120 
ON THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 
Aja. Tradition connects Candragupta with the Mori branch 
of the Pramaras. Ujjayinl, the capital of Viki^amaditya, is 
assigned to them, and Bhoja Raja, at whose court the Nine 
Gems are said to have flourished, belonged to the Pramara 
tribe. 
It is not my purpose to discuss here the fortunes of these 
celebrated clans ; they are only of interest in this inquiry 
in so far as a connection might be established between the 
Agnikula of the North and the Vanniyar of the South. 
Lassen regards the derivation of the name Pramara from 
Paramdra in the sense of hiller of enemies as suspicious and 
ascribes it to a later period. Colonel Tod says : " that 
" these races, the sons of Agni, were but regenerated, and 
" converted by the Brahmins to fight their battles, the 
" clearest interpretation of theii' allegorical history will dis- 
" close, and . . warrants our asserting the Agniculas to be 
" of this same race, which invaded India about two centuries 
"before Christ."— (Vol. I, p. 90.) No matter whether 
Colonel Tod's reasoning and conclusion are right or wi-oug, 
one can agree with him so far as the Non- Aryan origin of 
the Agnikulas is concerned. 
As has already been stated, mention is made by Ptolemy, 
VII, 1, 70, of the Poruaroi (Ilcopovapot), a name which 
Lassen thinks is derived from Pramara.^* I believe that 
Lassen is mistaken on this point. I prefer to explain the m 
as a modification of an original r, as, e.g., in Vellama for 
Pallava, and to suggest Paracdra as the original form of 
Paramara. 
8' See Lassen's lud. AUcrth., Ill, p. 572 : "Da sein Xame sonst rrdmdra 
lautet, must jene Erldai'img des Namens als eine willkiihi-liohe Dichtuug 
gelten." 
See Lassen, ihidcm, III, p. 150 : '• Yon den Porvai-oi habe ich schon fiii- 
her L'omerkt, dass ilu- Name hbc}ist wahrschoinlich aus dem bekannten, sich 
Fniiiidrn uennenden Geschlechte dor Kajaputra enstellt ist, wclcher in der 
Volkssprache Punvar lautot imd iu dicscr Form weiter von Fi-;\m&ra eutfornt- 
ist , als Furvara." 
