What is attested
A small copper coinage carries the Brahmi legend naming the Rājanya janapada — the term janapada meaning a country or the people constituting it, and its use on a coin indicating an issue made in the name of a community rather than a ruler. The coins are assigned to about the second century BCE.
The word rājanya is also a general term in Sanskrit for a man of the ruling class, which makes the name ambiguous: it may be an ethnic designation or a description of the issuing body. No inscription or literary source resolves the question, and no territory can be assigned to the Rājanyas beyond the general region in which their coins are found.
Further reading
- Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1954
- Bakker, Hans T. The World of the Skandapurana. Brill, 2014
- Nath, Vijay. Puranas and Acculturation. Munshiram Manoharlal, 2001
- Rocher, Ludo. The Puranas. Harrassowitz, 1986
- Singh, Upinder. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India. Pearson, 2008
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.