Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/227

 KING HALA AND LITERATURE 189 em Ghats, was included in the Andhra dominions, which thus stretched across India. A little later, either the third or fourth king, who is described as Lord of the West, was able to send a force of all arms to the aid of his ally, Kharavela, King of Kalinga in the east, which kingdom had also recov- ered its independence after the death of Asoka. Nothing more is heard of the Andhra kings until one of them, as above related, in 27 B. c., slew the last of the Kanvas, and no doubt annexed the territory, whatever it was, which still recognized the authority of that dynasty. The Andhra kings all claimed to belong to the Satavahana family, and most of them assumed the title of Satakarni. They are consequently often referred to by one or other of these designations, without mention of the personal name of the monarch, and it is thus sometimes impossible to ascertain which king is alluded to. As already observed, the real name of the slayer of Susarman Kanva is not known. The name of Hala, the seventeenth king, by virtue of its association with literary tradition, possesses spe- cial interest as marking a stage in the development of Indian literature. In his time, the learned dialect elab- orated by scholars, in which the works of Kalidasa and other famous poets are composed, had not come into general use as the language of polite literature, and even the most courtly authors did not disdain to seek royal patronage for compositions in the vernacular dia- lects. On such literature the favour of King Hala was bestowed, and he himself is credited with the compo-