Saraostus also called Syrastrene(also Surastrene, modern
Saurashtra in India) was the name given by the Greeks to the area of Saurashtra and parts of south-western
Gujarat.
"The Greeks ... took possession, not only of
Patalena, but also, on the rest of the coast, of what is called the kingdom of Saraostus and
Sigerdis. In short, Apollodorus says that Bactriana is the ornament of Ariana as a whole; and, more than that, they extended their empire even as far as the
Seres and the
Phryni." (Strabo 11.11.1 [1])
An inscription of
Ashoka (circa 250 BCE) was discovered on a rock at Girnar, near Junagarh in Saurashtra, showing that the area was controlled by the Mauryas from the capital of Pataliputra.
"Beyond the
gulf of Baraca is that of
Barygaza and the coast of the country of Ariaca, which is the beginning of the Kingdom of
Nambanus and of all India. That part of it lying inland and adjoining
Scythia is called
Abiria, but the coast is called Syrastrene. It is a fertile country, yielding wheat and rice and sesame oil and clarified butter, cotton and the Indian cloths made therefrom, of the coarser sorts. Very many cattle are pastured there, and the men are of great stature and black in color. The metropolis of this country is
Minnagara, from which much cotton cloth is brought down to Barygaza." Periplus, Chap. 41 [2]