Ashmaka (

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: ) or Assaka (

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

: ) was a

Mahajanapada The Mahājanapadas ( sa, great realm, from ''maha'', "great", and ''janapada'' "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE during the second urba ...

ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...

which existed between 700 BCE and 425 or 345 BCE according to the Buddhist texts '' Anguttara Nikaya'' and '' Puranas''. It was located around and between the

Godavari The Godavari (IAST: ''Godāvarī'' �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga river and drains into the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwa ...

river in present-day

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

and Maharashtra. Its capital is variously called Potali or Podana, and is identified as present-day

Bodhan Bodhan town in Nizamabad district of the Indian state Telangana. Bodhan is primarily known for the Nizam Sugar Factory founded by a Nizam of Hyderabad, and some historical places such as The Chakreshwara Shiva Temple, The Renuka Temple, Bhee ...

in Telangana.

Location

Aśmaka was located on the Godāvarī river, between Mūlaka and Kaliṅga. The capital of Aśmaka was the city variously named Podana, Potali, and Potana, which corresponds to modern-day

History

The Aśmaka kingdom already existed at the time of the s, when its king Brahmadatta was mentioned in the as a contemporary of Reṇu of

Videha Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy but later ...

and Dhataraṭṭha or Dhṛtarāṣṭra of Kāsī. Aśmaka annexed the small kingdom of Mūlaka located to its west during the

period, after which it became the southern neighbour of the kingdom of Avanti. The

Hathigumpha inscription The Hathigumpha Inscription is a seventeen line inscription in Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Dated between 2nd-century BCE and 1st-century CE, it ...

Kharavela Kharavela (also transliterated Khārabēḷa) was a monarch of Kalinga in present-day Odisha, India, who ruled during the second or first century BCE. The primary source for Kharavela is his rock-cut Hathigumpha inscription. The inscription is ...

(2nd century BCE) mentions Kharavela's threat to a city variously interpreted as "Masika" (Masikanagara), "Musika" (Musikanagara) or "Asika" (Asikanagara). N. K. Sahu identifies Asika as the capital of Asmaka. According to

Ajay Mitra Shastri Ajay Mitra Shastri (5 March 1934 – 11 January 2002) was an Indian academic, historian and numismatist associated with the Nagpur University. Early life and education A. M. Shastri was born on 5 March 1934 at Guna in Central India Agency, ...

, "Asika-nagara" was located in the present-day village of Adam in

Nagpur district Nagpur district (Marathi pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is a district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nagpur is the district administrative centre. The district is part of Nagpur Division. Nagpur distric ...

(on the

Wainganga River The Wainganga is a river in India originating in the Mahadeo Hills in Mundara near the village Gopalganj in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh. It is a key tributary of the Godavari. The river flows south in a winding course through the states of Madhya Prade ...

). A terracotta seal excavated in the village mentions the Asmaka janapada. Asmaka also included Mulaka area around

Paithan Paithan pəɪ.ʈʰaɳ(), historically Pratiṣṭhāna ɾə'tɪʂʈʰana is a town with municipal council in Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, India. Paithan is located south of present-day Aurangabad on the Godavari River. It was the cap ...

known in ancient times as Pratishthana. According to ''

Sutta Nipata The ' () is a Buddhist scripture, a sutta collection in the Khuddaka Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism. Sections The ''Sutta Nipāta'' is divided into five sections: Uraga Vagga ("The Chapter on the Serpent") Cūla Vagg ...

'' Saketa or

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhya wa ...

was first halting place on the southward road (

Dakshinapatha __NOTOC__ Dakshinapatha is an important historical region which is an ancient equivalent of present day South India or Deccan plateau and which may mean; *the "Ancient South of the Indian subcontinent" below Uttarapatha. The term can encompass ...

) from

Shravasti Shravasti ( sa, श्रावस्ती, translit=Śrāvastī; pi, 𑀲𑀸𑀯𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀻, translit=Sāvatthī) is a city and district headquarter of Shravasti district in Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It was the capital of the an ...

to Pratishthana.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Mahajanapadas {{India-hist-stub

Location

History

See also

References

Sources

External links