Page:The history of caste in India.pdf/86

 Gupta, we hear of Shakas and Pahlavas (the reference is regarding Shāhis and Shahāmishāhis, whom I regard to be Pahlavas), but we do not hear of Yavanas. Shakas, Yavanas, and Pahlavas are mentioned together by Gautamīputra in his inscriptions, as early as 113 A. D.; thus the period of the close association of the names of these foreigners falls within 113-350 A. D.

We now come to Lichchivis. The Gupta dynasty which prided itself on their descent from Lichchivi on the mother's side rose into importance in 320 A. D. After that date, to put down Lichchivi as a Vrātya tribe was not possible.

We want a period when all that our text wrote regarding Andhras, Shakas, Yavanas and Pahlavas was possible, and such a period cannot be any other than 227-320 A. D.

The author's home.—This is not hard to determine. There is a good deal of evidence to show that the writer was a Brāhmana of Magadha. He manifests a good acquaintance with this region, and very little with