well as her status as the capital city of Gandhara, played a leading role in the inland and foreign trade of ancient India (Ray and Sen).

v1.c33.s5.2

Patañjali indicates that the Grand Trunk Road of those days connected the two cities of Kausāmbī and Varanasi, by mentioning the formations Niṣ Kausāmbī and Nir Varanasi. He also states that Saketa and Pataliputra lay on the same road. Though Patañjali (5th-4th cent. B.C.) and Pāṇini vary on the cities which form the beginning of the road, (Patañjali-Saketa (Ayodhya) and Kāsīka-Kausāmbī), Pataliputra remains the final destination.

Linked texts (1)

Aṣṭādhyāyī — Pāṇini, Sanskrit