(Ibbetson's 1881 Census, page 297), Her for Ahir (Ditto, 230-275), and Heri for Aheri (Ditto, 310) suggest that the Panjáb Ráthors or Rattas may be the ancient Arattas whom the Mahábhárata (Chap. VII. Verse 44. J. Bl. Soc. VI. Pt. I. 387 and Vivien de St. Martin Geog. Greque et Latine de l'Inde, 149) ranks with Prasthalas, Madras, and Gandháras, Panjáb and frontier tribes, whose identification with the Báhikas (Karnaparvan, 2063ff.) raises the probability of a common Central Asian origin. Remembering that the evidence (Kshatrapa Chapter, pages 22 and 33) favours the view that the Kshatrapa family who ruled the Panjáb between B.C. 70 and A.D. 78 were of the same tribe as Nahápana, and also that Sháhi is so favourite a prefix in Samudra Gupta's (A.D. 380) list of Kushán tribes, the suggestion may be offered that Kshaharáta is the earlier form of Sháharatta and is the tribe of foreigners afterwards known in the Panjáb as Arattas and of which traces survive in the present widespread tribal names Ráta, Ratta, Ratha, and Ráthor.] CHAPTER XII. THE MIHIRAS OR MERS. A.D. 470-900. That the Guptas held sway in Káthiáváda till the time of Skandagupta (A.D. 454-470) is proved by the fact that his Sorath Viceroy is mentioned in Skandagupta's inscription on the Girnár rock. After Skandagupta under the next known Gupta king Budhagupta (Gupta 165-180, A.D. 484-499) no trace remains of Gupta sovereignty in Sorath. It is known that Budhagupta was a weak king and that the Gupta kingdom had already entered on its decline and lost its outlying provinces. Who held Suráshtra and Gujarát during the period of Gupta decline until the arrival and settlement of Bhatkárka in A.D. 514 (Gupta 195) is not determined. Still there is reason to believe that during or shortly after the time of Budhagupta some other race or dynasty overthrew the Gupta Viceroy of these provinces and took them from the Guptas. These powerful conquerors seem to be the tribe of Maitrakas mentioned in Valabhi copperplates as people who had settled in Káthiáváda and established a mandala or kingdom. Though these Maitrakas are mentioned in no other records from Suráshtra there seems reason to identify the Maitrakas with the Mihiras the well-known tribe of Mhers or Mers. In Sanskrit both mitra and mihira are names of the sun, and it would be quite in agreement with the practise of Sanskrit writers to use derivatives of the one for those of the other. These Mhers or Mers are still found in Káthiáváda settled round the Barda hills while the Porbandar chiefs who are known as Jethvás are recognized as the head of the tribe. The name Jethvá is not a tribal but a family name, being taken from the proper or personal name of the ancestor of the modern chiefs. As the Porbandar chiefs are called the kings of the Mhers they probably belong to the same tribe, though, being chiefs, they try, like other ruling families, to rank higher than their tribe tracing their origin from Hanúmán.