Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/291

 INVASION OF THE SOUTH 253 Samudragupta vanquished the chieftain who held Pish- tapura, now Pithapuram in the Godavari District, as well as the hill-forts of Mahendragiri and Kottura in Ganjam; King Mantaraja, whose territory lay on the banks of the Kolleru (Colair) Lake; the neighbouring Pallava King of Vengi between the Krishna and Goda- vari Rivers; and Vishnugopa, the Pallava King of Kanchi, or Conjevaram, to the southwest of Madras. Then turning westwards, he subjugated a third Pallava chieftain, named Ugrasena, King of Palakka, the mod- ern Palghatcherry, situated in Malabar at the great gap in the Western Ghats. This place, distant some twelve hundred miles in a direct line from Pataliputra, seems to have marked the southern limit of Samudragupta 's audacious raid. He returned homewards through the western parts of the Deccan, subduing on his way the kingdom of Deva- rashtra, or the modern Mahratta country, and Eranda- palla, or Khandesh. This wonderful campaign, which involved more than three thousand miles of marching through difficult coun- try, must have occupied about three years at least, and its conclusion may be dated approximately in 340 A. D. No attempt was made to effect the permanent annex- ation of these southern states, and the triumphant victor admitted that he exacted only temporary submission and then withdrew. But beyond doubt he despoiled the rich treasuries of the south, and came back laden with golden booty, like the Mohammedan adventurer who performed the same military exploit nearly a thousand