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'''Dakshinapatha''' is an important historical region which is an ancient equivalent of present day [[South India]] or [[Deccan Plateau|Deccan plateau]] and which may mean;

*the "Ancient South of the [[Indian subcontinent]]" below [[Uttarapatha]]. The term can encompass [[South India|Dravida]], [[Sri Lanka|Simhala]], the [[Lakshadweep|Kollam]] region, and the [[Maldives]].In the south region
* the "great southern highway" in India, traveling from [[Magadha]] to [[Pratishthana]],<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|author=Singh, U.|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education|isbn=9788131711200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC|page=289|accessdate=2015-01-01}}</ref> or
* a kingdom on the [[Godavari River]] in southern India<ref>http://www.historytoday.com/historical-dictionary/d/dakshinapatha</ref><ref name="palikanon">{{cite web|url=http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/d/dakkhinaapatha.htm|title=Dakkhināpatha|publisher=palikanon.com|accessdate=2015-01-01}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The term ''Dakshinapatha'' is composite of two terms, ''dakshina'' and ''patha''. name ''Deccan'' is an anglicised form of the [[Prakrit language|Prakrit]] word ''{{IAST2|dakkhin}}'' or ''{{IAST|dakkhaṇa}}'' derived from [[Sanskrit]] ''dakṣiṇa'' ({{lang|sa|दक्षिण}} "south"),<ref>{{Cite book|author=Henry Yule, A. C. Burnell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-lFoAgAAQBAJ&q=deccan+dakkhin&pg=PA199|title=Hobson-Jobson: The Definitive Glossary of British India|date=13 June 2013|publisher=Oxford|isbn=9780191645839}}</ref><ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0400/mw__0498.html Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 498] (scanned image at ''SriPedia Initiative''): Sanskrit ''dakṣiṇa'' meaning 'southern'.</ref> as the region was located just south of North India. Path means road, hence, Dakshinapatha means <nowiki>''southern road''</nowiki>, but it has been also applied for South Indian realm.

== Historical background ==
[[Vedic period|Later vedic literature]] (1100-500 BCE) mentions tree divisions of the Indian subcontinent [[Āryāvarta|Aryavarta]] (Northern India), [[Madhyadesha|Madhya Desha]] (Central India) and Dakshinapatha (South India).<ref>{{Cite web|title=India History - The Vedic Period|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/history-vedic-period.htm|access-date=2021-04-09|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref> The [[Aitareya Brahmana]] (1st half of 1st mil BCE) also mentions some tribes in the South (Dakshinadis) of [[Vindhya Range|Vindhyan]] and north Deccan origin such as [[Chambal River|Satvants]], [[Vidarbha|Vidharbha]], [[Andhra Pradesh|Andhra]], [[Nishadas]] and Kuntis.<ref>{{Cite web|title=From Clans to Kingdoms (1700 BCE- 600 BCE)|url=https://www.livehistoryindia.com/history-of-india-2000-years/2019/10/23/from-clans-to-kingdoms|access-date=2021-04-10|website=www.livehistoryindia.com|language=en}}</ref> [[Pāṇini|Panini]] (500 BCE) in his 'Aṣṭādhyāyī' mentions [[Asmaka|Asmaka Kingdom]] in connection with Dakshinatya and [[Kalinga (historical region)|Kalinga]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gupta|first=Kalyan Kumar Das|date=1972|title=The Aśvakas: an Early Indian Tribe|journal=East and West|volume=22|issue=1/2|pages=33–40|issn=0012-8376|jstor=29755742}}</ref>.Dakshinapatha also finds mention in [[Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman|Junagarh rock inscription]] of Indo-Scythian king [[Rudradaman I|Rudradharman]] from 150 CE
{{Quote|text=...who by force destroyed the Yaudheyas who were loath to submit, rendered proud as they were by having manifested their' title of' heroes among all Kshatriyas; who obtained good report because he, in spite of having twice in fair fight completely defeated Satakarni, the lord of Dakshinapatha, on account of the nearness of their connection did not destroy him; who [obtained] victory . . . . . . . .; who reinstates deposed kings;|author=Rudradaman I|title=|source=Junagadh rock inscription}}

== Description ==
The Dakshinapatha trade route was one of two great highways that have connected different parts of the sub-continent since the [[Iron Age in India|Iron Age]]. The other highway was the [[Uttarapatha]] or the great northern road that ran from Taxila in Pakistan, through the modern Punjab up to the western coast of Yamuna. Following the course of Yamuna it went southwards up to Mathura, from there it passed on to Ujjain in Malwa and to Broach on western coast. According to ''Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India's Geography'' by [[Sanjeev Sanyal]], the trajectory of the northern road (Uttarapatha) has remained roughly the same from pre-Mauryan times and is now known as [[Grand Trunk Road]] or the old [[National Highway 2 (India, old numbering)|NH2]] (currently the [[National Highway 19 (India)|NH 19]] along with parts of northern [[National Highway 44 (India)|NH 44]] and eastern [[National Highway 3 (India)|NH 3]]). However, the southern road appears to have drifted since the ancient era. Rama's route into exile in the epic may have been an early version of the road, but by the time of Buddha it started at Varanasi and ran through Vidisha in central India, to Pratishthana (now [[Paithan]]). It probably extended all the way to Chola, Chera and Pandya kingdoms of the far south. By the Mauryan period, there would have been a branch from [[Ujjain]] to the ports of Gujarat which made Ujjain a major city by Gupta era. In the modern era, Dakshinapatha roughly coincides with the old NH-7 (currently the [[National Highway 44 (India)|NH 44]] along with parts of southern [[National Highway 34 (India)|NH 34]], [[National Highway 30 (India)|NH 30]] and [[National Highway 35 (India)|NH 35]]), which runs much further east of the old road but still meets the northern road at [[Varanasi]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sanjeev|first=Sanyal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uv_iDQAAQBAJ|title=Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India's Geography|page=71-76|date=2012-11-15|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited|isbn=9788184756715|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Uttarapatha]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation |last=Neelis |first=Jason |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC |year=2010 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18159-5 |pages=205–211 |ref={{sfnref|Neelis, Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks|2010}}}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050227232850/http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/d/dakkhinaapatha.htm Pali Definition of Dakshinapatha]

[[Category:Ancient Indian geography]]
[[Category:Deccan Plateau]]

Dakshinapatha - Revision history

imported>Marcocapelle at 19:07, 14 July 2021