106 
ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 
The Ballas. 
The tribe which bears this name has become famous 
throughout India at different times and in different places. 
We meet the Ballas in the North as -well as in the South, 
but their fame is especially connected with those countries 
which form now-a-days the north-western part of the Bom- 
bay Presidency, including its dependencies. Their ancient 
capital was the renowned Balahhipum in Kathiawar. Enor- 
mous ruins, spread over fifteen miles, are evidence of its 
splendour before its destruction in the eighth centuiy. 
Walla lies now near the site of Balabhipura. The kings of 
the Ballas are known as Balla Rajas (Balla-Raos), Balharas 
and Ballalas. The power and splendour of the Balharas 
excited the admiration of mediaeval Arabian travellers who 
visited the Indian shores. 
Some Ballas claim to belong to the Suryavamsa or sun- 
line and trace their descent from Lava's son Balla. The 
bards praise them as Tatia-Multan-Jca-Rao, the Lords of Tatta 
and Multan. They called the territory which they conquered 
Ballaksetra with Balabhljmr as its chief town. The Ballas 
of Surat derive their origin from Candra or the moon and 
connect their pedigree with the Balikaputras, the ancient 
lords of Aror on the Indus. The present Ballas and the 
Kathis, like their ancestors, still worship the sun, which is 
the presiding deity of Multan, a circumstance that intimates 
a Scythian and Non-Aryan origin. The Ballas are probably 
identical with the Mallas whom we have mentioned above. 
The Kathi of Kathiawar, who as Kathoei fought against 
the great Macedonian, claim to be descended from the 
Ballas. 
The name of the Balla Rajas reappears in a different 
form at a later period in Mj'sore as the well-known Ballalas. 
Many places, all over India, still preserve the name of 
the Ballas. I reserve this subject for a later chapter, but 
mention here only such places as Bchjaum or Baliagrama, 
