1. Andhaká.-Mentioned in a list of tribes that came to pay homage to Jatukannika Thera when he was born as a banker in Hamsavatí (Ap.ii.359). The Andhakarattha was on the banks of the Godhávarí and near where Bávarí lived. Assaka and Alaka, mentioned in the Vatthugáthá of the Paráyanavagga (Sn.977), are described in the Sutta Nipáta Commentary as Andhaka kings. SnA.ii.581; Vincent Smith places them originally in Eastern India between the Krsna and Godávarí rivers (Z.D.M.G. 56, 657ff.); see also Burgess: Arch. Reports on W. India, ii.132 and iii.54. Cunningham: 603-607.
In the Aitareya Brahmana (vii.18) the Andhakas are mentioned together with the Pulindas, etc., as an outcast tribe. They again appear associated in the time of Asoka (Vincent Smith: Z.D.M.G. 56, 652f). The Mahábhárata (xii.207, 42) places the Pulindas, the Andhas and the Sabaras in the Daksinapatha.
2. Andhaká.-An important group of monks that seceded from the Theraváda. They included as minor sects Pubbaseliyas, Aparaseliyas, Rájagirikas and Siddhatthikas (Points of Controversy, p. 104, extract from Kathávatthu Cy.). They were still powerful in Buddhaghosa's time (Ibid., xxxiv). The Andhakas are not mentioned as a special sect either in the Mahávamsa or in the Dípavamsa, though in the Mahávamsa the sects spoken of above as offshoots of the Andhakas (Rájagiriyá, Siddhatthiká, Pubba- and Apara-seliyá) are given. (Mhv.v.12f.; also the Mbv.97) For a very valuable account of the different schools and their relation to each other, see Points of Controversy, pp. xxxv-xlv. About the Andhakas see particularly pp. xliii.ff.
There were various doctrines held by all the Andhakas either in common with other sects or alone, and various other doctrines held only by some of the minor groups of Andhakas. For a summary of these see Points of Controversy, pp. xx-xxiv.