Aparanta

Aparanta, or Aparantaka (meaning "Western border") was a geographical region of ancient India, variously corresponding to the northern Konkan, northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kachch and Sindh. The Junagadh inscription of Rudradaman mentions that during Ashoka's reign, a Yonaraja (literally; Ionian, or Greek, King), Tushaspa was the governor of Aparanta. A Buddhist text, the Mahavamsa states (xii.5) that at the conclusion of the Third Buddhist Council (c.250 BCE), a Yona (Greek) Thera (monk) Dhammarakkhita was sent here by the emperor Ashoka to preach Dhamma and 37,000 people embraced Buddhism due to his effort (Mahavamsa, xii.34-6). According to Buddhist scholar A.K. Warder, the Dharmaguptaka sect originated here.