In the
Sanskrit epics, the Gopa Rashtra (Gopa kingdom) of central and western India is believed to have been ruled by
Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
. Inscriptions indicate the presence of a region by this name in the
Chalukya empire (present day
Maharashtra and
Goa). In the Junagarh inscriptions of
Skandagupta
Skandagupta ( Gupta script: ''Ska-nda-gu-pta'', r. c. 455-467) was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He ...
and
Chalukyan records, Gopa rasthra is mentioned as the colony inhabited by the
Abhir
Ahir or Aheer are a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian Yadav community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...
people.
Kautilya
Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...
states that the region was tribal corporation following the profession of agriculture and arms both.
According to
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
's list of kingdoms given in Bhishma Parva, chapter-9, Pandu Rashtra, Gopa Rashtra, Malla Rashtra and Ashmaka together formed the modern Maharashtra.
The term
Goa is derived from Goparashtra i.e. the area of
Yadavas.
History
The name of Gopa rashtra forms part among the various kingdoms of
Ancient India as narrated in the epic Mahabharata.
The state of
Goa is described as ancient Goparashtra and it takes its present name from earlier used terms like- Gomant, Gomantaka, Govarashtra or Goparashtra. All these names are prefixed with "Go" means "cow". Mahabharata refers it to as the country of cowherds.
Inscriptions of
Chalukya age mention about grant of Balegrama village in the Goparashtra to worship Kapaleshvara.
See also
*
Kingdoms of Ancient India
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 ...
References
*
Kisari Mohan Ganguli, ''The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose'', 1883-1896.
External links
{{Mahabharata
Yadava kingdoms