Assaka was one of ancient India

Ancient India

Ancient India may refer to:* The ancient history of India, which generally includes the ancient history of the Asian Subcontinent, including:*Science and technology in ancient India**Indian mathematics**Astronomy**List of Indian inventions...

n regions (700–300 BCE). It is one of the solasa (sixteen) mahajanapadas

Mahajanapadas

Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...

 in the 6th century BCE, mentioned in the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya.

The region was located on the banks of the Godavari river, between the rivers Godavari and Manjira

Manjira

The manjïrà is a traditional percussion instrument of Bhàrata India. In its simplest form it is a pair of small hand cymbals. It is also known as manjeera, tala, jalra, khartàl or kartàl....

. It was the only Mahajanapada situated to the south of the Vindhya Range

Vindhya Range

The Vindhya Range is a range of older rounded mountains and hills in the west-central Indian subcontinent, which geographically separates the Indian subcontinent into northern India and Southern India.- Introduction :...

, and was in Dakshinapatha

Dakshinapatha

Ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts use the term Dakshinapatha as a name for both the southern high road of the Indian subcontinent, and for the region lying south of Majjhimdesa or middle India. It is derived from the two Sanskrit roots dakshina for south, and patha for road.The first reference to...

. It corresponds to districts Nizamabad

Nizamabad district

Nizamabad District is located in the north-western region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also known as Induru. Nizamabad is the current and official name of the district....

 and parts of Adilabad

Adilabad district

Adilabad District is a district in Andhra Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is at Adilabad town. A famous Temple of the Goddess Saraswathi, the Hindu Goddess of Education, is located here in the town of Basara.-Origin of name:...

, Nanded

Nanded District

Nanded district is a district of Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nanded is the district headquarters.- Overview :The district has an area of 10,502 km² while according to 2001 census its population is 2,876,259 of which 23.96% were urban...

 and Yavatmal

Yavatmal District

Yavatmal district is a district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the region of Vidarbha, in the east-central part of the state...

 in current-day India.

The capital of Ashmaka was Paudanyapura, the Prakrit

Prakrit

Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...

 name of Bahudhanyapura meaning "city of many grains", identified as present day Bodhan

Bodhan

Bodhan is a town in the Nizamabad district of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Bodhan is primarily known for the Nizam Sugar Factory and some historical sites.Bodhan is divided into three areas: Bodhan, Rakaspet and Shakkarnagar.-History:...

. The capital is variously called Potali, Potana or Podana, which now lies in the Nandura Tehsil

Tehsil

A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....

.

The Buddhist text Mahagovinda Suttanta mentions about a ruler of Assaka, Brahmadatta who ruled from Potana.

The Matsya Purana

Matsya Purana

Matsya Purana is the sixteenth purana of the Hindu scriptures. During the period of mahapralaya, Lord Vishnu had taken Matsya Avatar to save the seeds of all lives and Manu...

 (ch.272) lists twenty-five rulers of Aśmaka, contemporary to the Shishunaga

Shishunaga

Shishunaga was the founder of the Shishunaga dynasty of the Magadha Empire in the present day northern India. Initially, he was an amatya of the Magadha empire under the Haryanka dynasty. He was placed on the throne by the people who revolted against the Haryanka dynasty rule...

 rulers of Magadha

Magadha

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

.

Later the people spread southward to the territory of the Rashtrakuta empire

Rashtrakuta Dynasty

The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian Subcontinent between the sixth and the 10th centuries. During this period they ruled as several closely related, but individual clans. Rastrakutas in inscriptions represented as descendants of Satyaki, a Yadava well known...

, which is now in modern Maharastra.

Ashmaka is also identified as Assaka and Aśvakas in Buddhist literature and Gatha Saptashati

Gatha Saptashati

The Gāhā Sattasaī or Gaha Kosha is a collection of poems in Maharashtri Prakrit. The poems mostly have love as a theme. Many of the poems are by women....

 of king Hāla

Hala

Hala can refer to:* Hala , an Arabic given name meaning "sweetness"* An informal salutation or greeting in the Arabic language* Hāla, an Indian king of the Satavahana dynasty* Hala , a clan of India and Pakistan...

. Ashmaka is derived from Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 word "Ashma" which means Stone

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

 or Gem

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

: it is supposed that the region was full of hillocks and small hills.

It is believed that the astronomer Aryabhata

Aryabhata

Aryabhata was the first in the line of great mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy...

was from Ashmaka.