190 THE SUNGA, KANVA, AND ANDHRA DYNASTIES sition of the anthology of erotic verses, called the " Seven Centuries," written in the ancient Maharashtri tongue. A collection of tales, entitled the " Great Story-book," written in the Paisachi dialect, and a Sanskrit grammar, arranged with special reference to the needs of students more familiar with the vernacular speech than with the so-called " classical " language, are attributed to his ministers. The next kings concerning whom anything is known are those numbered twenty-one to twenty-three in the dynastic list, who form a group distinguished by peculiar personal names and a distinctive coinage, and are commemorated by a considerable number of in- scriptions and coins. Vilivayakura I, the first of the group, whose accession would seem to indicate a break in the continuity of the dynasty, perhaps due to the ambition of a junior branch, obtained power in 84 A. D., and, according to the Puranas, enjoyed it only for half a year. Some rare coins struck in his western domin- ions are his sole memorial. He was succeeded by Sivalakura, presumably his son, who, after a reign of twenty-eight years, trans- mitted the sceptre to Vilivayakura n, who bore his grandfather's name, in accordance with Hindu custom. His reign of about twenty-five years was distinguished by successful warfare against his western neighbours, the Sakas, Pahlavas, and Yavanas of Malwa, Gujarat, and Kathiawar. The names of these foreign tribes demand some explanation. The Sakas, the Se (Sek) of Chinese historians, were
