Parthalis
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Parathalisa (परथालिस) has been mentioned as capital of Kalinga (Orissa) by Pliny (23–79 AD). It has also been mentioned by Megasthenes as the royal city of the Calingae (Kalinga). Its identity is not yet known.
Origin
Variants
- Parathalisa (परथालिस) (AS, p.530)
- Protalis
Jat clans
- Poroth (पोरोथ)
History
The Calingae were widely diffused over a large area according to Pliny (who borrowed (or quoted) his account of India in Book VI.21–23 from Megasthenes)[1][2]and consisted of the Calingae proper, the Gangarides-Calingae and the Macco-Calingae. This may have been a reference to the Trikalinga ("Three Kalingas") that appeared in the Puranas[3][4] The area of diffusion is thought to roughly coincide with the Northern Circars (now spanning the states of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa). Their chief cities were Dandagula (Dandaguda) and Parthalis (Protalis).[5]
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[6] mentions ' The Ganges'....The last nation situate on the banks of the Ganges is that of the Gangarides6 Calingæ; the city where their king dwells has the name of Protalis.7 (19.) This king has sixty thousand foot-soldiers, one thousand horse, and seven hundred elephants, always caparisoned ready for battle.
6 The wide diffusion of the Calingæ and their close connection with the Gangaridæ, are shown by the fact that Pliny here calls them "Calingæ; Gangarides," and mentions the Modogalingæ on a large island in the Ganges, and the Maccocalingæ on the upper course of that river. See note 43, p. 42.
7 Called Parthalis in most of the editions.
Jat clans mentioned by Megasthenes
Megasthenes also described India's caste system and a number of clans out of these some have been identified with Jat clans by the Jat historians. Megasthenes has mentioned a large number of Jat clans. It seems that the Greeks added 'i' to names which had an 'i' ending. Identified probable Jat clans have been provided with active link within brackets.
| Jat clans as described by Megasthenes | ||||||||||||
| Location | Jat clans | Information | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3. Ganges | The Mandei (Munda/Manda), and the Malli (Malli), the Gangarides (Ghangas+Rad), the Calingae (Kalinga), the Prasii (Magadha), the Modogalingae | The tribes called Calingae (Kalinga) are nearest the sea, and higher up are the Mandei (Munda/Manda), and the Malli in whose, country is Mount Mallus, the boundary of all that district being the Ganges.
The royal city of the Calingae (Kalinga) is called Parthalis. Over their king 60,000 foot-soldiers, 1,000 horsemen, 700 elephants keep watch and ward in "procinct of war. There is a very large island in the Ganges which is inhabited by a single tribe Modogalingae | ||||||||||
परथालिस
विजयेन्द्र कुमार माथुर[7] ने लेख किया है ...परथालिस (AS, p.530): प्राचीन रोम के इतिहास लेखक प्लिनी (प्रथम सती ई.) के अनुसार परथालिस नामक नगर कलिंग (उड़ीसा) की राजधानी था. इसका अभिज्ञान अनिश्चित है. (दे. कलिंग)
External links
References
- ↑ McCrindle, John Watson (1901), Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature, Archibald Constable, pp. 112–114
- ↑ Pliny, Bostock & Riley (tr.) (1855), p. 44 note 50.
- ↑ Alexander Cunningham had made this observation.
- ↑ Caldwell, Robert (1913), A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Or South-Indian Family of Languages, Asian Educational Services, p. 29
- ↑ Pliny, Hist. Nat. VI, 21–22 (Pliny, Bostock & Riley (tr.) 1855, pp. 42–43 and note 43, 44 and note 50)
- ↑ Natural History by Pliny Book VI/Chapter 22
- ↑ Aitihasik Sthanavali by Vijayendra Kumar Mathur, p.530