Book Title: India As Described In Early Texts Of Buddhism and Jainism Author(s): Bimla Charn Law Publisher: Bimlacharan Law Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/011047/1 JAIN EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL FOR PRIVATE AND PERSONAL USE ONLYPage #1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ THE FREE INDOLOGICAL COLLECTION WWW.SANSKRITDOCUMENTS.ORG/TFIC FAIR USE DECLARATION This book is sourced from another online repository and provided to you at this site under the TFIC collection. It is provided under commonly held Fair Use guidelines for individual educational or research use. We believe that the book is in the public domain and public dissemination was the intent of the original repository. We applaud and support their work wholeheartedly and only provide this version of this book at this site to make it available to even more readers. 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Page #2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ V OXA II TALL AVUI DELHI UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 302, H1-1-2 (Q4) (ARTS) 41.0094601 Page #3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ I DELHI UNIVERSITY LIBRARY SYSIEM , Au noma Date of release of loan This bool should be returned on or bofore the date last stamped below An overduo charge of 10 np will be charged for each day the book is kept bvortime Page #4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page #5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS OF BUDDHISM AND JAINISM By BIMALA CHURN LAW, M.A., B.L., Ph.D). (C'al.), D.Litt. (Laucknow) Fellow, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Royal Geographical Society of London; Honorary Correspondent, Archaeological Survey of Tulia; Author, A History of Pali Literature, Geography of Early Buddhism, Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India, Ancient Mid-Indian Ksatriya Tribes, Ancient Indian Tribes, Mahavira, etc., etc. Thesin approved for the Degree of Doctor of Literature in the University of Lucknow LUZAC & CO., GREAT RUSSELL STREET. "1 Page #6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Printed by G. E. Bingham, Baptist Mission Press, 414 Lower Circular Road, Calcutta. Page #7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PRCFACE The present trentise consists of five chapters aling with Geography, Kings and people, ninl Life and Ironomic Conditions, Rigivi, und Wucation and warning of Jambulviju Inclia). It is based on lille curly texts of the Buddhists and Jis written in Pali and Ardha-Mayarthi. In my treatment, I have 1100 ignore the evidence of Brahmaninal literature, and wherever I have ned it, I have lone so with a view to clarify the relevant points. I have not faileil to inake nise also of molern 'terature on the subject inclurling my own vublications. The sources utiliser have been roperly mentioned in the body as well as in de faatustes I have endeavoured to draw a picture of ndia with spocial reference to her peoples. he scheme allopteil by mo is in many respects fferent from that followed by Rhys Davills in si Buddhist Indile, and the treatnient oven of mmon topics is fuller in the sense that I have I along taken into account the collateral vi. .ence of the Jain Ayan. In Chapter 1, an 40, - geography of India hils been h the help of a first-hanul Htudy of textual evidenceng boarding uign Page #8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ PREFACE mountain and river systems and the, 'cation and extent of countries, cities, etc. The second chapter has hecn devoted to the kings and proples who were the active factors in the make-up of the life and civilisation of ancient India. The third chapter deals with the social life ani economic conditions. Here the treatment is novel as showing how all the grigions of the people played their part as much angcial as in economic life. In the fourth chapise dealing with religion,-, the treatment may also be claimed as new in the sense that instead of taking religion as the source of inspiration for higher philosophy and ethics, I have sought to show how it was a living factor of ancient Indian civilisation. The last chapter treats of education and learning. Here my endeavour has been specially directed to the classification and description of vu'ious institutions and their founders, diverse m., nents and their promoters, together with the methods adopted and the results achieved. This kind of treatinent, as far as my informatio: goes, has not been attempted before. The present treatise has been acopted as a thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Lerature by thr (niversity of Lucknow. BIMALA HURN LAY : Page #9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER I GEOGRAPHY he country which is now known to us as India was known, to all intents and purposes, to the Buddhists as Jamhudvipa and to the Jains and the Brahmins as Bharatavarsa (Bharahavasa). in the Puranas, Jambudvira is counted as one . if the seven dvipas or mythical continents into vhich the Earth, as then known or imagined, vas divided. Bharatavarsa was just one of the nine Vargas or countries constituting the nine main divisions of Jambudvipa. So far as the varsa divisions of Jambudvipa are concerned, the Jaina description of Jambudvipa in the Jambudiva-pannatti and other works based upon it, is materially the same as found in the Puranas. Thus with the Jainas and Brahmin writers Jambudvipa as a continent was thought of as of much wider extension than Jambudvipn as known to the Buddhists. In all earlier and antor Buddhist texts and commentaries Tambudvipa figures as one of the four maha vipas or great 'continents with Mt. Sineru Sumeru) in the centre of them. The natta wpraks of Matsya Puruna, 11, 85. The Jarbudtr s An Vargas. Page #10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ ISDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS S. SI Pubhavidela or Eastern continent is placed t. the cast of Sineri, the Aparagodana or Apara. guyana the Western continent to the west, the liftirakuri or Northern continent to the north, and the Jambulvitia or Southern continent to the south. Even we are told that the land in Jambudvip shor the people coming originally front Publaviileha settled clown, was named Videh maafter them; the land where the people coming from Ajarayodana settled down, became know! hiy the name of aparanta; and the land in which people from (ttarakuru settled down, became knosa1 Maler the name of Kuru.. The Bucilhist Sineru, also called Meru Sumir. Hemameru and Mahamoru, is the highrst concritable mountain which formed the (routre of the earth. In the sea, it is based to a (lepth of cighty-four thousand yojanas, and above the sea level, it rises to the same height: The Yuyanithara, the Isachara, the Karavika, the Snclassana, the Neuinhara, the Vinataka and Issa kunna are the seven mountain ranges that surround it. On its sinimit is Tavatimsay the Heuren of the Thirty-three gods, and at ita facit is Asurabhuvann, the doinain of the demons Orrits four: siles are the four great continental Page #11 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CICOGRAPHY rach containing several smaller ones. The Buclidhists as well as others in India treat Sineri as an emblem of long duration. Both its conception and closcription all'* semiastronomical, semi-terrestrial, and on the wholes, mythical in their origin and character. We get a slight roulistic touch in the Puranas that locate the Sumeru Mountain with it. altitude of one hundroul thousani yojanas at i central region of slavstavarsa, the country, which, according to them, stanrls in the nichelle of the nine* varsas of Jambulvijia. "To the sonth of Ilavitavarna is the Nisadha mountain range, and to the south of it is Harivabil, the country which lies just to the north of Bharatavarsa. In between the tuin is the Himalaya mountain with the Hemikutil mrvitit north of it. The Himalayan range extends east and west over a distance of about 1,000 yojanas, Thc topography of this range as it stins in relation to Bharatavarsa may be picturesquels ropresentert by the shape of a bow with its string to the south (Himavan uttarenasya karmukasyon yatha gruah). The Jumbulirn-qutunulli, which, like the Puranas, lorates Harivitrigail to 1 Anqutturu, iv, p. 1001.; NILANtaruizh 17, i, p. 119; Prvudet. inagga, p. 208; Parur threjolika, II, pp. 113, 483; 12xynunu, p. 217. 2 Soven, according to Jumbruliun junnutti. 8 Bhagavata Purana, Dvipavarga-varnana->kunitha, Ch. 18. Page #12 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 4 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS the north of Bharatavarsa and the Himalaya mountain, divides the Himalayan range into two, the Mahahimavanta or Greater Himalayan and the Cullahimavanta or Lesser Himalayan. The former extends eastwards up to the eastern Bea, i.e., the Bay of Bengal, and the latter westwards and then southwards up to the sea , below the Varsadhara mountain, i.e., the Arabian sea.1 The topographical outline of India to tho south of the Himalayas is sought to be pictured in the Pali Mahagovinda-suttanta in the shape of a bullock-cart with its face towards the south. Accordingly it is describod as extended on the north. The symbol suggested in the Markandeya Purana for visualisation of tho surface of India is one of the convex shape of the upper shell of a tortoise (kurmaprstha). It is obviously a very correct picture of the thing, inasmuch as all the rivers of India either flow eastwards into the Bay of Bengal or flow westwards into the Arabian Sea. Further, according to the Jambudiva-pannatti, the Vaitadhya (Vindhya ?) mountain range divides 1 Jambudiva-pannatts, i, 9: Bharahe namam vese... Cullahimavamtassavasaharapavveyagga dahinonam dahinalavapasamuddassa uttarenam, puratthitalavarasamuddassa pacoatthimenarp ... The same extension of the range is implied in the Molinda, p. 114. 2 Dagha, II, p. 238: uttarena ayatam, dakkhinena sakata-mukhamp. & Markandeya Purana, Chaps. 67 and 58. Page #13 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 5 India into two halves, the northern half (uttarardha), later called Aryavarta, and the southern half (daksinardha), later called Daksinatya or Deccani The Himalaya mountain is known in Pali by such names as Himava, Himacala, and Himavanta. It is one of the seven mountain ranges that surround Gandhamadana.? According to. traditional description, it extends over a distance of three hundred thousand yojanas (loaguos), and contains eighty-four thousand peaks (kutas), the highest of them being five hundred leagues. Here the length, the number and the altitude given are all cvidently fabulous. We have montion of seven great Himalayan lakos: Anotatta, Kannamunda, Rathakara, Chaddanta, Kunala, Mandakini and -Sihappapataka, that are never heated by the sun. Each of them is fifty leagues in length, breadth and depth.5 Their names are such as to defy all attempts at a correct identification, and the description of their length, breadth and depth is too symmetrical to inspire confidence. The Kunala 1 Jambudiva-pannatti, i, 12: Bharahe vase Veyaddhe pamam pavvaye pannatte: utwaraddha-Bharahavosassa dahinepam dahinabharahavasagga uttarenam. 2 Paramatthajotika, II, p. 66; Malalasekera, Dict., of Pal Proper Names, ii, p. 1325. 8 Paramatthajotika, II, p. 224. 4,8 Anguttara, iv, p. 101; Manorathapurani, u, K. Iud; Paramatthajotika, TI, p. 443. Page #14 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 6 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Jataka mentions by name Manipabbata, Hingulapabbata, Anjanapabbata, Sanupabbata, and Phalikapabbata among the Himalayan peaks,1 none of which can now be satisfactorily identified. The Sutta-nipata commentary speaks of some five hundred rivers, only ten of which were to be reckoned, according to the ,,Milinda, the rest having an intermittent periodical flow. Of the ten rivers, the first a five, Garga, Yamuna, Aciravati, Sarabhu and Mahi that were honoured as the five great rivers (panca mahanadiyo) constitutod the Gangos group, and the rest, Sindhu, Sarassati, Vottavati, Vitamsa and Candabhaga, with the exception of the second, constitutod tho Sindhu group. Broadly speaking, the first five flowed from tho Jaina Mahahimavanta, and the other five from the Lesser range. The Kunala Jataka draws our attention to two most delightful spots in the shape of rocky table-lands (silatala), one, called Suvannatala, on the east side of Himavanta, and the other, called Hingulatala, on the west side, the latter being sixty leagues in extent. Similarly the 1 Jataka, v, p. 415. 2 Paramatthajotika, II, p. 437. 8 Milinda, P. 114. 4 Of, Markandeya Purana, 57, 16-18 5 Angultara, 14, p. 101; Vin., il, p. 237; Samyutta, ii, p. 136 ; 1, p. 401. Jotaka, v, p. 416. Page #15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY Milinda-panha mentions one Rakkhitatala or protected table-land in the Himalayan region. The Buddhists derive the name of the continent of Jambudvipa from a Jambu tree, which stands as its kalpavrksa, with its trunk fifteen yojanas in girth, outspreading branches fifty yojanas in length, shade one hundred yojanas in extent and height of one hundred yojanas, 2-all too symmetrical and imaginary to be believed as correct. It is on account of this tree that the continent is also called Jambuvana 3 and Jambusanda. The tree stands on a bank of the river Jambo (Jambu). The continent extends over a distance of ten thousand leagues, of which four thousand are covered by the seas, three thousand by the Himalayas, and three thousand only are innabited by mon. It contained as many as 34,000 towns, large or small. As Malalasekera points out, this number is sometimes reduced to sixty thousand, forty thousand, or even twenty thousand, but never too less'.? A description in the Anguttara-nikaya would have us believe that trifling in number were the parks, groves, 1 Milinda, p. 6. 2 Vinayn, i, p. 30 m Samantapdaddika, i, p. 119; Paramatthajotila, II, p. 443; Visuddhimagga, i, p. 206. 8 Law, Geography, p. xvi. 4 Sutta-nypata, verse 552; Paramatthajotika, II, p. 121. 6 Paramatthajotika, II, p. 437. * Ibid., II, p. 59. Cf. Jataka, iv, p. 84. 7 Malalasekora, op. cit., i, p. 941. Page #16 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 8 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS lakes, etc., in Jambudvipa, while more numerous were the steep, precipitous places, unfordable rivers, inaccessible mountains, and the rest.1 In accordance with the description in the Jambudiva-pannatti, the Bharatavarsa which is situated to the south of the Himalayas and between the eastern and western seas, abounds in prickly stumps and thorns, uneven and inaccessible roads, hills and dales, fountains and springs, khattas, crevices, rivers and lakes, trees, creepers and shrubs, forests and grasses, thieves, dimbas and damaras, famines and bad times, religious sects, the poor and destituto, emorgencies and epidemios, wicked persons, drought, diseases, iniquities and constant commotions. It appears from the north like a bedstead, and from the south, like a bow (uttarao paliamkasamthana-samthie, dahinao dhanupittha-samthie). By the two large rivers, Ganga and Sindhu, and the Vaitadhya mountain range it is divided into six portions (chabbhaga-pavibhatte). It is 52644 leagues in extent.? As for the number and location of the dyipas, the Pali account may be shown to have followed the same tradition as that in the Mahabharata which, too, speaks of just four great continents and locates them on four sides of the golden mountain of Meru or Sumeru. The continent 1 Anguttara, i, p. 86; Malalasekera, op. cit., i, p. 941. 2 Jambudiva-panpatti, i, 9. Page #17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY o 9 on the west side is, however, called Ketumala instead of Aparagodana, and that on the east side, Bhadrasva instead of Pubbavideha. The continent on the north side is called Uttarakuru, precisely as in Pali. To the north of Harivarsa and in between the two mountain rangos of Nila (on the north) and Nisadha (on the south) lie two other ranges, the eastern, called Malyavat, and the western, called Gandhamadana. Encircling the space botween them stands the Meru. mountain. As in Pali texts, the Jambudivapannatti and the Puranas, so in the Great Epio the name of Jambudvipa is derived from a mighty Jambu tree, called Sudarsana, which, too, is located in a spot between the two ranges of Nila and Nisadha. The origin of the Jambu river is accounted for, exactly as in Pali texts, by an accumulated flow of the juice of rose-apples that grow on that Jambu tree. The Mahabharata agrees with the Jambudivapannatti and the Puranas when it speaks of six varsaparvatas in Jambudvipa. These are: Himavan, Hemakuta, Nisadha, Nila, Sveta and Srngavan, enumerated from south to north, each forming a long range from sea to sea or ocean to ocean. Bharatavarsa is, of course, placed to 1 Mahabharata, Bhigmaparva, 6.12, 13; 7.13; 6.31; 7.13, 14, 2 Ibrd., 6.9, 10. 8 Ibid., 7.19, 20. 4 Ibid., 7.22-26. 6 Ibid., 6.3-0. Page #18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 10 INDIA, AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS the south of the first. It also speaks of seven divyagangas or celestial rivers: Nalini, Pavani, Sarasvati, Jambu, Sila, Ganga and Sindhu.1 The origin of Ganga is traced to a lake called Bindusara, which is situated in the middle of three peaks, Kailasa, Mainaka and Hiranyastnga. The Jambudiva-pannatti connects the origin of Ganga with a flow through the castorn outlet of a great lake in the Lesser Himalayan range, called Mahapadmahrada, and that of Sindhu with a flow through its western outlet. It speaks of a similar lake in the Greator Himalayan range. The doscription of the lako with four toranas or outlets is akin to the Buddhist account of the lake Anotattar, to which it refers the origin of the fivo grcat rivers flowing eastwards. Anotatta, too, is liko the Jaina Padmahrada, a lotus lake with four mukhas (outlets) on its four sides, from cach of which flows a river. Beginning from the east, the qutlets are called Sibamukha (the Lion faco), Hatthimukha (the Elephant face), Assamukha (the Horse face), and Usabhamukha (the Bull face). The four rivers that flow, according to the Jambudiva-pannatti, from the four outlets of the Lotus lake are, Ganga, Rohita, Sindhu and Harikanta. 1 Mahabharata, Bhiamaparva, 6.49, 60. 3 Ibid., 6.43, 44. 8 Papancasilani, ii, p. 686. * Jambudiva-pampatti, iv, 34, 35. Page #19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 11 The long description in the Pali commentaries 1 of the origin of five rivers, Ganga, Yamuna, Aciravati, Sarabhu and Mahi from the Anotatta lake may be best summed up in the words of Dr. Malalasekera: the river which flows out through the south channel circles the lake three times under the name of Avattaganga, then as Kanhaganga flows straight for sixty, leagues along the surface of a rock, comos into violent contact with a vertical rock, and is. thrown upwards as a coluinn of water three gavulas in circumference; this column, known as Alusuganga, flows through the air for sixty lcaguos, falls on to the rock Tiyaggala, excavating it to a depth of fifty leagues, thus forming a lake which is called Tiyaggalapokkharani; thon the river, under the name of Bahalaganga, flows through a chasm in the rock for sixty leagues, then under the name of Ummaggaganga, 2 through a tunnol for a further sixty leagues, and finally coming upon the oblique.rock Vijjha, divides into five streams forming the five rivers'.8 1 Papancasudant, Sinhalese od., 11, p. 686; Manorathapurani, u, pp. 759-60; Paramathajotika, II, pp. 437-9. 2 The Ajivikas cherished a tradition of seven Ganga which they know as Garga, Mahagaiga (perhaps, Ganga proper), Svadhinaganga, Msduganga, Lohitageiga (evidently Lauhitya or Brahmaputra), Avantigaoga (evidently Avanti), and Paramavantiganga. Of Rockhill, Life of the Buddha, p. 268. 8 Malalasekera, op. cit., i, pp. 783-34. Page #20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 12 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS A similar account of the origin and course of Ganga and Sindhu is presented in the Jumb udivapannatti. But what is really important in it is the suggestion that thousands of other rivers fall into the Ganges through which they enter the eastern sea,t not directly. The same as to the Indus. The identification of the Pali Anotatta lake with the Bindusara in the Mahabharata and the Manas-sarovara of popular fanc may be justified by the fact that, like the latter, the former is associated with Kelasa or Kailasa. In Pali commentaries it is said to bo onclosed by fivo Himalayan peaks, known as Sudassanakuta, Citrakuta, Kalakuta, Gandhamadlana and Kelasa. In the Jambudiva-pannatti we have mention of eight peaks (kutas) of the Greater Himalayan range, of eleven of the Lesser range, and of nine of the Vaitadhya range which divides India into two halves: Aryavarta and Daksinatya. The eight Mahahimavanta kutas are Siddhayatana, Mahahimavadadhisthats, Haimavatapati, Rohitanadisuri, Arisuri, Harikantanadisuri, Harivarsapati and Vaidurya. The eleven in Jambudava-pannatti, iv, 34: puratthabhimuhi avattasamani coddasahim salilasahassehi samagga ahe jagaing dalaitta puratthim. enam lavenasamuddarp samappei. ? Papancasudant, ii, p. 585; Manorathapurani, ii, p. 759. * Jambudiva-franziatti, iv, 80. Page #21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY connected with the Lessor range comprise Siddhayatana, Ksudrahimayadgiri, Kumaradeva, etc. The list of nine peaks associated with the Vaitadhya range begins with Siddhayatana and ends in Tamisraguha. The names are too ingeniously Jaina to be considered genuine and identifiable. True that in it, precisely as in the Mahabharata, and the Markandeya Purana, Bharatavarsa is described as a peninsula with seas on its three sides, cast, south and west. But is it not somewhat far-fetched to represent the topographical outline of the Deccan figuratively by the shape of a half-moon (addhacamdasamthanasamthie)? To the Buddhists, as we saw, Jambudvipa is shaped like a bullock-cart with its face towards the south. In the Great Epic the shape is poetically conceived as one resembling, from south and north, a bended bow of which the string being pulled by the hand forms an apex at Dhanuskoti, Ramasebu or Ramesyaram. In the Markandeya Purana the shape of India, according to one description, is like that of a tortoise (kurma) which lies outspread, with its face towards the east, and, 1 Jambudtua-pampatti, iv, 35. % Ibid., i, 12. 8 Ibid., i, 10. 4 Mahabharata, Bhismaperva, 6.88. 5 Markandeya Purana, Ohaps, 57-58, Page #22 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 14 IKDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS according to another, like that of a peninsula with the Himalayan range stretching along on its north, like the string of a bow.l According to Hiuen Tsang, the north part is broad, the southern part narrow. As in the Jambudivapannatti, he describes its shape as one like that of a half-moon. All these images are suggestive, though only approximately accurate. . In agreement with the Great Epic S and the ,,Puranas, the. Jambudiva-pannatti derives the name of Bharatavarsa from king Bharata whose sovereignty was established over it. It speaks of six divisions (bheda; khanda) in Northern India, and of three divisions in Southern, Eastern, Western and Middle. Those are all internal divisions of India proper. The vine bhedas or parts of Varahamihira conforming, as . they do, to the centre and eight of the ten points of the compass: eastern, southern, Western, northern, south-eastern, south-western, north-western and north eastern (also suggested by the Jainas), are all internal. The nine bhedas or khandas mentioned in the Markandeya Purana and the Siddhantasiromani (iii, 41),n and somewhat differently enumerated in the Vamana and Garuda Puranas go as to count Kataha and 1 Markandega Puranai, Chap: 57: Dalisino parato hyasya purvena : che mahodadhi) Himavan uttarsnasya kermukasya yatha gunah. S. Beal, Buddhist Records of this Western World; i, pi :70. :. a Mahabharata, Bhiemaparva, uur, 41. Page #23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 15 Simhala dvipas among them, were all internal even as they were explained to Alberuni and Abul Fazl. But reading between the lines, one may find that the Markundeya description hardly leaves room for doubt that only the ninth of nine dvspas constituting the Bharatavarsa, elsewhere called Kumara, Kumari or Kumarika, was the India proper. The Markundeya Purana gives it a length of one thousand yojanas from south to north. Like Bharatavarsa in the Jambudiva-pannalti,2 Jambudvipa in Pali texts is described as the kingdom of a king overlord (cakkavatti).3 Accordingly Jambudvipa finds mention in Puli as tho contiuent over the whole of which the sovorcignty (okarajjabhisekam) of Dhammasoka prevailed. 4 In Asoka's own description Jambudvipa, which was somewhat wider than his own kingdom (vijita), was certainly the whole of India where he succeeded in creating a sphere of righteousness. He gives it a length of six hundred leagues, As for countries and peoples (janapada), the Markandeya. Purana introduces them, adopting 1 Law, Geographical Essays, p. 120. 2 Jambridiva-pannatti, iii, 41: Bharahe vace ....Bharahe namam raya cauramta cakkavatti samuppajjittha. | 3 Auguttata, iv, p.190: Cakkovatti Bhum roj& Jumbusandassa issaro. 4 Samantapasadika, i, p. 41. 6 M.R.E. and R.E. XIII. Page #24 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 16 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS the following system of classification: (1) those belonging to Madhyadesa (Middle country); (2) those to Udicya (Northern region); (3) those to Pracya (Eastern India); (4) those to Daksinapatha or Daksinatya (Deccan); (5) those to Aparanta (Western India); (6) those to the Vindhya region (Vindhya or Vindhyaprstha); . and (7) those which are mountainous (parvata Grayi).1 These may be shown to have been a A result of further systematisation froin the Mahabharata, Bhismaparva, Ch. 9, in which the divisions Praoya, Udioya, Daksina, Aparanta and Parvatiya are distinctly mentioned, and the remaining two are implied. The five traditional divisions of India, as met with in Hinen Teang's Si-yu-ki and the Bhuvanakosa of the Purinas are: as enumerated in the formor-northern, southern, eastern, western and centrala, and as in the latter-Madhyadesa (Middle country), Udicya (Northern), Pracya (Eastern), Daksinapatha (Deccan) and Aparanta (Western). Rajasekhara, in his Kavya-mumarsa, offers the following description of them: Tatra Baranasya paratah Purvadesah Mahipmatya paratah Dakginapathah Doyasabhaya paratah Pasoaddesah Psthudakat paratah Uttarapathah 1 Markandeya Pusana, Ohap. 57. 2 Beal, Records, i, p. 70; Omningham, Anoient Geography, p. 186. 8 Thom Aanvanha of winerla Radhim Page #25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 1 17 Vinaganaprayagayoh Ganga-Yamunayonca antaram Antaravedi.' 1 "To the east of Benares is the Eastern India. To the south of Mahismati is the Deccan. To the west of Devasabha is the Western India. To the north (bettor, north-west) is the Northern (better, North-western) India. And the tract lying between Vinasana and Prayaga and between the Ganges and the Jumna is the Inland (same as Midland or Middle country of other texts).' Cunningham elucidates the geographical significance of Hiuen Tsang's 'Five Indies' in the following manner: (1) Northern India comprises the Punjab proper including Kashmir and the adjoining hill States with the whole of eastern Afghanistan beyond the Indus and the present Cis-Sutlej States to the west of the Saraswati river; (2) Western India, Sind and Western Rajputana with Cutch and Gujrat and a portion of the adjoining coast on the lower course of Narmada river; (3) Central India, the whole of the Gangetic provinces from. Thaneswar to the head of the Delta and from the Himalayan mountains to the banks of the Narmada; Karya-mimothsa, p 93. Page #26 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 18 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN PARLY TIXTS (4) Eastern India, Assam and Bengal proper including the whole of the Gangetic Delta together with Sambalpur, Orissa and Ganjam: and (5) Southern India, the whole of the peninsula from Nasik on the west and Ganjam on the east to Cape Comorin on the south including the modern districts of Berar and Telingana, Maharastra and the Konkan with the separate States of Hyderabad, Mysore and Travancore or very nearly the wholo of the peninsula to the south of the Narmada and the Mahanacli rivers. The broad divisions of India, mot with in early Pali texts, are rather six than five. These are: (1) Majjhimadesa (i.e. Madhyadosa or Middle Country); 1 (2) Hemavata or Himavanta (Himalayan region); 2 (3) Uttarapatha (Northwestern region); 8 (4) Dakkhinapatha or Dakkhina janapada (i.e. Daksinatya or Deccan); (5) Pubbanta (Eastern India); and (6) Aparanta (Western India). The Anguttara Nikaya mentions the following sixteen as Mahajanapadas among the countries 1 Vinaya, 1, p. 197; Jataka, i, pp. 49-80. * Mahavamaa, xi, 41; generally called Himavantapadesa in seyeral Jatakas. & Vmaya, iz, p. 6; Samantapdsadrka, i, p. 175; Jataka, ii, p. 277, iv, 79; Divyqvadana, p. 470; Mahavast ili, p. 303; Petavatthua#hakatha, p. 200; Theragathd-affhakathe i, p. 339. * Sutta-nipata, verse 976; Vinaya, i, f. 196-6; ii, p. 298; Jataka, 41, p.403; v, p. 188; Sumangalavilasint, 1, p. 266. Page #27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 19 in Jambudvipa: Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji, Malla, Ceti, Vamsa, Kuru, Panoala, Maccha, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja,1 each named after the people who settled down there or colonised it. As noted by Dr. Malalasekera, the first fourteen are included in the Majjhimadesa, and the last two in Uttarapatha. The Digha Nikaya gives a list of twelve only, omitting the last four, while the Cullaniddesa adds Kalinga to the list and substitutes Yona for the Gandhara. The Jaina Bhagavati Sutra (otherwise called Vyakhyaprajnapti) gives a somewhat different list of sixteen containing Anga, Banga (Vanga), Magadha, Malaya, Malava, Accha, Vaccha (Pali Vamsa), Koccha, Padha (?), Ladha (Radha), Bajji (Pali Vajji), Moli (Malla ?), Kasi, Kosala, Avaha (?), and Sambhuttara (?). A short description of each of the six divisions, as made out from Pali, taking along with it the principal kingdoms, cities, towns, rivers, peoples, eto., is found indispensable in the present chapter. To begin with, I Middle: country (Madhyadega): Madhyadesa has been described in the Dharmasutra 1 Anguttara, i, p. 213; iv, pp. 252, 266, 260. 2 Malalasekera, op. cit., ii, p. 494. 8 According to Markandeya Purana (Chape. 57, 82-35), the comm. tries in Madhyadesa were Matsya, Kubula, Kulya, Kuntala, Kasi, Kosala, Arvuda, Pulinda, Samaka, Vika and Goverdhanapura. It refers Avanti to Aparanta. Page #28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 20 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS of Baudhayana as lying to the east of tho region where the river Saraswati disappears, to the west of the Black forest (Kalakavana), 1 to the north of the Paripatra mountain and to the south of the Himalayas. The eastern boundary excluded not only the country now known as Bengal but Behar which - in ancient days included the whole of Magadhan country, the Buddhist land par excellence. - According to Manu, Madhyadesa extends from the Himalayas in the north to tho Vindhyas in the south and from Vinasana (the place whore the river Saraswati disappears) in tlio west to Prayag in the east. It is otherwiso kuown as Antaravedi or Inland which extends up to Benares in the east. The Buddhist writor would extend the boundary of Madhyadesa farther towards the east so as to include Anga and Magadha. According to tho Mahavagga 6 of the Vinaya Pitaka, it extends in the east to the town of Kajangala e beyond which was the city 1 Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, li and xli, f.n. 1. 2 Baudhayana, 1, 1, 2, 9, etc. 8 Manu, u, 21 Humavad-vindhyayor madhye yat prag vim asanadapipratyagava Prayagao ca Madhyadejah prakirttitah' 4 Kovya-mamamsa, p 93 The same extension is implied also in the Markandeya Purana. 5 Vol. V, pp. 12-13. & Identicatwith Ka chu-wen-kilo of Yuan Chwang which lay at a distance of above 400 lz east from Campa (Bhagalpur). Of. Sumangalavdasint 11, 429, as to Kajangala forming the eastern boundary of the Madhyadeau Also see Jat, uu, 226-7; 1v, 310. Page #29 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 21 of Mahasala; in the south-east, to the river Salalavati (Saravati); in the south, to the town of Setakannika; in the west, to the Brahman district of Thuna; 1 and in the north, to the Usiradhvaja mountain. The Divyavadana (pp. 21-22) extends its eastern boundary still farther so as to include Pundavardhana which in ancient times included Varendra (roughly identical with North Bengal). It is 300 yojanas in length, 250 yojanas in breadth and 900 yojanas in circuit.8 Thus it may be shown that the definition of the Middle country was not the same at all times and with all the authorities. In Manu, ii, 19, Kuruksetra, Matsya, Pancala and Surasena, are included in Brahmarsidesa, while the Markandeya Purana includes them in Madhyadesa, Manu's Middle country is a tract between Vinasana and Prayaga, while in the above Purana and the Kavya-mimarsa it extends so far east as to include Kasi and Kosala. The Pali list of six principal cities in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta (Digha, ii, p. 146): Campa, Rajagaha, Savatthi, Saketa, Kosambi and Baranasi, suggests an extension which included i Oongult Cunningham, Ancient Geography of India, Introd. xlin, f.n.2, as to the identification of Thung with Sthanesvara: also see Jat., vi, 62. 2 It may be said to be identical with Usiragiri, a mountain to the north of Kankhal, I.A., 1905, 179. 8 JRAS., 1904, p. 86. Page #30 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 22 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY Kasi, Kosala and Vatsa in the west but excluded Avanti and Surasena. These two countries have been expressly excluded in the Vinaya Pitaka from the Middle country. Dr. Malalasekera has not cited any Pali authority justifying their inclusion in the Majjhimadesa. The seven representative rivers of this division are enumerated in one list as Bahuka (Bahuka),1 Adhikakka, Gaya, Sundarika, Sarassati, Payaga - and Bahumati, and in another list as Ganga, Yamuna, Sarabhu, Sarassati, Aciravati, Mahi and Mahanadi. The Jataka mentions the Dona and Timbaru along with the Bahuka and Gaya. Here Bahuka is evidently the same river as Vahuda in the Mahabharata,* which the Markandeya Purana connects with the Himalayas along with Ganga and Yamuna.5 The Adhikakka remains yet to be identified. The Gaya is no other than the Phalgu forming just a united flow of the Neranjara (Nairanjana) of Buddhist fame and the Mahanadi (Mohana of Brahmanical fame)." The Sundarika was a sacred river in Kosala. The Sarassati is identified with the famous Sarasvati which taking its rise in the Himalayas, disappears at 1 Jataka, v, p. 389. 2 Viauddhimagga, i, p. 10. * Jaka, Tp. 388f. 4 Mahabharata, iii, 84.67. 5 Markandeya Purana, Chap. 57. 6 Barua, Gaya and Buddhagaya, i, p. 87f. Page #31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 23 ' Viltkisana. The Payaga must have represented the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna at Prayaga (Allahabad).1 The Ganga and Yamuna do not need much comment. The Bhagirathi Ganga flowed through Panchala dividing it into Uttara (Northern) and Daksina (Southern), Kampilla, the capital of the latter standing on its right bank. The Yamuna served as a . boundary between Surasena and Kosala and further down, between Vamsa (Vatsa) and Kobala, Madhura, the capital of Surasena and Kosambi, the capital of Vansa standing on its right bank. The Sarabhu is to be identified with the Sarayu in the Ramayana, on the left bank of which stood and still stands Ayodhya, the ancient capital of Kosala (Uttara Kosala). The Aciravati is modern Rapti on the right bank of which stood Savatthi (Sravasti), the third or last capital of Kosala. The Mabi (Mahamahi Ganga) is a tributary of the Ganges; a river of this name is associated in the Markandeya Purana with the Paripatra range. The Bahumati, Dona and Timbaru are still to be identified. The Jaina Bhagavata Sutra and the Pali Manorathapurani speak of a certain Mahaganga 1 Barua, op. oit., i, th. 87. 2 Lew, 81 avasti m Indian Literature, p. 9. 3 Markandeya Purana, Chap. 57. 4 Manorathapurani (Sinhalese ed.), ii, p. 7611. Page #32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 24 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS which was either the confluence of the Neranjara and the Mahanadi or the river Sona.1 To the east beyond Prayaga the united flow of the Ganga and Yamuna bore the name of Ganga. It is this Ganga which formed a boundary between kingdoms of Kasi and Magadha. Baranasi, the capital of Kasi, stood on its left bank. Further down it formed a boundary between Videha and Vesali on the north and Magadha, Anga and Kajangala on the south, on the right bank of which stood and still stand Pataliputta, the second or last capital of Magadha and Campa, the capital of Anga. In the early Pali texts we have mention of three other rivers in Madhyadesa that were of minor importance: Anoma, Rohini and Kakuttha. The first was a river thirty leagues to the east of Kapilavatthu which obviously formed boundary between the territory of the Sakyas and that of the Mallas. According to the Lalitavistara, however, the distance of the river from the Sakya capital was six leagues only.* The second, Rohini, was a small river which divided the Sakyan and Koliyan territories." Cunningham identifies it with the modern Rowai a F 1 Manorathapurani (Sinhalese ed.), i, p. 761f. 2 Majjhima, I, Vatthupamasutta. 3 Jataka, i,p. 64f.; Paramatthajotika, II, p. 382; Malalasekera p. cit., i, p. 102. 4 Lalitavistara, ed. Lefmann. 5 Jataka, v, p. 412; Paramatthajotika, II, p. 358. Page #33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 25 or Rohwaini, a small stream which joins the Rapti at Gorakhpur.1 According to Dhammapala, it flowed from north to south to the northwest of Rajagaha. And the third, Kakuttha, was a river near Kusinara 3 which appears to have formed, at one point at least, a boundary between the two Malla territories. Other rivers mentioned are: Campa, Kosiki, Migasammata, . Hirannavati, Sappini, Sutanu, Salalavati and Vettavati. Of them, the Campa formed a boundary between Anga in the east and Magadha in the west. It is probably the same river as one to the west of Campanagar and Nathnagar in the suburb of the town of Bhagalpur. The Kosiki, modern Kuai, is just a branch of the Ganges,5 The Migasammata was a river which rising in the Himalayas flowed into the Ganges. The Hirannavati is the Little Gandak and the same as Ajitavati near Kusinara which flows through the district of Gorakhpur about eight miles west of the Great Gandak and falls into the Ghogra (Sarayu). On the bank of it once stood the Sal forest of the Mallas of Kusinara.? 1 Arch. Surv. of India, xii, p. 190f. 2 Therigatha-atthakaina, i, p. 501; Malalasekera, op, oit., il, p. 762. 8 Digha, ii, pp. 129, 184f.; Udana, viii, 5. 4 Jataka, iv, p. 454. 8 Ibid., v, pp. 2, 5, 6. The river is called Koaika And Kosikiganga. & Ibid., vi, p. 72. Digha, u, p. 187. Page #34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 26 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS The Sappini, modern Pancana, was a small stream at Rajagaha. Similarly Sutanu was a small stream at Savatthi2 which must have fallen into the Aciravati. The Salalavati (Saravati in the Divyavadana, better Saranavati), probably modern Suvarnarekha, formed, as we saw, the south-east boundary of the Middle country. And the Vettavati, modern Betwa in Bhopal, is an affluent of the Yamuna on the bank of which stood the city of Vetravati, and farther south-west, stands Bhilsa or ancient Vidisa.8 As regards the hills, mention is froquently made of Gayasisa, the principal hill of Gaya,4 which is the modern Brahmayoni and identical with what is called Gayasira in the Mahabharata, 5 and Gayasira in the Puranas. The Pali commentaries account for the origin of its name by the striking resemblance of its shape with that of the head of an elephant (gajasisa). The Mahobharata speaks of twenty-five hills of Gaya including the Gayasira, but the early texts of Buddhism ignore all but the Gayasisa. The hills called Pragbodhi by Hinen Tsang 8 on the 1 Anguttara, 11, p. 29. 2 Samyuta, v, p. 297. 8 Jataka, iv, p. 388. 4 Vinaya, i. p. 34f.; ti, p. 199. 6 Mahabharata, ii, 95.9; Barua, op. oit., i, p. 74. Barua, op. cit., i, p. 88. 7 Saratthappakasint, ili, 4. 8 Real, Buddhist Records, ii, p. 114. Page #35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY other side of the Gaya river are vaguely referred to but nowhere mentioned by name. In the Barabar Hill-Cave inscriptions of Asoka and Patanjali's Mahabhasya1 we have mention of a set of hills under the name of Khalatika. The same finds mention in the Mahabharata, the Hathigumpha and two other inscriptions as Gorathagiri or Goradhagiri from which one could have a view of Rajagaha or Giribbaja, the earlier capital of Magadha. This group of hills. came to be designated in some of the mediaval inscriptions as Pravaragiri which has given rise to the modern name Barabar. 1 Mahabhasya, i, 2.2. * Mahabharata, Sabhaparva, Ch. xx, v, 30. 1 The Pali Isigili Sutta names the five hills surrounding the city of Rajagaha, taking them in the very order in which they stood to each other and beginning with Isigili: Isigili, Vebhara, Pandava, Vepulla and Gijjhakuta. In the Theragatha, verse 41, the Vebhara and Pandava are mentioned as two hills that stood side by side. The canonical order of the five names was changed in the commentaries, one of them enumerating them as Pandava, Gijjhakuta, Vebhara, Isigili and Vepulla, and another as Isigili, Vepulla, Vebhara, Pandava and Gijjhakuta. The Mahabharata contains two lists, one 5 3 Majjhima, iii, p. 68f. 5 Vimanavatthu-atthakatha, p. 82. 27 8 4 Paramatthajotika, II, p. 382. " Page #36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 28 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS naming the five hills as Vaiharavipula, Varaha, Vrsabha, Rsigiri and Subhacaityaka,1 and the other as Pandara, Vipula, Varaha, Caityaka and Matanga. A comparison of the two lists may show that Vipula is the same name as Vaiharavipula, Caityaka is identical with Subhacaityaka, and Vrsabha and Matanga are substituted respectively for Pandara (= Pali Pandava) and Rsigiri (= Pali Isigili), the name Varaha being common to both the lists. By the name Caityaka or Subhacaityaka may have been meant no other hill than the Buddhist Gijjhakuta or Grdhrakuta. The Jainas following a much later tradition of their own name locate the sevon hills thus: 'If one enters Rajgir from the north, the hill which lies to the right is Vaibharagiri; that which lies to the left is Vipulaparvata or Vipulagiri; the one which stands at right angles to the Vipula and runs southward parallel to the Vaibhara is Ratnagiri; the one forming the eastern extension of the Ratnagiri is Chathagiri, and the hill that stands next to Chathagiri in continuation of Ratnagiri is Sailagiri. The one opposite to the Chathagiri is Udayagiri; that which lies to the south of Ratnagiri and the west of the Udaya is Sonagiri. The Vaibhara 1 Mahabharsta, 11, 21,2. 2 Ibid., ii, 21.11. 3 Law, Rajagriha in Ancient Literature, pp. 2f., 28f. Page #37 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 29 giri extends southward and westward ultimately to form the western entrance of Rajgir with the Sonagiri.' 1 A list of seven hills may be made out from the Pali texts with the addition of Kalasila, a black rock on a side of Isigili, and that of Patibhanakuta, an echoing peak with a fearful precipice (subhayanako papato) in the neighbourhood of, Gijjhakuta, to the traditional list of five. These very texts speak of Indakuta noar Gijjhakuta and Vediyaka hil, identified by Cunningham with the Giriyak, the latter containing the famous cavo, called Indasala-guha 6 (wrongly Sanskritised as Indrasaila-guha). It may safely be maintained that the group of five Rajgir hills formed, as it now forms, the head, and the Vediyaka the tail of one and the same short range running from west to east over a distance of nine miles from Rajgir to the village of Giriyak or Giryek. Among the five hills of Rajagaha all but the Isigili bore different names in different ages. The Vepulla mountain, for instance, was known in a very remote age by the name of Pacinavamsa and the people of the locality were then 1 Law, op. cit., p. 3. 2 Digha, u, pp. 116-7. a Samyutta, v, p. 448. 4 Ibid., i, p. 206. 6 Digha, ii, p. 263; Sumangalavilasint, iii, p. 697. 8 Majjhima, iii, p. 68F. Page #38 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 30 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS known as Tivaras. In the next stage the name of the bill was changed to Vankaka, and that of the people to Rohitassas. In the third stage the hill received the name of Supassa and the people became known by the name of Suppiyas. It is in the fourth or last stage that the hill became known as Vepulla and the people by the name of Magadhas. With the Pi-pu-lo (Vipula, better, Vaibaravipula) hill to the west of the north gate of Rajagaha Hiuen Tsang associated five hundred hot springs of which several scores, somo cold, some tepid, remainod at his time. The source of them was traced to the Anotatta lako. In the Jaina Vividhaturthakalpa the Vaibharagiri is described as the sacred hill affording tho possibility of the formation of kundas of tepid and cold water (taptasilambukundani). The Pali and Epic traditions, too, speak of hot springs in connection with Rajagaha,' while Buddhaghosa definitely refers them to the Vebhara hill.4 The Indasalaguha in the Vediyaka hill was not the only cave in the Rajgir or Giryek range. The Rajagaha hills abounded in- guhas and kandaras, caves and crevices, sufficient to offer accommodation, according to the Vinaya 1 Samyutta, u, p. 190f.; Law, op. cit., p. 32. 2 Watters, Yuan Ohwang, ii, pp. 163-4. 8 saratthappakasint, i, p. 88. 4 Imid. Page #39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 31 Cullavagga,1 for five hundred brethren. Among the caves, those worthy of mention were the Pippali (or Pipphali) and Sattapanni, both associated with the Vebhara hill. Both of them were situated on the north side of this bill. And among the crevices, those enjoying importance were these four: Kapota-kandara. Gomata-kandara, Tinduka-kandara and Tapodakandara.3 The Pasanaka-cotiya was a holy rock not far from Rajagaha.* Besides these hills there were in the Middle country some natural forests (svayamjatavana) and somo hill-tracts. The Kurujangala, for instance, was a wild region in the Kuru realm which extended as far partib as the Kamyaka forest and which in all likelihood separated the Kuru realm from Pancala. According to one tradition, the kingdom of Uttara pancala was founded in this very jungle tract. The Parileyyakavana was an elephant-forest at some distance from the city of Kosambi and on the way to Savatthi. The Anjanavana at Saketa, the Mahavana at Vesali and the Mahavana, at Kapilavatthu were natural forests. The latter Mahavana lay in one stretch up to the foot of 1 Vinaya, ii, p. 76. 2 Udana, i, 6; i, 7; Digha, ii, p. 116. a Udana, iv, 4; Law, op. cit., p. 11. 4 Sutta-nipata, verse 1013. 6 Samyutta, ii, p. 96; Vinaya, i, p. 352; Udana, iv, Page #40 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 2 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS the Himalayas.1 The Lumbinivana, a village in the time of Asoka, situated on the bank of the Rohini on the Kapilavatthu side, was a similar forest. The Nagavana, an elephant-forest at Hatthigama in the Vajji realm, the Salavana of the Mallas at Kusinara,4 the Bhesakalavana at Sumsumaragira in the realm of the Bhaggas, the Simsapavana at Kosambi,o the one to the north of Setavya in Kosala," the one near Alavi and the Pipphalivana of the Moriyas 8 may be cited as othor typical instances of natural forcsts. The Alavi (Ardhamagadhi, Alabhi), identified by Cunningham and Hoernle with Nowal or Nawal in Unao district in U.P. and by Nandolal Dey with Aviwa, 27 miles north-east of Etwah," was, as its namo implies, a forest tract and formed a Yaksa principality.10 Similarly Kajangala, which lay to the east of Anga and extended from the Ganges in the north-east to the Salalavati or Suvarnarekha in the south-east, was an extensive hill-tract in the Mid-land. The 1 Sumangalavilasint, i, 309. 2 Jatalca, i, p. 52f.; Kathavatthu, pp. 97, 559; Manorathapurani, i, p. 10. 3 Anguttara, iv, p. 213. 4 Digha, ii, p. 146f. 6 Wrongly spelt Sumsumarugiri. Majjhima, i, p. 95;ii, p. 91, etc. 6 Samyutte, v, p. 437. 7 Digha, u, p. 316. 8 Ibid, ii, p. 164f. * Law, Geography of Early Buddhism, p. 24. 10 Raychaudhuri, op. cit., pp. 160-1. Page #41 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPIY Vinjhatavi represented the forests surrounding the Vindhya range, through which lay the way from Pataliputta to Tamalitti. According to Buddhaghosa, it was then a forest without any human habitation (agamakam arannam). Over and above the natural forests and jungles there were hundreds and thousands of private and royal gardens and parks, and in some of the parks tho deer, set at liberty, roamed about freely. The migadaya (mrgadava) at Isipatana near Benares, the one at Maddakucchi in Rajagaha, and that at Bhesakalavana were three among the notable deer-parks. Besides the tanks, large and small (talaka-pokkharani) and wells (kupa, udapana), in which the Mid-land abounded, thero were several natural pools (jatasaras) and lakes (dahas), though none of them were so very important as to find mention by name, It may, perhaps, be safely premised that the realms visited by the Buddha were all included ; by the Buddhists in their Middle country. Such realms were Kuru and Panchala in the west and north-west, Vamsa or Vatsa in the west and south-west, Kasi and Kosala in the middle, the Sakya and Koliya in the north, the Vajji and Malla in the east and north-east, and Anga; 1 Mahavamsa, xix, 6; Dipavamsa, xvi, 2. 2 Samantapasadika, iii, p. 666. Page #42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 34 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS Magadha and Kajangala in the east and southeast. The Buddhist Mid-land may be shown to lave constituted the upper Gangetic valley between the Himalayas in the north and the Vindhya (Pali Vinjha) range in the south. Within this area the Pali texts include a few other small tracts, such as the Ramagama of the Koliyas, the Pipphaliyana of the Moriyas, the Allakappa (Adrakalpa) of the Bulis, Vethadipa the native land of the Brahmin Dona, the realm of Bhaggas, and the Kesaputta of tho Kalamas. According to the Mahagovinda Suttanta, Mabagovinda, the Brahmin chaplain to king Renu, divided his empire into sovon separate kingdoms with their respective capitals as named below: 1. Kalinga, capital Dantapura, 2. Assaka, capital Potana. 3. Avanti, capital Mahissati. Sovira, capital Roruka. ,5. Videha, capital Mithila, 6. Anga, capital Campa. 7. Kasi, capital Baranasi. Of these, the last three only were included in the Majjhimadosa. Kururattha: The Kuru kingdom which extended from the Sarasvati to the Ganges 1 Bigha, ii, p. 184. 3 Digha,"li, p. 920f. 2 Anguttara, i, p. 188. Page #43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY , 35 consisted of these three parts: Kurujangala, the Kuru-land proper and Kuruksetra. According to Pali tradition, the people originally coming froin Uttarakuru, colonised it, whence the name Kuru. In the Mahabharata (i, 109.10) it is aptly called Daksinakuru, vying as it did with Uttarakuru in its glory, splendour, prosperity and righteousness. The Kurujangala, as its name implies, was the jungle tract of the Kuru-land which extended as far as the Kamyaka , forest. There is a tradition to the effect that the kingdom of Uttarapancala was founded in this very part of Kuru, in which case it must have stood on the left bank of the Bhagirathi Ganga. It is, therefore, not astonishing at all that in the Somanassa Jataka Uttarapancala finds mention as a city in the Kururattha. The kingdom proper had Hastinapura for its capital,) Indapatta (Indraprastha) near modern Delhi, according to the Jatakas. The kingdom was three hundred leagues in extent, and its capital seven hundred leagues in circumference, The Taittiriya Aranyaka locates Kuruksetra to the north of Khandava, to the south of the Turghna and to the east of the Parina, while the Great Epic definitely places it to the south 2. Jataka, iv, p. 444. 1 Mahabharata, 1, 108 1. 8 Drvyavadana, p. 436. 4,5 Jataka, v, pp. 57, 484, vi, p. 256. 6 Vedic Inder, 1, p 169f. Page #44 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 36 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS of the Sarasvati and the north of the Drsadvati, between Taruntuka and Arantuka and between the lakes of Rama and Macakruka. In Pali we have mention of Kammasadamma (also spelt, Kammasadhamma), and Thullakotthita 8 as its two townships (nigama). The Jatakas even speak of two townships by the name of Kammasadhamma, one distinguished from the other as maha from cula. The commentaries have their own ingenious explanation for the origin of the name of the first township. But it should be noted that another spelling of its name is Kammasadamma, & name which suggests that the place was a training ground of draught-horses. According to Buddhaghosa, the second township was called Thullakotthita because its granaries were always full (thulla. kottham, paripunna-kotthagaram). The Jaina Uttaradhyayana Sutra speaks of another ancient, wealthy, famous and beautiful town, named Isukara after its ruler Isukara (the Arrowmaker').? Pancala: This country was divided into two kingdoms: Uttarapancala and Dakkhinapancala, 1 Mahabharata, iii, 83.204. ? Digha, ii, pp. 55, 290; Majjhima, i, pp. 56, 601; Samyutta, 11, p. 92. 8 Majjhima, i, p. 54; Manorathapurant, i p. 144. 4,5 Jataka, v, pp. 35, 411. 6 Papancastidani, ii, p. 722. Cf. Avadanasataka, ii, p. 118. 7 Uttaradhyayana, xiv, 1; Raychaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 113. Page #45 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY the Bhagirathi forming the dividing line between them. The northern Pancala had its capital at Ahicchatra 2 (Adhicchatra in Asaohasena's inscriptions), identified with modern Ramnagar in the Bareilly district. According to the Somanassa Jataka, its capital Uttarapancala bore the same name as the janapada.3 The capital of Dakkhinapancala was Kampilla (Sk. Kampilya) which is identical with modern Kampil in the Farokhabad district. In the Kumbhakara Jataka, however, Kampilla, situated on the right bank of the Ganges, is wrongly described as the capital of Uttarapancala. Vamsa (Vatsa): This country, called Vatsabhumi in the Mahabharata, was, as Hiuen Tsang know it, about 6,000 li in circuit, and its capital, Kausambi, about 30 li. "It was a fertile country with a hot climate; it yielded much upland rice and sugarcane; its people were enterprising, fond of the arts, and cultivators of religious merit.'8 In the Lalitavistara, however, its inhabitants are criticised as "rude and rough' (prakstam cha 1 Malalasekera, op. cit., ii, p. 108. 2 Mahabharata, Adiparva, Ch. 140. 3 Jataka, v, p. 444. 4 Ibid., zu, p. 379. 6 Mahabharata, ii, 30. G Watters, op. cit., i, p. 366, Page #46 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 38 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS cannam cha). The Aitarcya Brahmana (vii, 14.3) places it, together with Usinara, Kuru and Pancala in the Dhruvamadhyama dik (i.e. Madhyadesa). The Anguttara Nikaya describes it as a land which was very rich and prosperous, a while the Arthasastra testifies to the high quality of its cotton fabrics.d Kausambi which was all along its capital is rightly identified by Cunningham with the present village of Kosam on the right bank of the Yamuna. Even apart from retaining the name of Kosambi, Kosam is situated on a bank of the Yamuna as it should be according to Pali tradition. The present distance by road of about 100 miles from Benares to Kosam is the distance of 13 yojanas suggested by F'a Hien.4 According to Hinen Tsang, a way from Prayaga (Allahabad) to Kausambi lay through a jungle and bare plains covering seven days' journey on foot. Kosam is about 30 miles from Allahabad across the fields and 137 miles by road above the Yamuna. At a distance of about 27 miles north-east of Kosam is the village of Pabhosa where two caves were dedicated to the Kassapiyas by a king of Ahicchatra. 1 Lalitavistara, ed. Lefmann, p. 21. 2 Anguitdra, iv, pp. 262, 256, 260; Manorathapurani, i, p. 806f.; Spence Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, p. 501. & Shamasastri's Tr., p. 94. 4 Watters, op. cit., i, p. 387. 5 Watters, op. oit., i, p. 366. Page #47 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 39 In a modern Jaina dedicatory inscription the hill of Pabhosa is placed just outside the town of Kausambi (Kausambi-nagarabahya-Prabhasacalopari). At Kosambi were two famous gardens known as Ghositarama and Pavarikambayana, There was a reserve-forest of Parileyyaka in Vatsa (rather in Ceti) the way to which from Kosambi lay through the village of Balakalonakara and Pacinavamgadaya. Parileyyaka itself stood on a road from Kosambi to Savatth1.2 The Vinaya Culla vagga (xii) records a journey on foot from Kosambi to Ahoganga (Adhoganga) hill, from there to Soreyya, from Soreyya to Samkassa (Samkissa), from there to Kannakujja (Kanauj), from Kannakujja to Udumbara, from there to Aggalapura, and from Aggalapura to Sahajati up to which the country-boats could ply. The Vinaya Pitaka (iii, p. 1f.) records also similar journey from Veranja to Benares via Soreyya, Samkassa and Kannakujja after crossing the Ganges at Payagapatitthana. Bhagga: This was the land of the Bhaggas (Bhargas) which became a dependency of Vatsa with Sumsumaragira as its chief town. The Vinaya, i, p. 387.; Majjhima, i, p. 320; Digha, ih, p. 81. 2 Ibid., i, p. 352.; Samyutta, ui, p. 05; Udana, iv,,6; Majjhima, i, p. 320; Jataka, iii, p. 489, sto. 8 Majjhima, i, p. 382; Anguttara, u, p. 61; vi, p. 85; Vinaya, ii, p. 127, Page #48 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 40 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS ! name of its capital is generally spelt as Sumsumaragiri. But Buddhaghosa expressly says that the city was called Sumsumaragira on account of the fact that while it was being founded, the shriek of a sumsumara (crocodile) was heard. If the spelling giri be correct, the city must have been built either round or in the vicinity of the Sumsumara hill. The location of Bhagga is not as yet settled, though Dr. Malalasekera places it between Vesali and Savatthi 2 without citing any evidence for it. In the Mahabharata, too, the Bharga State is associated with Vatsa. In tho Apadana, Bhagga is mentioned along with Karusa (Karusa),4 which latter is referred in the Markandeya Purana to a neighbourhood of the Vindhya range.5 Cetirattha: The country of the Cetis or Cedis lay near the Yamuna, contiguous to that of the Kurus. It may approximately be identified with the modern Bundelkhand and adjoining region. In the Cetiya Jataka Sotthivati, probably identical with the Sukti or Suktimati of 6 1 Papancasidant, i, Sinhalese ed., p. 292 2 Malalasekera, op. cit., ii, p. 345. P a Mahabharata, ii, 30.10-11; Raychaudhuri, op. cit., p. 159. Also Harivamea, 29.73. * Apadana, ii, p. 359. 6 Markandeya Purana, Chap. 57. 6 Jataka, (Fausboll), iii, pp. 454-461. ? Page #49 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GLOGRAPHY the Mahabharata,1 is mentioned as its capital. Sahajati 2 finds mention as a township of Ceti, which probably stood on the right bank of the Yamuna. Salancanika: appears to have been another township, but according to Dr. Malalasekera, 4 the name is evidently a wrong reading of Sahajati. There was a Deer Park in the village of Pacinavamsa, which, as its name implies, lay to the east of Vatsa, next to the village of Balakalonakara on the side of the Vatsa kingdom. The Vessantara Jataka mentions ono Cetarattha, situated 30 yojanas from the Jetuttara-nagara, through which lay a way to thc Himalayau region. This latter Ceti country is sometimes identificd with the territory covered by the kingdom of Nepal. Kasi: This is one of the most ancient kingdoms in Northern India, with Baranasi (modern Benares) as its capital, twelve yojanas in extent. The city stood, as it now does, on the left bank of the Ganges, and it was known by different names in different ages: Surundhana, Sudassana, Brahmavaddhana, Pupphavati, Ramma and Molini.In Pali texts it is predicted 3 Samyutta, v, p. 436f. 1 Mahabharata, iu, 22260; xiv, 83.2. 2 Anguttara, iii, p. 356. 4 Malalasekera, op. cit., ii, p. 1080. 6 Anguttara, iv, p. 228f. & Jataka, vi, p. 614f. ? Ibid., vi, p. 160. 8 Ibid., iv, pp. 16, 119. Page #50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ . P 42 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS 5 to be the future capital of Jambudvipa. According to Brahmanical literature, the city derived its name from Asi and Baruna,1 the two small streams bounding it on the south and the north respectively. The country was noted as a great centre of trade, most populous and prosperous at the same time, One high way connected it with Rajagaha 2 and another with Savatthi. It was noted for its silk cloth and for perfumes (Kasi-vilepana, Kasi-candana). Vasabhagama, Macchikasanda, Kitagiri and Dhanapalagama are mentioned as notable places. Of them. Kitagiri was a very fertile tract with abundance of rain-water enabling it to yield three harvests of food-grains'. Cundatthila (Cundavila) finds mention in the Petavatthu, iii, i, as a village near Benares but on the other side of the river (Baruna?) and between Vasabhagama and Benares. A locality of this name finds mention in one of the Barhut inscriptions. The most important place near Benares in the history of Buddhism is the Deer Park at Isipatana (Rsipatana, modern Sarnath) eighteen leagues from Uruvela, the place of the Buddha's Enlightenment and three or four miles to the 1 Cunningham, op. cit., pp. 435-6. A 2 Vinaya,ri, p. 212. 4 Jataka,,vi, p. 151. 3 Ibid., 11, p. 10. 5 Ibid., i, f. 355; Anguttara, ii, p. 391. * Barua in J.H.Q., x, p. 63. 7 RAMIA. And Sinha. Barhut Tuorrintione Page #51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY north of the present city of Benares. The old Deer Park still exists about five miles from Sarnath. The ancient city of Benares was a great centre of trade and industry and trade relations existed between it on one side and Savatthi and Takkasila on the other.1 Kosala: A distinction is to be made between Kosala as a janapada and Kosala as an empire. The former was the Kosala proper. The latter comprised five territories including Kosala proper, the remaining four being Kasi with Benarcs as its capital, Alabhi (Pali Alavi) with its capital at Alabhi, Uttarapancala having Kampillapura (better, Ahicchatra) for its capital, and another with Polasapura as its capital. Here we are concerned with the country of Kosala proper which was divided into Uttara and Dakkhina, evidently by the Sarabhu (Sarayu) serving as a wedge between them. The Ramayana and the Vayu Purana speak of two Kosalas, Northern and Southern, the former with Sravasti as its capital and the latter having Kusavati for its capital, Ayodhya (Pali Ayojjha) being the earlier capital of the undivided king. dom. The Ramayana locates Kugavati, the 1 Dhammapada-atthakatha, i, p. 123; ii, p. 429. % Samyutta, i, p. 80, speaks of panoarajano Paseiadi-pamuknd Of. Journal Asiatique, Juillet-Sopt., 1929,--Levi, S.Pre-Aryan et Pre-Dravidian dans l'Inde. 8 See Uvdsaga-dasao discussed in Law's Srdvasti, p.-12. * Ramayana, vii, 120.7; 121.4-6; Vayu Purana, 88, 209. Page #52 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 44 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS capital of Daksina-Kosala at the foot of the Vindhyas. This may have been precisely the city which under the name of Ayodhya is associated in the Jambudiva-pannatti with the Vaitadhya range along which there wero sixty ,,Vidyadhara towns (satthim Vijjhaharanagaravasa),1 referred to also in the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela as Vijadharadhivasa. Besides Ayojjha and Sayatthi, Sakota, too, has been mentioned in some of the oarly Buddhist texts 2 as the capital of Kosala, the northern Kosala. Saketa is said to havo stood on a high road between Savatthi and Kosambi," at a distance of seven relay drivos of royal chariots (satta-ratha-vinitani). Savatthi was called Savatthi either because it was founded near the hermitage of the sage Savattha or because of its great prosperity as a city. It stood on the right bank of the Aciravati (modern Rapti). There is much to be said in favour of Dr. Barua's suggestion that the great trade-route from Rajagaha to Savatthi branched off into two roads, one the Dakkhinapatha or Southern (better, South-western) Road, and the 1 Jambudwa-pannattt, 1, 12. 2 Jataka, un p. 270; Mahavastu, 1, p 34,w. 3 Sutta-nopdta, verges 1011-1013. 4 Mahmas 1, p. 149, 6 Law, Geography, p. 5f 8 Law, Sravasu,'p 9. Page #53 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 45 other Uttarapatha or Northern (better, Northwestern) Road, each lending its name to the region through which it lay1 Ukkattha 2 was an important town in Kosala besides Savatthi and Saketa, and Nangaraka, a township bordering on the Sakya territory, Ulumpa or Medalumpa being the adjoining township on the Sakya side. Setavya on the high road between Kapilapatthu and Savatthi was the headquarters of a chieftain. Among other towns, mention may be made of Dandakappaka,5 Nalakapana 6 and Pankadha.? The Pali texts speak of a few famous Brahmin villages, such as Manasakata (probably the same as Manayasitikada of the Soghaura plate), Ekasala, Iochanangala, Opasada, Nagaravinda and Venagapura. As for other localities, these preserve the names of Toranavatthu on the road between Savatthi and Sakota, Palasavana, a woodland at Nalakapana, Candalakappa,10 and Nalanda.11 1 Barua, Old Brahmi Inscriptions. Digha, i, p. 81. 8 Majjhima, ii, Dhammacetiya Sutta. 4 Sutta-napata, verdes 36-38; Digha, ii, p. 316. 3 Anguttara, iii, p. 402. & Ibid., v, p. 122. 7 Ibid., i, p. 236. 8 Law, Geography, p. 4; Malalasekera, op. cit., i, n. 696; Law, Sravasti, p. 11. 9 Samyutta, iv, p. 374. 10 Majjhima, ii, p. 209. 11 Samuutta, iv. p. 322. Page #54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 46 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS At the south gate of Savatthi and within a distance of about two miles from it was the famous garden of Prince Jeta, at its east gate lay the site of the Pubbarama built by Visakha, and in its neighbourhood stood the Ekasalakatinduka grove of Queen Mallika.1 The Jaina Bhagavati Sutra mentions the settlement of Saravana as the birth-place of Gosala.2 The Sundarika, probably not far from Sapatthi, was a sacred river in Kosala besidos the Sarabhu and Aciravati. The river Sadanira (modern Gandaki) formed a boundary in the east between Kosala and Videha.3 Magadha: The kingdom or country roughly corresponding to the modern Patna and Gaya districts of Behar-was broadly divided into two khettas: Gaya and Magadha 4 from a religious, and may be also from a fiscal point of view. In the Jambudiva-pannatti the latter is distinctly called Magahatitthakhetta. The Ganges formed a natural dividing line between Kasi in the west and Magadha in the east, as well as between Magadha in the south and Videha 1 Sumangalavilasint, u, 365. 2 Law, Sravasti, p. 26. 8 Law, Stravasti in Indian Literature, p. 13. 4 Paramatthajotika, II, p. 301: Gaya n gamo pi tittham pi vuocati; Therigatha-affhakatha, p. 225: Magadharatthe Bodhimanda; Lalita. viatara, Mitra's Edition, XVII, 309: Magadhakanam Gaya; Paramatthajotika, II, p. 683: Magadhakhette paeanakacetiye ; Barua, Gaya and Buddhagaya, 1, p. 83f. Page #55 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY and Vesali in the north. The river Campa (modern Chandan) formed a boundary on the east side botween Magadha and Anga. As for the two khettas of Gaya and Magadha, it may be said that Gorathagiri (Asoka's khalatikapavata) affording a distant view, as it did of Rajagaha, stood just on the borderland of Magadha towards Gaya. The Gaya proper, the holiest place of ancient India, comprised three divisions, all located along the left bank of the Neranjara and the Gaya river (i.e. Phalgu): Uruvela, Nadi (the meeting-place of the Neranjari and the Mahanadi), and Gaya. According to the Mahabharata, the Gaya division contained twenty-five hills (enumerated in the Vayu Purana), of which the Gayasira (modern Brahmayoni hill) was the main. As clearly implied in the Gayamahatmya the hills of Gaya formed the head of a very old range of hills with its navel at Yajpur in Orissa and southern extremity at Mahendragiri. The distance by road from Gaya to Uruvela (modern Bodhagaya) was three gavutas (six or seven miles) then as now.1 The Yruvela division on the banks of the Neranjara, contained Senanigama or Senanigama identified by BiJch with the present village of Urel) and Nala, the native village of Buddhaghosa, the great Pali commentator. 1 'Bodhmandato h Gaya timu, Baranasi attharasa?yojandni Page #56 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 48 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS According to Hiuen Tsang, 'the Uruvela of yore' extended north and cast 14 or 15 li at least from a point near the base of the Gayasirsa hill on the other side of the Phalgu. In its southern extension it was outskirted by an extensive jungle tract of Vankahara janapada (roughly identical with Hazaribagh district)." The way from Gaya to Benares lay through such localities as Aparagaya, Vasala, Cundadvola, Lohitavastu, Gandhapura and Sarathipura on the right bank of the Gangos, opposite to the city of Benares. The earlier capital of Magadha was Rajagaha, also known as Giribbaja. Hiucn Tsang knew it as Kusagrapura (ku-she-ka-lu-pu-lo), a namo corresponding to Kusagrapura, met with in such late works as the Manjusrimulakalpa and Jaina Vividhaturthakalpa. According to the Mahabharata, the city abounded in lodhra grass. Besides the five hills, the guhas, kandaras, tapodas, etc., already discussed in connection with Rajagaha, mention also may be made of the Corapapata, the precipice down which the thieves were thrown, the Sappasondikapabbhara, the tank called Sumagadha, Moranivapa, a feeding ground of the peafowls. The Latthivana (Yastivana) was either a bamboo-forest or palm 1 Barua, Gaya and Buddhagaya, i, p. 106. 2 Mahavastu, u, p. 324f. ; Barua, op. cit., 1, pp. 116.8. 3 Law, Rajagrhi, p. 1. Page #57 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 49 gropron road between Rajagaba and Uruyela.1 Other localities of importance near about Rajagaha, a city provided with sixty-four gates, the four of which were main, were Veluvana, the Bamboo-grove of Bimbisara, Jivaka's Mango-grove, the Royal pleasance at Ambalatthika on the high road from Rajagaha to Vesali, and Pavarika's Mango-grove at Nalanda (identified with the present village of Burgaon). Ekanala finds mention as a famous Brahmin village at Dakkhinagiri. Nalaka was a village in Magadha. The Jaina Bhagavati Sutra speaks of a village by the name of Siddhatthagama. The Jainas lay the scene of Mahavira's demise at Pavapuri on the Bihar Sarif-Nawadah road. The village of Pasaligama stood on the right bank of the Ganges, on the same high road, opposite Kotigama, a locality in an extremity of the Vajji territory. Pataligama having been fortified, gave rise to the city of Pataliputta, the second and later capital of Magadha which suffered thrice from the action of water, fire and earthquake. The Dhammapada-Commentary (ii, p. 439f.) places Rajagaha at a distance of five leagues from the Ganges. The country of Magadha comprised as many as eighty thousand villages. 2,8 Law, op. alt., p. or. 1 Law, op. cit., pp. 18-17. 4 Rookhill, Life of the Buddha, p. 250, 6 Digha, u, 88. & Vinaya, i, p. 179. Page #58 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 50 "NDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY 1 Arga: The kingdom or country or viga, 4,000 li in extent according to Hiuen Tsang, lay to the east of Magadha, separated from the latter by the river Campa. On the north it was bounded by the Ganges. Arga, as described in the Mahabharata, may be supposed to have comprised the districts of Bhagalpur and Monghyr. Its capital Campa on the right bank of the Ganges, formerly known by the name of Malini,1 stood at a distance of sixty yojanas from Mithila.?, Bhaddiya and Assapura are two other cities that find mention. Apana is mentioned as a township in Anguttarapa, a tract which lay 'north of the river Mahi, evidently a part of Arga on the other side of that river." The way from Bhaddiya to Apana lay through Anguttarapa. Anga was a prosperous country and Campa was undoubtedly one of the most flourishing cities and a great centre of trade and commerce. In its neighbourhood was the famous tank of Gaggara. Kajangala: The country of Kajangala formed an eastern boundary of the Middle country just beyond which was a Brahmin village of Mahasala. | Mahabharata, xii, 5.6-7: Ya Malunyabhavat pura. Also Matsya Purana, 48.97; Vayu, 99.106; Harivamsa, 31.49. Jataka, vi, p. 32. 8 Majjhima, 1, p. 271; Dhammapada-athohatha, i, p. 384. Malalasekera, op. cit., p. 22; Paramatthajotiko, II, p. 437. 'Vinaya, i, p. 248f.; Dhammapada-afthakatha, iii, p. 888. -Digha, i, p. I'll; Sumangalavilasint, i, p. 279. Page #59 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 151 The Divyavadana, as already pointed out, fixes the Pundakaksa hill as its eastern boundary beyond which was Pundravardhana in North Bengal, also included in the Mid-land. But there is no justification in saying that the country of Kajangala, with its chief town of the same name, was in any sense identical with Pundravardhana. According to Hiuen Tsang, the country of Kajangala, 2,000 li in circuit, was bounded on the north by the Ganges; the kingdom of Pundravardhana could be reached from its capital by journeying about 600 li eastward across the Ganges. Kajangala was a prosperous place whero food was easily available (dabbasambhara-sulabha).2 The Anguttara, Nikaya 8 speaks of a Bamboo-grove at the town of Kajangala, while in the Majjhima Nikaya, we have mention of another locality named Mukheluvana. At the south-east of this country was the river called Salalavati. Sumbha: This was the land of the Sumbhas with Setaka, Sedaka or Desaka as its chief town. Dr. R. C. Majumdar inclines to identify Sumbha with Suhma (modern Midnapore district). But the location of the tract is uncertain. * Anguttara, v, p. 54f. 1 Beal, Buddhist Records, ni, p. 193f. 2 Jataka, lv, p. 310f. 4 Majjhima, iii, p. 298. 6 Samyutta, v, p. 89; Jataka, 1, p. 393. Page #60 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 52 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Vajji territory: It appears to have comprised the principalities of eight? or nine 2 allied clans. The names of all of them are nowhere given; these are left only to be inferred. The Pali works expressly speak of Vajjigama, a locality of the Vajjis near about Vesali. Vesali (modern Besarh in the Muzaffarpur district of North Bebar) was the headquarters of the Licchavis. The city was rich, prosperous and populous. 'It had 7,707 storied buildings, 7,707 pinnacled houses (kutagaras), 7,707 aramas, and 7,707 lotus ponds', too symmetrical to be accepted as a fact. It was encompassed by three walls at a distance of a gavuta from one another each provided with gates and watch-towers. The early Jaina texts locate Kundagama, the seat of power of the Natas in a suburb of Vesali. The country of the Bhaggas is placed between Vesali and Savatthi. Videha (modern Tirhut), the land of ther Videhas, with Mithila as its capital, was bounded by the Kosiki in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Sadanira in the west, and the Himalayas in the north. Cunningham identi. 1 Sumangalavilasini, ii, p. 619: an inference drawn from the expression atthakulika. * Kalpasutra, seo. 128; Nirayavalt Sutra: an inference drawn from the expression navamallali. 8 Samyutta, v, 348, eto. 4 Vinaya Texta, ii, 171; Lalitavistara, ed. Lefmann, Oh, iii, p. 21. 5 Acarangasutra, Janina Sutras, SBR., vol. xxii, pp. x-xi. * Law, Geography of Early Buddhism, pp. 7, 30, 31. Page #61 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 53 fies Mithila with Janakapura, a small town within the Nepal border, north of which the Mozaffarpur and Darbhanga districts meet'.1 The high road connecting Rajagaha with Kapilavatthu passed through such places in the Vajji territory as Kotigama on the left bank of the Ganges, Nadika, Vesali, Hatthigama, Ambagama and Jambugama. There was a natural forest called Mahavana in the neighbourhood of Vesali. Mithila, the capital of Videha, had at each of its four gates a market town of the Yayamajjhaka shape.8 Ukkacela (but not Ukkavela, met with as a variant) was a Vajjian town on the left bank of the Ganges. Malla country: The kingdom or country of the Mallas, stated to be nine in the Jaina canonical texts, comprised in theory nine territories, one of each of the confederate clans. But the Pali canonical texts bring into prominence the territories of just two of them, one with its headquarters at Kusinara (Kusinagara) and other with Pava as its chief town. The first abutted, on the Sakya territory and the second on the Vajji. Bhoganagara was a Malla 1 Law, Geography of Early Buddhism, pp. 7, 30, ?" % Sumangalavildaini, 1, 309. 8 Jataka, vi, p. 380. 4 Magghima, i, p. 226; Samyutta, iv, p. 261f.; Papancasudant, Sinhalese ed., 1, p. 447. 6 Kalpasutra, 8128; Nirayavali Sutra. Page #62 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 54 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS town between Jambugama and Pava on the high road connecting Vesali with Kapilavatthu,1 The river Kakuttha formed the boundary between the two territories, for after crossing it one could reach the Sal grove of Kusinara on the river Hiranoavati. Kusinara which was just a daub town was in bygone ages the most flourishing and magnificent city of Kusavati, 12 leagues in length from east to west and 7 leagues in breadth from north to south. Anupiya or Anupiya was another Malla town, evidently on the same high road, between Kusinara and the river Anoma,: the latter serving as a dividing line between the Sakya and Malla territories. The Uruvelakappa was yet another Malla town. In' the neighbourhood stood Mahavana which was an extensive forest.4 Of the two cities of Pava and Kusinara, the first may probably be identified with Kasia on the smaller Gandak and to the east of the Gorakhpur district, and the second with the village called Padaraona, 12 miles to the north-east of Kasia. Hiuen Tsang's journey from Kusinagara to Benares covering a distance of 500 li lay through a great forest. 5 1 Digha, d, p. 123; Sutta-nopata, verses 1012-13. . Ibid., 11, p. 146f. * Jataka, 1, pp. 85, 140, Digha, iu, p. 1, Vmaya, 11, pp. 180, 184. * Samyutta, iv, pp. 327, 380, V, p. 228, Anguttara, 10, p 438. 6 Beal, Buddhist Records, 1, p. 43. Page #63 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 55 Sakya and Koliya territories: The Sakya territory lay to the east of Kosala and due south of the Himalayas. It was then rich and prosperous.? Where it bordered on the kingdom of Kosala, there was the Sakya town Ulumpa or Medalumpa, opposite the Kosalan town of Nangaraka. Kapilavatthu (identified by Rhys Davids with Tilaura, two miles from Tauliva in the Nepal Terai), was the capital of the Sakyas. According to Hiuen Tsang, the city was situated to the south-east of Savatthi, at a distance of 500 li or so from the latter. It was situated on the high road which passed through Setavya to connect it with Savatthi.Among other towns, mention is made of Catuma, Samagama, Sakkara, Silavati and Khomadussa. The Koliyas were distinguished as those of Devadaha and those of Ramagama. Accordingly they possessed two territories. That of the former was separated from the Sakya territory by the river Rohini. On the bank of this river on the Sakya side stood Lumbinivana, the birth-place of the Buddha, mentioned in Asoka's inscription as Lumminigama, the modern village of Rummindei, only 10 miles to 1 Sutta-nvpata, vorse 1012. 2 Beal, op ort., 1, p. 18. 8 Sutia-npata, verge 1012. 4 Law, Geography, p. 28. 6 Digha, i, p. 164. Page #64 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 56 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS the east of Kapilavatthu and 2 miles to the north of Bhagavanpur. Devadaha on the other side of the Rohini (Hiuen Tsang's Tailavaha ?) was the seat of government of the first Koliyan territory. Ramagama, the second Koliyan territory, lay, according to Hiuen Tsang, to the east of Kapilavatthu, at a distance of about 300 li across a wild jungle. In order to reach Kusinara from it, the pilgrim had to walk north-east through a great forest, along a dangerous and difficult road, where wild oxen, herds of elephants, and robbers, and hunters caused incessant trouble. In the neighbourhood of Kapilavatthu was the famous pleasance of Nigrodha. Pipphalivana: This is described as the land of the Moriyas. It is well-nigh impossible to offer any definite suggestion for its identification. One may be even tempted to find an echo of its name in that of Piprava, & village in the Birdpur Estate in the district of Basti. But a Buddhist tradition connects it with Himatala, which, if correct, may lead one to think that it lay somewhere in the kingdom which came to be known by the name of Nepal. 1 Law, Geography, p. 80. 3 Beal, op cit., i, p. 26. 8 Ibid., ii, p. 31. 4 Vinaya, i, 82; Jataka, i, p. 888, 6 Law, Geography, p. 29. 6 Mahfinnm ) i Ainhalapa A n 180 Page #65 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 57 Allakappa and Vethadipa: The first is mentioned as the land of the Bulis and the second as the native land of a Brahmin called Dona. In the Dhammapada commentary, both of them are called kingdoms, the first being ten leagues in extent. Tho Sanskrit form of the first name would be Adrakalpa, and that of the second Vestadvipa, Hiuen Tsang locates the site of Dronastupa, that is to say, of Vethadipa, 100 li south-east of Mahasara (Pali Mahasala, * Mahasala), identified by St. Martin with Masar, a village six miles to the west of Arrah. But the Brahmin villago of Mahasala is located in Pali texts to the east of Kajangala in the eastern extremity of the Majjhimadesa. As for the identification of Allakappa, relying only ori a verbal similarity of names, fanoy may choose between Arrah on the right bank of the Ganges and Adra on the B.N. Railway. Kesaputta: In the Anguttara Nikaya (i, p. 188) the Kalamas are associated with a place called Kesaputta, which is a name apparently similar to Pataliputta, Seriyaputa (Barhut Inscriptions), Satiyaputa and Keralapula (Asoka's R.E. II). Buddhaghosa, however, suggests that both Kalama and Kosaputta were nigama or 1 Dhammapada-affihakatha, 1, p. 101. 2 Beal, Buddhist Records, ii, p. 65. $ Vinaya, 1, p. 197; Jataka, 1, p. 40. Page #66 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 58 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN HARLY TEXTS townships, without telling us where these were actually situated. The Kesaputtas may remind one of the Kesins, a people connected in Ponini (VI, 4.165) with the Pancalas and Dalbhyas. Alavi: This is the name of both the country and its principal town. The Ardhamagadhi spelling of the name is Alabhi. The town was thirty yojanas from Savatthi and twelve from Benares, and it lay between Savatthi and Rajagaha. The way from Savatthi to Alavi and thence to Rajagaha lay through Kitagiri." Mrs. Rhys Davids inclines to think that Alavi was on the bank of the Gangos, evidently basing her suggestion on the fury of tho Yakkha Alavaka who would throw the Buddha over to the other side of the Ganges (para-Gangaya), which, however, is treated by Dr. Malalasekera as merely a rhetorical expression without any geographical significance. Alavi as a principality was undoubtedly included in the Kosalan empire. II Pubbanta or Pracya (Eastern India): The Pubbanta or Pracya may be defined as the extreme eastern part of India which lay to the 1 Manorathapurani: Kalamanam nigamari Kalama nama Khattiya tesam nigamo. Kesaputtiya t Resaputtinigamavasino. Paramathajotika, II, p. 220. 8 Watters, Yuan Chwang, ii, p. 61. 4 Vinaya, ii, p. 170f. 6 Psalms of the Brethren, p. 408, f.n. 6. & Malalasekera, op. cit., i, p. 296, Page #67 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ BU GEOGRAPIIY east of the Mid-land. The eastern boundary of the Mid-land changed, as we saw, from time to time, from Prayaga to Kasi, from Kasi to Kajangala, and ultimately from the latter to Pundravardhana. The only locality to the east of Kajangala which was included in the Mid-land was.the Brahmin village of Mahasala or Mabasala which has not as yet been satisfactorily identified. Its south-east boundary was formed by the river Salalayati (Saravati) to be identified either with the Silai (Silavati) which taking its riso in the Chotanagpur hills and being united with the Dalkisor (Dvarikesvari) flows down as the Rupanarayani through the districts of Bankura and Midnapore, or with the Svarnarekha or Suvarnarekha which also taking its rise in the Chotanagpur hills flows down through the districts of Manbhum and Midnapore. The Jaina Acaranga Sutra speaks of Ladha (Radha) as a pathless country with its two divisions : Subbhabhumi (probably the same as Sk. Sukma) and Vajjabhumi, which may be taken to correspond to the modern district of Midnapore. The country of Ladha, thus identified extended from the south-east corner of the Mid-land to the Bay of Bengal and lay just to the north-east of Kalinga. If the Subbhabhumi of the Acaranga be identical with the Suhma of the Mahabharata 1 Law, Geography, p. 68. 2 Jacobi, Jaina sutras, i, p. 84. Page #68 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 60 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS (ii, 30.25) it may be taken to have formed then the upper or northern division of the district of Midnapore, while Vajjabhumi with Tamalitti (Tamaralipta, modern Tamluk on the western bank of the Rupnarayan), the lower or southern division. Tamalitti (also spelt as Tamalitthi), which seems to have stood formerly at the mouth of the Ganges, was a great sea-port town of the time. It is said that Asoka reached it from Pataliputta by crossing the Ganges and then traversing the Vinjhatavi.1 Sumbha mentioned in the early Pali texts with Setaka, Sedaka or Desaka asits important town would seem to have been a locality other than onc corresponding to Subbha or Suhma. Hiuen Tsang speaks of a Svetapura, obviously the same name as the Pali Setaka, which lay within the Vajji territory, 80 or 90 li south from the neighbourhood of Vesali.2 As for Pundra or Pundravardhana (identified with the modern district and town of Bogra), it lay, according to the Divyavadana, to the east of the Pundakaksa (Pundrakaksa) hill, and according to Hiuen Tsang, about 100 li east from the northern end of Kajargala across the Ganges, say, from the isolated hill at Sakrigalli. A Brahmi inscription on a circular stone seal of the Maurya Age, found at Mahasthangarh near the town of Bogra, mentions Punara as a 1 Law, Geography, p. 68. * Beal, op. cit., i, p. 75. Page #69 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 1 61 beautiful and prosperous town. The way to the city of Pundravardhana from Kajangala must have been through the place now covered by the district of Malda. This is precisely the route from North Behar to Pundra indicated in the Mahabharata (ii, 30.21-22). Vanga ? finds mention in the Mahaniddesa (pp. 155, 415) as an important centre of trade and commerce, and in the Bhagavati sutra and Pali chronicles as a country or kingdom. In the Mahabharata (ii, 44.9), Vanga is placed contiguous to Anga. It is evident even from the Pali canonical texts that Varganta or western oxtremity of Vanga bordered on AngaMagadha. According to the Pali chronicles, the district of Lala (equated with Lata of Western India) was situated between Vanga on one side and Kalinga on the other. Thus the name Vanga in its earlier denotation may be taken to have represented central Bengal extending as far west as the eastern end of Kajangala. Subsequently, say from the time of the Imperial Guptas, Vanga, as might be ascertained from the Mahabharata (u, 30.23), came to denote Eastern Bengal proper, practically identical with Hiuen Tsang's Samatata. Suvannakuta mentioned in the Makaniddesa ID R. Bhandarkar in J. 2 For details, vide B. O. Law, Ancient Indian Tribes, vol. u, Oh. I. 8 Dipavamsa, p 54; Mahavamaa, p. 56. Page #70 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 62 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS (pp. 155, 415) as another centre of trade and commerce appears to have been the same place as Suvannakudya in the Arthasastra which Bhattasyami locates in Kamarupa. III Himavanta-padesa (Himalayan region): According to all Indian traditions, Buddhist, Jaina and Brahmanical, Jambudvipa as the southern continent extended to the north up to the southern side of Mount Sumeru placed in the Markandeya Purana in the middle of a country called Ilavsta containing two mountain ranges, the western called Malyavat and the eastern known as Gandhamadana. Tho Purana locates the four mountains: Mandara, Merumandara, Suparava and Kumuda on the east, south, west and north sides of Sumeru respectively. The river Jambu taking its rise in the Merumandara mountain, flows down through the Lavstavarsa.2 The Nisadha (Pali Nisabha) 8 mountain range is placed to the south of the Ilavstavarsa to the south of which lay the country of Harivarsa. In between Bharatavarsa and Hariyarsa are placed the Himalayan range and the Hemakuta, the former lying to the south of the latter. This is also the setting of the countries and mountain ranges to be found in the Jambudiva-pannatti and Mahabharata. 1 N. N. Das Gupte in Indian Oulture, vol. v, p. 339. 2 Markandeya Purina, Oh. 67. & Jataka, vi, pp. 204, 212; Apadana, i, p. 67. Page #71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 63 The Hemakuta region is also known as Kimpurusavarsa, the land of the Kimpurusas, and the Haimavata region as Kinnarakhanda, the land of the Kinnaras.1 Uttarakuru or northern continent, which is the romantic kingdom of Kuvera, is placed alike in the Pali texts and the Mahabharata on the north side of Mount Sumeru. According to Pali tradition, however, the Himalayan region extended to the north up to the Gandhamadana range. The Pali descriptions of the ranges and their setting are rather olumsy and far from systematic; these are more. over silent as to the existence of Harivarsa and the rest. But as in the Puranas, so in the Jatakas the Kinnaras, Kimpurusas and Vidyadharas are associated with the Himalayan mountains. Besides Nisabha (Nisadha), the Apadana names a few other mountains in the neighbourhood of the Himavanta: Kadamba (p. 382), Kukkura (p. 155, better Kukkata, p. 178), Kosika (p. 381), Gotama (p. 162), Paduma (p. 362), Bharika (p. 440), Bhutagana (p. 179), Lambaka (p. 15), Vasabha (Vrsabha, p. 166), Vikata (p. 227), Samanga (p. 437) and Sobhita (p. 328). Of the lakes mentioned, the most important was, of course, the Anotatta or Manas-sarovar, associated with the Kelasa 1 Law, Geographical Besays, p. 118. Page #72 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 64 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS and Cittakuta peaks. The Jambudiva-pannatti seems right in suggesting that this really consisted of two lakes, each called Mahapadmahrada, one connected with the Ksudrahimavanta or Western Himalayan range, and the other connected with the Mahahimavanta or Eastern Himalayan range. Of the four rivers channel. ling out from this lake, Ganga that flowed down southwards branched off into five main rivers of Majjhimadesa, Rohita flowing eastwards may bo identified with the Lauhitya or Brahmaputra, Sindhu flowing northwards with the Indus, and one flowing westwards with the Sutlej. The Himalayan region was ponetrated by the tapasas (hermits), vanacarakas, migaluddakas (hunters), and kings on hunting expedition. The hermits and ascetios built many hermitages there. Some of the Jatakas and Apadanas contain most charming and romantic descriptions of the hermitages and of the fauna and flores that were really the fauna and flora of Jambudvipa as a whole. The hollows in the mountains and hills served as dens for lions, tigers, eto. The beasts generally lived near about the rivers, lakes, and springs. The Pali works speak of four species of lions: (1) those resembling the cow, pigeon-coloured and eating grass; (2) black lions; (3) light yellow lions; and (4) those possessing a big mane. Among other members of the feline Page #73 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 65 species, montion is constantly made of vyaggha (ordinary tigers), dipi (panthers), taraccha (hyenas), accha or bhalluka (bears), majjara (cats). These speak also of kukkuras or sunakhas (dogs). The kchagga or palasada (rhinoceros), gavaja (gayals), usabha (bulls), mahisa (buffaloes) and diverse spocies of deer (miga) : the ruru, rohanta, tipallattha, citta, pasada, nigrodha, sakha, eni, and the rest. We have mention also of aja (goats) and elaka (rams). The Himalayan forests are said to have abounded in elephants living in herds or as rogues, distinguished as vamanika (dwarfish), uccakalarika, uccakaneruka, and chaddanta (six-tusked). The lastmentioned class are associated with the Chaddanta lake and noted for the high quality of the ivory. They contained horses (assa) of diverse breeds, the sindhu and valaha being the two best of them. They abounded also in such reptiles and ajagara (pythons), naga or sappa (snakes) divided into four families of virupakkha, erapatha, chavyaputta and kanha. They do not fail also to refer to the water-snakes feeding on green frogs (bheka) and godha (iguanas). The rivers were habitats of sumsumara (porpoises and crocodiles), kumbhila (alligators), makara, ogaha and tantiggaha. The rivers and lakes were full of fish: pathina, munjarohita, maggura and 1 JRAS , 1888-Animals classed as deer in the 'Jatakas, p. 642 Page #74 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 66 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS the like, and kuliraka or kakkataka (crabs, small and monstrous). The birds were numerous : cakkavaka (ruddy geese), hamsa, ravihamsa, kadamba (nilahamsa), jivamjivaka, sweet-voiced kokila and karavika, vaka and konca (cranes, herons), kosika (owls), kalakannika (birds of ill omen), kaka (crows), kapota or parevata (doves and pigeons), kunala, kurara, supanna or garula (kitos, eagles), gijjha (vultures), kakuttha (phasianus gallus), vattaka, latukika, dindibha (partridges), and above all, sikhi or mora (poacocks). Of the trees, mention may be made of nigrodha (banyan), assattha (poepul), udumbara (fig), amba (mango), jambu (rose-apple), panasa (jackfruit), sirisa (shorea robusta), naga (mesua ferrea), haritaka (terminalia chebula), amalaka (phyllanthus emblica), vibhitaka (terminalia belerica); of the creepers, asavatilata, atimutta (madhavilata); of kadali (banana), matilunga (citron); of the flower trees, campaka, ketaka (castus speciosus). The lakes were decked with the uppala (lilies, white, red and blue), paduma (lotus with one hundred petals) and pundarika (lotus with one thousand petals).-. IV Uttarapatha or Udicya (North-western India). This part of India extended west and north-wost from the Brahmin village of Thuna or from Pfthudaka (modern Pohoa), that is to 1 Law, Apadana in JBBRAS., xuu, 1937, p. 236; Barua, Barhut, iu, pp. 86, 586. Page #75 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 167 gay, from a place near about Thaneswar. It was bounded on the north and west by the belt of the western Himalayan range called Ksudra. himavanta reaching down to the Arabian Sea. It may be said that the region of Uttarapatha lay to the north of Aparanta and the west of the Buddhist Mid-land, and was watered by the Himalayan rivers forming the Indus group. Defined in these terms, the region may be taken as identical with what is called Udioya in the Markandeya Purana, and approximately with Manu's Brahmavarta and Brahmarsidesa. The important janapadas that are referred in this Purana to this region include, among others, Aparanta, Sudra, Gandhara, Yavana, Sindhu, Sauvira, Madra, Parada, Kekaya, Kamboja, Darada, Pahava, Barbara, Vahlika and Kasmira. In Pali literature Kamsabhoga with Asitanjana as its capital, Kasmira-Gandhara and Kamboja s are definitely placed in Uttarapatha. According to Brahmanioal tradition, the Kamsa-territory was the kingdom of Mathura,+ i.e., Surasena of which Mathura was the capital in the time of Mahavira and Buddha. The Yona, Kamboja and Gandhara are included, 1 Markandeya Purana, Ch. 67. 2 Jataka, iv, p. 79. 8 Anguttara, iv, pp. 262, 266, 260; Vinaya, iii, p. 6; Samantapasadika, Sinhalese ed., 1, p. 179. 4 Raychaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 119. Page #76 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 68 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TDXTS as we saw, in some of the Pali canonical lists of important countries. These three are the countries that are referred in Asoka's R.E. V to Aparanta or western end of Jambudvipa, Gandhara may be taken to have comprised the whole of the districts of Peshawat (Purusapura) and Rawalpindi in the northern Punjab.. Its capital Takkasila (modorn Taxila) was both a centre of trade and an ancient seat of learning. According to the Jatakas, its distanco from Benares was 2,000 leagues. Kasmira is not other than the modern State of Kashmore and Jammu which lies to the east of Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The location of Yona and Kamboja is not finally settled. Evidently they must have been localities near about KasmiraGandhara. Other places mentioned in early Pali texts and to be included in Uttarapatha are the countries of Vajira,1 Suddaka, Khuddaka, Madda, Alasanda, Pallava, Bahika and Babbara. Of these, the city of Vajira is obviously no other than what finds mention in the Bodhisattvavadana-Kalpalata (p. 4) as Vajravati and is placed in Uttarapatha. Thor Mahabharata (ix. 37.1) definitely locates the land of the Suddakas (Sudrakas) in western Rajputana where the Sarasvati disappears (yatra nasta Sarasvati). But the Greek historians place the 1 Buddhapampaa, xxviu, 8; Diparamsa, p. 27 Apaddna, ii, p. 359. Page #77 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY - 69 Sodrai in the western part of the Punjab. The land of the Khuddakas (Sk. Ksudraka,1 Greek Sudracae, Oxydrakai) which is placed in the Greek accounts between the Hydraotes (Ravi) and the Hyphasis (Bias), may be located in the district of Montgomery. Madra was the country of the Sivis which had Sagala (Sk. Sakala, modern Sialkot) as its capital; the river Iravati flowed through it. Alasanda (variant Allasanda) was a city in the Yona country which is mentioned in the Mahaniddesa as a centro of trade and commerce, The Greek equivalent of the name would be Alexandria. In the Milindapanha Alasanda is described as a dipa, which has led scholars to suggest that it was 'an island in the Indus in the territory of Baktria'.? But according to Dr. Geiger, it was probably the town founded by the Macedonian king in the country of Paropanisadae near Kabul'.8 The fact seems to be this that Alasanda was both the name of a country and its chief town. In the Mahaniddesa (pp. 155, 415) it is mentioned just after Yona 1 Mahabharata, u, 52.15; vu, 68 9. 2 Raychaudhuri, op. c., p. 205. 8 Mahabharata, 11, 31.119. 4 Matsya Purana, 114.7, 16-18. 6 Mahaniddesa, pp. 156, 415. & Malmda, pp. 82, 327, 331, 369. 7 Rhys Davids, The Questions of King Milinda, S.B.E., 1, p. xx 8 Mahavamsa, English translation, p. 194, f.n. 8. Page #78 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 70 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS and Paramayona. Further, it would seem that Sagala which was formerly the capital of Madda became afterwards the capital of a Yona kingdom. The Pali texts also speak of the two lands of Sindhu and Sovira, each of which is described as a great centre of trade and commerce. Here Sindhu, also mentioned as a kingdom, may be easily identified with the province of Sind on the Arabian Sea. In the Mahagovinda Suttanta Sovira has been described as a kingdom with Roruka as its capital. It was probably situated between the Indus and Jhelum. The story of Serissaka in the Peta and Vimanavatthus definitely tolls us that the way of the caravan merchants(Satthavaha) from Anga and Magadha to Sindhu-Sovira lay across a great desert, which was no other than the desert in Rajputana. Some rivers and ranges of hills had to be crossed with difficulty (nadiyo pana pabbatanam ca dugga),1 The desert is described in the Vannupatha Jataka as a sandy dosert, sixty leagues in extent (satthiyojanikam marukantaram). Among the rivers that had to be crossed the commentary mentions the Candabhaga (Chenab) by name, Immediately after Allasanda and Marukantara, the Mahaniddesa (pp. 155, 415) 1 Vimanavatthu, p. 78. Jataka, 1, p. 107; p. 109: vampu vuouw www.vwg valukamagge ti attho. 8-Vimanavatthu commentary (vii, 10), p. 338. Page #79 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY 71 as 1 introduces such places of importance from the point of view of trade and commerce Jannupatha (corrected as Vannupatha), Ajapatha, Mendapatha, Sankupatha, Chattapatha, Vamsapatha, Sakunapatha, Musikapatha, Daripatha and Vettadhara (variant Vettacara, Vettacara). That the Vannu, Vettacara and Sankupatha are mentioned as roads (maggam) in the Serissaka Vimana-story has led Dr. Barua to suggest that these were originally names of different parts of Uttarapatha taken in the sense of the north-western trade-route, and that like it they lent their names to the regions across which they lay. These, as convincingly shown by Sylvain Levi and others, became subsequently connected with a traderoute connecting Suvarnabhumi with Suvarna. dvipa. But even on the evidence of Panini's commentators who introduce some of these names in connection with the Sutra, v, 1.77: Uttarapathenahrtanca, it may be established that they were associated with a journey to and from Uttarapatha. 2 The Pali Babbara is no other than Barbara which is associated in the Mahabharata (xii, 1 Vimanavatthu commentary, vii, 10, p. 338. a Barua, Old Brahmi Inscriptions. * Etudes Asiatiques, 11, p. 45f.; R. C. Majumdar, Suvarnadripa, P. 56f. 4 Vari-Jangala-sthala-kantaraja-sanku-purvac ca Page #80 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 72 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS 207.43) with Yauna, Kamboja, Gandhara and Kirata and placed in Uttarapatha. Babbara or Barbaricum is described in the Periplus as a market-town of Minnagara on the Erythraean sca, Pallava may be identified with Pahlava (Parthia) in the Mahabharata 2 and Bahika with Vahika. The Divyavadana mentions a city by the name of Utpalavati in Uttarapatha, which may be easily identified with Puskaravati or Puskalavati. Puskalavati (modern Parang and Charsada, 17 milos north-east of Peshawar on the Swat river) was one of the two most important cities in Gandhara.5 Kekaka or Kekaya is another country with its capital of the same name which finds mention in the early Buddhist and Jaina texts. According to the Ramayana (u, 68,1922; vii, 113.14), the Kekaya territory lay beyond the Vipasa and abutted on the Gandharva or Gandhara-vigaya', and its'metropolis was Rajagpha'. In the Jaina Rayapaseni, Seyaviya (Pali Setavya) is described as a city in the kingdom of Kekaya,? while in the Pali canonical texts it is located in Kpsala and on 1 Rayohaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 86% >> Hopkins, Great Epic of India, p. 393f. & Panini, -, 2.117: Vahika-gramebhyas oa. * Divyavadana, p. 470. 6 Ramayana, vii, 114.11; Payu Purana, 88.189-90. $ Rayobaudhuri, op. cit., pp. 62-63. 7 Indian Antiquary, 1891, p. 376; Raychaudhuri, op. cit., p. 54. Page #81 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY the high road between Kapilavatthu and Savatthi. The Apadana mentions the Sindhu (Indus), Vitamsa (Vitasta), and Candabhaga (Chenab) among the important rivers of Uttarapatha, and points out that the Ganga Bhagirasi (Bhagirathi) taking its rise in the Himalayas, Howed by the gate of Hamsavati, which was an ancient city in Uttarapatha. The Amarika was a river which flowed down from the foot of the Samanga mountain belonging to the Himalayan range. V Aparanta or Pascaddesa (Western India): This may be taken to represent that part of Western India which lay to the west of the Buddhist Mid-land and to the north and south respectively of the Dakkhinapatha and Uttarapatha. According to the Kavya-mimamsa, as we noted, the region extended westward from Devasabha (identified with modern Dewas in the Central Indian States Agency). From, the Buddhist definition of the Middle country it may be inferred that Aparanta extended westward from the western side of the kingdom of Vatsa. Bhagawanlal Indraji took Aparanta to be the western sea-board of India. The Bhoja and Rastra countries that are referred in the Markandeya Purana to the Vindhye region are mentioned in Asoka's R.E. V, as examples of countries in Western India Page #82 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 74 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN BARLY TEXTS (Aparanta). The Kavya-mimamsa mentions, among others, Devasabha, Surastra, Bhrgukaocha, Kaccha, Anarta and Arbuda as representative countries of Aparanta. The Markandeya Purana offers a longer list containing the names of such countries as Surparaka, Kosala (South Kosala), Vidisa, Pulinda, Nasika, Marukaccha (Bhtgukaccha), Kaccha, Surastra and Avanti.1 To them we may add Surasena and Matsya which may as well be referred to Uttarapatha. According to Hiuen Tsang's account, Western India seems to have comprised 'Sindh, Western Rajputana, Cutch, Gujarat and a portion of the adjoining coast on the lower course of the Narmada'. The most important among the countries in Aparanta was Avanti which formed one of the three mandalas of Jambudipa, the other two being Pacina and Dakkhinapatha. It appears to have been divided by the river Vettavati into north and south, the north having its capital at Ujjeni (modern Ujen), and the second at Mahissati(Mahismati, later known as Gonaddha). It is probably the second part which has been described as Avanti Dakkhinapatha. Both Markandeya Purana, 57. * Cunningham, Ancient Geography, p. 690. a Rhys Davids, The Questions of King Milinda, 8.B.E., i, p. 250, f.n. 1. + D. R. Bhandarkar, Carmichael Lectures (1918), p. 64. Page #83 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY Ujjeni and Mahissati stood on the Southern High Road extending from Rajagaha to Patitthana via Vesali, Kapilavatthu, Savatthi 75 and Kosambi.2 8 5 Kuraraghara was a town in Avanti adjoining the Papatapabbata. Among other localities, mention may be made of Ghanaselapabbata, Makkarakata, Velugama and Sudassanapura. The country or kingdom may be taken to have corresponded roughly to 'modern Malwa, Nimar and adjoining parts of the Central Provinces'." Vedisa or Vedisagiri (identified by Cunningham with the modern Bhilsa in the Gwalior State, 26 miles north-east of Bhopal) lay on the road to Ujjeni, at a distance of fifty yojanas from Pataliputta. Second in importance to Avanti was the kingdom or country of Surasena with Madhura, Mathura, modern Muttra on the right bank of the Yamuna as its capital. Surasena, often mentioned with Kaccha, is placed to the south of the Kuru country. The way from Savatthi to Madhura lay through an important locality called Veranja. Maccha (Sk. Matsya) 1 JRAS., 1906, p. 453, ibid, 1898, p 533. * Sutta-napata, v, 101-13 3 Samyutta, in, pp. 9, 12, iv, p. 115f, Angutiara, v, p 48 * Malalasekera, op. cit., 11, p. 935. 5 Law, Geography, p 22. 6 Law, Geography, p. 22. 7 Mahabodhivamsa, p. 98. 8 Law, Geography, p. 20. * Malalasekera, 11, p. 980, Page #84 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 76 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS generally mentioned with Surasena is to be located to the south or south-west of Indapatta and to the south of Surasena. Its capital was Viratanagara (modern Bairat) where a copy of Asoka's Minor Rock Edict was engraved. It may be supposed to have comprised the State of Jaipur and included the whole of the State of Alwar with a portion of Bharatpur.1 Surattha was another important country in Aparanta which was watered by a river called Satodika. Its capital was Girinagara (modern Girnar in Kathiawad) containing as it does a whole set of Asoka's Rock Edicts. The Suna paranta or Aparanta is identified by the late Sir R. G. Bhandarkar with the modern Konkan. Its capital was Supparaka, a highly important seaport on the Arabian sea, modern Sopara in the distriot of Thana near Bombay. The Bharukaccha (Sk. Bhrgukaccha) was another very important sea-port town on the Arabian Sea which is identified with the modern Broach in Kathiawad and identical with the Barygaza of Ptolemy and the Periplus.8 Bhoja, the territory of the Bhojaputtas, sixteen in number, may be identified with the modern Berar. The town of Satakannika which is mentioned as the south-western boundary of the Buddhist Mid-land 1, "Law, Geography, 19, 59, 56-57. * Samyutta, i, n. 6lf.; Jataka, i, p. 45; Law, op. cit., p. 62. Page #85 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ GEOGRAPHY has not been as yet identified. If this spelling of the name be correct, it may be taken to have represented the place of origin of the satakarnis. VI Dakkhinapatha or Daksinatya (Deccan): This represents South India which, according to the Kavya-mimamsa, extended southward from Mabismati identified with Mandhata on the Narmada. According to the Jambudiva-pannatti, as we noted, it was the southern half of India to the south of the Vaitadhya or Vindhya range. From the Buddhist definition of the Mid-land, it appears that this part of Jambudipa lay to the south of the river Salalavati and the town of Satakannika. The Godavari and Narmada regions are definitely placed in Dakkhinapatha. Besides the Nammada and Godhavari, the early Pali texts mention these two rivers of South India: Kaveri and Kannapenna (Sk. Krsnabena).1 The former is the famous river Kavers which flowed into the sea through the Cola country of which we have a most patriotic description in the writings of Buddhadatta. The Kannapenna was a river in the Mahinsaka country or Mysore. Patitthana (modern Paithan) on the Godhavari is described as the southern terminus of the Southern High 1 Jotaka, v, p. 182f. 9 Buddhadatta's Manuals, PTS. 3 Malalasekera, op. cit., i, p. 498: 'At the bend of the river and near its source was the mountain Candaka'. Page #86 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 78 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS Road extending from Rajagaha. It was situated near about the modern Pancavati at Nasik. On the banks of the Godhavari (Godavari) and at the point where it formed a doab stood the two Andhra kingdoms of Assaka (Sk. Asvaka, Asmaka) with its capital at Potali or Potana (Paudanya of the Mahabharata, i, 77.47), and Alaka or Mulaka, the latter standing to the north of the former.1 The Pali texts speak also of Kolapattana which was a harbour, probably on the Coromandel coast. In the Apadana (ii, pp. 358-59) we have mention of the Andhaka (Andhra) and Damila (Dravida) countries. Siddhattha, Rajagiri, Pubbasela and Aparasela were all localities near about the Andhaka seat of power, i.e., in the neighbourhood of Dhanakataka or Amaravati. The Damila territories, as represented in the Pali obronicles, included the countries of Cola with Kancipura (modern Conjeeveram) as its capital, Panya with Madhurasuttapattana (modern Madoura) as its chief town, and Kerala (Chera 4) which was no other than Asoka's Keralaputra. Kalinga finds mention in several texts both as a 1 Sutta-nipata, verse 1011. Milinda paniha, p. 369. a Kathavatthuatthakatha, quoted in Points of Controversy', pp. 6, 104; Law, The Debates Oommentary (PTS), p. 62, 4 calavamaa, liii, 9; lv, 5, 12. OL. S. K. Aiyangar, South Indian Oulture (The Cultural Heritage of India, III, p. 71). Page #87 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 79 kingdom and a country with its capital at Dantapura (Palura of a Nagarjunikonda inscription), situated near Chicacole on the Bay of Bengal. But the Apadana (ii, pp. 358-59) mentions at the same time Odda (Odra) and Okkala (Sk. Utkala) representing two distinct parts of Orissa. The Mekala country which finds mention in the Apadana was probably a tract of land comprising the modern Amarakantaka hills and adjoining locality. The Telavaha is mentioned in the Jataka (i, p. 111) as a river in the Serivarattha near Andhapura. GEOGRAPHY Page #88 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER II KINGS AND PEOPLES The Digha Nikaya contains this prophecy of the Buddha that when the advent of the future Buddha, Metteyya, will take place on earth, 'Jambudipa will be pervaded by mankind even as a jungle is by reeds and rushes'.1 The teeming millions of India' is indeed an oftrecurring phrase of the present day. In dealing with the peoples of Jambudvipa we are not, however, to deal with the teeming millions of India as such but only as divided into various tribes or nations ruling themselves or being ruled by kings. By way of a general description of the ninth dvipa of the Bharatavarsa, i.e., of India proper, the Markandeya Purana locates the Kiratas in the eastern (better, north-eastern) extremity, the Yavanas in the western (better, north-western), and the rest of the peoples in the remaining parts of India. As for the Himalayan region, the Puranas refer the Kinnaras to the Haimavatavarsa, the Kimpurusas to the Hemakatavarsa and the Yaksas to some regions, the main home of the * Digha, iii, p. 75. * Markandeya Purana, Ohap. 67: Purve kirata yasyante, pascime Yavinah amrtah. Page #89 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 1 Yaksas being Uttarakuru or Northern continent forming the kingdom of Kuvera Vaisravana. The Kinnaras, Kimpurusas and Yaksas 1 figure as semi-human beings, the first two representing the two branches of one and the same stock of people. This is in substance and details the description of them as offered in the early texts of Buddhism. The words, Kinnara and Kimpurisa, are employed in Pali, precisely as in Sanskrit, as synonyms. According to the Amarakosa, the Kinnaras or Kimpurusas have a human form which is ugly because of having a face like that of a horse, and are, therefore, known also as asvamukhah or turangavadana; the heavenly musician, Tumbaru, belongs to the race of Kinnaras or Kimpurusas. In Pali, on the other hand, the heavenly musician is represented by Pancasikha who belongs to a class of demigods called Gandhabba. As the Kinnaras or Kimpurisas figure in the Pali Jatakas, they were rather of a human or infrahuman race 4 than of a suprahuman origin. Like the deer, they 8 1 Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, pp. 59-80. 2 Jataka, iv, p. 252f. * Amarakoga, Svargavarga, 71: Kinnarah Kimpurusas turangavadano mayuh. 4 Jataka, iv, p. 252: Na-y-ime deva na pi Gandhabbaputta, miga ime turacchanagata; iv, p. 439: miga manussa, va nibhasavanna, 'animals in a human form'. Page #90 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 82 -INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS lived on leaves, flowers and fruits of trees and put on garments of leaves or of flowers. They preferred to live in a beautiful hilly region along the banks of rivers, dwelling on the summit of hills during the rains and on the river banks during summer. They were timorous and shy by their nature, particularly afraid of the currents of water (udakabhita). They were very playful, amusing and enchanting, fond of music and noted for their romantic conjugal love and fidelity. They were to be found in all the Himalayan ranges up to the Gandhamadana. To the hunters they were known as Kimpurisas. They possessed excellent health and their span of life was one hundred years.? The Yavanas who are assigned in the Markandeya Purana to the north-western extremity of India are known as Yonas in Pali 8 and Yaunas in the Great Epic. The Yonas are grouped, precisely as in Asoka's Rock Edicts, 10 1, 2 Jataka., iv, pp. 288, 286. 8 Ibid., 1v, p. 283: Candapabbatavasino Kinnara vassaratta samaye Anotaritva pabbate yeva vaganti, nidaghe otaranti. 4 Ibid., iv, p. 439. 6 Ibid., lv, p. 438f.: Mallamgirim Pandarakan Tikutam sitodiya anuvicarama najjo; Apadana, i, p. 265f.: Candabhagonaditire ahosing kinnaro tada pupphabhakko ... pupphanam vasenoll & Ibid., 19, p. 489: jananti no Kimpurisa oa ludda. 7 Ibid., iv, p. 441. 8 Majjhima, u, p. 149. # Mahabharata, xu, 207.43. 14. R.E., V and XII. bv Page #91 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 83 with the Kambojas and Gandharas. As for the Yonas, they were originally the people who came from Ionia. But the Macedonian and Bactrian Greeks, too, have been represented by the sanie name in all branches of Indian literature. The Yonas mentioned in the canonical Pali texts together with the Kambojas and Gandharas may be presumed to have settled down subsequently in the extreme north-western part of India retaining their old customs and manners and maintaining their old religious beliefs. That they tried to maintain their separate entity as a people in these two respects is well attested by the evidence of all literary and epigraphical documents.? In tho Epica a as well as in some of the later Buddhist texts, the Yavanas are associated with the Sakas. In the Ramayana (iv, 43.11-12), as pointed out by Dr. Raychaudhuri, the Yavanas are placed between the country of the Kurus and the Madras, and the Himalayas. The Baotrian king Milinda is said to have been born in a village in the island of Alasanda(Alexandria) with which the memory of the Yonas as Macedonian Greeks remained associated. The 1 Majjhima, ii, p. 149. 2 Ramayana, iv, 43.11-12; Mahabharata, i, 64.21. 8 20.g., tho Mahavibhaga sastra. 4 Political History, 4th ed., p. 3. 5 Kalasigama is the name of the locality mentioned in the Milindapanha, p. 83. Page #92 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ C 84 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Yonas or Yonakas as Bactrian Greeks founded principalities in this very region of India establishing their suzerainty even over Mathura 1 in the south-east and over Surastra 2 and Besnagar (Vessanagara near Vedisa). When the Sakas (Scythians) invaded Uttarapalha and established themselves there, the Yonas or Bactrians and other Greeks appear to have made political and matrimonial alliances with them. The Yonas as the Ionian Greek settlers figure in Asokan records, precisely as in the Pali Suttas, as semi-independent or independent tribes. But the Yonas as the Bactrian Greeks were all along ruled by the monarchs of their own. They adhered, in their official documents at least, not only to their national language (Yavana-bhasa) but also to their national alphabet (Yavana-lipi). The Mahabharata (xii, 207.43) introduces the Kambojas (Pali Kambojas) along with the Yaunas, Gandharas, Kiratas and Barbaras as peoples of Uttarapatha (Uttarapathajanmanah). The constant association of them with the Gandharas and Yaunas in the Great Epic, the Pali texts and the early Indian inscriptions 1 Cf. Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela: Madhuram apayato Yarana-raja. 2 Cf. Junagarh Rook Inscription of Rudradaman I. 2 Of. Besnagar Garuda-pillar Inscription of Heliodoros. Page #93 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES , 85 may be taken to suggest that they settled down and founded their territory somewhere near Gandhara. According to the Mahabharata (vii, 4.5), they had undoubtedly their capital at Rajapura,t a place which Hiuen Tsang locates to the south or south-east of Punach.? Dr. Raychaudhuri points out that the western boundaries of their territory must have reached Kafiristan in which district tho three distinct tribes, namely, Caumojee, Camoze and Camoje remind us of the Kambojas. Their country stood evidently on a trade-route connecting it with Dvaraka. It was the habitat of good horses (assanam ayatanam). As described in the Pali Assalayana Sutta, the Yonas and Kambojas had the same kind of social organisation, Tho Kambojas were considered barbarous.? They had an independent or semiindependent tribal form of government. The Jaina canonical texts mention the Ciratas (Pali and Sk. Kiratas) as a people without any details about them. In one of the Nagarjunikonda inscriptions, the Ciratas are associated 1 Rajapuram gatva Kapboja nirjite-stvaya. 9 Watters, op. cit., i, 284. 8 Raychaudhur, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 126; JRAS., 191%, p. 266. 4 Petavatihu, p. 23. 8 Sumangalavilasini, i, p. 124. 8 Majjhima, ii, p. 149. 7 J@taka, vi, pp. 208, 210. Page #94 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 86 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS with the Cinas." The Apadana speaks of the Cinas and Babbaras, the former being described as a people who came to Hamsavati on the Ganges from a distant land (ara va Cinarattha ca agacchanti). The Barbaras and Kiratas are placed in the Great Epic in the Uttarapatha along with the Yaunas, Kambojas and Gandharas.3 The Kiratas find mention in the Pali commentaries as 'a tribe of jungle men'. Their dialect is 'classed with those of the Ottas (Oadas), the Andhakas, the Yonakas and the Damilas'. These are all recorded as languages of the Milakkhas + (Milakkhanam bhasa) that were thirteen in numbers according to the Jambudiva-pannatti. From Pali and Sanskrit sources it may be concluded that the Kiratas had their settlements not only in the north-east and north-west extremities of Northern India but also in other parts of India. The Gandharas after whom the land where they settled down was named were one of the ancient peoples of India the Gandharis mentioned in the Vedas. In the Puranas they are . described as descendants of the Drubyas, who were, according to the Vedic tradition, a north 1 E I., vol. xx, Pt. I. 2 Apadapa, ii, pp. 368-359. & Jahabharata, xii, 207.43. 4 Sumangalavildaini, i, p. 176. Eighteen, according to the Sammohavinodani, p. 888. 6 Rgveda, 7, 125.7; Atharvaveda, v, 22.14. Page #95 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES western people. In the Jatakas and the Epio, Gandhara is described as a kingdom with Takkasila (Sk. Taksasila) as its capital and Puskalavati or Puskaravati or Utpalayati as one among its other chief towns. The Kumbhakara Jataka preserves the tradition of Naggaji (Sk. Nagnajit), a famous ancient king of Gandhara, who was a contemporary of Nimi, king of Videha, Dummukha, king of Panohala,1 and Bhima, king of Vidabbha,. and Karandu or Karakandu, king of Kalinga. In a few other instances the rulers of Gandhara are introduced simply as Gandhararaja. Situated at a vulnerable point of attacks from the southeast, south-west and north-west, Gandhara passed hands several times, retaining its independence from time to time. It was conquered once by king Janamojaya of Kuru, while in the latter half of the 6th century B.C., it became included in the empire of Darius, the Achaemenid king of Iran. We are told by Buddhaghosa that king Pukkusati was reigning in Gandhara as a contemporary of king Bimbisara of Magadha, and that there was a friendly relation between them. At the time of Alexander's 1 Cf. Uttarddhyayana Sutra, xviu, p. 46; Jataka, iii, R. 377. % Astareya Br., vii, 34. 3 Jataka, 1, p. 191; ii, p. 219; 111, p. 364; 1v, p. 98. 4 See Behustun inscmption of Darius. 6 Papancasudani (Sinhalese ed.), u, 982. Page #96 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 88 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS invasion of India in B.C. 327, the kingdom was ruled over by Taxiles (Taksasila) who was succeeded by his son Mophis or Omphis (Sk. Ambhi). As the Divyavadana 1 and Asoka's Rock Edicts (V and XIII) attest, Gandhara was included in the Maurya empire, the Gandharas as a people enjoying some degree of independence along with their neighbours, the Yonas and Kambojas. According to the Mahaniddesa (vol. i, p. 154), Takkasila was one of the great centres of trade, while the Rgveda bears testimony to the good wool of the sheep of the Gandharis. The local script of the Gandharas was Kharosthi which was in use in that part of Eastern Turkistan where the people of Gandhara founded a colony. The Maddas (Sk. Madras) as a people founded their territory in the central Punjab with Sagala or sakala (modern Sialkot) as their capital. Sagala was the capital of king Milinda (Menander) when he ruled over the kingdom of Madda. The Maddas find mention not only in the Jatakas and Epios but also in the Aitareya. Brahmana. This Vedic text (vii, 14.3) speaks of the Uttarakuravas and Uttaramadras as two peoples who had established, a special kind of sovereignty called vairajya and lived in countries beyond the Himavanta. The existence of an 1 Divyivadana, p. 61. Page #97 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 89 Uttaramadda side by side with that of Uttarakuru is proved also by the Pali commentaries that tell us that the queen of a king overlord is a princess either from Uttarakuru or from the royal house of Madda.Thus we are led to think that, like the Kurus, the Maddas were originally a trans-Himalayan people. As in their original home, so when they migrated to India, they settled down in the Punjab as neighbours of the Kurus. Even their Indian territory which is strictly speaking the southern Madda was equally noted for the beauty of their women (Maddarattham nama itthagaro). We have mention in the Jatakas and in the Epics of matrimonial alliances between the royal house of Madda on one side and those of Sivi, Kuru, Kasi, Kosala and Kalinga 8 on the other, in each instance, the princess belonging to the former. The Maddas lived under a monarchical form of government and their capital Sagala was an emporium of trade and one of the most flourishing cities. The Kekayas, Kekakas or Kekas find mention in the Jatakas as one of the ancient peoples of 1 Papancasudani, ii, p. 950; Sumangalavilasini, ii, p. 628; Paramatthajorika, I, p. 173. 2 Theragatha-afghakatha, ii, p. 142; Therigatha-aithakatha, p. 68. & Law, Geography, p. 54. According to the Mahabharata, the mother of Janamejaya, king of Kuru, and according to the Ramayana, one of the three queens of kmg Dasaratha of Kolalar were princesses from the Royal House of Madra. 4 Milindapanha, pp. 1-2. Page #98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 90 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS India who evidently founded two territories, one in Uttarapatha and the other in Mahinsakarattha. In the Puranas they are mentioned as one of the three septs of the family of Anu, son of Yayati, the other two being represented by the Usinaras and the Madras. According to the Ramayana, the Kekayas of Uttarapatha settled down in a territory between the Vipasa, (Beas) and the kingdom of Gandharva or Gandhara. Their capital was Rajagrha or Girivraja which is identified by Cunningham with Girjak or Jalalpur on the Jhelum. The name of their capital is not met with in the Vedic texts. According to the Jataka tradition, the kingdom and capital of the Kekayas were named Kekaka after them, their capital ranking among the three principal cities in Jambudipa, the other two being Uttarapancala and Indapatta. The Sarabhanga and Sankicca Jatakas preserve the tradition of Ajjuna, a very powerful but wicked king of the Kekayas in the Mahimsakarattha. It is probable that the Kekaya kings mentioned in some of the Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda inscriptions were descendants of the Kekayas who founded a kingdom 1 Matsya, 48.10-20, Vayu, 99.12-23; Raychaudhur, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 53. 2 Ramayana, 1), 67.7, 1, 68.22. : Jataka, u, p. 213. * Ibid.. v.con. 146. 273. Page #99 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES in the Deccan. The Ramayana speaks of a matrimonial alliance between the royal houses of Kosala and Kekaya in Uttarapatha. We learn from Jain sources that one half of the Kekaya kingdom was Aryan and the Kekaya city was known as Seyaviya.1 1 1 Indian Antiquary, 1891, p. 375. 2 Jataka, iv, 401; v, 210; vi, 419. s Ibid., vi, p. 480. 4 Ibid., vi, p. 514, 91 The Sivis are mentioned in the Jatakas as another ancient people of India who settled down in Uttarapatha. There is a discrepancy between Sivi and Vessantara Jatakas, as regards the name of the capital of their kingdom," the former calling it Aritthapura 2 and the latter Jetuttara. The fact seems to be that the two Jatakas speak of two different kingdoms, one with its capital at Aritthapura and the other with Jetuttara as its chief town. The second territory is placed to the south of the Cetarattha at a distance of thirty yojanas. Just to the north of the city of Jetuttara stood a mountain called Suvannagiritala. Between this mountain in the south and the mountain, Aranjaragiri, in the north, flowed a river by the name of Kontimara. The way from Jetuttara to the Varka mountain in, the Himavanta lay through the Cetarattha across the river Kontimara. The Nimi Jataka mentions a king named Usinara Page #100 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 92 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS and his son Sivi without giving any hint as to their connection with the Sivi people or kingdom. The connection is made clear in the Mahabharata (ui, 130.131) which definitely speaks of a Sivi kingdom ruled by king Usinara, "which lay not far from the Yamuna'.Patanjali in his comment on Panini's rule (iv, 2.2), mentions a locality in the north-western India by the name of Sivapura which is apparently the same place as Sivipura mentioned in & Shorkot inscription. Thus we may agree with Dr. Vogel in thinking that the Shorkot region was once the site of a city of the Sivis. The people of this part of Uttarapatha were known to the Greek historians as Siboi, equipped with 40,000 foot-soldiers at the time of Alexander's invasion, dressing themselves with the skins of wild beasts and having clubs for their weapons. The Khuddakas (Greek Sudracoe or Oxydrakai, Sk. Ksudraka), Suddakas (Greek Sodrai), Rohanas and Sindhavas are four other tribes or peoples of Uttarapatha who find mention in the Apadana (ii, p. 359). Of them, the first founded a territory between the Hydraotes (Ravi) and Hyphasis (Bias), and 1 Jalaka, vi, p. 96f. * Raychaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 205. > E.I., 1921, p. 16, * Raychaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 204. Page #101 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES , 93 figured as one of the most numerous and warlike of all the Indian tribes in the Punjab' at the time of Alexander's invasion. The second is invariably associated in the Great Epic (vii, 19.6; ix, 37.1) with the Abhiras who lived near the Sarasvati. Apart from their association with the Sindhavas in the Apadana, nothing further is as yet known of the Rohanas as a tribe or peoplo. They were probably the Indian people in Uttarapatha who formed a settlement in Ceylon 'comprising the south-eastern part of the island', though, according to the chronicles of Ceylon, the kingdom of Rohana was founded by a Sakyan prince.1 The Sindhavas, as their name implies, were a tribo or people who settled down in a valley of the Indus and founded a territory which has been known as Sindhu or Sind. This territory is constantly associated in the early Pali texts with that of the Sauviras between the Indus and the Jhelum. The Kurus are described by Buddhaghosa as a people who had migrated in large numbers from Uttarakuru to Jambudvipa and founded a kingdom which was named Kuru after them.2 The Kuru kingdom which was 300 leagues in extent comprised several districts, towns and villages, and its capital, Indapatta (Sk. Indraprastha near the modern Delhi) was seven 1 Mahavamea, ix, 10. 4 Papancasidant, i, 184 Page #102 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 94 , INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS leagues in circuit. Hastinapura (Pali Hatthipura), known, in earlier times as Asandivat, appears to have been the earlier capital. On this point Dr. Raychaudhuri observes: The evidence of the Vedic texts and that of the Puranas can be reconciled if we assume that, after the death of Janamejaya, the Kuru kingdom was split up into several parts. One part, which had its capital at Hastinapura, was ruled by the direct descendants of Janamojaya himself. Another part was ruled by the descendants of his brother Kaksasena. The junior branch probably resided at Indraprastha or Indapatta .... which probably continued to be the seat of kings claiming to belong to the Yudhitghilagotta (Yudhisthiragotra), long after the destruction of Hastinapura, and the removal of the elder line of Kuru kings to Kausambi'.2 It is, however, difficult to reconcile such an assumption as this with the Jateka tradition, according to which, Ajjuna or Dhananjaya Koravya of the stock of Yudhitthila, with Vidhurapanaita as his wise counsellor, reigned in the Kuru country when its capital was at Indapatta.8 On the other hand, the Kunala Jataka preserves a tradition of the five Pandave brothers (Pandurajaputta), Ajjuna, 1 Apudana, u, p. 369. 2 kayohaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., pp. 37-38. 8 Jataka, v, p.67f.; vi, p. 266. Page #103 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 95 Nakula, Bhimasena, Yudhitthila and Sahadeva, all of whom were chosen as husbands at the same time by Kanha (Sk. Krsna, another name for Draupadi according to the Great Epic), the only daughter and only child of the king of Kasi. It speaks of them without reference to any kingdom and applies the epithet of raja only to Sabadeva. The Jatakas have nothing to say with regard to the war of the Pandavas with the Kauravas. They tell us nothing also about the matrimonial alliance of the Pandavas with the Andhaka-Vrspis or Yadavas. Evidently the Kuru king Ajjuna of the family of Yudhitthila had nothing to do with Ajjuna and Yudhitthila among the five Pandava brothers. In the Mahavamsa (vii, 50, 69, 72), by the term Panduraja is meant the king of Pandya in South India with Madhura (modern Madoura) as its capital. The Jatakas are silent as to the connection of Panduraja, the ancestor of the Pandavas, with any kingdom in Northern or Southern India having Madhura for its capital. They are eloquent in praise of king Ajjuna during whose reign the Kuru country was an ideal kingdom, ruled most righteously and noted for virtue. His family chaplain was a Brahmin of pure conduct by the name of Sucirata and 1 Cf. Rurudhamma Jataka (No. 276), Dhumakart (418), Sambhava 615), Vidhurapandita (545). Page #104 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 96 , INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN BARLY TEXTS he alone seems to have deserved the epithet of Koravya.1 It seems that the next king in the line of Ajjuna was Sutasoma who is introduced as the son of king Koravya of the Kuru realm and who became so very fond of eating human flesh that he was compelled at last to abdicate his throne and walk out of his realm. When the Kuru country included in it Uttarapancala, a king by the name of Renu reigned in the city of Uttarapancala, and Prince Somanassa was his son. There was a time when Kuru, Pancala and Kekaya were three of the most powerful kingdoms' in Jambudvipa. But in the Buddha's time the Kuru country was being ruled only by a titular chieftain called Koravya, and evidently had very little political importance of its own. The people of Kuru continued nevertheless to enjoy their ancient reputation for deep wisdom and sound health The Panoalas founded a kingdom contiguous to that of the Kurus. The Pancala country was divided by the Ganges into two parts, Uttara and Dakkhina, each forming a kingdom 1 Jataka, iv, p. 361. * Ibid., V, p. 457f. 3 Ibid., iv, p. 444. 4 Ibid., u, p. 214. 5 Majjhima, u, p. 68. Paparcasudini, i, p. 184. Page #105 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES by itself. Like the Jatakas, the Divyavadana and the Mahabharata speak of the two divisions of their realm. According to the Kumbhakara Jataka, when king Dummukha, a contemporary of king Naggaji of Gandhara, reigned in Uttarapancala, its capital was Kampilla (Sk. Kampilya),+ while according to the Divyavadana (p. 435), at one time its capital was Hastinapura, the well-known chief city of the Kurus. The Mahabharata, on the other hand, definitely mentions Kampilya as the capital of Daksinapancala, and Ahicchatra or Chatravati as that of the Uttara. According to the Great Epic, the division of the Pancala kingdom into Northern and Southern was effected in fulfilment of a treaty between the king of Pancala and that of Kuru, after the former had been snatched away by the latter. The fact, however, seems to be that the two peoples were on a state of war with each other from time to time, at one time the Pancalas annexing a portion of the Kuru country to their realm, and at another, the Kurus establishing their supremacy over the northern division of Pancala. At all events, the Somanassa Jataka definitely states that once upon a timer Uttarapancala was included in the Kuru realm. 1 Jataka, m, 379. 2 Law, Geography, p. 18. 8 Jataka, wy, p. 444. Page #106 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 98 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS In the Jatakas we have mention of three other kings of Pancala, namely, one whose son was the valiant prince Jayaddisa; 1 secondly, Brahmadatta who oppressed his subjects with taxes and tyranny; and thirdly, Culani Brahmadatta who partly succeeded in subduing the then king of Videha by a well-plotted stratagem.3 King Culani Brahmadatta finds mention in the Ramayana (i, 32), the Jaina Uttaradhyayana Sutra (xiii, 1) and the Svapnavasavadatta (Act V). Even in the Buddha's time Pancala was being ruled by a king of its own, although like the Kuru realm, it lost its political importance. If it be correct to think that the Pancalas were originally the same people as the Krivis who find mention in the Vedic texts, we can say that they settled at first on the Sindhu and the Asikni (Chenab) and that their country was divided as Western and Eastern instead of Northern and Southern.4 In the Anguttara Nikaya, as noted before, the country of Maccha (Sk. Matsya) is included, together with its people, in the traditional list of sixteen mahajanapadas. In this and other Pali lists the Maochas as a people are usually associated with the Surasenas, while in the Vidhurapanaita Jataka they are said to have witnessed the contest at a game of dice between 1 Jataka, v, p. 21f. Ibid., v, p. 98%. 8 Ibid., vi, p. 294, + Vedro Index, i, p. 469. Page #107 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES ,99 the Kuru king Dhananjaya or Ajjuna and Punnaka the Yakkha. This may lead one to think that the Maochas had formed an alliance with their neighbours, the Kurus and the Surasenas. According to the Mahabharata, the Matsya country was then ruled by king Virata who was an ally of the Kurus. Its capital Viratanagara was evidently named after king Virata of the Epic fame. The Macchas as a people had no political importance in the Buddha's time. Over and above the usual association of the Surasenas (Sk. Surasenas, Greek Sourasenoi) in the Pali canonical lists of the mahajanapadas, the Vidhurapandita Jataka speaks of an occasion when the Surasenas were present in the Kuru court in the city of Indapatta along with the Macchas, Maddas and Pancalas. If any historical inference is to be drawn from these combinations, it would be that they were all neighbours and that their realms stood close to one another. Their capital, Madhura (Sk. Mathura) on the right bank of the Yamuna stood midway between Indapatta and Kosambi on the same river. Strictly speaking, it is the Uttaramadhura which is identified with Maholi, five miles to the south-west of the present town of Mathura or Muttra." From Samkissa (Sk. Law, Geography, pp. 20-21. Page #108 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 100 INDIA AS DESCRIBED "IN EARLY TEXTS Samkasya) on the Ganges the distance of Northern Madhura is said to have been four yojanas only. According to the Ghata Jataka, once upon a time king Mahasagara reigned in Uttaramadhura. He had two sons, Sagara and Upasagara of whom the former succeeded his father to the throne and the latter became the uparaja or viceroy. Mahasagara's contemporary was king Mahakamga of Kansabhoga & in Uttarapatha with his capital at Asitanjana, * a place which has not as yet been identified. Mahakamsa was succeeded to the throne by his elder son, Kamga, whose younger brother Upakamsa became his viceroy. There was a matrimonial alliance between the royal houses of Uttaramadhura and Kamsabhoga, Prince Upasagara marrying Kamsa brothers' sister Devagabbha (Sk. Devaki) who became the mother of Vasudeva, his nine brothers and one sister. Among the contemporaries of Sagara and Kamsa, the Ghata Jataka mentions the name of Kalasena who was at that time reigning in the city of Ayojjha (Sk. Ayodhya), which was undoubtedly the earlier capital of Kosala. The village of Govasdhana (Sk. Govardhana) in the 1 Kacpayana's Pali Grammar, edited by 8. o. Vidyabhumapa, Book, III, Ch. I, p. 167. A Jataka, iv, p. 81. . It is diffioult to agree with Malalasekera in thinking that Kansabhoge or Kampsabhoja was probably the same country as Kamboja." Page #109 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES ,101 kingdom of Kamsa was offered to Upasagara' as a wedding present. In the Buddha's time the ruler of the Surasenas, as his name implies, was a prince born of a princess married by the king of Surasena from the royal house of Avanti.1 When Megasthenes wrote about the Surasenas, their country must have been included in the Maurya empire, and after the Mauryas, their capital Madhura came under the sway of the Bactrian Greeks and the Kusanas. Whether their country formed a Sunga dominion or not is still a disputed point. The memory of the Surasenas as a people remains associated with a distinct form of Prakrit dialects named Sauraseni after them or their country. The Ghata Jataka seems to present a distorted version of the legend of Vasudeva and his brothers, described as Andhakavenhudasaputta dasabhatika, the ten brothers who passed as the sons of Andhakavisnu, husband of Nandagopa, their foster-mother. In it Vasudeva is otherwise called Kanha (Sk. Krsna) and Kesava (Sk. Kesava), which is quite compatible with the account given in the Great Epic and the Puranas. It records the names of Vasudeva's nine brothers as Baladeva, Candadeva, Suriyadeva, Aggideva, Varunadeva, Ajjuna, Pajjuna (Sk. Pradyumna), Ghatapandita and Ankura. The 1 Majghima, ii, p. 83f. Page #110 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 102 -INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS first child of their mother Devagabbha (Devaki) was a daughter named Anjanadevi. Devagabbha is represented as the sister of king Kamsa whom the Jataka connects with Kamsabhoga instead of Madhura. The ten brothers who grew up as powerful wrestlers and valiant warriors became ambitious to establish their paramount 80vereignty over the whole of Jambudvipa. The first kingdom they seized was that of Uttaramadhura. Next they directed their attention to Kamsabhoga. After making themselves masters of Kamsabhoga, and gradually defeating and killing the kings of sixty-three thousand realms, they began to reign in the city of Dyaravati or Dvaraka which stood on the sea and had a hill by its side. They divided their empire into ten dominions that were allotted to the ten brothers, the youngest brother parting with his share in favour of their sister Anjanadevi. The sons of the ten brothers perished by the curse of the sage Kanhadipayana whom they had insulted and killed, and they themselves met with a tragio end, the account of which is in substance the same as that given in the Mausalaparva of the Great Epic. But according to the Mahaummagga Jataka, Vasudeva's son, Sivi, by a Candala woman, named Jambavati, continued to reign in Dvaravati." 1 Jataka, vi, p. 421. Page #111 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PHOPLES ,103 The Pali Andhakavenhu, offered as the personal name of Vasudeva brothers' fosterfather, is only a wrong Prakrit form of the Sk. Andhaka-Vrsnis who represented two out of the four branches of the Satvatas, the other two being the Daivavzdhas and the Mahabhojas. The Satvatas themselves were one of the septs of the Yadavas. According to the Mahabharata and the Puranas, the ruling family of Mathura belonged to the race of Yadu. Krsna-Vasudeva and his brothers wore Andhaka-Vrsnis or Yadavas. The connection of Krona with the land of the Surasenas is confirmed also by the Greek writers who mention Methora (Mathura) and Cleisobora (Krsnapura) as two of their important cities. Dr. Raychaudhuri rightly observes:'The Andhakas and Vfsnis are referred to in the Astadhyayi of Panini (iv, 1.114; vi, 2.34). In Kautilya's Arthasastra the Vranis are described as a Sangha, i.e., a republican corporation. The Mahabharata, too, refers to the Vrsnis, Andhakas and other associate tribes as a Sangha (sii, 81.25) and Vasudeva as a Sanghamukhya.'1 a The early Jaina and Buddhist texts have very little to say regarding the Avantis as a people. According to the Mahagovinda Suttanta, when the empire of Renu, probably a powerful 1 Raychaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 118 Page #112 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 104 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Videhan king, was divided into seven subkingdoms, the kingdom of Avanti fell to the share of Vessabhu, counted as one of the seven contemporary kings of the line of Bharata. 1 Mahissati (Sk. Mahismati) was then the capital of this kingdom. But the Pali canonical texts nention Ujjeni (Sk. Ujjayini) as the capital of Candapajjota, the king of Avanti in the time of Mahavira and the Buddha. Professor D. R. Bhandarkar seeks to account for this discrepancy by the assumption that the country of the Avantis was divided into two kingdoms, one placed in the Dakkhinapatha having Mabissati for its capital, and the other, i.e., the northern singdom having its capital at Ujjeni. This explanation has not so far been disputed. As for the Avantis as a people, the Matsya Purana counts them among the five branches of he Haibayas, the other four being represented by the Vitihotras, Bhojas, Kunnikeras or Tunni. keras and Talajanghas. According to the Matsya 4 and Vayu o Puranas, the first dynasty of Mahismati 6 was of the Haihaya family. The Haihayas, mentioned also in the Arthasastra, established themselves in that part of India by 1 Digha, zi, p. 236. 2 Carmichael Lectures, 1918, p. 54. 8 Matsya, 43.48-9. * Ibid., 43.8-29. + Vay, 94.5-26, D-JRAS., 1916, p. 867--Pargiter's note deserves consideratior Page #113 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ cchii * KINGS AND PEOPLES 105 overthrowing the Nagas of the Narmada region. The Haihayas and their descendants, the Avantis, Bhojas, and the rest, were all originally of the Satvata race.1 The pedigree of king Candapajjota of Avanti is nowhere given in Pali or Ardhamagadhi. According to the Puranas, however, his father was Pulika who killed his master, the then reigning king of Avanti and anointed his son, Pradyota by force. Pradyota who subdued all neighbouring kings was 'destitute of good" policy.' He reigned for 23 years and was succeeded by five kings who reigned for 138 years. His son and successor was Palaka whose reign served as data for fixing the date of Mahavira's demise. Thus in the time of Mahavira and the Buddha, Candapajjota or Pajjota was the powerful monarch of Avanti who had three sons and a daughter named Vasuladatta (Sk. Vasavadatta). Vasuladatta eloped with king Udena of the Vaccha realm. Within a century and a half from the death of Pajjota, the country of the Avantis became merged in the Maurya empire. The Jatakas speak of sixteen Bhojaputtas.3 But they tell us nothing as to the countries where the sixteen branches of the Bhojas resided 1 Raychaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 23. 2 Pargiter, Dynasties of the Kali Age, pp. 18, 68. Samyutta, i, 61-62; Jataka, i, p. 46; Law, Geography, p. 62. Page #114 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 106 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS 1 or founded their territories. The Bhojas were, even according to the Aitareya and Satapatha Brahmanas, one of the septs of the Satvatas. Bhima, the king of Vidabbha (modern Berar), was no doubt a Bhoja king. The Sarabhanga Jataka 1 preserves the tradition of the powerful king Dandaki of the kingdom of Dandaka in the Vindhya region, who had his capital at the city of Kumbhavati. The sovereignty of Dandaka was established over the whole of the Vindhya region, extending as it did from Vidabbha to Kalinga. Kalinga, the king of Kalinga, Atthaka, the king of Atthaka and Bhimaratha, presumably the king of Vidabbha, acknowledged his supremacy. The kingdom of Dandaki was utterly destroyed by a natural catastrophe. Dandaki or Dandakya was undoubtedly a Bhoja king. In the fifth and thirteenth Rock Edicts of Asoka, the Rathikas, Bhojakas and Pitinikas, all of whom may be supposed to have belonged to the Satvata race, are mentioned as semi-independent ruling peoples of Aparanta. In the Hathigumpha Inscription of Kharavela the Rathikas and Bhojakas are introduced in such a manner as to leave no room for doubt that they were ruling chiefs of the Vidyadhara settlements (Vijadharadhivasa). 1 Jataka, v, pp. 134, 267ff., Majjhima, i, p. 378; Mahavastu, iii, p. 383f. 2 Arthasastra, Chamasastri's Tr., p. 12. Page #115 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES , 107 The Jambudiva-pannatti, as noted before, connects the Vidyadharas with the Vaitadhya or Vindhya rango and speaks of their eighteen settlements. When the Jatakas speak of sixteen Bhojaputtas, one may understand that they were the ruling chiefs of sixteen Vidyadhara tracts along the Vindhyas. From these references, both in literature and in inscriptions, , it may be inferred that the Vidyadharas were not mythical beings but some aboriginal tribes that settled along the Vindhyas. The Assakas (Sk. Asvakas, Asmakas) find mention as a distinct people of India in early Pali texts, in Panini's grammar, and in the Mahabharata, Brhatsamhita, and Puranas. The Greek writers knew them as Assakenus whose territory was situated in the Swat Valley. In the Markandeya Purana, they are placed in Uttarapatha. Panini's reference, too, must have been to a people in Uttarapatha. But the early Pali texts are concerned only with those Agsakas who founded a territory in the Dakkhi. napatha which lay contiguous to the kingdom of the Avantis 2 and on the south bank of the Godavari. The capital of this southern kingdom was Potana? (Sk. Paudanya) or Potali." 2 Jataka, v, p. 317. 1 Law, Geography, p. 21. 3 Sutta-nipata, verse 977. 4 Digha, ii, p. 295. 5 Jataka, i1, p. 165. Page #116 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 108 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN PARLY TEXTS It .was included at one time, in the past, in the empire of Renu and was ruled by Brahmadatta 1 who must have been a prince of the royal family of Kasi. At another time, as stated in the Agsaka Jataka, the Assaka kingdom formed an integral part of the empire of Kasi. In this instance, the Jataka does not give us the personal name of the king. The Cullakaliaga Jataka mentions Aruna, the king of Assaka, who accepted the challenge of the contemporary powerful king of Kalinga and ultimately defeated him. The battle ended in a treaty which was solemnised by a matrimonial alliance between the two royal houses.3 The Godavari flowed between the two neighbouring kingdoms of Assaka and Mulaka or Alaka, the latter lying to the north of the former and at the foot of the Vindhyas. In the commentary on the Sutta-nipata, the two kingdoms are represented as two Andhaka or Andhra principalities. According to the VimanavatthuCommentary, the ruler of Assaka at the time of the Buddha was a king whose son was Prince Sujata Among the dwellers of the Vindhya region other than the Bhojas and 'Avantis including i Digha, i, p. 288, - Jataka, ii, p. 166. 8 Jataka, ui, pp. 3-5. 4 Sutta-nipata, verse 977. 6 Vimanavatthaliatthakatha, p. 259f. Page #117 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 109 the Anuvindakas, the Apadana (ii, p. 369) mentions the Bhagga-Karusas, Okkalas and Mekalas. The Dasannas find mention in the Jatakas 1 and Petavatthu. They were evidently a people who settled along the banks of the river named Dasanna (modern Dasan, a tributary of the Yamuna), and founded a territory with their capital at Vedisa (modern Bhilsa) on the river Vetravati. Erakaccha was a well-known city of the Dasannas. The Dasanna country is counted among the sixteen mahajanapadas in the Mahabharata (ii, 5.10) and Mahavastu (i, p. 34). The name of the Mekalas is to be met with only in a nominal list. The Okkalas were evidently the inhabitants of Ukkala (Sk. Utkala) which lay, according to the Mahavastu (u, p. 303), in Uttarapatha. It is not impossible that the Okkalas who belonged at first to the north-western region of India, founded a colony afterwards in the Vindhya region. That there was an Ukkala janapada in Uttarapatha is borne out by the Theragatha-Commentary, according to which, the two caravan-merchants, Tapassu and Bhalluka, referred in the Mahavastu to Utkala in Uttafapatha, were citizens of Pokkharavati, a well-known city in Gandhara. 1 Jataka, iu, p. 338. 2 Petavatthi, ii, 7. 8 Theragatha-atthakatha, i, p. 48f. Page #118 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 110 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN PARLY TEXTS Thus it is very probable that Utkala in Uttarapatha, with Pokkharavati as its chief town, formed a part of the kingdom of Gandhara. So far as the Apadana reference is concerned, the association of the Okkalas with the Mekalas hardly leaves room for doubt that they belonged to Ukkala, which, together with Odda, constituted Orissa proper. The Apadana list contains also the name of the Oddakas whose dialect, as already noted, was counted among the instances of Milakkhabhasa. Certain classes of thinkers, namely, the ahetuvada, akiriyavada and natthikavada, are banned as Ukkalavassabhanna, i.e., persons speaking the unintelligible jargon of the country of the Okkalas'.1 The Bhaggas, associated in the Apadana with the Karusas whom the Markandeya Purana allocates to the Vindhya region, were a people who founded a territory contiguous to that of the Vamsas or Vacchas. Their i capital was Sumsumaragira. In the Buddha's time their country became a dependency of the kingdom of Vaocha and was being governed. by Prince Bodhi, son of king. Udena, who built a magnificent palace called Kokanada at Sumsumaragira. A branch of the Bhaggas, 1 Angultara, u, p. 31; Majjhima, iii, p. 78. Buddhaghosa wrongly explains the expression as signifying two persona, Vassa and Bhania, whd were natives of Ukkala. Angruttura, ii, p. 61; Majjhima, i, p. 332, Page #119 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 111 as already pointed out, also occupied a small territory between Vesali and Savatthi. Among the peoples of the Aparanta or western sea-board other than the Sindhu-Soviras, we have mention in the Apadana (ii, p. 359) of the Suratthas, Aparantakas and Supparikas (or Supparakas). The Jaina canonical texts mention the name of Kaochas, who settled down in a territory, now known as Cutch. The Bharukacchas (Sk. Bhrgukacchas) were the citizens of Bharukaccha (modern Broach in Kathiawar)." The kingdom of Bharu stood on the sea and was three hundred leagues in extent. The tradition is that the whole of this kingdom was submerged in the soa by the fury of the gods.1 According to the Divyavadana (p. 576) the kingdom of Bhiru with its principal city Bhiruka or Bhirukaccha was founded by and named after Bhiru, who was one of the two chief ministers of king Rudrayana of Sauvira in the lower Indus Valley. Rudrayana, a contemporary of king Bimbisara of Magadha, was * killed by his wicked son Sikhandi, whose kingdom was afterwards destroyed as a punishment for this crime. The legend concerning the foundation of the Bhiru kingdom with its capital in the Buddha's time cannot be believed, for the simple reason that the kingdom and its sea-port 1 Jataka, u, p. 169f. Page #120 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 112 INDIA AS DESCRIBED' IN EARLY TEXTS had existed long before. The Sussondi Jataka speaks of the ministrel Sagga's journey from Benares to Bharukaccha 1 (Barygaza of Ptolemy and the Periplus.) The Supparikas or Supparakas (Sk. Saurparakas) were the citizens of Suppara or Supparaka (modern Sopara) which was the capital of the kingdom of Sunaparanta. The distance of Suppara from Savatthi was one hundred and twenty leagues. The people of Sunaparanta 'were reported as being fierce and violent.4 The Suratthas were the inhabitants of the kingdom of Surattha (Sk. Surastra) which is identified with Kathiawar. The prosperity of Surattha was due to trade. One king Pingala ruled in Surattha as a subordinato potentate under the Mauryas, while, according to the Junagal inscription of Rudradaman I, the Yavana Tusaspa was the govornor of Surastra under king Asoka. Among the peoples of South India referred to in the Great Epic and Markandeya Purana, 1 Jataka, iii, p. 187f. 2 Majjhima, ui, p. 268; Sannetta, iv, p. 61f; N. L. Dey, Geographical Dictionary of Ancient and Medical India, p. 197. 3 Dhammapada-affhakatha, ii, p. 213. * Majjhima, iii, p. 268; Samyutta, iv, p. 61. 5 Apaddna, ii, p. 369; Milinda, pp. 331, 369; Jataka, ii, p. 463 V, p. 133. 6 Petavatthat, iv, 3. According to the Commentary, the con. temporary Maurya king was Dhammagoka, which is, however doubtful. See O. D. Chatterjee's paper, 'A historical character ir the reign of Asoka Maurya', D. R. Bhandarkar Volume, p. 329f. Page #121 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 113 the Andhaka (Sk. Andhra), Sabara, Damila (Dravida) and Kolaka (Cola) find mention in the Apadana (ii, pp. 358-59). The Mahimsaka and Kalinga are mentioned in the Jatakas. Uttaramadhura mentioned in the Jatakas presupposes knowledge of Dakkhinamadhura, which must have been the capital of the Pandyas of South India. The Pandyas as an independent people find mention in the edicts of Asoka along with the Colas, Satiyaputras and Keralaputras. These four peoples must have been comprehended by the name, Damila, in the Apadana. The Andhrakas, Pulindas and Savaras are counted in the Mahabharata (xii, 207.42) among the people of the Deccan. In the edicts of Asoka too, the Andhras are associated with the Parindas who were apparently no other people than the Pulindas in the Great Epic and the Puranas. Vincent A. Smith considers the Andhakas (Andhrakas) as a Dravidian people, now represented by the large population speaking the Telugu language, who occupied the deltas of the Godavari and the Krsna'. But in the Pali commentaries, exactly as in the Apadana, the Andhakas as a people are distinguished from the Damilas, although their dialeots are classed under the group of eighteen Milakkhabhasa or non-Aryan languages. Srinivas Iyengar thinks that they were originally a Vindhyan Page #122 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 114 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS tribe, whose territories extended from west to east down the valleys of the Godavari and the Kysna. According to the Sutta-nipata commentary, Assaka and Mulaka became two Andhaka principalities. In the Kathavatthu commentary, Buddhaghosa definitely mentions that Pubbasela, Aparasela, Rajagiri and Sid. dhattha were all localities in the Andhaka territory. The Serivanija Jataka locates Andhapura, the capital of the Andhakas, on the river Telavaha, identified by Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar with the modern Tel or Telingiri. The Andhras and Parindas were two among the semi-independent ruling tribes within Asoka's empire. The Sabaras (Sk. Savaras) were evidently an aboriginal tribe identified usually with the Suari of Pliny and the Sabarae of Ptolemy. They are . probably represented now by the Savaralu or Sauras of the Vizagapatam Hills and the Savaris of Gwalior. 8 The Akitti Jataka speaks of the Damilarattha as a territory round Kavirapattana,- the port of Kaveri which is definitely placed by Buddhadatta in the kingdom of Cola (Colaratthe). 1 Indian Antiquary, 1913, p. 276f. 3 Ibid., 1918, p. 71. 8 Rayohaudhuri, op. cit., 4th ed., p. 79. 4 Jataka, iv, p. 238. 6 Buddhadatta' Manuale, Introduction, xii, foll. Page #123 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 115 King Asoka frankly admits that the Colas maintained their independence during his reign. Their territory in Dakkhinapatha 1 certainly lay to the south of Asoka's empire including the Andhra and Mahimsaka or Kekaya territories. The Pandyas were a ruling people of South India; whose territory lay to the south of the river Kaveri. Their later capital, Madhura, is described by Buddhaghosa as a suttapattana or a port noted for the export of cotton fabrics. During Asoka's reign they were one of the independent nations in the south. As described in the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela, the contemporary Pandya king was rich in the possession of gems, pearls and jewels. The Keralaputras, Keralas or Cheras were a branch of the Damilas who occupied a territory along the western sea-coast of the Deccan. In Asoka's time they, too, were the independent nations of South India. The Kalingas were a powerful people of India who founded a territory between the territories of the Ladhas and the Andhakas, and along the eastern sea-ccast. Their country represented one of the seven sub-kingdoms in the empire of Renu, ruled by king Sattabhu with his capital at Dantapura (Palura), near Chicacole, The Hathigumpha inscription speaks of the 1 Petavatthu commentary, p. 133. Page #124 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 116. INDIA AS DESCRIBED' IN EARLY TEXTS 'three dynasties of kings who reigned in Kalinga, the third being a Ceti or Cedi royal family to which Kharavela himself belonged. One of the ancient kings of the Kalingas was a contemporary and rival of Aruna, the king of Assaka, who being defeated in battle, concluded a treaty by which he gave all his four daughters in marriage to the victor.1 Another king was a vassal under king Dandaki. A third king, Karandu or Karakandu, was a contemporary of Naggaji of Gandhara. In the Kalingabodhi Jataka we read that the Kalinga king of Dantapura had two sons, Mahakalinga and Cullakalinga, the elder brother succeeding his father and the younger brother marrying a Madda princess from Sagala while in exile. Cullakalinga's son, who was destined to be a Cakkavatti, was installed on the throne of Kalinga after the death of Mahakalinga.4 The Jatakas maintain also a tradition of a Kalinga king, named Nalikira, who brought about destruction of his kingdom by ill-treating a hermit.5 The Kalinga country was conquered by Asoka and it was annexed to his kingdom. The people of Kalinga were so powerful at that 1 Jataka, iu, p. 3f. a Ibid., v, p. 135. Ibid., iii, p. 376f. 4 Ibid., iy, p. 232f. Ibid., v, p. 144. Page #125 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 117 time that they could well afford to lose in battle about throe hundred thousand soldiers. In the Great Epic and Markandeya Purana, the Angeyas (Pali Anga), Magadhas, Vangeyas (Vanga), Sauhmas, Tamraliptakas, Bhargavas, Vaidehas and Mallas are counted among the peoples of Eastern India. The early Buddhist and Jaina texts speak also of the Vajjis, Licchavis, Natas, Sumbhas and Ladhas (Radhas). Of them, the Ladhas lived in a pathless country with its two divisions, known as Subbhabhumi and Vajjabhumi. It may be rightly supposed that these two divisions of Ladha corresponded to Suhma and Tamralipti respectively. The Jaina Acaranga Sutra speaks of the inhabitants of the Radha country as rude and generally hostile to the ascetics. When the ascetics appeared near their villages, they used to set dogs upon them, uttering the syllables, 'cu cu'. The Angas, Vangas and Magadhas as countries and peoples figure prominently in the Jaina list of sixteen mahajanapadas, while in the Pali list the Vargas have no place at all. So far as the evidence of the Pali canon and Milindapanha goes, Vanga stood apart from Anga. Vanga finds mention indeed, in the 1 Acaranga sutra, I. 8.3. Page #126 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 118 INDIA AS DESCRIBED' IN EARLY TEXTS * Mahaniddesa 1 and Milindapanha s as a centre of trade reached by sea. According to the Pali chronicles, however, both the country and capital of the Vangas were known as Vanga. The then king of the Vangas had married a princess from the royal family of Kalinga.8 It is in the Atharvaveda (v, 22.14) that we have the earliest mention of the Angas and Magadhas as two peoples. From the Vratya book of the same Veda (XV), it is evident that they were despised as Vratyas or peoples who lived outside the pale of orthodox Brahmanism. Anga with its capital at Campa formed one of the seven sub-kingdoms within the empire of Renu, and it was allotted to a king named Dhatarattha of the line of Bharata. Magadha, however, has no place in this list. According to the Harivamsa and Puranas, Dadhivahana was the son and successor of Anga. This Dadhivahana could not have been the same king Dachivahana of Anga who is represented by the Jainas as a contemporary of Mahavira and a weak rival of king Satanika of Kausambi.$<< According to the Pali tradition,, however, the king of Anga in the Buddha's time was Brahma V Niddesa, vol. i, p. 154. W Milinda, p. 369. W Dipavamaa, ix, 2, V For a learned note on the subject, vide A, B. Keith's paper in TRAS., 1919, p. 156f. J. JASB., 1999, p. 320, Page #127 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 119 datta who was defeated and killed by Prince Seniya Bimbisara, son of king Bhattiya of Magadha, who ruled Campa as his father's viceroy. Anga continued to be a dependency of Magadha till the reign of Kharavela of Kalinga. The Dipavamsa (p. 28) tells us that Campa was ruled by Agoka's son, Mahinda, his sons and grandsons. In the earlier phase of the war, Brahmadatta is said to have defeated Bimbisara's father, Bhattiya. Even before that the kings of Anga were at war with those of Magadha, the victory being sometimes on this side and sometimes on the other. The Vidhurapandita Jataka refers to Rajagaba as a city of Anga. Among the peoples of Eastern India, the Magadhas or Magadhas were destined to rise steadily into an imperial power. As a Khattiya tribo, they founded a territory round Mt. Vepulla, which was bounded on the north and west by the Ganges, on the east by Campa, and on the south by the Vindhyas, the Sone forming the western boundary of the Magadhakhetta. The Gayakhetta formed an integral part of the Magadha kingdom throughout its existence. The Mahabharata ti. 63.30) honours king Brhadratha as the founder of Girivraja, also named Barbadrathapura after him, while the Ramayana 1 Jataka, v, p. 271. Page #128 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 120 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS (i32.7) gives the credit for it rather to his father, the Cedi king Vasu Uparicara. In the Cetiya Jataka, the five sons of the Coti king Upacara or Apacara are mentioned as founders of the cities of Hatthipura (in the Kuru realm), Assapura (in the kingdom of Anga), Sihapura (in the Panjab), Uttarapancala (in Pancala), and Daddarapura, the Giribbaja being excluded from the list,1 But the Puranas persistently describe the Barhadrathas as the royal dynasty that continued to rule the Magadha kingdom almost up to the 6th century B.C. Seniya Bimbisara was king of AngaMagadha when the Buddha renounced the world and Mahavira became a Jina. He was junior to the Buddha in age by five years. According to the Buddhist tradition, Bimbisara's father and immediate predecessor was king Bhatiya or Bhattiya, whose connection with the Barhadrathas is nowhere mentioned or indicated. King Candapajjota of Avanti, Udena of Vamsa, Pasenadi of Kosala, Rudrayana of Sauvira and Pukkusati of Gandhara are known to have been his great contemporaries. Similarly Pulika of Avanti, Parantapa of Vamsa, Mahapasenadi of Kosala and Brahmadatt&_of_Anga may be described as contemporaries of Bimbisara's father as also of himself. In the Great Epic, 92 Jataka, iii, pp. 454, 460-461. Page #129 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 121 KINGS AND PROPLES Jarasandha, the most powerful king of Magadha, is introduced as the son and successor of Bphadratha. His powerful ally was the Cedi king Sisupala, both of whom were defeated and killed by the Pandava brothers. Nothing of this historical legend can be traced in the early Jain or Buddhist texts. On the other hand, in the Jaina Uttaradhyayana Sutra (xviii, 43), we have mention of Jaya, son and successor of king Samuddavijaya of Rajagaha, as the eleventh Cakkavatti of the Bharatavarsa: Arindama, Duyyodhana, and a few other ancient kings of Magadha are mentioned by name in the Jatakas. During the period preceding the advent of Mahavira and the Buddha, the notable event in the history of Magadha was the prolonged contest for supremacy between the Magadhan monarchs and the kings of Anga with varying results. It ultimately ended, however, in permanent annexation of Aaga to Magadha. The Videhas, who represented in the Buddha's time as one of the important clans constituting the Vajjian or Licchavi confederacy, were a people who originally migrated from the eastern continent of Videha and founded a territory named Videha aft@r them on the left bank of the Ganges. According to the Satapatha Brahmana (I. IV, 1 etc.), the country of Videha owes its name to its first king, Videgha Mathava, who came from the Sarasvati region. This Page #130 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 122 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS king Mathava would seem to be no other than Makhadeva or Maghadeva in Pali. The father and predecessor of Nemi or Nimi as noted before, was a contemporary of Naggaji of Gandhara, Dummukha of Pancala and others. It was from Nimi that the long line of the Janakas proceeded. The son and immediate successor of Nimi was Kalarajanaka,? so called because of his projecting teeth, whose son and successor was Samankara. Thus Makhadeva is rightly described as the forerunner of the powerful kings of Mithila. According to the Ramayana (1.71.3), the adipurusa of the royal family of Mithila was Nimi (Jaina Nami), whose son was Mithi and grandson, Janaka I. Janaka's son, Janaka II, father of Sita, had a brother named Kusadh vaja who became the king of Samkasya. In the Vayu (88.7-8) and Visnu (iv, 5.1) Puranas, however, Nimi or Nemi figures as a son of Ikshvaku and is honoured with the epithet of Videha. The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad speaks of the philosopher king Janaka of Mithila whom Rhys Davids was inclined to identify with king Mahajanaka of the Mahajanaka Jataka. The Videha country was bounded on the east by the Kausiki, on the south by the Ganges, on the west by the 1 Majjhima, u, 82; Jataka, v, 129. 8 Jataka, v. Page #131 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 123 KINGS AND PBOPLES river Sadanira and on the north by the Himar layas. It was, according to the Gandhara Jataka, 300 leagues in extent and contained at one time 16,000 villages, 16,000 storehouses and 16,000 dancing girls. Its capital Mithila was built by Govinda.2 The great prosperity of the Videhas was due to trade with other countries, Benares and the rest. According to the Jaina canonical tradition, Cetaka 8 of Videha was an influential leader of the Licchavi confederacy. His sister, Tribala, was the mother of Mahavira, the historical founder of Jainism, and his daughter, Cellana or Vodehi, was married to Srenika Bimbisara of Magadha and became mother of Kunika, i.e., Ajatasattu. When we speak of the Vajjis (Sk. Vrjis), we speak either of the Vajjian confederacy or the Vajjis as one of the constituent clans of that confederacy. The confederacy is also associated with the name of the Licchavis forming another constituent clan. The confederate plans were eight in number (atthakula or atthakulaka) which, according to the Jaina Kalpa 4 and Nirayavali Sutras, consisted of nine Licchavi olans. They formed an alliance with the nine Mallakas and the kings of Kasi and Kosala. 1 Jataka, iii, p. 385. Digha, ii, p. 235. . Acaranga Satra, pp. xii-xvi-maternal uncle of Mahkvira. Seo, 128. Page #132 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 124 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED 'IN EARLY TEXTS This alliance existed not only at the time of Mahavira's demise but also when a war ensued between Kunika Ajatasattu and the Licchapis. As for the remaining confederate olans, one may mention the name of Nayas, Natas or Jnatrikas,1 who lived in a suburb of Vesali, the Vajjian capital, and the Bhaggas who settled between Vesali and Savatthi. Thus it may be supposed that the eight or nine confederate clans with the exception of the Videhas resided hear about Vesali which was at the time one of the most flourishing and beautiful cities in northern India. According to the Ekapanna Jataka, the city of Vesali was surrounded by a triple wall, each wall standing at the distance of a league from the next and was provided with three gates and watch-towers. The Vrjisor Licohavis possessed a bright complexion; they were luxurious and at the same time most warlike, and strong in their national unity. Theirs was an oligarchical republic and they had a common Mote-hall in which all important questions of administration were decided. So long as they were able to maintain their unity, no power could conquer their country. 1 See B.D. Law, Some Ksatrya Tyrbes of Anorent Indra, Ch. II. 2 Vinaya Texts, S.B.B., 11, 171; Lalitovratara, Ch. III, p. 21. & Jataka, 1, p. 504. 4 3. O. Law, Some Ksatriya Tmbes of Ancient India, Licohavis, & Ibid., Oliapter on Licchavis, Sec. V. Page #133 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ * KINGS AND PEOPLES But we shall see anon that their unity was destroyed and that their country was conquered by the kings of Magadha not long after the demise of the Buddha. According to their national custom, a most handsome girl was reserved for the pleasure of the people. Each family had its distinctive dress of its own.2 The Vajjis or the Licchavis claimed their descent from the royal family of Kasi. 125 a 1 B. C. Law, Historical Gleanings, p. 71. 2 Watters, On Yuan Chwang, ii, p. 79. a X. 22. The Mallas and the Licchavis are counted in the Manusamhita among the Vratya Ksatriyas. Like the Licchavis, the Mallas or Mallakis, consisting of nine clans according to the Jain canonical texts, formed a strong confederacy, republican in its character. They too had a Mote-hall, for the discussion of all important matters concerning them. In the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta," they are called Vasetthas, i.e., the Khattiyas belonging to the Vasettha (Vasistha) gotra. Like the Videhas, the Mallas had originally a monarchical form of government, Okkaka (Ikshvaku) being mentioned in the Kusa Jataka (No. 531) as a Malla king. It is probable that like the Sakyas, the Mallas as Ksatriyas claimed their descent from B. C. Law, Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India, Oh. IV. 5 Digha, ii, pp. 158-159. Page #134 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 126 INDIA AS DESCRIBED 'N EARLY TEXTS the royal family of Okkaka. The Mallas and the Licchavis as two neighbouring peoples established friendly relations between them at least for their self-defence, though the Bhaddasala Jataka (No. 465) offers us an account of a conflict between them. At the time of the rise of Buddhism the Mallas were divided into two main sections, one having their capital at Pava and the other at Kusinara. There was current among the Mallas a living tradition of the former glory of Kusinara, which was built on the site of the ancient city of Kusavati, which was the capital of the king Mahasudassana. There was a great belt of a Himalayan forest called Mahavana which covered some portions of the Vajji and Malla territories. The Mallas retained their independence till the demise of the Buddha, as we find that both the main sections of the Mallas? appeared among claimants for shares of the bodily remains of the Master. It is not yet possible to collect the names of all the nine branches of the Mallas mentioned in the Jaina Kalpasutra. The Sakyas who, too, formed a confederacy with the Koliyas, have a permanent place in the history of India and of the world on account of the birth of the Buddha Gotama among them. They founded a kingdom named after them in 1 Digha, 4, p. 170. . Thd., 1, p. 167. Page #135 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 127 that part of northern India which stood between the kingdom of Kosala in the west and the Malla territory in the south-east. Their capital, Kapilavatthu, was founded around or near the hermitage of the sage Kapila. The Sakyas claimed their descent from king Okkaka whose ancestry is traced back to king Mahasammata. In the early Pali texts, they are described as Adiccabandhu in the sense that they belonged to the solar race of the Khattiyas. They had their Mote-hall at Kapilavatthu where their administrative and judicial business was carried out. They as a ruling people were proud of the purity of their birth, for which, as tradition goes, they had to pay a beavy penalty. In the Buddha's time, the position of the Sakyais was that of vassals (anujata) under king Pasenadi of Kosala. Placed as they were, they could not cherish much of territorial ambition. They once came into conflict with the Koliyas over the waters of the Rohini river which had separated their territories. According to the Tatakas and the Pali commentaries, the Sakya territory was invaded and conquered by Vidu dabha, the usurper king of Kosala in the last year of the Buddha'a career. But in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta,8 we read that both the 1 Buddhist India, p. 19. Cf. ZDMG., 44, 344 (Jolly). Jataka, v, 412. 8 Digha, ii, 167. Page #136 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 128 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Sakyas and the Koliyas as independent political powers appeared among the rival claimants for shares of the Buddha's bodily remains. Among other claimants, we have mention of the Bulis of Allakappa, the Moriyas of Pipphalivana and the Kalamas of Kesaputta. We know practically nothing about the Bulis and the Kalamas save and except that they were two of the small ruling clans. As for the Moriyas of Pipphalivana, according to the Mahavamsa commen*tary, two are the possible derivations of their name, one from the word modiya meaning delightful and the other from the word mora meaning peacock. According to the first derivation, the Moriyas were so called because they lived in a delightful land, and according to the second, they were called Moriyas bocause they founded their city in a locality which always resounded with the cries of peacocks. The Mahavamsa commentary (pp. 119-121) traces the origin of the Maurya dynasty of Magadha to the Moriyas of Pipphalivana. Candagutta, according to this tradition, was born of the queen-consort of the.Moriyan king of Pipphalivana. This is evidently in conflict with the account in the Mudraraksasa. Turning at last to the peoples placed in the Brahmanical Mid-land, we have to take into | Mahavamsa-Tika (Sinhalese ed.), p. 119f.; Law, Some KsatriyaTribes of Ancient India, pp. 211-212. Page #137 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 129 account the four important peoples, e.g., the Kasis, the Kosalas, the Vamsas and the Cedis. The Kasis were one of the most ancient peoples of Northern India, who find mention in the Atharvaveda, in which they are associated with the Kosalas and Videhas. They founded a kingdom named Kasi after them, which was 300 leagues in extent, with its capital at Baranasi which was known by other names in the past ages. The city of Benares which stood on the left bank of the Ganges was encompassed by the walls that were twolve leagues in circuit. In the Mahagovinda Suttanta Kasi with Baranasi as its capital is included in the list of seven sub-kingdoms within the empire of Ronu. The administration of the kingdom of Kasi fell to the share of Dhatarattha represented as a king of the line of Bharata. The Bharata line of the Kasi kings appears to have been supplanted by a new line of Brahmadattas who were probably of the Videhan origin.: Most of the Jataka stories have been narrated with freference to the reigns of the Brahmadattas of Kasi. The Mahabharata speaks of a dynasty consisting of as many as 100 Brahmadattas (u, 8.23). That Brahmadatta was more a family designation than a personal name of the 1 Vedro Index, ii, 116 f.a. % Jataka, iv, 18, 119-20. 9 Raychaudhuri, op. cit., p. 63. Page #138 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 130, INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS reigning king is evident from at least two Jatakas namely the Dummedha 1 and Gangamala.? The Videhan origin is borne out by the evidence of such Jatakas as the Matiposaka and Sambula, especially the latter in which a son of Brahmadatta, king of Kasi, is expressly called Vedehaputta. The history of the Kasis, their kings and country is long as well as eventful. Many Jatakas testify to the unsurpassed glory of the city of Benares and to the ambition of its rulers for paramount sovereignty over the whole of Jambudipa.3 The Vinaya Mahavagga (x, 2.3), too, bears testimony to the former greatness and prosperity of the city. The kingdom of Kasi became important in the history of the Jains on account of the fact that their Tirtharkara Paroya was a prince of Benares. There was a time when king Manoja of Benares was able to subdue the kings of Kosala, Anga and Magadha.* At another time, the kingdom of Assaka became a dependency of Kasi. During the period preceding the rise of Jainism and Buddhism, the most important event in the history of the Kasis is the repeated struggle for supremacy between the kings of Kasi and 1 Jataka, i, p. 269f. 2 Ibid., No. 421. Bhaddagala Jataka No. 466, Dhonasikha. Jataks No. 353. 4 Sonananda Jataka No. 632. Agsaka Jat ka No. 207. Page #139 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 131 Kosala. Some of the Kasi kings in the Jatakas, as pointed out by D. R. Bhandarkar 1, find mention also in the Puranas. 2 The series of struggles ended finally in a permanent annexation of the kingdom of Kasi to that of Kosala.8 The Kosalas & as a people do not find mention in the Vedic texts. They were a Ksatriya - tribe who like the Sakyas traced their descent from king Okkaka. The kinship between the two neighbouring peoples was so close in all respects that the Buddha openly confessed that he was as much a Kosalan (Kosalako) as the then king Pasonadi of Kosala. In the earlier days of Brahmadatta, king of Kasi,, the Kosala country was only a poor and tiny estate with slender resources'. (daliddo appadhano appabhogo appabalo appavahano appavijito aparipunna-kosakotthagaro). It may be taken for granted that Ayojjha (Ayodhya) was the earlier capital of the undivided kingdom of Kosala. One king Kalasena reigned in 1 Carmichael Lectures, 1918, p. 57. 2 Viskasena of Jataka No. 268 = Viswasaksena; Udaya of Jateka No. 458 - Udakasene, Bhallatiya of Jataks No. 504 = Bhallata. & Vinaya, S.B.D., Vo... aw, 294-99; Kunala Jataka No. 638; Kosambi JAtaka No. 428. 4 For fullor details, vide B. C. Law, Ancient Inaran Tribes, Oh, II. 6 Dhammacetiya Sutta, Majjhime, u p. 118f. & Vinaya, Mahavagga, S.B..., vol. xvii, 294. Page #140 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 132 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Ayojjha as a contemporary of Sagara of Uttaramadhura and Vasudeva Kanha of Dvaravati. The capital of the Kosalas in the Buddha's time was Savatthi on the right bank of the Aciravati. King Dasaratha whom the Ramayana represents as the king of Kosala with his capital at Ayodhya is described in the Dasaratha Jataka as, the * king of Kasi. The second capital of the Kosalas was Saketa as may be inferred from the Nandiyamiga Jataka.1 But Vanka and many others are said to have reigned in Kosala when Savatthi became its capital. This was indeed the third and last capital of the Kosalas. At the time of the rise of Buddhism, Pasenadi, son and successor of Mahapasenadi, was king of Kosala. Kasi became subordinate to Kosala already during the reign of Pasenadi's father. Kasi was at that time being governed by Pasenadi's brother who was evidently his viceroy. The throne of Kosala was being usurped by prince Virudhaka, a son of Pasenadi. Pasenadi is known to have been not only a contemporary of the Buddha but also a person who was born on the same date and died in the same year (tvam pi asitiko aham pi asitiko). The Vamsas or Vacchas 8 were a people who founded their territory along the right bank - 1 No. 386. % Dhammacetiya Sutta, Majjhima, i. * For fuller details, see B. O. Law, Ancient Mid-Indian Kaatriya - Tribes, Vol. I, Ch VI. Page #141 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 133 of the Yamuna with their capital at Kosambi. The Puranas trace their origin to the royal family of Kasi. In the epic tradition, a Ceti prince named Kusamba is described as the founder of the city of Kosambi. The king of the Vamsas in the Buddha's time was Udena (Udayana) who is described as the son and successor of king Parantapa. In the Puranius, . Udayana is connected with a long line of Kuru kings headed by Nioaksu who, on the destruction of Hastinapura by flood, transferred his residence to Kausambi. Udena excelled others in the wealth of his elephants and sought to strengthen his position by entering into matrimonial alliances with the neighbouring kings. Even during the reign of Udena, the Bhagga country remained a dependency of the Vamsas. The Cetis or Cedis , also known as Cetaputta, were one of the most ancient peoples of India whose territory lay midway between the kingdoms of the Kurus and the Vamsas. In the Cotiya Jataka we are given a genealogy of the Coti kings from the first king Mahasammata. The tenth king Upacara or Apacara is generally identified with the Puru king Vasu-uparicara mentioned in the Mahabharata. The agreement 1 According to the Puranas, his father's name was Vagudana and According to Bhasa, Sahasranika. 2 For fuller details, vide B. C. LAW, Ancient Mid-Indian Ksatriya Tribes, Vol. I, Oh. V. Page #142 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 134 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS betwoen the two legends lies in the fact that in both the five sons of Uparicara are said to have been founders of the five different lines of kings. Even in historical times, as already pointed out, the third dynasty of the kings of Kalinga including Kharavela is expressly mentioned to have originated from the Cedis.. The early texts of Jainism and Buddhism present, on the whole, a picture, envisaged by Rhys Davids 1 for the first time, of the political history of India in which the four great monarchies of Magadha, Kosala, Vamsa and Avanti, appeared as powerful competitors, for overlordship. The remaining powers were of minor importance. They only remained as passive spectators or subordinate allies. The two of the most important oligarchical powers were tho confederacies of the Vajjis or Licchavis of Vesali and of the Mallas of Kusinara, and Pava. The Sakyas and Koliyas were only vassals under the monarch of Kosala. The Bulis of Allakappa, the Moriyas of Pipphalivana, the Kalamas of Kesaputta and the Bhaggas of Sumsumaragira remained as vassals under Ko. sala and Vamsa respectively. The four king 1 Buddhist India, Ohaps, 1 and 2: This subject has boen further discussed and elaborated by D. R. Bhandarkar in his Carmichael Lectures, 1018, by Raychaudhuri in his Political History of Ancient India, by Vincent A. Smith in his Early History of India, and by various writers in the Cambridge History, Vol. I. Page #143 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PHOPLES 135 doms of Kasi, Alavi, Kuru and Pancala aca knowledged the supremacy of Kosala which became very powerful by the conquest of the kingdom of Kasi. The kingdom of Avanti under Candapajjota became so powerful that all the neighbouring states admitted its supre. macy in Western India. The kingdom of Magadha under Bimbisara extended its supremaoy over the whole of Kajangala along with the kingdom of Anga. In the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta, king Ajatasattu of Magadha is represented as saying to himself 'I will uproot the Vajjis'. An oxplanation of this grim determination is given by Buddhaghosa. We are told that Ajatasattu and the Licchavis shared between them a big port on the Ganges. At a certain distance from it, there was a mineral mine the produce of which was to be equally divided, as per agreement between the parties. But the terms of the agreement were violated. by the Licchavis. Ajatasattu, fully conscious of the strength of the Licchavis as ganarajas, did not venture to enforce the terms of the agreemont upon them. According to the Jaina Nirayavali Sutra, Ajatasattu presented his two uterine brothers, Halla and Vehalla,, with a noble elephant and a costly necklace. After ascending the throne, he demanded back both the presents. Reluctant to return them, his Page #144 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 136 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS brothers fled away from Magadha and sought the protection of their maternal grandfather, Cetaka, the Licchavi-nayaka of Vesali. Ajatasattu having failed to get the things back by peaceful means, declared war against the Licchavis under Cetaka. A fierce battle ensued ending in the victory of the latter. The fact, however, seems to be that when Ajatasattu aspired after the throne of his father, the Licohavis set up a rival claimant. Anyhow the utterance of King Ajatasattu is significant as indicating that previously he was baffled in his attempts to subdue and punish the Licchavis. Ho sent his minister, Vassakara, to the Buddha who laid much stress upon unity as the real source of their strength. Ajatasattu employed his ministers, Sunidha and Vassakara, to fortify the village of Pataligama on the Ganges to repel the attacks of the Vajjis and to bring about their disunion in order to weaken them. Shortly after the death of Bimbisara, Pasenadi stopped the payment of the revenue of the village of Kasi which was offered by his father to his sister, as he was not in favour of allowing Ajatasattu, a parricide, to enjoy the income. This* resulted in a war between Magadha and Kosala with the result that Ajatasattu was ultimately defeated and taken prisoner. A treaty was then concluded by the marriage of Pasenadi's daughter, Vajira Page #145 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ KINGS AND PEOPLES 137 with Ajatasattu. Pasenadi did not live long after this. Taking advantage of his absence from the capital, Digha-Karayana (carayana), the commander-in-chief, placed Viaudabha, a son of Pasenadi, on the throne. The last interview of Pasenadi with the Buddha, as recorded in the Dhammacetiya Sutta,1 took place when both of them were in their eightieth year. In the Introduction to the Bhaddasala Jatakas, we read that Viludabha marched against the Sakyas on detection of the fraud committed by them by giving his father a slave woman to marry instead of a Sakya girl. He massacred the Sakyas brutally during the Buddha's lifetime. But this story does not tally with the account in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta in which the Sakyas of Kapilavatthu claimed and received a share of the Buddha's bodily remains. By the machination of the Magadhan minister, Vassakara, the unity of the Licchavis was completely destroyed and it became easy for Ajatasattu to conquier Vesali. After the fall of the Vajjians, it may be supposed that their allies, the Mallas "and the kings of Kasi and Kosala with their vassals, came under the sway of Ajatasattu. 1 Majjhima, il, p. 118f. % Jataka, 1v, p. 144f. Page #146 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 138 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS From the dynastic list of the kings in the Puranas, it appears that Prasenajit of Kosala, Udayana of Vatsa, and Pradyota of Avanti were succeeded each by four or five kings, after which their dynasties came to an end. But the early texts of Jainism and Buddhism have practically nothing to say about their successors after the Buddha's demise. The Pali canon and the Milindapanha record three events with reference to three chronological landMarks, e.g., the First Buddhist Council 1 held during the reign of Ajatasattu shortly after the Buddha's demise, the Second Council o held a century after that and the compilation of the Kathavatthu during the reign of Dhammasoka. Further, the Petavatthu mentions king Pingala of Surattha as a subordinate potentate in western India under the Moriyas. This is a clear indication of the fact that at that time the Magadha empire under the Moriyas included the three kingdoms of Kosala, Vamsa and Avanti. The supremacy of Magadha which reached its zenith during the reign of Dhammasoka, continued even in the midst of many vicissitudes through the reign of the Sungas and their successors. 1 Vinaya Pifaka, Cullavagga, Ch. 11. 2 Ibid., On. 12. Page #147 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER III SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS The peoples and kings dealt with in the preceding chapter-dich notmannstitute the whole of the populace of Jambubahia From the point of view of social grades, who were Khattiyas princes, warriors or nobles, who acquired tho right to rule the country by the strength of their arms. The Indo-Aryan society was composed of three other social grades, namely, those represented by the Brahmanas, Vessas and Suddas. Those who accepted this social system based upon the four theoretical divisions of people, were broadly distinguished as Aryans from tho rest of the populace looked down upon as Milakkhas or Milakkhus (= Mlecchas). In the outer fringes of the Indo-Aryan society, thus conceived and con'stituted, lived the Milakkhas among whom, again, some sections of people camo completely under the sway of members of the Indo-Aryan society, and some maintained their political 1 Jacobi, ZDMG., 48, 417--the Khattaya formula of the Buddhists a B. C. Law, Concepts of Buddhasm, Ch. II (Jati or caste). & Digha, u, p. 284; Samyutta, v, p. 466; Jataka, vi, p. 207 Sumangalavilasini, 1, p. 176; Paramatthaiotika. I. p. 236. Page #148 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 140 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS JUL 'independence, adhering to their own socia system. Those forming the first category ar broadly classed as five hanajatis or 'low tribes who followed hinasinnas. or 'low trades. Th Yonas and Kambojas of Uttarapatha ma be mentioned as two typical examples of those who belonged to the second category . In contradistigation to the toma upper grades of Khattiya ibhanga 1 rahmana, the Vinaya Suttate womerates the five hinajatis as the Cannala, Vena, Nisada, Rathakara ( = Cammakara) and Pukkusa. Of these 'low tribes, the Candalas are distinguished from the Pukkusas as corpse-throwers (chamachaddhaka) from the methars and sweepers (pupphachadqhaka). The Vonas are the workers in bamboo, the Rathakaras the workers in leather and the Nesadas the hunters (including the fowlers). In the opinion of Rhys Davids, they were 'aboriginal tribesmen', the last three being horeditary craftsmon. In some of the enumerations, we have mention only of the first two just below the four recognised social grades of Khattiya, Brahmana, Vessa and Sudda, the implication being that the five despised classes were typified by them. From 1 Anguttara, 1, p. 107; ii, p. 85. & Buddhist India, p. 64. . 5 Anguttara, i, p. 162; iii, p. 214: Khattiya-Brahmana-Veggam Sudda-Candale-Irukkuse. Page #149 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ OTAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 141 very manner of enumeration, it is clear that ey were to be linked up with any of the recognised grades, it was with the Suddas. ast, in Panini's Sutra (ii, 4.10--sudranam vasitanam), they are classed with the aras. Here Panini distinguishes the Sudras two classes: (1) the aniravasita, meaning who were not considered outside the pale Indo-Aryan society (abahiskrta-sudrah), the niravasita or those who were contside thereof. As explained in the s, the latter class comprised those were untouchables or pariahs. artapas and the Haddipas or illustrations of this class. sita Sudras, Panini's wherds (cattle kters, wood Bhil om a side Sudras The Can malegrahis As illustration commentators ment rearers), barbers, gola .carvers, blacksmiths, washer las and fishermen. When a pound is formed of names of the Suck the fold, it has a neuter singular form gopa-napitam, karmara-kumbhakaram; if names of the Sudras outside the fold, it has a masculine dual or plural form, e.g., Candala. haddipau. In the Assalayana Sutta, the Y Kambojas are mentioned as peoples whose social tion only between go uring distinc grades of ayy Page #150 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 142 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS or master and dasa or slave, there being impassable barrier at all between the classes. The early texts of Jainism and D dhism do not give us any insight into the sco systom of the Andhakas, Damilas and .. milakkhas before they adopted the Indo-Alby social scheme. It will be seen that the social grades defined in the Indo-Aryan social schema all apparently based upon occupationsm s such, they might be taken to deno u ses (senas), or even trade-guilds (Pugas). Sasthan castes or races. The Brahmanista vart for the conception of society as an en d with the mouth, the arms, the things feet as its four important functia , none superior, none inferior, there wg of the entire organism departe che harmonious working of all thi The mouth as symbol of cult o n is represented by the Brah parms as symbol of military strength ***Yaministrative capacity by the Khattiya; Phare thighs as symbol of wealth and economic prosperity by the Vessa; and the feet as symbol of menial work by the Sudda,2 the service beintendered by all the four in four different the Brahmanist, the society with its fourt h was a natural order, and as 1 Majhima, ti, daso hoti, daso hutud ayyo hoti. . Barua, A History on Indian Philosophy, p. 33. W Page #151 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 1 SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 143 " such unalterable. The allegorical fancy led him to name the four divisions in terms of vanna, jati or nikaya. In Pali and other contemporary Indian texts these three terms occur as synonyms.1 The organic conception of society and its allegorical expressions were attractive so long as these were kept within their reasonable bounds. The difficulties arose when the theory was sought to be put into practice and the allegories and metaphors were sought to be interpreted literally, e.g., the term vanna in the sense of distinctive colour or complexion, jati in that of distinctive mode of birth, and nikaya in that of distinct species. The persistent Brahmanical tendency to give a hereditary character to occupational distinctions by birth-right led to the formation of castes and castes within castes. The early records of Jainas and Buddhists reveal a powerful movement of thought counteracting this rapidly increasing tendency. As regards vanna, jati or nikaya forming basis of social distinctions, each of them admitted a twofold interpretation: biological and psycho-ethical, biological and social or cultural. The vanna as a biological term meant colour or complexion and as a psycho-ethical-term, & particular colouring or modification of soul o 1 Law, Concepts of Buddhism, p. !1. Page #152 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 144 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED 'IN EARLY TEXTS man's internal nature. The jati as a biological term meant birth, pedigroe or relationship, and as an ethical term, a particular mental or moral trait. Similarly the nikaya as a biological term meant a species, and as a social or cultural term, a distinct class, group or body. The claim of correspondence between the two meanings in all cases was absurd. There was no guarantee that one who was bright in complexion was in the same degree bright in internal nature; or that one who was of noble birth was also of noble disposition. Taking jati and vanna in their biological senge, Rhys Davids observed: "The basis of social distinctions was relationship; or, as the Aryans, proud of their lighter colour, put it, colour. Their books constantly repeat a phrase as being common amongst the people--and it was certainly at least among the Aryan sections of peoplem-which divided all the world, as they knew it, into four social grades, called colours (vanna). At the head were the Kshatriyas, the nobles, who claimed descent from the leaders of the Aryan tribes. They were most particular as to the purity of their descent through seven generations, both on the father's and the mother's side; and are described, as "fair in, colour, fine in presence, stately to behold, Then came the Brahmins, claiming descent from the sacrificing priests, Page #153 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIO OONDITIONS 145 and though the majority of them followed other pursuits, they were equally with the nobles distinguished by high birth and clear complexion. Below these were the peasantry, the people, the Vaisyas or Vessas. And last of all came the Sudras, which included the bulk of the people of non-Aryan descent, who worked for hire, were engaged in handicraft or service, and were darker in colour. In the Ambattha Sutta, kanha (blackies) and bandhupadapacca (sprung from the feet of Brahma) are freely applied to the Suddas as two terms of contempt. But the peoples of different complexions became so much intermingled in course of time that the brightness of colour in the natural sense of the term could rarely be relied upon as criterion of superiority of the social grade. In order to prevent the loss of colour through intermixture and to preserve the national, racial, tribal or family type, it was deemed necessary to impose certain restrictions, rigid more or less, as to connubium or the right of inter-marriage and commensality or the right of eating together.' Aiming at the production and preservation of the best possible type, not only from the physical and mental point of view but also from the family and cultural, the distinotigns and restrictions were based also Buddhist India, pp. 53-54, Page #154 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 146 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS upon kula and gotta, the former meaning the collection of cognates and agnates and the latter, the cultural heritage from a highly endowed aesi. The term nikaya may be taken to have comprehended the sense of both kula and gotta. In the Pali texts, however, the term gotta has been employed in the sense of ancestry, lineage.' 'It includes all those descended,, or supposed to be descended, from a common ancestor. A gotta name is always distinguished from the personal name, the name drawn from place of origin or residence, or from occupation, and lastly from the nickname. It probably means agnate rather than cognate.'1 In support of this one may indeed cite the description given in the Sutta-nipata of the Sakyas as: Adicca nama gottend, Sakiya nama jatiya, 'known as Adityas by their ancestry, and as Sakyas by their birth'; and the introduction in the Jatakas of Dhananjaya as'a Kuru king of the Yudhitthila-gotta, 'of the stook. of Yudhisthira'.2 But when Vasudova, a Khattiya, is described as Kanha, i.e., 'one belonging to the Kanhayana-gotta', 3 the Buddha as Gotama, 'one belonging to the Gotama-gotta', and the Mallas as Vasetthas, 'those belonging 1 Pali-English Dictionary (P.T.S. ed), sub voor gotta Jataka, iu, p. 400. 3 Thid. iv, p. 84. Page #155 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 147 to the Vasettha-gotta', it cannot be maintained that the term gotta stands for ancestral lineage in view of the fact that Kanha, Gotama, Vasettha and the rest are names of the ancient Rsis who were mostly Brahmins and rarely Khattiyas by their birth. According to the Ambattha and Tevijja Suttas, the persons, such as Atthaka, Vamaka, Vamadeva, Vessamitta, Yamataggi, Angirasa, Bharadvaja, Vasettha, Kassapa and Bhagu, from whom had originated the gottas, were all ancient sages who were composers and promulgators of the mantas or Vedic hymns. As Buddhaghosa suggests, the personal name was meant for recognition, and the gotta or surname for lincage (pannattivasenu namam pavenivasena gottam). A history of the gradual division and sub-division of the original ten gotras into many pravaras and sakhas is given in the Divyavadana, Ch. xxxiii. Among the Sotthiya-class of Brahmins, many might have been led by sentiment to claim from those ancient sages. But will always remain open whether l descent implied a line of agnates ken succession of teachers and in the case of gotta, too, there was confusion between the ancestral cultural. F1 Sumanaalavilasini, i, p. 257, Page #156 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 148 INDIA AS DESCRIBED' IN EARLY TEXTS Besides vanna, jati, gotta, bhoga (wealth), 1 and kula, we have mention in the early Pali texts of mana or prestige as determining a person's family or social status, of which the testing was marriage factor of boys or girls. VAs for the four vannas forming the four broad divisions of the Indo-Aryan socioty, it should be noted at the outset that the usual order of enumeration, was: the Brahmanas, the Ksatriyas or Rajanyas, the Vaisyas and the Sudras. In the early Buddhist texts, on the other hand, the order of the first two vannas was reversed with the result that the Khattiyas came to be placed first and the Brahmanas just next to them. As regards the remaining two vannas, the order was left undisturbed. The Jainas and Buddhists contended for the precedence of the Khattiyas over the Brahmanas on the Brahmanist's own ground, i.e., the purity of birth through seven generations on the father's as well as the mother's side. The history of the superiority between these two indeed as old as the remote v some of the earlier Upanisads at intellectual and spiritual groun 1 Dhammapada-akhalatha, u, p. 218: jatiya og usadiso. * Digha, i, p. 99: jotivado iti pi gottavado iti pil * Ibid., i, p. 99: dvaha-vivdha-vinibandham. Page #157 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFD AND EQONOMIC CONDITIONS 149 triyas were openly claimed to have been entitled. to a superior position.' Throughout the early Jaina and Buddhist texts, a sharp distinction was sought to be drawn between the Brahmanas as they ought to have been and the Brahmanas as they actually were, that is to say, between the ideal and the fact. In drawing a correct picture of the social life in India as revealed in the ancient Jain and Buddhist texts, we are concerned with the Brahmanas as they actually were. As for the other view, even on the frank admission on the part of the Jainas and Brahmanas, there were ideally perfect Brahmanas in the past. Their criterion was applied to the Brahmanas of the time who became degenerated on account of their graduar deviations from the ancient path of purity or morals, absence of greed, contentment and magnanimity. What they themselves aspired to be was the ideally perfect Brahmana. When the Brahmana stood theoretically for the ideal, the nature of the claim was not that all those who passed in society as Brahmanas lived or were capable of living up to that ideal. Simi. Jarly, when the Khattiyas contended for the ideal of Jinahood or Buddhahood, the nature of the claim was not that all those who passed in society under the name of Khattiyas became or were capable of becoming Jinas or Buddhas. The claim indeed was that it was among the Page #158 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 150 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS two upper divisions that there lay the real possibility of the birth of highly endowed persons capable of realising the ideal or ideals and remoulding human civilisation. In the Dasa-brahmana-Jataka, Vidhura, the wise man of the Kuru court, divides the Brahmanas into ten categories, classes or types (dasa-brahmana-jatiyo) and sweepingly criticises them as placed in each category: the Brahmins who went about like physicians (tikicchakasama) with sacks containing sanctified and therefore important medicinal roots and herbs, offering themselves to cure diseases for money. Those who like servants (paricarakasama) used to ring little bells as they went before "as heralds of kings and their ministers, served as messengers or even followed the calling of wagondrivers. Those who in the garb of ascetics behaved like tax-collectors (niggahakasama), determined not to leave the place until something was given to them by way of alms: Those who begged alms in another garb of ascetics with long nails and hairs on the body, etc., and covered with dust and dirt were like diggers of the soil for uprooting the stumps (khanughatasama). Those who like tradesmen (vanijakasama) used to sell various fruits, planks, wood, sweets, scents, honey and ointment. Those who like the Ambatthas -and the Vessas carried on agricultural trade,.did farming, gave away their daughters for money Page #159 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND EVONOMIQ OONDITIONS 151 and acted as matchmakers. The Purohitas who interpreted omens, castrated and branded animals and acted as butchers (go-ghatakta). Those who armed with the sword and the shield and axe guarded the business-quarter and led the caravans through roads infested with robbers and thus resembled the Gopas and Nisadas. Those who in the garb of hermits behaved like hunters (luddakasama), killed hares, cats, lizards, fish and tortoises. The Yajnikas who in performing the Somayaga for lucre acted like bathers (malamajjanasama) to the kings. Similarly the criticism of the Brahmin position offered in the Pali Vasettha Sutta clearly implies that the Brahmanas of the time followed the pursuits of agriculturists (kassaka), craftsmen (sippika), order-carriers (pessika), tradesmen (vanija), soldiers (yodhajiva), sacrificers (yajaka) and landlords (rajanna) as various means of their livelihood.1 In the Fragment on Silas, it is clearly stated that the Brahmanas, seoular as well as religious, parned their livelihood by such low pursuits as those of apothecaries, druggists, physicians and surgeons, priests, occultists and sorcerers, soothsayers, fortune-tellers, palmists, foretellers, interpreters of dreams and signs and 1 Sutta-nipata, p. 122; Fiok, Social Organisation, yo. 221f. Page #160 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 152 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS * omens, calendar-makers, astrologers, appraisers, selectors of lucky sites for the erection of homesteads and buildings and edifices, architects, collectors of alms by diverse tricks and clever devices, story-tellers and ballad-reciters, landholders, traders, cattle-breeders, farmers, matchmakers and messengers. Although they belonged to a religious order, stood for the highest religious ideal, and were expected to live up to that ideal, in practice they appeared as hoarders of wealth and as persons who cared to live the aristocratic life of luxury and of pleasure and of ease and to witness and take part in all worldly amusements, games and sports, feasts and festivities.1 *~/A more correct picture of the Brahmin position in the Indo-Aryan society of the Age may be drawn on the basis of the Buddha's classification of the Brahmanas into five types: Brahmasama, or those resembling the Brahma; Devasama, or those resembling the gods; Mariyada, or those respecting their ancient tradition; Sambhinna-mariyada, or those disregarding their ancient tradition; and Brahmana-candala, or those who lived a vulgar life. In the first category are placed the Brahmanas of high and pure birth through seven generations on both the father's and the mother's side, who gha, i, p. 4f.; Dialogues of the Buddha, 1, p. 6f. Page #161 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOOTAL LIFE AND EGONOMIC CONDITIONS 153 after the practice of brahmacariya and the complete study of the four Vodas with all the auxiliary works, took up the position of teachers, depending for their livelihood only on alms, and thereafter renounced the world to live the life of lonely meditation and holy communion. In the second category, are placed those Brahmanas who differed from the former only in one respoot, namely, that in the second stage of life they took up the position of married householders and as such they married girls only from their own class. They met their wives in proper time only for the purpose of procreation. Otherwise they lived a life of moral rectitude. In the third category, are placed those Brahmanas who differed from those of the second class only in one respect, namely, that they did not renounce the world in the third stage of life but continued to live a household life, strictly adhering to their ancient tradition. In the fourth category, are placed those Brahmanas who differed from those of the third class only in this respect that they married girls from all social grades, the das and untouchables included, and insed in sexual intercourse for the purpose of kreation as well as sensual pleasure. , In the or last category, are placed those Brahgas who differed from those of the fourth only in this respect that besides narrying Page #162 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 154 INDIA AS DESCRIBED, IN EARLY TEXTS girls from all social grades, they adopted with impunity all manner of pursuits, agriculture, trade, cattle-breeding, fighting as soldiers, government service and the rest, as a means of livelihood (sabbakammehi juvitam kappeti). The second classification of the Brabmanas is interesting and important as presenting two sides of the picture in contrast, on one side, supreme worth, moral elevation, intellectual perfection and spiritual fervour, and on the other, worthlessness, moral degradation, dullness and worldly-mindedness. So far as occupation of the Brahmanas as a basis of social distinction was concerned, we find that the study of the Vedas with all the auxiliary sciences and arts, the teaching of the Vedas along with all sciences and arts useful to the State and to the people at large, and the office of a priest appertaining to the religious part of all social ceremonies constituted their monopoly. If the Khattiyas, Vessas, or even Suddas appeared as their rivals as teachers, it was only in the field of ethics and spirituality. In speaking of the Brahmanas, the early Jain and Buddhist books place them eithely the usual social environment or in the her tages. In the first connection, they are troduced either as those who were in the ser Anguttara, ili, p. 2287. Page #163 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 155 of the king (rajakammika), or as those who had followed different professions of their own. 'In the second connection, they are introduced as those who went out of the social environments and lived the life of tapasas or isis in forest homes called assamas with or without their families and resident pupils. Of those in service of the king, the most important was the Purohita. Next to him in importance were the amaccas or mahamattas (councillors and ministers). The Yacakas (sacrificers) and others were no better than assistants in the office of the Purohitai. Partly in connection with the king, they held the position of mahasalas or heads, of Vedic institutions. They came to represent the sotthiya class of Brahmanas who were occasionally' employed by the kings as dutas (ambassadors). The Brahmins also filled the office of senapatis (generals), and issatthas, or yodhajivas (soldiers), chariot-drivers, trainers of elephants, legal experts and judges. To the people in general thegungendered services as purohitas and priests, as physicians and druggists, as astronomers and architects, as ballad-reciters and matchmakers. They pursued various other vocations of life as well in their own independent capacities as private citizens. The economic position of the Brahmanas as a class, other than those in high royal service, the mahasalas, and the few farmers and traders, could not but be Page #164 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 156 INDIA AS DESCRIBUD IN EARLY THXTS voor as they were wholly dependent on an uncertain income from fees, gifts, and alms. The Purohita occupied a peculiar position in the court. Though in the service of the king, he was not counted among the king's officers. But he was partly entrusted with official functions and surpassed the royal officers in many respects in importance and influence. As house-priest of the king, the Purohita advised him in secular and spiritual matters (atthadhammanusasako). He acted as the acariya or preceptor, the sacrificial priest and the house-priest. He was the person to invoke the favour of the gods on behalf of the king or his family, and it was also in his power to do him barm. He performed the sacrifice with the assistance of other Brahmanas to guard against misfortunes suggested through bad dreams, or through some unusual natural phenomena. He was expected to be able to predict the result of all important undertakings on the part of the king by means of signs or constellation of stars. The Purohita was preferably appointed from among the teachers, playmates, comrades or class-fellows of the king, so that he might be always trusted and relied upon as the best friend 1 Fick, op. cit., p. 184. Jataka, u, p. 376; wv, p. 270; v, p. 127. Ibid., in p. 834f. ; it, p. 46. Page #165 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND DUONOMIO CONDITIONS 157 in weal and woe. The guarding of the king's treasures was part of his duties. In one instance, he is described as the king's officer (rajakammika); 8 in another, he replaces the Senapati in the matter of judicial duties. 4 The office of the Purohita was not necessarily hereditary, though the books record instances where it was held by the same family for generations together to justify the appellation, purohitakula. Bavari, for instance, was born in the family of Pasenadi's Purohita, and was the teacher of Pasenadi during his boyhood. But there are many other instances where the king was at liberty to appoint his own Purohita. It was, however, considered a legitimate expec. tation that after the death of Purohita he would be succeeded in his post by his son. When Govinda, the Purohita of king Disampati of Videha, died, his son Jotipala was appointed in his post at the suggestion of the crown-prince, Renu. The' Purohitas of the six sub-kings were trained by Mahagovinda.? In the SusimaJataka, we read that after the death of the 1 Jataka, i, p. 289; ii, p. 282; ili, p. 31. 2 Ibid., iu, p. 513f. 8 Ibid., i, p. 489. Ibid., ii, p. 187f. 6 Ibid., i, p. 437. 6.Paramatthajotika, II, p. 580. 7 Digha, u, p. 230f.; Arguttara, li, p. 373. 8 Jataka, u, p. 48f. Page #166 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 158 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Purohita other Brahmanas objected to the consecration of the State elephant by his son on the ground that he was still too young and was wanting in scriptural knowledge. The main source of income of the Purohitas was the fees and gifts received from the kings on all festive occasions and at the time of sacrifices. The gifts included land-endowments, women, maidens, slaves, male and female, and livestocks. Fick seems to be right in his suggestion that here lay the origin of the landed property and worldly prosperity of the Purohitas. Among the Purohitas appointed from among the Brahmanas versed in the Vedic lore, Mahagovinda, Bavari and others may be singled out as those who were Brahmasama-brahmanas. There were others who were either unworthy of the office they held or whose virtue did not come up to the Brahmanio ideal. In the monarchies, the Brahmins figure among the amaccas and manamattas 1 who, too, were rich and influential by virtue of the office held by them. The strength and quality of administration largely depended on their honesty and efficiency. They were the great diplomats and specialists in the rules of royal polity. In the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta, we have mention of Sunidha and Vassakara as two able Brah Cf, ZDMG., 37, pp. 287, 275. Page #167 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOOTAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 159 mana ministers of king Ajatasattu under whose supervision the village of Pataligama was fortified and the city of Palaliputta was built. It was again by the tactful machination of Vassakara that the strong unity of the Vajjian confederacy was broken and the Vajjis could be easily conquered. Canakya under whose guidance Candragupta was able to found the powerful Moriyan empire in India, belonged to this official rank. The Sarab'langa-Jataka speaks of Jotipala, son of the Purohita of the king of Benares by a Brahmin wife, who was appointed commandor-in-chief, musavat borcukor his great mastery and skill in ar e n he was first appointed, his da d was one thousand kahapanas and after had defeated 500 archers in an open contest, it was increased to one hundred thousand. In appreciation of his high proficiency, all the people of Kasi offered him money, which amounted to eighteen hundred crores.1 In the Buddha's time, there lived at Ekanala in Dakkhinagiri a Brahmana of the Bharadvaja olan, who was a rich agriculturist. Five hundred ploughs were needed to cultivate the fields owned by him. On the day of the festive sowing (mangalavappa), he used to distribute 1 Jataka, v, p. 127f, Page #168 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 160 INDIA. AS DESORIBBU, IN BARLY TEXTS *food to a very large number of people. The Somadatta-Jataka, on the other hand, relatos the story of a poor Brahmana farmer who bimself ploughed his field and whose son was a padamulika or menial in a royal court, The Jatakas record other instances where the Brahmana farmers drove the plough with their own hands. In the Mahasutasoma-Jataka, we see that a wealthy Brahmana was engaged in trade. He Darried on trade between the east-end and west-end of India, transporting his goods in 500 wagons. We read also of ordinary Brahmana tradesmen andhawla ho roamed about in the country, wares. The Phandana-Jatou. As the story of a Brahmana who took to profession of a carpenter (vaddhaki), collecting wood from the forest and making wagons for sale. In a rare instance, we find that a Brahmana youth who lived in a frontier village, earned his livelihood by selling the hunted beasts. The roason, as suggested by Fick, was purely economio. 1 Sutta-nipata, Kasi-Bharadvaja Sutta; Samyutta, i, p. 171t.; E. J. Thomas, The Life of Buddha, p. 117. >> Jataky, u, p. 86. Ibid., iu, p. 162; iv, p. 278. * Ibid., v, p. 471. Ibid., ii, p. 18. 8 Ibid., iv, p. 207. 7 Ibid., di, p. 200. & Fick, op. cit., p. 247. Page #169 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIO CONDITIONS 161 Some of the Jatakas speak of Brahmanas and Brahmana family of great wealth and influence (addha, mahaddhana, mahabhoga, mahasalakula). They mention some Brahmanas whose wealth amounted to eighty crores (asitikoti-dhanavibhava).1 According to Pali scholiasts, the MahasalaBrahmanas were those who were men of substance (mahasara), whose hoarded wealth amounted to eighty crores. But the Mahagovinda Suttanta describes them as heads of the Vedic colleges. The Pali stock list of eminent Kosalan Brahmana Mahasalas contained the names of Canki, Tarukkha, Pokkharasati, Janussoni, Todeyya and Lohicca. Of them, Canki was established at Opasada," Tarukkha at Icchanankala, Pokkharasati at Ukkattha, Janussoni at Savatthi, Todeyya at Tudigama and Lobicca at Salavati. Each of them lived in a royal domain, given to him as a royal fief by king Pasenadi. Similarly we Toad of Kutadanta who was established at -Khanumata in Magadha and of Sonadanda who was established at Campa. They lived each in a royal domain, given to him as a royal fief by king Bimbisara. The localities where 1 Jataka, u, p. 272; iv, pp. 15, 22. 3degParamatthajotild, II, p. 313. , & Digha, u, p. Law, Sravasti, p. 18. 5 Law, Rajagre' p. 36; Dagha, i, pp. 111, 127. Page #170 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 162 INDIA AS DESCRIBED, IN FARLY TEXTS they lived with their disciples became known as Brahmanagamas. As observed elsewhere, these Brahmanas became rich and powerful only bocause of certain permanent land-grants and endowments, made by the kings. The localities, as the description goes, full of life and covered with much grassy land, woodland and corn fields around Northern India, were dotted over with such Brahmanagamas. The Brahmanas as Makasalas had a control over them as regards their revenue and the judicial and the civil administration, as was determined by the terms of royal grauts (rajadeyyam brahmadeyyam). The Purohitas in respect of learning and social status belonged to this very class of Brahmins. In the Brahmana texts, two privileges are claimed for the Brahmanas, namely, unmolestibility and immunity from execution. They were not required to pay rents in so far as the land-endowments were concerned. The Pali texts do not bear testimony to any privind position enjoyed by them in the eye of the law. It is clearly stated in the Madhura Sutta that a criminal, whether a Brahmana or not, was liable to execution. The -Jatakas dofinitely speak of the execution of Brahmanas. The 1 Law, Sravasti, p. 16; Fiok, op. cit., p. 244. Majjhima, u, p. 83f.. 8 Jataka i, p. 439; Flok, op. oit., p. 212. Page #171 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 163 early Buddhist and Jain texts recording instanong where the Brahmanas discharged worldly duties along with sacerdotal functions. * It should also be noted that even in the Buddha's time, the Udioca Brahmanas, meaning the Brahmanas who either belonged to KuruPancala 1 or those who claimed descent from, them, occupied a pre-eminent position among':. the Brahmanas . as class.2. The epithet brahmabandhu (Brahma's favourite) was applied at first as a term of contempt to the Brahmanas : of Magadha. But their position gradually improved so far that in the Aranyaka period their views were quoted with respecto The Khattiyas represented the ruling class, family, tribe or clan, claiming the Aryan descent. Wherever they founded a territory or colony, they lived either under a monarchical or a tribal, oligarchical or republican form of govern." ment. In monarchies, the kings were their best representatives. The members of a Boyal family passed as Khattiyas. In oligarchies, such ais, those of the Licohavis, Mallas and sakyas, all the members bore the family title of raja, which means a leading member of the 1JRAS., 1920, 90PS. :: 2. Jataka, i, pp. 324, 366, sto. :3 Aitareya-Brahmana, vii, 29; Katyayana Srautasutra, xxii, 4.22; Latyayana, viii; 6.28; Fiok, op. cit., p. 215. ... Vedic Index, ii, p. 116. Page #172 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 164 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS ruling clan. The royal families originated from the reigning kings through succession. The Khattiyas as a class were expected to be warriors by their training and occupation. They had, theoretically at least, the right to rule, maintaining internal order and peace and protecting their territories against their enemy. But the reigning king was not necessarily a man of the Khattiya family. In the Jatakas we read that where the reigning kings having been considered unworthy of the throne, the people in a body replaced them each by a Brahmana. In the event of a king's death he was generally succeeded by the Uparaja (viceroy) appointed by him. The Uparaja "might be either the deceased king's younger brother or his eldest son by his chief queen. When, after the death of Mahakamsa of Asitanjana, his elder son, Kamsa, became king, be made his younger brother, Upakamsa, the U paraja. The same thing happened as to Sagara, king of Madhura, and his younger brother, Upasagara.? Among the ten sons of Upasagara and Devagabbha, one was anointed as king-overlord and the rest were to take up the position of subordinate potentates. As a rule, as pointed out by Fick, the sons of the 1 Jataka, i, p. 326. Ibid., iv, p. 79. 3 Ibid., in, p. 81f. Page #173 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 165 queen consort (aggamahesi), who was to be of the same caste as the king, were considered legitimate heirs to the throne, the eldest or fittest of them being chosen for kingship. But this legitimacy was not always regarded as an essential condition. In one instance, we find that the reigning king appointed the son of a woman wood-gatherer as the Uparaja, who duly succeeded to the throne. The Mudupani. Jataka offers us an instance where the king made his nephew (sister's son) and son-in-law his successor. During the reign of king Bhatiya of Magadha, his son Bimbisara ruled the newly conquered kingdom of Arga as his viceroy. In the absence of the Uparaja appointed by the deceased king, the kingdom usually devolved on his son, preferably on the eldest son, by his chief queen. When a king died without an heir, the duty fell upon the Purohita to find out a worthy successor. In all cases, the formal anointment of a person as king depended upor the consent and combined will of the courtiers o: the deceased king and his subjects. The king was freely recognised as the foremos of men (raja mukham manussanam). The fan, diadem, sword, umbrella and slipper constituted the five regalia (pancavidhakakudha) Fick, op. oit., p. 123. 3 Ibid., i, p. 323f. 6 Vinaya Mahavagga, vi, 35.8. % Jataka, i, p. 133; iv, p. 148 4 IVid., ii, p. 238; cf. iv, p. 3! Page #174 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 166 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS The majesty of his person, brightness in his appearance, stateliness in his presence, power in his will, force in his command and pomp attaching to his court made the position of the king a highly coveted one among men; so also was the case of the queen among women. The tasting of sumptuous food and drink, dalliances with the ladies of the harem, sleeping on a rich and costly bed, entertainment given by the courtezans excelling in the art of dancing, singing and instrumental music, and unrestrained joy in a processional drive to the royal pleasure-garden are mentioned and described as the five private enjoyments by which a person might be attracted to kingship.1 In theory a king of a Khattiya family was to marry a princess from the royal house of equal social rank. In practice, however, he could or did actually marry girls and women from all social grades at his sweet will and promote them to the rank of his queens. The number of queens did not generally exceed three or five. When a vacancy occurred, specially in the rank of the chief queen, it was filled up by promotion or 1 Jataka, v, p. 505f. 2 King Udena of Varpsa, for instance, had five queens: Samavati, the adopted daughter of his treasurer Ghosaka, Magandiya, a Brahmin girl, Gopalamata, daughter of a peasant, Vasuladatta, daughter of Candapajjota and Sagarika, daughter of a Sinhalese king. See Malalasekera, op. cit., i, p. 379f; Law, Ancient Mid-Indian Ksatriya Tribes, p. 136. Page #175 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOOTAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 167 new appointment. The royal harem was filled with molens and women from all social grades. The high-class courtezans who were not allowed to live within the palace compound, came also into close personal contact with the king. The books contain instances where, even in historical times, princes were begotten on them, e.g., Prince Abhaya, son of Bimbisara, was born of Ambapali. The Jatakas mention an instance in which Vasudeva saw a Candali on his way to the park, and in spite of her low birth, married her, making her his chief queen. Her son, Sivi, succeeded to the throne of Dvaravati. Some of the kings were so profligate in their ways that no handsome women could escape them. The fate of the captured queens depended on the victor's whims and caprices. In the new household, they sometimes had to exchange places with their maids. Even the father employed the dancing girls to persuade his sons to indulge in worldly pleasures. The want of a male issue to succeed to the throne was keenly felt in the royal family as well as by the subjects. In an extraordinary case, the king having no son by any of the women in his harem, let out in the streets the queens and all, for a week from time to time under a religious sanction (dhammanataka). In Pali literature, 1 Jataka, v, p. 279. Page #176 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ " 168 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXI the birth of king Candapajjota is said to have resulted from an appointment and hol contact. Thus the king with the princes and courtiers as well as landed and business aristocrats may be shown to have played the part of subverters of the social order and social morality. With them polygamy was the rule and monogamy the exception, with the result that the princes of the royal blood and sons of the Brahmins were distinguished by the names of their mothers, e.g., Ajatasattu Vedehiputta, Sariputta, Moggaliputta, even the Barhut Gateway inscription of Dhanabhuti bearing a clear testimony to this. It was a custom among the Vajjis, as noted before, to make courtezans (ganikas) from girls of perfect beauty. The marrying of the maternal uncle's daughter was prevalent in some of the royal families, as also among certain ruling clans, such as, the Sakyas and Koliyas. The tradition of polyandry is associated, in the Jatakas and Great Epic, with the five sons of Pandu and Kanha, described in the former as daughter of the king of Kasi, and in the latter as daughter of king Drupada. The Pali legend of the Sakyas 1 Buddhistic Studies, ed. by B. C. Law, Chap. VII. 2 Even a righteous king like Asoka had queens more than ore. Jataka, ii, p. 323. Prince Siddhartha married Rahulamata who was his maternal" uncle's daughter. Page #177 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ AT LIFE AND EGONOMIC CONDITIONS 169 o f their ancestors as princes of the Okkaka So, under the pressure of circumstances, man ir own sisters. The legend records only ne thout implying that this form of marriage stomary among the Sakyas. The prevala d s, as a pre-historic custom, is presuppos e d, by the DasarathaJataka ? and that of Yama and Yami in the Kgveda. The princes of the roya en generally eager, at the instigation of to secure the throne at the expense of their others, the reigning kings. When they showed such a tendency or when their intrigue was detected, the king either imprisoned them or sent them to exile, or made them Uparajas, allowing them to actively participate in the administration of the kingdom, or a part of it. In the Buddha's time, Prince Viludabha seized his father's throne with the aid of the general, Dighakarayana. In the Pali Suttas, kings are distinguished as belonging to three ranks: cakkavatti or overlord, issara or adhipati, and padesaraja. In all the three ranks, they were absolute rulers or despots, benevolent or otherwise, so far as the internal administration of the empire, kingdom or province, was concerned. The main 1 Jataka, v, p. 426; Sumangalavilasini, i, p. 268. 3 Ibid., iv, p. 123f. Page #178 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 170 INDIA AS DESCRIBED, IN EARLY TE sources of their income were the land duties on trade commodities, unclaim w and presents on festive occasions. pear to have owned private lands, and o nial ploughing or sowing by them other big farmers, was one of the estivals of the year. The conquest kingdom and annexation of a new t bled the victors to obtain abunda The victory celebrations ne of the memorable festive Hunting of deer was a favourite time of many kings. The happiness and joy of the subjects greatly depended on the good rule and righteousness on the part of the ruler, and their misery and distress on his misrule. The chariots of the kings were drawn by four horses of superior breed, all-white in colour. The state-elephant preferably allwhite, was a special object of veneration, and according to popular belief, the welfare of the kingdom or territory depended on its auspicious presence. The famine due to drought was sought to be remedied by the presence of such elephants. The state-elephant bore special names, 0.g., Pundarika. The Indian army was composed of the elephant-riders, 1 Jataka, iv, p. 167. 2 Ibid., v, p. 98. Tbid., 11, p. 368f. 4 Pundanka was the name of the state-elephant of king Pasenadi. Page #179 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SPCIAL LIFE AND BOONOMIO CONDITIONS 171 atistry, charioteers and infantry. The mockfights, I calls, marching of troops through the streets, and the like were no doubt enjoyable sights. The seasonal festivals, announced from time to time, were observed. The Samajjas or Samajas afforded occasions for big feasts, musical entertainments, dramas, operas, balladrecitations, improvisation of verses, wrestling, bouting, duels, bull-fights, buffalo-fights, cockfights, and the rest. The remission of taxes and release of prisoners were two of the traditional acts of the king's mercy. The construction of roads and bridges, excavation of tanks, sinking of wells, planting of shade-trees, erection of publio halls, laying out of parks and gardens, maintenance of alms houses, provisions against drought and famine in the shape of public granaries and storehouses were the most notable among the works of social piety. The king was not only the head of the executive but also the supreme administrator of justice and final court of appeal for criminal cases. In peacetime, the Senapatis, as the king's deputies, functioned as judges." As for the administration of criminal justioe, the best system was one which prevailed anlong the Vajjians, which consisted of several courts, the lowest.being represented by the Voharikas and the highest Jataka, u, p. 186. Page #180 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 172 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS by the raja or President. One of the termediate courts was a tribunal congruituted by representatives of the eight confederate clans (atthakulika). The lower court could acquit the accused on its own authority but in order to punish him, had to refer the case to the next higher court.1 Along with the prevention of famine, the suppression of thieves (cora) was one of the principal tests of a successful reign. The 'famines, distinguished in the Divyavadana (p. 131) into three kinds--Cancu, Svetasthi (= Pali Setatthika) and Salakavstti, occurred mainly on account of the dearth of rain-water (anavrsti). But the failure of crops or scarcity of food was due as well to floods, the action of fire and similar other causes. The Divyavadana preserves a tradition of a twelve-year-famine of the Svetasthi type which caused a dire distress to the people of Kasi; the Vinaya. Pitaka mentions a famine which broke out in Northern India during the Buddha's time and the Jaina tradition refers to one during the reign of Candagutta Moriya. The coras, as distinguished from ordinary thieves, were as follows:- burglars (sandhichedaka), plunderers of villages (gamaghatacora), highway robbers (panthaghatacora), message 1 Law, Some Kpatriya Tribes of Ancient India, pp. 102-103. 2 Vinaya, iii, p. 6; iv, p. 23. - $ Samyutta, u, p. 188, Page #181 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 173 senders (pesanakacora) and criminal tribes living in foren af atavicora). They were either isolated individuals or formed different gangs, each under a ring-leader (corajettha). The criminal laws provided for brutal and horrible forms of punishment, including putting on stakes and throwing down from a precipice, from which circumstances the precipice of a Rajagaha hill became known as Corapapata. Sometimes the oppressive rulers or their officers were in league with the gangs of thieves or robbers." In a solitary instance, an educated Brahmin youth turned out to be a fierce highway robber and became an object of great terror to the people of Kosala and even to so powerful a king as Pasenadi. Among the epidemics, the most virulent was known as ahivatakaroga, which was a kind of plague that broke out at Rlajagaha, Savatthi and other places. The free supply of medicinal roots, fruits and herbs was another act of social piety on the part of the righteous king.2 - The Ratthikas, Pettanikas and Bhojakas were three classes of royal officers as well as hereditary feudal lords or landowners and landholders. They seem to have been represented mostly by the Khattiyas. 1 Majjhima, i, p. 101f. % Law, Drugs and Diseases knowu to the early Buddhists, in Woolner Commemoration Volume, p. 163. Page #182 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 174 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS - Though the Khattiyas were the waptiors par excellence, the recruits to the military regiments of a kingdom or a territory were not necessarily all Khattiyas. As noted before, even those born of Brahmana families adopted the profession of Yodhajivas. In the Jatakas, however, the Uggaputtas occupying superior military ranks are all described as Khattiyas. In a notable instance, we find that a Khattiya prince renounced his right to kingship in favour of his sister and took to trade as his profession on this condition, however, that his brothers, the reigning kings, would exempt him from the payment of duties and taxes. This fact goes only to prove that even the Khattiya traders, if not otherwise exempted, were as much liable to pay duties and taxes as other members of the trade. The same as to the gahapatis whether they were Khattiyas, Brahmanas or Vessas. There were wealthy and influential persons among the Khattiyas as among other classes of people. It is only those Khattiyas, among whom the tribal tradition formed a strong social tie, who were naturally inclined towards endogamy and strict adherence to the rules of commensality. Though the term gahapati in its general sense was applicable to all who lived the life of 1 Jataka, iv, p. 84. Page #183 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 175 a kivuseholder, irrespective of classes or social' grades, general usage it was restricted to the setthis or bankers who were the best representatives of the Vessas. They were the gahapatis par excellence, just as the Khattiyas were the Warriors par excellence. There are single instances of gahapatis: Anathapindika, Mendaka, Citta, Nakulapita, Potaliya, Sandhana and Haliddhikani, where gahapati 'almost assumes the function of a title'.1 The canonical Pali texts speak often of the Khattiya-mahasalas or wealthy nobles, Brahmana-mahasalas or wealthy Brahmins and Gahapati-mahasalas or wealthy gentry. Buddhaghosa gives the minimum monetary strength of each of the three classes of mahasalas, that of the Khattiya being the highest. The gahapatis as financiers figured as highly important persons in the royal court. As bankers they controlled the whole of trade and commerce, agriculture and industry. They were at the same time the business magnates in a city or town. They married within their own class, their main consideration at thom time of marriage being samanajati and samanagotta.* Their wives end daughters as female members of'aristocratic families strictly observed the Purdah system, and as such 1 Rhys Davids and Stede, Pali-English Dict., sub voce gahapati. * Supta, i, p. 71; Noddes, z (Calla-v.), Bec. 18." & Law, Sravasti, p. 1A. Dhammapada-affhakatha, u, p. 218, Page #184 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 176 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS * remained concealed from public view have and except on a day of roligious, for suival.1 Besides the kings and wealthy nobles, there were others who could well afford to keep and maintain the ganikas or prostitutes. An idea of the cash hoardings of the rich bankers of the time might be gathered from the fact, however exaggerated, that the banker Anathapinnika of Savatthi easily spent fifty-four crores of gold coins for the purchase of Prince Jeta's garden, Erection of a monastic establishment thereon and its formal and festive consecration. The hoards had to be carried as cart-loads. A single piece of jewellery presented to Visakha' by her father-in-law, the banker Migara, cost him one bundred thousand. As dowry she received from her father, Dhananjayasetthi of Saketa and originally of Rajagaha, five hundred carts full of money, five hundred carts full of vessels of gold, etc., ghee, rice, husked and winnowed, alsa ploughs, ploughshares and other farm implements, and five hundred carts with three slave-women in each, along with big cattle, bulls and milch cows. Though by definition the Vessas formed the third grade of the Indo-Aryan society with ze : on 1 Dhammapada-afthakatha, ir, p. 100f. % Vinaya, Oullavagga, vi, 4.9c; Jataka, i, p. 92. 9 E. J. Thomas, The Life of Buddha, pp. 105-6. - Malalasekera, op. cit., i, p. 901, Page #185 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (177) trade and commerce, agriculture and farming' as the listinctive occupation, in point of fact, there was hardly any social grade which did not participate in production, distribution, export and import, sale and purchase of trade commodities. So on the basis of occupation alone, the social distinction accorded to the Vessas as a class could not be maintained. Trade and farming as the occupation of the Vessas could be taken to mean that the economic aspect of social lifo was dominated by persons born in the Vessa families, especially the gahapatis. In the Apadana, a young banker (sexthiputta) gives the following description of himself, Born in the family of a banker, he was endowed with the five pleasures of the senses. While inside his palatial residence, he was entertained by the dancing girls with music, vocal and instrumental, and operas. The young and childish maidens and others of the female retinue 'pleased and teased him with jokes and Pranks. The barbers, bath-attondants, cooks, wreath-makers, jewellers, acrobats and wrestlers made him gay day and night. The poor and needy, all classes of beggars and vagrants , appeared at his door along with religious mendicants of various denominations. The traders and merchants from various countries, even those from the distant kingdom of China, Page #186 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ go (178)INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS (Cinarattha) and Soppabhumi (Suvannabhami) visited him. The basket-makers Lukara), weavers (pesakara), leather-workers (cammakara), carpenters (tacchaka), metal-workers (kammara), blacksmiths, goldsmiths, tinsmiths, jewellers (manikara), potters (kumbhakara), cloth merchants (dussika), bow and arrow makers (usukara, capakara), perfumers (gandhika), tailors (tunnavaya), dyers (rajakara), oilmen (telika), fuel-suppliers (katthahara), waterbarriers (udahara), household servants (pessika), cooks (supika), artists or clerks (rupadakkha), door-keepers (dovarika), sentinels (anikattha), drain-cleaners (sandhika), sweepers (pupphacchaddaka), elephant-riders (hattharoka), and elephant-trainers (hatthipala) used to visit him either for jobs and orders or for selling their wares.1 - In a well-laid city or town, rooms had to be made for the residence of the various classes of Khattiyas, Brahmanas, Vessas, Suddas elephant-riders, horsemen, chariot-drivers, footsoldiers, bowmen, sword-bearers, standardbearers, adjutants, suppliers of food to the army, uggas (high-born warriors), military scouts, brave and valiant fighters, helmet-wearers and other fighting units, slaves, wage-earners, wrestlers, cooks, hotel-keepers, barbers, bath Apadana, n, p. 357f. Page #187 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (179) ati andants, turners, wreath-makers, goldsmiths; silverd..iths, workers in lead, tin, iron and brass, blacksmiths, jewellers, weavers, potters, leatherworkers, chariot and wagon-makers, ivoryworkers, rope-makers, comb-makers, spinners, basket-makers, bow, string and arrow-makers, decorators, paint-makers, dyers, washermen, tailors, money-exchangers, cloth-merchants, perfumors, grass-cutters and fodder-suppliers, fuel-suppliers, servants, sellers of leaves, fruits and roots, sellers of rice and sweetmeats, sellers of fish, moat and wine, professional actors, dancers, acrobats, magicians, ballad-reciters, corpse-burners, sweepers, venas, nesadas, courtezans, dancing girls, slave girls carrying water, and traders and merchants from various countries and places. The hereditary craftsmen, or those who followed professional callings, such as those of architects, mechanics, carpenters, smiths, masons, ivory-workers, dyers, weavers, carriagebuilders, leather-workers, potters, jewellers, fishermen, butchers, and the rest, organised themselves into various guilds (senis, pugas), agreeing to be governed by their own laws and customs. They funotioned either as producers, manufacturers, suppliers or sellers. There was . 1 Law, Concepts of Buddhism, p. 241. 2 Milinda, p. 331 Page #188 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 180 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS 'no hard and fast line to be drawn betweentone and the other, for the producer or the manufacturer might himself appear to be a seller, shop or storekeeper. Those who followed a common profession, were led by a gregarious instinct to settle down or live in one and the same locality, from which circumstance the localities came to be distinguished as vaaabakigama, kammara-gama, kumbhakara-gama, and the like. By their habitual adherence to the rules of marriage and eating within their own class or group, the guilds were being hardened into castes. The social process was further complicated by the general tendency to segregate one class of workers from another within the same profession, the oil-pressers, for instance, being distinguished from the owners of oilmanstores, the elephant-trainers from the elephantdrivers, the coach-builders from the coachdrivers. Among the barbers, washermen, shampooors, eto., the degrees of their family prestige depended on their working for the royal household or for that of the courtiers, noblemen, senapatis, purohitas, and the like. The gradation proceeded almost by insensible degrees. Although, as a rule, the Vessas, Suddas, and outcastes did not or could not aspire to marry from the Khattiya and Brahmana families, it was not always possible to prevent - the intermingling of the various classes. Page #189 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 181 1'e traditional number of cities and towns, n Jambudipa varies from sixty to eighty-four housand, which is evidently an exaggerated igure. Sixteen were the great countries, as we noted, and six were the most prosperous and flourishing cities. The bulk of the populace ived in gamas or villages. The number of inhabitants in a village might vary from thirty to one thousand families. The common occupation of the villagers was agriculture or farming. The cultivable lands around the villages were known as gamakhettas. Every care was taken to protect them from dangers. Fences 1 (vati) were erected as protection against wild animals, and snares 2 were laid to catch wild birds. Watchmen 3 were appointed to keep watch on them. Care was taken to irrigate the fields.* 1 The holdings might be small enough which could be managed by the members of one family with the help, in some cases, of a hired man', or they might be big enough, extending over one thousand karisas (acres) or more." The khettas were cultivated by means of ploughs driven by oxen." Soil was turned with 1 Jataka, i, 215. 2 Ibid., i, 143. 8 Ibid., ii, 110. Ibid., iv, 167; v, 412. Ibid., i, 277. Ibid., iii, 293. 7 Ibid., ii, 166 Page #190 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ (182 INDIA AS DESCRIBED" IN EARLY TEXTS spades and watered by means of condits. Seeds were sown at the usual time anu crops, when ripe, were cut, threshed on a prepared mould (khalamandala) and then taken to the granary. Various kinds of crops were grown on the soil. Rice was the chief article of food 1 and grown abundantly. There is mention of different kinds of rice, viz., sali, vihi, tanqula, etc. Of the other food crops, the chief were barley (yava) and millet (kangu), grams, beans and sugarcane. Cocoanut trees were cultivated on an extensive scale. Besides these there were grown spices like pepper (marica), mustard, dry ginger, garlic, oilseeds like castor, fibre crops like cotton. These were the chief agricultural produces. Grass was collected for domestic animals. Among the domestic animals, cattle were held in high esteem as a source of wealth. Dairy farming was in an advanced state and there was an abundant supply of milk, curd, butter and ghee. Sheep were reared for wool and other necessities. There were jungles all over the country. Trees were cut for wood and* timber. A number of people liked animal hunting in forests. There was a regular industry of catching birds like 1 Jataka, i, 340 & Ibid. 1. 339: ucshulkhettanikoronta . Page #191 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND EQONOMIO CONDITIONS 183 ! paigts, peacocks, quails, partridges, mallards, o etc., by means of snares that were sold in the markets.. The land was enjoyed by the cultivators by the payment of a tithe to the kings' in the monarchies. Tithe was caloulated as a sharel of the raw produce levied in kind, the amount' varied from 1/6 to 1/12 portion of the produce. It was levied according to the wish of the ruler and was collected at the barn doors 1 or in the fields by the village syndicate, or headmah : (gamabhojaka) or by an official (mahamatta). The king could dispose of all abandoned and forest lands, as he liked and all ownerless lands were acquired by the crown. The king could remit the tithe to any person. In case of cultivated lands, owners. could sell or dispose of them in any way they liked. * The agricultural produces and industrial goods were sold in markets, inland and foreign. The inland and foreign trades flourished side by side. The export and import of goods were carried on along land-routes and water-routes. Accordingly the merchants and traders were distinguished as thalapathakammika or those who followed landsroutes, and jalapathakam. mika or those who followed water-routes. * Dagha, i, p. 87.. : 1. Jataka, ii, p. 378. ... 18 Jataka, iv, p. 169.. . * Ibid., i, p. 121. Page #192 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ (184 INDIA AS DESORIBOD, IN EARLY TEXTS As regards the inland land-routes, two were he main: Dakkhinapatha or the south frestern route which extended from Rajagaba to Patitthana on the Godhavari via Savatthi and Saketa,1 and Uttarapatha or the north-western route which extended from Savatthi and Kosambi to Takkhasila via Madhura across the sandy desert of Rajputana. There were also local roads connected with these two great routes. The Apannaka-Jataka speaks of the five kinds of wild (kantara): the maru, vannu or nirudaka (sandy), cora (insested with robbers), vala (infested with wild animals), amanussa (dominated by evil spirits), and appabhakkha (where food was scarce). Thus the journey through them was perilous. The merchants and traders who used wagons or bullock-carts were known as Satthavaha or caravan merchants. A caravan consisted, in some instances, of five hundred wagons and its course was guided by a land-pilot (thalaniyamaka), the direction being determined in relation to the position of stars. The fords were crossed with the help of boats, and when the river-beds dried up, with the help of strong local bulls or bullocks. 1 Sutta-nipata, vv, 976-7 and 1011-13; Buddhist India, pp. 30f. and 103. 2 Jataka, i, p. 99. 8 Ibid., i, p. 107f.; Digha, i, p. 73; Majjhima, i, p. 276. Ibid., i, p. 107. 6 Ibid., 1, p. 194f. Page #193 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOOTAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS (185 the Jatakas testify to the existence of trade-' relations between Benares and Ujjain,1 Videha and Kasmira-Gandhara,? Benares and SEvatthi, Rajagaha and Savatthi, Magadha and Sovira. The Satthavahas had to carry arms as protection against highway robbers and other contingencies. The merchandise was transported by means of country boats that plied along the rivers of Jambudipa, upwards along the Ganges as far west as Sahajati, along the Yamuna as far as Kosambi; downwarchs along the Ganges as far as Campa and Tamalitti. Foreign trade was carried on by sea, and in some instances, partly by sea and partly by land, The Baveru-Jataka speaks of India's maritime intercourse with Babylonia, described as a birdless country. The Supparaka-Jataka relates the voyage of a merchant ship carrying six hundred passengers for four months across the six seas, the destination not given. The Sankha-Jataka offers us an account of the wreck of a merchant ship on its way to Suvannabhumi, the ship being 800 cubits in length, 600 1 Jataka, u, p 248. 2 Ibrd, w, p 365 8 Ibrd., 11, p 294f 4 Sutta-mpata, vv, 1012-3; Buddhrst Indra, p 103. 6 Jumanavalthu-atthakatha, p. 336. & Buddhist Indra, p. 108. 7 Jataka, No. 339. & Iord., No. 463. Page #194 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 1 186 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS in width and 20 fathoms in depth. In this case, the merchant was a Brahmana of Benares.1 The Silanisamsa-Jataka narrates the story of the wreck of another merchant ship in the midst of the ocean. In this instance, the merchant was a barber.2 The Samuddavanija-Jataka narrates the story of the arrival at an island in the sea of a thousand families of carpenters in a large ship built by them. The MahajanakaJataka relates the story of how Mahajanaka reached Suvarnabhumi from Videha in a ship with an accommodation for seven hundred caravans with their beasts. The ship is said to have made 700 leagues in seven days. The ValahassaJataka tells us the story of the arrival of five hundred shipwrecked merchants from Benares at the town of Sirisavatthu in Tambapannidipa, the inhabitants of which were mostly daring sea-going merchants. A matriarchal system of society prevailed in this part of the country owing to the uncertainty of the return of the husbands. As pointed out by Rhys Davids, in the Pali Nikayas, mention is made of seavoyages out of sight of land and of long voyages 1 Jataka, No. 442. 2 Ibid., No. 190. a Ibid., No. 466. Ibid., No. 539. 5 Ibid., i, p. 127f. For details of India's sea-borne trade, sec R. K. Mookerjee, History of Indian Shipping and Maritime Activity from the earliest times (1912). Page #195 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS lasing even for six months. The course of the ships. Was steered by the Niyyamaka or water-pilot , the direction of land being sometimes ascertained by the flight of crows (disakaka). Rhys Davids further observes *Later texts, of about the third century B.C. speak of voyages down the Ganges from Benares to the mouth of the river and thence across the Indian Ocean to the opposite coast of Burma, and even from Bharukaccha (the modern Broach) round Cape Comorin to the sanie destination, 4 The Mahaniddesa 6 speaks of India's commerce by sea with Yona and Paramayona. If the first place be located in the Punjab, the socond place must be located either in Western Asia or identified with some Greek island in the Moditerranean, if not with Ionia proper. Towards the east, it mentions Kalamukha, Suvannabhumi, Vesunga, Verapatha, Takkola, Tamali, Tambapanni and Java as countries visited by the Indian sea-going merchants and speaks also of the manner in which they followed the difficult land-routes after reaching the harbour. Of the places mentioned, 1 Digha, 1, p 222, Samyutta, v, p. 51. 2nJataka, iv, p. 138 * Ibid., iii, p. 267 4 Buddhist India, p 96. 5 Mahansddesu pp. 154-155, 416. Page #196 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ (188 INDIA AS DESCRIBED" IN BARLY TEXTS 'Kalamukha may be identified with the Arakan coast and Suyannabhumi may be lacated in Lower Burma. The next four places may be shown to correspond to Ptolemy's Chryse Chora, Besyngeitai, Berbai and Takkola. Tamali is identified by Sylvain Levi with Tamralinga in Malay Peninsula. Tambapanni and Java, are no other than Ceylon and the island of Java. Tho Apadanaexpressly mentions the visit, of merchants from Malaya (Malay Peninsula) and the distant land of Cina (China). It is difficult to say what the sea merchants traded upon and the nature of the articles of export ana import. The Supparaka-Jataka 8 shows that they made their fortune by collecting gems, corals, etc., from the seas. They appear to have traded also in muslins, the finer sorts of cloth, cutlery and armour, brocades, embroideries, perfumes, 'drugs, ivory works, jewellery and gold. Within the country, produce was brought to markets for sale. Benares was one of the most important commercial centres. The other big cities also commanded a considerable amount of trade and exchange. Foodstuffs for the towns 1 R. O. Majumdar, Suvarnadvipa, p. 56f.; Levi, Ptudes Asiatiques, Vol. II, Ch. II. Apadana, i, p. 2. No, 488. * Buddhist Indlin. p. 98. Page #197 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOOLAL LIFE AND ECONOMIO CONDITIONS were brought to the gates, apparently from village, and the sale transactions were carried ony there. There were apanas or shops where commodities were displayed for sale, while there were antarapanas where things were stored before sale. Merchants could enter into partnership or temporary partnership and there could arise disputes as to the shares of profit. The commodities sold in these apanas were textile fabrics, groceries and oil, green groceries , grain , perfumes and flowers), articles of gold and jewellery, carriages, arrows, etc. The hawkers carried their wares & for sale in portable trays. For the sale of strong drinks there were taverns known as panagaras.' Prices were not fixed and there was competition by which the dealers wanted to prevail upon the purchasers. The vice of adulteration was also not unknown. On the part of the buyers there was the haggling of price.10 Things for the royal households were purchased by an 'officer known as Aggahakaraka who fixed the prices of the required commodities. The prices so fixed could not, however, be changed by appeal. There was also a check on the officer 1 Jataka, iv, p. 445. 8 Ibid., i, pp. 66, 380. 3 Ibid., i, p. 4ll. 7 Tbid., i, p. 290.; iv, p. 82. Id., i, p. 251f. % Ibid., ti, p. 267, - Ibid., i, p. 404. Ibid., ii, p. 287. & Toid., ii, p. 21. 10 Thidi 111f. Page #198 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ (190) INDIA AS DESCRIBED, IN EARLY TIXTS from the side of the king. All native and foreign goods imported into the city were assessed and a duty was levied upon them. Coins appear to have been the chief medium of exchange, but the more primitive means of barter was also not unknown. Barter was not, however, the usual practice. In the Jatakas almost all kinds of prices, foes, pensions, 'fines, loans, and incomes have usually been stated in terms of coins of different denominations. Among coins there is mention of kukanika, masaka, addhamasaka, pada, addhapada, kahapana and addhakahapana. Silver coins do not appear to have been in use and mention of gold coins like rikkha 2 or suvanna is late and 'doubtful. There is mention also of cowry shells (sippikani), but they were probably not used as currency, and the coins mentioned above were probably all made of copper. Besides actual currency there were several other legal instruments. Mention is made of letters of credit by means of which big merchants 1 Buddhistic Studies, od. by B. C. Law, Ohap. XV; T. W. Rhys Davids, Ancient Ooins and Measures of Ceylon; D. R. Bhandarkar, Carmichael Lectures, 1921, pp. 53, 62, eto. , Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 269. It is also called Mikloha ;D.R. Bhandarkar, Carmchacl Lectures, 1921, pp. 53, 62, 63, 64, etc.; Pran Nath, A Study in the Economio Condition of Ancient India, p. 85f. & For details, see Mrs. Rhys Ravids, Economic Conditions according to Early Buddhist Literaturo, Cambridge History of India, I, Chap. VIIE. Page #199 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFD AND BOONOMIO OONDITIONS 195 in large cities used to get money from fellow merchants. There is also mention of promissory notes. There were no banks, and banking facilities were few. Loans could be taken. Money-lending was looked upon as an honest calling but this had already given rise to profit-mongering. Money was lent against bonds (panna) and there were instances of bad debts which were never repaid. But money-lending was done by professional money-lenders while ordinary people used to hoard up their wealth in piles and conceal them underground or deposited with friends. The nature and amount of such hoarded wealth were recorded on gold or copper plates.1 In the Anguttara Nikaya we have mention of Satta-vanijja or trade in living beings. Buddhaghosa 8 explains the word as meaning manussa-vikkaya or traffic in human beings. This traffic might be taken to imply, among other things," traffic in women and slave trade. Prostitution as a social institution was in existence in India from the earliest times, and it had originated, as suggested by some scholars, 1 Buddhast Indra, p. 101f. 9, Anguttara Nakaya, u, p 208. 8 A celebrated Buddhist oommontator who flourished in the 5th century AD. Wrote many important Pali commentai108--Law, The Life and World of Buddhachosa (1923) Page #200 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 192 INDIA AS DESCRIBED, IN EARLY TEXTS from abandoned harems of kings, nobles, bankers and others. The Pali Literature clearly attests that some of the leading ganikas or courtezans of the time made a profitable trade of prostitution by maintaining a regular brothel containing five hundred prostitutes. In the early Buddhist texts, mention is made of four kinds of slaves: antojata,8 dhanaickita, karamaranita, and samamdasabyamupagata, i.e., those who were born of slave parents or begotten on slave women, those purchased with money, those who were reduced to slavery under coercion by bandits, and those who took to slavery of their own accord. The Jatakas contain instances where the slaves were bought for seven hundred kahapanas. Scholars agree that there was nothing like what afterwards came to be the rigorous caste system in India at the time of the rise of Jainism and Buddhism, But this may not wholly be the correct reading of the fact. The evidence of the later Vedio texts 'is conclusive that even after death, the custom was to ereot sepulchres or tombs of different heights to maintain the distinction between the dead 1 Barua, Introduction to History of Indian Prostatunon by Sinha and Basu. Jataka, w, pp. 60f. and 4865.; Law, Women in Buddhrst Interature, p. 324. * Sumangalavrlasint, 1, p. 300; Jataka, No. 646. Jataka, ii, p. 343. Page #201 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ SOCIAL LIFE AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 193, belonging to the four divisions of the people. Though some of the Rgvedic hymns presuppose the prevalence of the custom of the burial, burial was subsequently replaced by cremation, although the cremation was followed by the consecration of the bonos, arranged limb by limb in mounds. The Vedic texts speak of two kinds of cita; agnidagdha, where the corpses were burnt and anagnidagdha where they were not burnt. This was precisely the custom in some parts of India in Buddha's, time. Accordingly the early Pali texts refer to two different grounds for the disposal of the dead: alahana (Ardhamagadhi, Anahana), where the dead bodies were cremated and sivathika or amakasusana where the corpses were simply thrown away to undergo the natural process of decomposition or to be devoured by carnivorous beasts, birds, insects, etc. In cases of larger grounds they were placed in charge of susanagopakas 2 who were Candalas. The texts also refer to an aboriginal custom of burying the dead and washing the bones (atthidopana) 2 with drunkenness and revelry which was prevalent in southern India. 1 Dhammapada Commentary, 1, p. 68. % Anguttara, v, p. 218; Sumangalavilasini, i, p. 84. Vide B. O. Law, Social, Doonomical and Religious. Conditions of Ancient India gccording to the Buddhist Teata --Pathak Commemoration Volume, pp. 68-79. Page #202 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ CHAPTER IV RELIGION The social and economic life of a country considered apart from religion, constitutes a sphere of collective existence in which 'human activities are directed to the twofold pursuit of kama and attha, i.e., of worldly pleasure and advantage. Religion, on the other hand, constitutes a sphere of collective or individual existence in which human activities are directed to the twofold pursuit of dhamma1 and mokkha, i.e., of perfection of conduct and perfection of personality. By its definition, religion is essentially a system of faith and worship implying as it does human recognition of a personal God entitled to obedience and its effect on conduct, etc. As pursuit of dhamma, religion seeks to mould and remould, adjust and readjust human life, individual and collective, as expressed in various ways in conduct. It either sublimates the grosser elements in human nature or sanctifies all that is normally considered right, proper, good, noble, pure, refined, beautiful, appreciable and enjoyable. As pursuit of mokkha, it implies self-alienation P 1 E. J. Thomas, History of Buddhist Thought, p. 78. r I3B Page #203 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 195 from all things and all interests that connect us with the world. It seeks to bring the individual to a state of self-realisation and selfperfection. Here we are to consider religion only in that aspect in which it may be treated as a potent factor of human life and civilisation. The early texts of Jainism and Buddhism reveal to us a wonderful and highly interesting picture of Jambudvipa in which the habitual religion of the masses of people was in its varying degrees and forms in conflict and compromise with the higher religions preached by various new schools of thought and new orders of religieux. The masses of people following their habitual religion were broadly distinguished as Devadhammikas or Devavatikas from others who professed to have belonged to distinct orders of hermits and ascetics, among whom discipleship played a prominent part.2 As Devadhammikas or Devavatikas, the masses of people are said to have been divided into diverse groups of worshippers. The Devadhamma was in its essence some form of a religion of Bhakti, and as such its expression was emotional and its form ritualistic or ceremonial. The taking and keeping of vows in propstiation 3 Culla Neddesa, p. 173f.; Barua in 1degH Q., iu, 1027, p. 261; Barhut, iit, P 69. Page #204 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 196 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS or. honour of the worshipped was its prominent external feature. The connection between the worshipper and the worshipped lay through worship which always implied an act of offering in fulfilment of the vow or promise. The object of worship was the attainment of a desired cnd. This popular religion of worship was based upon the give-and-take principle. It was through prayer that the worshipper sought to have a communion or communication with the worshipped. The mediation by a holy person was considered necessary. So the office of a competent priest was always in requisition. From the side of tho worshipper no amount of offering was considered sufficient and no amount of praise adequate to bring out the divine attributes of the worshipped, who was in each case a deva or devata, a personal god or goddess, malevolent or benevolent. Thus in Devadhamma representing the popular religion of Indta a belief in the presence of a divine. personality was the conditio sine qua non. This personality was either a god or a deity. It was marked throughout by a process of personification of the divine attributes or deification of the worshipped. The distinctife nomenclature for the different groups of worshippers was sought to be determined by the grammatioal rule ya yesam devata, the worshippers are to be distinguished by the name of the deity they Page #205 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 197 worship. Accordingly the devata or deity was defined by the aphorism: ye yesam dakkhineyya te tesam devata. They are the deities to them to whom they are worthy of homage.' In the Culla Niddesa and other Pali canonical texts, the devas are broadly divided into three classes: sammutideva, i.e., gods by common acceptance, upapattideva, i.e., gods by origination and visuddhideva, i.e., gods by purity. In the first class are placed the kings, princes and the queens and princesses; in the second class, the various deities worshipped by the people; and in the third, the founders of religions, their great disciples and other saintly personages. The books also testify to the prevalence of a general tendency towards finding out the highest personality among the devas (atideva), among the sages (muni-muni) and among the leaders (gana-gani). In the Devadhamma-Jataka, the gods of popular worship are typified by the sun and the moon. There is a longer list given in the Culla Niddesa which includes aggi or firegod, naga or serpent, suvanna (suparna), i.e., garuda, yakkha, asura, gandhabba, maharaja, canda, suriya, Inda, Brahma, minor gods and quartergods (disa). The 1st also includes such deified 1 The role is implied in Oulla Niddesa, p. 174. This is the same as Panini's rule sasya devata. 2 Oulla Niddesa, p. 174, 8 No. 6. Page #206 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 198 INDIA AS DESCRIBED. IN EARLY TEXTS 'heroes as Vasudeva, Baladeva, Punnabhadda and Manibhadda. In it are included, also the representatives of such religious orders as those of Ajivikas, Nigaathas, Jatilas, Paribbajakas 1 and Aviruddhakas. The list also mentions elephants, horses, cows, dogs and crows among the objects of worship. The list given is not exhaustive. There are passages in which the upapattidevas are located in three spheres of the universe, those dwelling on the earth being called bhumma or terrestrial, those in the firmament as antarikkhacara, and those in the highest region (akasattha). At the time of the rise of Jainism and Buddhism it is inconceivable that the masses of people paid their homage to a particular deity of this class to the exclusion of the rest. On the other hand, the evidence tends to prove that all of them were included in a growing pantheon. And yet it is not incorrect to suppose that the masses were divided into several groups, each with its own supreme hero or object of worship, e.g., the Vasudevavatikas formed a group which had Vasudeva as its hero, and so as to the rest. That these popular groups represented different classes of devotees is evident from Panini's rule appertaining to Bhaktin As illustrations, Panini mentions the worshippers of Vasudeva, Arjuna, Desa and 1 Law, Historical Glearings, Ohap. II. 12 Culla Niddesc, p. 173f. Page #207 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RDLIGION 199 Janapada. The process of amalgamation must have taken place gradually with the inclusion of all the deities in a common pantheon. In doing 80 a classification of them was necessary and the result was a hierarchy in different forms. The hierarchy as developed in early Buddhism placed the four grades of arupabrahmas as the highest in the scale, below them the sixteen grades of rupabrahmas, below their ranks the six classes of kamavacaradevas, the lowest of them being represented by the four maharajas or lokapalas exercising their suzerainty over the rest of the gods, and the demigods, whether akasatthas, antarikkhacaras or bhummas. Below the kamavacara gods are placed ordinary men, below them the animal world, below it the spirit world and below it the different purgatories. Even above the arupabrahmas are placed the saintly Buddhist personalities called Ariyas (elect) forming eight grades of spirituality and above all stands the incomparable Buddha. The hierarchy as conceived in early Jainigm seems to place the Vemanikadevas as the highest in the scale, then the Jyotisis, the Vanamantaras and Bhavanavasis. The Vemanika gods and angels are represerlted by Sohamma Isana, Sanankumara, Mahinda Bambbha (Brahma), Lantaga, Mahasukka, Sahassara, Acchutapadi 1 Panini, IV, 3.95-100. Page #208 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 200 INDIA AS DESCRISDI IN EARLY TEXTS and the rest. Mahinda's heaven is the heaven of the thirty-three gods together with the lokapalas. In the Jyotisi class are placed the sun, the moon, the planets, comets and stars including Rahu. The Vanamantradevas comprise the bhutas, pisacas, yakkhas, rakshasas, kinnaras, kimpurisas, gandbabbas, etc. The asuras, nagas, supannas, vijju (lightning), fire, continent (diva), ocean (udahi), disakumaras (quarter-gods), pavana (wind-gods) and thundergods (thaniya) represent the Bhavanavasis. Below them are the earth-lives, water-lives, fire-lives, and wind-lives. Above all of them stands the incomparable Jina with his advanced disciples. A similar hierarchy was developed by the Ajivikas in their cosmography, As thoroughly discussed by Rhys Davids, 3 the two most important Pali suttas that contain the list of popular gods and deities are the Mahasamaya and the Maha-atanatiya. The real interest of these two suttas lies in the fact that they offer us the names of hosts of popular gods and goddesses affiliated to the realm of the four lokapalas: Dhatarattha of the eastern quarter, Virulhaka of the southern quarter, Virupakkha of the western quarter, and Vessarvana Kuvera of the northern quarter. Evidently they were the guardians or presiding 1 Aupapataka Satra, secs. 32-37. * Buddhist Indra, Chap. 12. * Digha, i, p. 54. Page #209 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 201 deities of the four continents. Religious fancy led the people to locate the heaven of the thirtythree gods on the top of the Mount Sumeru and the world of the aguras at the bottom of it, below the water, and to conceive a protracted war between the thirty-three gods and the asuras for the possession of Inda's or Sakka's domain. The formation of the hierarchy in ancient Indian pantheon must have resulted from a long course of development of religious ideas and beliefs and of conflict and compromise between them. As for the higher religions, mention is frequently made of the contemporary representatives of the ancient Vedic sages generally enumerated as ten in number. They formed the sotthiya or mahasala class of Brahmins from among whom the Purohitas or housepriests of the kings and wealthy nobles, etc., were chosen and appointed. We have mention also of the teachers of the early upanishadic schools such as the Addhariyas (Aitareyas ?), Tittiriyas (Taittiriyas), Chandokas (Chandogyas), "Chandavas (Satapathas ?) and Bavharijjas (Bahvsoas). In addition to them, the Books speak of the Tapasas, Paribbajakas and Samanas of different orders. Among the Tapasas some are honoured ago isis or sages. The, Paribbajakas, mostly 1 Digha, 4 p 237. Page #210 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 202 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Brahmins by birth, are broadly distinguished as Ekadannikas and Todannikas. The ,,Samanas were typified by the followers of the six teachers known to the Buddhists as six titthiyas. But to this class belonged also the Sakyaputtiyas or followers of Buddha Gautama. In the opinion of Hopkins 1, Vedic religion or Brahmanism was confined to a small section of the people of India. It was rather an island in the sea, the majority of the people following their own religions which consisted in beliefs in spells, incantations, charms and spirits. This acute observation of Hopkins is true only in so far as it appears that the Brahmins as a class including even those who were householders and followed different callings, belonged to a distinct religious order. According to the Brahmanio doctrine, the fulfilment of the religious ideal was to proceed by stages, three or four, called brahman oarya, garhasthya and vanaprastha, the third culminating in the life of the Parivrajaka, Yati, Bhiksu or Sannyasin. This is well borne out by the Buddha's description of the five types of Brahmins in the Anguttara Nikaya. But if Brahmanism was based upon the Vedas as it professed to be, in no stage of its history, it was free from the belief in the efficacy of spells, incantations, charms and the like. As a matter Religions of Indra, Chap. IX. Page #211 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 203 of fact, Brahmanism was the only form of higher religion in India which could affiliate all the popular cults without any feeling of contradiction. The religious beliefs and practices grew up among different tribes, races and nations and were cherished by them with veneration and joy. It was left to the founders and exponents of the higher religions to decide how far, and in which manner these were to be utilised, modified, improved or replaced. But we shall see anon, in spite of the apparent victory and predominance of the higher religions over the folk, the latter always held the ground and the sum total of results of the age-long conflict was nothing but a widening of its, scope and enrichment of its contents. The folk religion afforded indeed the living ground of synthesis of contending faiths. And with the march of time when it became sufficiently strong and self-conscious, it asserted itself as a great religion of Bhakti influencing the whole domain of the higher faiths, Jain, Buddhist, and all. * We have in the Pali canonical texts a faithful account of the Vedic religion as practised by the Sotthiyas and Mahasalas of the age. On its emotional side, it consisted in the invocation of Inda, Soma, Varuna, Isana, Pajapati, Brahma, Mabiddhi and Yama. The invocation was practised either by way of supplication (ayacanahetu), or by way of prayer (patthanahetu), or by, Page #212 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 204 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS that of eulogy (abhinandanahetu).1 The invocation of Siri, the Goddess of Luck, mentioned in the Brahmajala and other suttas is also typically Vedic.2 The Jataka description of the four Indian Graces, viz., Asa (Hope), Saddha (Faith), Siri (Luck) and Hiri (Modesty) as four daughters of Sakka, the king of the gods, is originally Vedio. From the Rgveda to the Jataka, the trend of the change was from abstract conceptions of the four fundamental female attributes or virtues to their personifications. In the Lalitavistara and the Mahavastu vorsions of the Atanatiya Sutta, the four varieties of the Goddess of Luok are associated with Virudhaka, the regent of the southern quarter, and they bear the appellations of Srimati or Sriyamati, Yasamati, Yasahprapta or Lakshmimati, and Yasodhara. The name of the Goddess as recorded in the Barhut label seems to correspond to Srimati. The Barhut representation of Sirima has, as shown by Rhys Davids, a_faithful, correspondence in her images as found in the temples of South India. The Siri-Kalakanni Jataka (No. 383) introduces us to a Siridevi or Lakkhi, who is described as the daughter of Dhatarattha, regent of the eastern quarter. In this Jataka, Siri or Luck is compared and contrasted with Kalakarni or Misfortune, - the i Digha, i, p. 244f. . 2 Ibrd,, 1, p 11. . 3 Jataka, v, p 3925 Page #213 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 205 latter being described as the daughter of Virupakkha, regent of the western quarter.1 Thus religion sought through its mythology to create various types of Graces and to present them through poetry and art for the improvement of female types in society. Manimekhala, the female angel of the sea, saving the sailing ships from wrecks, was a new but beautiful creation of the later age. She belonged to the realm of the four Maharajas.2 On the sacrificial side, the same religion is said to have consisted in various forms of sacrifice involving the slaughter of cows, bulls, buffaloes, elephants, horses, goats, rams, etc.3 The Asvamedha (horse sacrifice) and Vajapeya, (soma sacrifice), associated with secular Brahmanism, were two forms of sacrifice having a political significance. The Purisamedha (human sacrifice) is also associated with the Vedic religion. These sacrifices are said to have been insisted on by the Purohitas and the Mahasala class of Brahmins. These were attended with big feasts, offering of gifts and distribution of charities. The performance of great sacrifices 4 5 1 RELIGION 1 Barua, Barhut, Bk. II, p. 73. 2 Jataka, iv, p. 17; vi, p. 35; S. K. Aiyangar, The Buddhism of Manimekhalai. (Buddhistic Studies) p. lf. 1 a Sutta-nipata, Brahmanadhammika Sutta; Digha, i, Kutadanta Sutta. ^ 4 Samyutta, i, p. 76; Anguttara, ii, p. 423 Sutta-nipatu, v, 303. 5 Ibid. Page #214 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 206 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS by the Vedic ascetics in the three regions of Gayakhetta was a notable annual function eagerly awaited by all the inhabitants of Anga and Magadha. Similar sacrifices were performed in other parts of the country where the Brahmins of these classes lived or had influence. On the ritualistic side, the Vedic religion or secular Brahmanism consisted, as we are told, in Aggihutta or oblations to fire, and diverse other kinds of koma. The Buddhist and Jaina texts do not at all exaggerate the state of things whon they inform us that secular Brahmanism consisted in spells, charms, incantations, exorcism, witchcraft, goccultism, interpretation of dreams, signs, and cries of beasts and birds as foreshadowing coming events, soothsayings, etc. They correctly refer, to the Atharva Veda as the scriptural source of the Brahmins from which followed the development and intermingling of popular occultism and science. It was indeed through the Atharvanic process that an alliance between secular Brahmanism and all primitive cults was possible, an alliance or blending from which even Hinduism of the 20th century is not free. Anyhow, as the books bear'ample evidence, the Purohita and Yajaka classes of Brahmins fully utilised it in guiding the course of daily life of the 1 Barua, Gaya and Buddhaqapja, p. 110. Page #215 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 207 people. They were exactly the class to whom the kings, courtiers, and the rest turned for consultation and ministration when they were frightened by some unnatural dreams or occurrence of abnormal events, celestial or terrestrial, or by apparitions. Curiously enough, the leaders of such highly protestant religions as Buddhism and Jainism could not help satisfying this insistent popular demand. The Buddha 18 represented as a better interpreter of dreams than the Brahmins, when he was consulted by king Pasenadi at the instance of his queen.2 The improvisation of Parittas as saving chants in early Buddhism was undoubtedly due to the dire necessity of meeting the same popular demand. RELIGION 8 4 The people of India in their worldly existence had certain fears which are enumerated in the Pali canonical texts as sixteen, and in the Milinda as seventeen, such fears as might arise from the tyranny of the ruler, from the action of thieves, robbers, etc., from the action of men, malevolent spirits, stars, water, air, fire, famine, disease, pestilence, reptiles and wild beasts, etc. They were naturally inclined to avail themselves of all possible means to avoid 1.Digha, 1, p. 9f. >> Jataka, 1, p. 234f 3 Anguttara, 11, p. 121f 4 Milinda, p 196 Page #216 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 208 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS or overcome them. No religion was acceptable to them if it could not assure them of the potency of its means to overcome their fears and to inspire confidence in order to obtain a fearlessy state. Secular Brahmanism employed all its means to prove its usefulnoss to them. When other contending faiths entered the field and endeavoured to win the people over to their side, they were required to fulfil the same task by such means as they could devise. The Buddhists adopted the solemn chanting of the Parittas as one of the means. The essence of the Parittas was saccakiriya, or the effective expression of the wish by an open declaration of the truth. Through the Parittas they tried to get rid of the objectionable features of the Brahmanic rituals. The aesthetic aspect was improved and the matter was simplified. But in so doing they failed to anticipate how the parasite with its root stuck to the main tree would grow disproportionately in course of time. The people were believers in the efficacy of pronouncement of benediction by the priests and other holy persons, in amulets, and the like. In order to oust the Brahmin vested interests from the field, the Jains and Buddhists had to introduce certain mangalas, claimed as more efficacious. With the Jains the eight mangalas were the eight auspicious symbols or emblemas: Sovatthiya (Svastika), Sirivacca (Srivatsa), Page #217 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 209 Nandiyavatta (Nandyavarta), Vaddhamanaga Vardhamana), Bhaddasana (Bhadrasana), Kalasa. Maccha (Matsya), and Dappana (Darpana). Other enumerations of mangalas are also met with in the Jaina texts. The Buddhists introduced chanting of the Mungala Sutta laying much stress on the thirty-seven points of mangala or moral condition of human welfare.8 In seeking to draw a sharp distinction between the Brahmin as he was and the Brahmin as he ought to have been, the Jains and Buddhists served only to bring the Brahmanio religious ideal into bold relief with the result that Mahana (= Brahmana) became one of the distinctive epithets of Mahavira, and the Buddhist arahants came to be praised as Brahmanas par excellence. By mangalas the people of India understood the sight of certain auspicious objects, all-white ,,chariots, etc., the hearing of certain auspicious sounds, and the touch of certain auspicious things. They also understood by them the performance of certain auspicious rites for the birth of a male child or for the marriage of boys 1 Aupapatrka Sitra, seo, 49. 2 Idrid., Becs. 53, 55. 8 Mangala Sutta in the Khuddakapagha (pp. 2-3); and Sutta-nipata lpp. 46-47), ar. also Mahamangala Jataks (No. 453). - Jataka, wv, p. 72f. Page #218 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 210 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS and girls and for making the journey to a distant place successful.1 Secular Brahmanism provided the people with appropriate rituals for all domestic rites of the Indo-Aryan householders. To bring and keep them within their fold, the Jains and Buddhists were required to suggest better substitutes. But in point of fact, they did the work so imperfectly that even their own lay supporters had to be left to adhere to the Brahmanic scheme of social life and to their own family, tribal, national and local customs, with minor modifications here and there. The Brahmins as Lakkhana-pathakas suggested certain prominent bodily characteristics of a Mahapurisa or Great Man. As the early Jain and Buddhist texts go to prove that the Jainas and Buddhists simply utilised them in establishing that the founder of their own order was the greatest of men, Secular Brahmanism allowed the Brahmins to marry from all social grades, and they did, as a matter of fact, marry girls from all sections of the people. The Jains and Buddhists who were otherwise strongly opposed to the caste system, stood as great champions for the purity 1 Agoka's Rock Ediot, is; D. R. Bhandarkar, Adoka, p. 322f.; R. K. Mookerjee, Asoka, p. 153ff. 8 Aupapatika Sutra, seg. 16; Digha, iii, Lakkhana-Suttanta, p. 142f. Page #219 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 211 of blood and family prestige. They praised thoso Brahmins who married girls from their own class only, and in doing so they became ipso facto contributors to the social orthodoxy. The cow sacrifice was freely allowed in secular Brahmanism. The eating of beef was not as yet forbidden in society, oven among the Brahmins and hermits. The Buddha raised his strong voice against cow-killing, and for the matter of that, against beef-eating. Thus unintentionally he contributed to the social orthcdoxy in so far as it expressed itself in the form of prohibition of certain articles of food. The Brahmins as a class of priests with vested interests were in favour of the monar-- chical form of government, and the Brahmanic influence was much stronger in monarchies than in oligarchies. In theory, the Jains and Buddhists were in deep sympathy with the democratic constitution. The Jaina religious Order which was evidently constituted with "Mahavira as the gasi or leader and nine among his prominent disciples as ganadharasa or sectional leaders, was modelled on the republican constitution of the nine Licchavior Mallaki clans, and the Buddhist religious Order, too, with its stronger internal cohesion and marked regimental discipline, may be shown to have been ni Sutta-nipata, p. 50f., Brahmanadhammaka Sutta. Mrs. 8. Stevenson, The Heart of Jainism, p. 61. Page #220 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 212 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS " based upon the principle of unity and concerted action which characterised the life and constitution of a Khattiya tribe forming an oligarchy. The difference between the two organisations lay in the fact that the Jaina Order was based upon the idea of confederacy, while the Buddhist Order professed the regimental unity of a single ruling clan. But the popular predilections for kingship and overlordship were not without their influence on the Jain and Buddhist minds, Farticularly on the latter. The Pali canonical texts reveal throughout a growing tendency to establish parallelism between the position of a righteous king as an earthly overlord and that of the Buddha as the supreme founder of the Kingdom of Righteousness 1 as well as between the attributes and functions of the two. Even with regard to the disposal of the body of the Buddha after his demise, the direction was to adopt the method which applied to the funeral of a king-overlord. The ultimate result of adaptation to the monarchical tradition was that within a purely democratic constitution of the Buddhist Sangha, the Master came to be enthroned as the supreme Lord of Righteousness with Sariputta and Moggallana as his two Dhammasenapatis and an inner circle of eighty great disciples (asiti-mahasavaka). 1 Note that in the Aupapatoka Sutra, seo. 16, Mahavira in praisedm As Dhamma vara-cauranta-oalkavath, Page #221 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 213 Secular Brahmanism recommended the daily practice of salutation to six quarters by a good householder at dawn after bath. The practice was thus linked up with a symbolical scheme of the duties and obligations of a householder which the Buddha tried to render significant by an orientation from his own point of view. But the total result was nothing but the prominence of the ideal which was implied in the Brahmanical scheme. The early Jain and Buddhist texts also present a vivid and fairly detailed picture of the life of the tapasas or ancient order of hermits. Acoording to the Brahmanical scheme, the hermits represented the Vanaprastha (Vanapattha) stage. of life. Their retirement from the world is known in Pali as isipabbajja. The persons who adopted this mode of religious life were mostly Brahmins and Khattiyas; a few of them were gahapatis. Only in a solitary instance a matanga 2 or 'candala figures as a notable personality among them. The tradition is conspicuous by the absence of the Suddas. The hermits on their retirement from the world selected a beautiful spot in a woodland or a sequestered valley having a river, or a stream, or a natural lake, near by, and built a hermitage which was no better than a leaf-hut or bamboo 1 Digha, in, p. 180f., Sungalovada Sutta. 2 Matanga Jataka, Jataka No. 407. Page #222 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 214 INDIA AS DESCRIBED. IN EARLY TEXTS cottage in sylvan surroundings. Either they retired alone or with their families apd in some instances with their resident pupils. They lived on roots and fruits, wild-grown rice and vegetables. Their garments were made of birchbark or antelope-skin. The matted hair on their head marked them out to the people at large as Jatilas. Long before the rise of Jainism and Buddhism the hermits in large numbers built their hermitages in the Himalayan forosts, in the Vindhya Range and along the banks of the Ganges, Yamuna and other sacred rivers. The hermitages were fenced round, and inside, some of them reared mango and other fruit trees, wwhile the lakes or pools near by were adorned with varieties of lotus flowers; some of them were so idcally situated and so attractive that they were said to have been built by Vessakamma, the heavenly architect. The instances are not wanting in which the royal princes in exile betook themselves with their wives to. forest-life, leading the life of hermits. When and how the institutions commenced we cannot definitely say. But it seems to have had a very early beginning indeed. The Jatakas and Jain texts 2 maintain a tradition of some ancient 1 Cf. Vessantara Jataka (No. 647); Mugapakkha Tataka=Tomiye Jakaka (No. 588). Uttaradhyayana sutra, Leo. XVIIT, Kumbhakara Jatake No. 408). Page #223 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 215 illustrious contemporary kings of India, all of * whom adopted the life of a hermit, viz., Naggaji of Gandhara, Dummukha of Pancala, Nimi of Videha, Bhima of Vidabbha, and Karakandu of Kalinga. The Uttaradhyayana Sutra 1 mentions a few other ancient kings who had reached perfection as hermits, viz., Bharata of Bharatavarsa," Sagara of Ayodhya, Maghavan of Srayasti, Sanatkumara and Mahabala of Hastinapura, santi, Kuntthu (Kakustha ?) who came to be rovered as Tirthankaras, Harisena of Kampilya, Jaya of Rajagpha, Dasarnabhadra of Dasarna, Rudrayana of Sauvira, and Vijaya of Dvaravati. Thus it may be shown that the tradition of hermit-life was not restricted to any particular country or kingdom. It was widely recognised as a well-ordered institution all over the Aryandom from Gandhara to Videha and Kalinga and from Kuru-Pancala to Vidarbha. In the history of the Indian tapasas, the kingdom of Videha is entitled to much importance. Both the Satapatha Brahmana and the Makhadova Sutta 2 refer to king Mathaya, Makhadeva, Maghadeva or Mahadeva, founder of the royal dynasty of Videha, as the first gifted monarch, who was upset at the sight of a grey hair plucked from his head, and taking it to be the sign of death and retirement, he left 1 Lec. XVIII, 2 Maggiuma Nikdya, i, p. 74. Page #224 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 216 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN DARLY TEXTS the world forthwith leaving the throne to his son, Nimi, who along with the long line of successors, , the Janakas of Mithila, followed in the footsteps of his great father. The Brahmadattas of Kasi appeared to have vied with the kings of Videha in this matter. If the fall of an apple was important to Newton who reflecting on it, discovered the Law of Gravitation, the appearance of a grey hair on the head or the fall of a withered leaf from a tree was no less important, as the Jatakas 1 tell us, to the Indian hermits who reflecting thereon, found out the inner world of spirituality, immortality and tranquillity. The retirement of several kings of the same line from the world and the distinction obtained by them as hermits enhanced the family prestige of their successors. It was with some amount of pride that Kharavela was introduced in his inscription as a scion of a family of royal sages (rajisi-vamsakula-vinisrita), all of whom belonged to the Cedi royal house. Similarly the Janakas of Mithila and the Brahmadattas of Benar... represented two ancient lines of royal sages. The great Brahmin hermits became noted as Brahmarsis. Among them,<< mention is made in the Jatakas of the sage Sarabhangle who 1 Jataka, Kp. 247f., Mahar . , p. 450. 2 Sarabhanga Jataka, Jataka, v, p. 126f. Page #225 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION was formerly commander-in-chief of Benares.' He built his hermitage somewhere in the Vindhya region on the Godhavari. When he retired from the world, many others accompanied him. The number of hermits grew so large that he was compelled to ask his chief disciples to shift elsewhere taking with them as many of the hermits as possible under the circumstances. By his command they went to build hermitages in different kingdoms and countries. Kisavaccha was one of them. Sarabhanga is described as a hermit who wore three garments of birch-bark. According to the Aranyakanda of the Ramayana Sarabhanga's hermitage was situated not far from Pancavati, It was Sarabhanga who keeping Rama in his view, entered the burning funeral pyre and proceeded to the eternal world of Brahma in the resurrected divine form of a kumara. It was undoubtedly a common practice with some of the hermits to die like heroes either by diving into water, or by bodily walking into fire or by a fall from a height. 217 The isipabbajja of Mahagovinda, the Brahmin Purohita of king Renu of Videha, accompanied by the seven reigning kings, six other Purohitas in a large retinue of the citizens of seven kingdoms, as described in the Mahagovinda Suttanta1 1 Digha, ii, p. 220f. Page #226 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 218 INDIA. AS DESCRIBAD IN EARLY TEXTS ana the Jatakas, produced a very deep impression in the country. A popular chronicle, - embodied in the Anguttara Nikaya, bears an eloquent testimony to it. Mahagovinda is claimed to have a direct communion with Brahma Sanamkumara as a happy result of the cultivation of the four Brahmaviharas: Metta, Karuna, Mudita and Upekkha. The "Isigili Sutta in the Majjhima Nikaya 2 contains a similar chronicle of five hundred Paccekabuddhas who are otherwise described as great sages of old, and the Khaggavisana Sutta in the Sutta-nipata2 and the Paccekabuddha Apadana in the Apadanas contain distinct utterances of them. In historical times, Bavari, the chaplain of king Pasenadi of Kosala, retired from the world and built a hermitage on the Godhavari (Godavari) in the Vindhya region. The Parayana Vagga in the Sutta-nipata + preserves a glorious tradition of Bavari along with his sixteen disciples. As the Jatakas elearly attest, among the tapasas there were many who practised Yoga or Jhana, and mastered as many as eight Samapattis. There is evidence also to prove that the neighbourhood of the hermitages became sites afterwards of many important 1 Vol w, p. 88f * PP 6-12 3 Vol. 1, pp 7-14. * p. 190f. Page #227 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 219 flourishing cities like Kapilavatthu, Savatthf,' * Kakandi, and Makandi. Thus the jungles were converted into royal capitals and delightful human localities. In the instances where the Tapasas lived all alone or with their families and resident pupils, we cannot conceive of the possibility of a corporate or congregational life. They lived more or less a domestic life in the forest paying occasional visits to the neighbouring hermitages. Occasionally they had to appear in human localities for the collecton of salt or to keep invitations from kings. The religious homes in the forests served as a meeting place of the lovers ending in marriage. It is correctly pointed out that according to the Aranyakanda of the Ramayana, Rama, while in exile with Sita and Laksmana, walked from hermitage to hermitage from Ayodhya on the Sarayu to the Pancavati on the Godavari. The Sarabhanga Jataka also shows that in travelling from Benares to the same destination, one had to follow a ekapadikamagga or narrow foot-track under the guidance of a vanacaraka. But when Bavari built his hermitage near the Pancavati during the reign of Pasenadi, there came into existence a high road connecting i Sir Asutosh Mookerji Silver Jubilee Folums, ui, p. 412 2 Jataka, v, p. 132. Page #228 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 220 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS Rajagaha with Patitthana. Thus the hermits and vanacarakas co-operated in exploring the forest regions and gradually bringing into existence high roads and trade-routes. The corporate or congregational life became manifest among the hermits when a large number of them came to live in one and the same , hermitage, e.g., in the big assama or hermitage of Sarabhanga in the Kavittha forest on the Godhavari. In the Buddha's time, there were three settlements or colonies of the Jatilas under three Kassapa brothers in the three divisions of the Gayakhetta, The Pali legend concerning Uruvela seeks to bring out the fact that when in ancient times the hermits came to the place to atone for their sins, there was no corporate life among them. Even among the Jatilas forming three distinct groups, the tie in each group was rather domestic than congregational. Their leaders, the three Kassapa brothers, were born in a Brahmtn family of Magadha. They were great personalities; all the inhabitants of Anga and Magadha highly rovered them. They were fire-worshippers by their cult, the believers in the great sanotity of the waters of the Gaya river. The people from all, parts of India came on pilgrimage to 1 Vinaya, i, p. 31f. * Barua, Gdya and Buddhagaya, Vol. I, p. 99 | Udana, p. 6. Page #229 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 221 Gava to perform the holy ablution in a sincere belief that by bathing in the Gaya river they could wash off their sins. There were other sacred rivers where similar ablutions were performed. The Buddhist criticism of the belief and the practice was not without its value. But the belief served as a strong inoentive to bathing in the sacred rivers the water. of which was hygienic and good for health. During the period under notice there existed in Northern India various orders of Paribbajakas or Wanderers, who, in the language of Rhys Davids, 'were teachers or sophists who spent eight or nine months of every year wandering about precisely with the object of engaging in conversational discussions on matters of ethics and philosophy, nature lore and mysticism, Like the Sophists among the Greeks, they differed very much in intelligence, in earnestness and in honesty'. These wandering ascetics, particularly those who were called Brahmana Paribbajakas, were representatives of the fourth or last stage of progressive life. They were known as mendicants (bhikkhus) because they depended for their sustenance on alms ocllected from door to door, 1 Monghema, I, p. 36f, Vatthupama Sutta; Udana, p. 6, Therigata, pp. 146 47. Gathas of Punnika & 'Buddhast Indra, P 141. 8 Anguttara, 1, P 157; B. 0. Law, H18001 zal Gleanings, Ch IE Page #230 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 222 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN BARLY TEXTS as one-garment men (ekasatakas), as they used to clothe themselves with one piece of cloth, and as shavelings (mundakas), as they shaved their heads clean as a mark of distinction from the Tapasas who were all Jatilas (wearers of matted hair) and from the Brahmin householders who wore a crested look on their head. As distinguished from the tapasas they lived a homeless life, without having a fixed residence save and except during the rainy season when they took shelter in deserted houses (sunnagara), caves (guba), rocky caverns (kandara) and the like. Some of them went about naked and were known as acelakas or naggapabbajitas. Those whose garments consisted in antelope-skin were called cammasalakas. The canonical Pali toxts introduce to us no less than 30 wandering teachers who were either leaders or members of various orders of Indian ascetics, the number of members of each varying from 300 to 3,000. Some of them were known by their nick-names, some by the names of the gottas they belonged to, some by their external signs and some by their religious practices. They were all contemporaries of the Buddha and so of Mahavira. Potthapada 1, the rheumatic, had 300 followers; Bhaggavagotta 2, the wanderer, belonged to the 1 Potthapada Sutta, Digha, i. 4 Digha, iii, p. l. Page #231 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 223 Bhargava family. Patikaputta l was an acelaka" *or naked ascetic. Nigrodha ?,, Sandaka *, Samandaka", Ajita 5, Sarabha ', Annabhara ", Varadhara , Uttiya", Kokanada 10, Potaliya 11, Moliyasivaka 12, Sajjha 18, Sutava 14, Kundaliya 15, Timbaruka 16, Nandiya 1?, Vacchagotta 18, Sucimukhi 19, Susima 20, Uggahamana 21, Pilotika 22, Potaliputta 28, Sakuladavi 24, Vekhanassa 25 (Vaikhanasa), Dighanakha 26, Magandiya 27, Sabhiya 28, and 1 Digha, ui, pp. 12-35. 2 Ibid., iii, pp. 36-57. 8 Manghima, i, p. 513. * Anguttara, v, pp. 120-121. Ibid., v, p. 230. 6 Ibid., i, p. 185. 7 Ibid., u, p. 29. 8 Ibid., ii, p. 176. Ibid., v, p. 193. 10 Ibid., v, p. 196. 11 Ibid., u, p. 100. 18 Ibid., iii, p. 356. 18 Ibid., iv, p. 377. 14 Ibid., is, p. 389. 16 Samyutta, v, p. 73. 16 Ibid., ii, p. 22. 17 Ibid., v, p. 11. 18 Ibid., iii, p. 257. 19 Ibid., in, pp. 238-240. 80 Ibid., i, pp. 119-128. 81 Majjhima, ii, p. 22. 22 Ibid., i, p. 175. 38 Ibid., iii, p. 207. 24 Ibid., u, pp. 1-22. 26 Ibid., u, pp. 40-44. 27 Ibid., i, p. 501. 26 Fid., i, p. 467. 28 Carita-nipata, p. 91. Page #232 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 224 INDIA. AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS *Sanjaya were the most notable of the class. Their movements were restricted more or less to the Majjhimadesa. Apart from the Brahmana Paribbajakas, the Pali texts repeatedly speak of the six influential orders of Samanas, the leaders of whom were known to the Buddhists as six titthiyas or leading thinkers: Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Pakudha Kacoayana, Ajitakesakambali, Sanjaya Belatthaputta or Belatthiputta, and Nigantha Nataputta 1. Of them the sixth was no other than Mahavira, the reputed founder of Jainism. Sanjaya, as his name implies, was a Khattiya of the Belattha clan or one born of a princess of the Belattha family. The remaining four were Brahmins by birth. They too by their habits of life were all wandering teachers, shavelings and mendicants and differed from the Paribbajakas as a class only in their attitude towards the world and the existing social and religious institutions. Purana as a transcendentalist claimed that the soul (atta) cannot be affected by the moral or immoral action of men. Gosala was, according to one of the Jain traditions, the son of a Brahmin Paribbajaka couple, and according to another, the son of a Brahmin who was rich in cattle (gobahula). He was pre-eminently a Kosalan teacher. Philosophically he was a determinist * Digha, i, p. 47PS.; Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 32f. Page #233 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 225 RELIGION and ethically a fatalist. Pakudha Kaccayana, midentified by some scholars with Kavandhin Katyayana of the Prasnopanisad 1 was an eternalist, maintaining that both soul and the world are unchanging realities. Ajita distinguished by the garment of hair which he used to wear, was an avowed atheist denying as he did the possibility of continuance of personal existence after death and consequently the possibility of having reward and retribution for the deeds done in this life. These teachers were all dogmatic in the way they held their respective opinions. As distinguished from them, Sanjaya of the Belattha clan who is identified in the Mahavastu with the Wanderer Sanjaya passed as a great sceptic (Amaravikkhepaka, Ardhamagadhi Annanika). Nigantha of the Nata or Jitatri clan of Vesali is distinguished from the rest as the propounder of a system of Catuyamasamvara or fourfold self-restraint. This is only a rough and ready description of the founders of six different orders and leaders of six different schools of thought who held the field when the Buddha had just started on his career as a religious teacher We are nowhere given in the early texts of Jainism and Buddhism a specific description of 1 Prad. I.I. . For details from Buddhist and Jain, texts, vide.B. C. Law, Historical Cleanings, Ch. II. Page #234 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 226 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS In the Tapasas, Paribbajakas or Samanas, taken order by order or school by school, either asm regards their food or as regards their dress, habits and goals. Al that we can gather from them is only a general description, which is likely to prove misleading. In the Pali Kassapasihanada Sutta, we read, for instance, 'He feeds on potherbs, on wild rice, on rnivara seeds, on leather parings, on the water-plant called hata, on the fine powder which adheres to the grains of rice beneath the husk, on the discarded scum of boiling rice, on the flour of oilseeds, on grasses, on cowdung, on fruits and roots from the woods, on fruits that have fallen of themselves ?.? This list of ascetic practices concerning food applies mainly to the Tapasas, and partially only to the Ajivikas who were followers of Makkhali Gosala, Nanda Vaocha and Kisa Samkicca. The following account of practises concerning garment and behaviour is applicable partly to the Tapasas and partly to the clothed Partsbajakas, and, mutatis mutandis, to the Acelakas and some of the Samana orders: 'He wears 1 Dialogues of the Buddha, 8.B.B, 11, p. 230. sakabhakkho va hotr, admdkabhakkho hotr, nivarabhakkho va hot, daddulabhakkho va hoti, hatabhakklio va hon, kanabhakicho va hot, acamabhaklho Mo hot, muscebghe va hot, tabhakho DO ho, go agabhalckho vahot, varamula phataharo yopett pavattaphala whogr. Digha, 1, p. 186, Page #235 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGJON 227 hempen cloth; mixed hempen cloth ; cloths mtaken from corpses and thrown away; clothing made of rags picked up from a dust heap, of the bark of the Tiritaka tree; the natural hide of a black antelope; a dress made of a network of strips of a black antelope's hide; of Kuga grass fibre; a garment of bark; a garment made of small slips or slabs of wood (shingle) pieced together; a blanket of human hair; of horses' tails; of the feathers of owls. He is a plucker-out-of-hair-and-beard, a stander-up, a croucher-down-on-the-heels, a bedof-thorns-man. He uses a plank bed, sleeps on the bare ground, sleeps always on one side, a dust and dirt wearer, lives and sleeps in the, open air, does not mind whatsoever seat is offered to him, goes down into water thrice a day to wash away his sins '.1 Here the two practices of plucking out of both hair and beard and standing up rejocting the use of a seat are applicable alss to the Jaina mendicants. Lastly, the account of the practices concerning the mode of collecting food and eating may be shown to apply to the Acolaka class of the Paribbajakas and the Ajivika and Jaina types of the Samanas: 9 'He goes naked, performs his bodily functions and eats food in a standing posture, licks his 1 Dialogues of the Buddha, op. cit., p. 230f.; Digha, i, pp. 166-7. - Page #236 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 228 INDIA AS DESCRIBEN. IN EARLY TEXTS hanas clean after eating, when on his rounds for alms, if politely requested to step nearer orto wait a moment, he passes stolidly on, refuses to accept food if it is brought to him before he has started on his round, if it has been prepared specially for him, to accept any invitation, to accept food direct from the mouth of the pot or pan lest those vessels should be struck or scraped on his account. He will not accept food placed within the threshold, placed among the sticks or pestles. He does not accept food from persons while they are eating, from a woman with child, from a mother giving suck, from a woman when she is in her private chamber. He will not accept food where a dog is standing by or flies are swarming round. He will not accept fish nor meat, nor strong drink, nor intoxicants, nor gruel. He feeds on the four kinds of filth (cowdung, cow's urine, ashes and clay). He never drinks cold water. He is contented with alms received from one house only, or from two houses, or so on up to only seven houses. He keeps himself going on only one alms or only two, or so on up to only seven. He takes his food only once a day, or once every two days, or so on up to once every seven days or up to even half a month'.1 1 Based on the Dialogues of the Buddha, op. cit, p. 227f.; Digha. 2, p. 166. Page #237 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 229 The Jaina Aupapatika Sutra speaks of the Tapasas as those religieux who adopted the Vanaprastha mode of life on the banks of the saored rivers typified by the Ganges. They were either fire-worshippers, family men or those who slept on the bare ground. They were either sacrificers, or performers of funeral rites, or owners of property. The water jugs and cooking pots were among their belongings. They followed different modes of bathing in the holy waters. Some of them used to blow conchshells, or were kuladhumakas (winnow-beaters). Some of them killed deer for venison and skin, and some killed elephants to make food provision minimising the slaughter of life. Some went about holding a stick erect, or with the gaze fixed on a particular direction. They used the bark of a tree as their garment, and lived either on the seashore or near water at the foot of a tree, feeding on water, air, water-plants, roots, bulbs, barks, flowers, fruits and seeds. They rendered their body cooked as it were by the heat of the five kinds of fire and stiffened by the sprinkling of water 1. The Sutra mentions a class of recluses (pabbaiya-samana) who were addicted to sensual pleasures, vulgar ways and vaunting, and were fond of singing and dancing . 1 Aupapatha Sutra, sec, 74 Ibrd, sec. 76 Page #238 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 230 INDIA AS DESORIBED. IN DARLY TEXTS I'ne same text distinguishes between the Brahmana and Ksatriya Parivrajakas, and de-- scribes them as those religieux who either followed the Kapila school of Sankhya or the Bhargaya school of Yoga, or represented the four grades of Indian ascetics: Bahudaka, Kutibrata (Kuticaka), Hamsa and Paramahamsa. Some of them were Krsna Parivrajakas 1. The Ajivikas are placed in a different category, their description being the same as in Palia. It may be noted that even in Gosalas doctrine, the Ajivika orders were distinguished from those of the Parivrajakas 8 A gradation of nistha or goals aimed at by the Tapasas, Paribbajakas and Ajivikas is suggested in the Aupapatika Sutra, Buddhaghosa's Papancasudani, some of the later Upanisacs as well as Gosala's doctrine of six Abhijatas or grades of spiritual advancement. The six grades are described in terms of six colours as the black (kanha), the blue (nila), tlie red (lohita), the turmeric (halidda), the white (sukka), and the supremely white (paramasukka 4). Corresponding to them we have mention of the following six grades in the Samnyasa Upanisad: atura, 1 dupapatika Sutra, secs. 76-81. 9 Ibid., sec. 120. Digha, i, p. 54: ekunapannasa-ajiuceato, Paribbajakasate. -4 Barua in I.A.Q., iu, p. 267f. . skunapangaran Page #239 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 231 kuticaka, bahudaka, hamsa, paramahamsa and uriyatitaporamahamsa, saniyama or aniyama. According to the Upanisads, the goal of the atura (=kanha) is Bhurloka, that of the Jouticaka (=nila) is Bhuvarloka, that of the bahudaka (=lohita) is Svargaloka, that of the hamsa (=halidda) is Tapoloka, that of the paramahamsa (=sukka) is Satyaloka, and that of the turiyatitaparamahamsa (=paramasukka) 18 Kaivalya. The turiyatitaparamahamsa cul. minates as avadhuta. According to the Aupapa. tika Sutra, the destiny of worldly men is Vanamantra, that of the Vanaprastha Tapasas is the world of the Jyotisi gods, that of the Paribbajakas is Brahmaloka, and that of the Ajivikas is Acyutapada . And according to Buddhaghosa, the goal of the Brahmanas is Brahmaloka, that of the Tapasas is Abhassaraloka, that of the Paribbajakas is Subhakinnaloka and that of the Ajivikas is Anantamanasa & The various forms of penances (tapas, dukkarakarika) constituted the external feature of their religious efforts, and the various modes of Yoga or Jhana practised by them constituted its internal feature. In the Jatakas, many among the ancient hermits are said to have mastered the eight samapattis, each of them representing a particular form of ecstasy or 1 Aupapanka Sutra, gecs. 70, 71, 74, 81, 120. 2 Papancasudani, pt. II, p. If, CulasThanads Sutta. Page #240 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 232 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS hypnotic trance. The Ariyapariyesana Sutta 1 and other Pali texts mention Alarakalama andTM Uddakaramaputta as two great Yogis under whom the Buddha learnt the practice of Yoga, better Rajayoga, on his way from Rajagaha to Uruvela. While at Uruvela, he practised the hard penances and appanakajhanas (i.e. kumbhakas of Hathayoga) of the Acelaka or Ajivika class of ascetics. The common people who were the lay supporters of these various orders of hermits, ascetics and recluses, attached much importance to the austerities and believed in the infinite possibilities of the Yoga practice. The popular belief is that with the development of the supernormal faculties, being one, the gifted man becomes many, having become many, becomes one again. He becomes visible or invisible at his sweet will, he can fly through air like birds on wings, can easily walk on water, as if on solid ground, and can easily go to the further side of a wall or rampart or hill, as if through air, feeling no obstruction. Even the sun and the moon he can touch and feel with his own hands. He can visit any place he likes, even the world of Brahma. For the self-articulation and its effects through Yoga M I Majjhima, i, p. 1604. 2 Rhys Davids, Dialogues of the Buddha, S.B.B., ii, p. 208f. Page #241 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 233 , or Jhana,1 the popular simile was that of a clever 'potter making pots of any shape out of properly prepared clay 2. Thus the Yoga practice and miracle went together. In popular estimation the greater the psychic power, the superior was the Master. Just as the wrestlers in an arena measured their strength with each other, so did the ascetics, and the contest was eagerly witnessed by the people. The Savatthi miracle performed by the Buddha was intended to establish his superiority over the rest of the competitors in the field of psychic power. The question with the people who thronged to witness the performance waswho is the greater Yogi, the Buddha or the Tilthiyas?" The Ajivikas claimed their third Titthankara, Gogala, as one of the three greatest Avadhutas in history. The Jainas proclaimed that their last Titthankara, Mahavira, was the all-knowing and all-seeing Master, possessed of an infinite knowledge. They further declared that in all postures of his body, the supreme knowledge and vision (nanadassanam) were always present, with him. Similarly the 7 n 1 Keith, Buddhist Philosophy, pp. 30, 42, 43, 90, 119, etc.; Law, Concepts of Buddhism, Chap. VI. 20 Digha, i, p. 78f.; Dial. B., op. cit., p. 88f. 3 Jataka, iv, p. 264f.; Mahavastu, iii, p. 116. Anguttara, ili, p. 384; Sumangalavilasini, i, p. 162. 5 Majjhima, i, p. 92f.; Law, Mahavira, p. 43. Page #242 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 234 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN PARLY TEXTS Byddhists contended for the superiority of their Master over, all by the fact of his experience of the highest state of consciousness through the ninth samapatti called sanna-vedayitanirodha 1. Among the Buddha's immediate disciples, Moggallana was claimed to have occupied the foremost rank in respect of the possession of psychic power a. The man gifted with psychic power passed also as the man of wisdom, the greatest Yogi figuring sometimes as the greatest rationalist. The Samana-Brahmana period was indeed a period during which the religious experiences were sought to be rationalised. So we need Mot be astonished at all that the bands of the wandering ascetics, Paribbajakas and Samanas, appeared in the scene as great controversialists and disputants. The royal parks and gardens of the aristocrats were their halting places where they engaged themselves in serious disoussions. The philosophical contest was no lesis an interesting occasion for the people than the miracle. Sometimes they talked so loudly that the place where they halted or resided became very much noisy like a fish market 8. We hear of a Tindukacira or Tinduka garden which 1 Mailama, i, p, 296. 2 Arguttara, i, p. 23; Majjhimo, 1, p. 261f.; H. J. Thomnes, History of Buddhist Thought, p. 52. 3 Majjhima, ii, Sakuludayi Subta (Mahi and Oula), Page #243 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 235 RELIGION " resounded with the uproar of doctrines (samayapavadaka). To provide them with a fixed residence during the rains, their lay supporters, kings, queens, princes, courtiers and bankers, permanently dedicated the aramas to this or that particular order of Paribbajakas and Samanas. The result was that the aramas gradually became known as Paribbajaka-aramas, or converted into viharas or monastic establishments. The mountain caves where they used to seek shelter during the rains, were likewise turned into lenas or cave-dwellings. 2 The Saravana 2 near Sravasti was the place where the Ajivika leader, Magkari Gosala, was born of Parivrajaka parents. The Jetavana on the south side of Savatthi was originally a private garden of Prince Jeta, which was subsequently converted into a vihara by the banker, Anathapindika, for the Buddha and his disciples. The Pubbarama or the garden on the east side of the city was similarly converted into a vihara by Visakha, daughter-inlaw of the banker, Migara, and offered as 4 O 1 This was the famous gardon of queen Mallika in the suburb of Savatthi, provided at first with one shed and subsequently with many sheds to make accommodations for the wandering ascetics or recluses Digha, 1, p. 178 2 B. O. Law, Sravasti in Indian Literature (Memoir A.SI, No. 50), p. 10. " 3 Ibid, p. 10 Ibid, pp. 10, 22-25, Page #244 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ > P * 236 INDIA AS DESCRIRED IN EARLY TEXTS a gift to the Buddhist Sangha of all times and all quarters. The Sahassambavana 1 outsidethe city of Palasapura became a Jaina residence during Mahavira's lifetime. The garden of the Sakya Nyagrodha near the city of Kapilavatthu was transformed into a vihara and offered as a gift to the Buddha and his followers. The same as to the Mahavana " near "Vesali and the Veluvana and Jivaka's Mango-grove near Rajagaha. A retreat for the Paribbajakas was built on the landed estate of Udumbarikadevi, not far from Rajagaha. Pavarika's Mango-grove at Nalanda and the Gaggara tank at Campa, the capital of Anga, were famous as halting places of the wandering ascotics and recluses; the places or sites that were attractive to this class of Indian religieux may be easily inferred from the two famous utterances of the Buddha, cited below: First, the Buddha, at the first sight of Uruvela, observed: 'Pleasantly picturesque is this part of land. Delightful is the sight of grassy woodland. The river (Neranjara) is flowing on in a glassy stream showing the bathing places with gradual descent of steps presenting a charming landscape, and affording glimpses into 1 Uvasagadasao, ed. by Hoerale, Chaps, IV-VII. 2 Law, Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India, p. 46f. 8 Law, Rajagriha in Ancient Literature, pp. 11-12. 4 Ibid., pp. 12-13. Page #245 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 237 the neighbouring hamlets, easy of access. This must be the fitting place for the scion of a noble race strenuously striving after the highest attainment 1." Secondly, the Buddha's happy reminiscences of the sites at Rajagaha are vividly recorded thus in the Mahaparinibbana Suttanta: "Delightful is "Rajagaha, delightful is the Gijjhakuta mountain, delightful is the Gotama Nigrodha, delightful is the Corapapata, the Sattapanniguha on a side of the Vebhara mountain, the Sappasondika-slope in Sitavana, the Tapodarama, the Veluvana Kalandaka-nivapa, the Mangogrove of Jivaka, and the Maddakutchi Deer Park. 7 There varily I dwelt at Rajagaha in the Sattapanna cave on one side of the Vebhara mountain. There verily I dwelt at Rajagaha on Kalasila on a side of the Isigili mountain'. So on and so forth 2. It may be noted that the Kalasila was the very rock on which the Jaina recluses could be seen practising austerity in a standing posture from dawn to dusk 3. 1 Majjhima, i, pp. 166-187; Mahavastu, ii, p. 123f.; Lalitavistara (Mitra's ed.), p. 311; Barua, Gaya and Buddhagaya, pp. 103, 162. 2 Digha, ii, p. 116f.; Law, Rajagriha in Ancient Interature (Memoir A.S.I., No. 58), p. 7f. The Theratherigatha contains similar reminiscences. s Majjhima, i, p. 92, Page #246 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 238 INDIA AS DESCRIBED. IN DARLY TEXTS * In the opinion of D. R. Bhandarkar, the ancient ssis were not aggressive propagators oftheir faith 1 As distinguished from them, the Paribbajakas and Samanas actively propagated the same amongst all classes of people. The happy result of it was that already by the time of Piyadasi-Asoka almost the whole of India was Aryanised or Hinduised by them, the Samanas and the Brahmanas 2. They were the people who prepared the ground for the vigorous Buddhist missionary work, organised during the latter part of the reign of Asoka. Before that time the spread of Buddhism was restricted more or less to the confines of Majjhimadesa 3. And yet the missionary zeal which enabled Buddhism to become a great civilising influence in the world, lay in the epoch-making utterance of the Buddha with which he urged his very first batch of advanced disciples to go forth in all directions and preach the new message of the Dhamma, not two of them following the same direction, for the good and happiness of many, himself taking the lead in the matter". In carrying on this noble mission, some of the hermits, ascetics and recluses had to play the | 1 Bhandarkar, Carmichael Leatures, 1918, p. 17. 2 Asoka's R.E., xiii; Barua, Gaya and Buddhagaya, i, p. 262. a Kathavatthu, i, 3; 1.H.Q., vii (1931), p. 368. 4 Vinaya Mahavagga: 'Saratha, bhilkhave, carikcam bahujanahitaya - bahujanasukhaya', etc. Page #247 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 239 role of martyrs. The Jatakas and Kautilya's Arthasastra record just a few typical instances of martyrdom suffered in the past. Ajjuna, king of the Kekayas, caused annoyance to the sago, Gotama. Dandaki, king of Dandaka, insulted Kisavaccha, the guileless ascetic. King Mejjha ill-treated Matanga, the far-famed sage. The Andhaka-Venhu youths of Dvaravati roughly handled Kanha-Dipayana and ultimately put him to death. Kalabu, king of Benares, tortured an ascetic who was a preachor of patience and forbearance. Nalikira (or Nalikera), king of Kalinga, cut the body of an ascetic into pieces and offered his limbs to dogs to devour. In one instance, a king pierecd a harmless ascetic with an arrow under the misapprehension that he stood in his way as ill-luck and spoiled his game. Even in historical times, the Buddha's great disciple and powerful popular preacher, Moggallana, was surrounded and killed by brigands (alleged to have been employed by his rivals in other sects). There were two effective ways of checking the tyrants and sinners: the pronouncement of a curse and the invention of the stories of terrible sufferings in different purgatories. But the Indian ascetics also invented the stories of a happy and glorious life in different heavens to induce the people to lead a moral and pious Page #248 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 240 INDIA AS DESCRIBED IN EARLY TEXTS * life. The early Jaina and Buddhist texts are full of vivid pictures of purgatories and paradises. 'According to the Ramayana, in order to prevent disturbances to the sacrifices in the asramas, caused by the aboriginal tribes, the hermits and sages had to seek occasionally the aid of the princes and warriors for an armed protection. But left to themselves and determined to remain non-violent and non-harming, they had to make patience, forbearance, etc., ar virtue of necessity. The account of Mahavira's early wanderings in the country of Ladha in the Acaranga Sutra shows that the rude inhabitants of the place used to set dogs with the cry of chucchu upon the ascetios when they were found near their localities?. But as borne out by the reminiscences of Mahavira and the Buddha, the mischief-makers whom the lonely ascetics had to reckon with were the cowherds (gopalaka) who made practical jokes on them. The doctrinal basis of various stories of heaven and hell was the widely current popular belief in paraloka or life hereafter. The doctrine of Karma was founded on this very belief. So much stress was laid upon the betterment of human existence in the life to come that the 1 Acaranga Sutra, i, 8.8-4. * Tod, 18,8-10; Mahasihan@da Sutta, Mcphama, i, p. 79. Page #249 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ RELIGION 241 general impression among the people of the Buddha's time was that religion was needed for furthering the worldly interest only. It was from this impression that king Ajatasattu of Magadha was led to have interviews with the contemporary religious teachers for enlightenment on the question as to the possibility of the immediate fruit of religious life in the present existence. In the Samannaphala and other suttas, we read that the contemporary religious teachers whom he waited upon gave answers that were not to the point. He then saw the Buddha who satisfied him with a relevant answer. The Buddha's arguments went to establish that religion, if rightly and earnestly, practised, was of immense service to men and women in the present world, its primary function being to improve the personal, family, social, economio, moral, intellectual and spiritual status of them by showing them the path of deliverance from bondage in all its degrees and forms. In corroboration of the drift of the Buddha's reply, we may note that Indian religions of the age encouraged various works of social piety, e.g., construotion of roads and bridges, planting of shade trees, excavation of tanks, King of wells, laying out of fruit gardens, Digha, 1, p. 60f. 16 Page #250 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 242 INDIA AS DESCRIBEN IN EARLY TEXTS supply of drinking water at suitable places for the thirsty, travellers and beasts, opening of charity halls, supply of medicinal roots, fruits, leaves and herbs, maintenance of public granaries and storehouses as provisions against famine and starvation, etc. The voice was raised against the servitude of men and women, the slave-trade was prohibited among the followers and the manumission of slaves was encouraged. The religious orders of the Samanas admitted even the slaves and Suddas into their fold and proved that given a chance, a barber like Upali could occupy a foremost rank among the elect The door of higher religious life was also kept open to the women of all social grades and ranks, nay, even to the fallen women, some of who"; made their mark in history by their changed life. By preaching the doctrine of Ahimsa, the religions brought about a change in the art of cooking and items of food. They persistently . sought to create a social order based on cordiality, fellow-feeling and love. The vi. gorous religious propaganda carried on during the period went to mitigate and humanise the most rigorous and barbarous laws 1. The religions served to improve the moral tone and taste of society. The Buddhist Vinaya con | 1 Majong, 1 p. 87. Page #251 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ B Ver Kue Indus Karakorament arakoram'Rans Chretorb Mount Pem Sulaman Ranel Boots SU SES aus Isang po HIMALAY Women Vindly Vindhva Rousse Perta Norbedar ALAD Arakadlo halomo ARABIAN SEA BAY OF BENGAL Western Ghat English Mdes Page #252 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page #253 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Abbhutadhammas, 270 Abhaya, prince, 167 Abhidhamma, 267 Abhijatas (grades of spiritual advancement), 230 INDEX Acchutapadi, 199 Acelakas, 222, 223, 226, 227, Aiyangar, S. K., 78 232 Ajapatha, 71 Aciravati, 6, 11, 23, 26, 46, Ajatasattu, 123, 124, 13 136, 137, 138, 159, 168 241 132 Acrobats, 177, 179 Lotors, professional, 179 Acyutapada, 231 ddhariyas, 201, 253 Thicchatra, 37 lhikakka, 22 thipati (issara), 169 hoganga, 39 Vyatmavidya, 255, 256 anistan, 17, latantra, 259 hakaraka (officer fixing prices of commodities), * ioulture, 154, 177 oulturists As 1, 159 Ahavvanavede, 245 Ahetuvada, 110 Ahicohatra, 37, 38, 97 Ahimsa, doctrine of, 242 Ahivatakaroga, 173 Ahoganga, 39 Aitareyas, 201 2 apura, 39 ggideva, 101 Aggihutta (oblations to Alberuni, 15 fire), 206 Agnates, 146, 147 (kassaka), Ajita Kesakambali, 223, 22: 225, 274 Ajitavati, 25 Ajjuna, 95, 96, 99, 101, 198 239 Akiriyavada, 110 Akkhanam (ballad recita tion), 261 3 Akkharappabheda, 247, 24 Akkharika (game of guessin at letters), 277 Alaka, 78, 108 Alarakalama, see Alars kalama. Alasanda, 68, 69, 83 Alexandria, 83 Allahabad, 23 Allakappa, 34, 57, 128, 134 Alms houses, 171' Amarakantaka hills, 79 1 Page #254 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 292 INDET Amarakosa, 81 Anoma, 24, 54 Amaravati, 78 Anotatta lako, 5, 10, 11, 63 Amaravikkhepaka, 225 Antaravedi, 20 Ambagama, 53 Antarapanas (godowns), 189 Ambalatthika, 49 Antarikichacara (those in the Anabapali, 167, 272 firmament), 198, 199 Ambassadors, 155 Antevasis (resident pupils), Ambatthas, 150 287 Anathapindika, 175, 176, Anupiya, 54 - " 235 Anuvindakas, 109 Anatomy, 260 Anuvyakhyanas (glosses), Anavisti, 172 250 Andhaka, 108, 114, 271 Anuvyanjanaa, 288 Andhakas, 86, 103, 113, 114, Aparagaya, 48 116, 142 Aparagodana, 2,9 Andhakavenhu, 103, 239 Aparagoyana, 2 Andhaka visnu, 101 Aparanta, 2, 16, 18, 67, 73, Andhaka-Vrgnis, 85, 103 108 Andhapura, 79, 114 Aparantakas, 111 Andhra, 108, 115 Aparagela, 78, 114 Andhra, 113 Apothecaries, 151 Anga, 19, 20, 24, 32, 33, 34, | Appanakajbanas, 232 50, 117, 119, 120, 121, | Appraisers, 152 130, 185, 186, 220, 236, | Arabian Soa, 4, 67 282 Arakan Coast, 188 Anga, 117 Arantuka, 36 . Anga-Magadha, 70, 120 Arcbers, 169 Angas, 117, 118, 247, 267 Archery, 159, 258 Angiraga, 147 Architects, 152, 165, 179 Angulimila, 272 Ardbamagadhi, 225, 264, 265 Angnt car pa, 60 Arindama, 121 Anikattha (sentinels), 178 Arithmetic (ganika, rasi, . Anjanadevi, 102 samkhana), 245, 248, 260 Adjanapabbata, 6 Arrow-makers (papakars), Aijanavana, 31 178, 179 ** Ankura, 102 Arthasastra (science of Annebhara, 223 il polity), 249 Page #255 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Artists (rupadakkha), 178 "Aruna, king, 108, 116 Arupabrahmas, 199 Aryandom, 215 Aryans, 139 Ascetics, six grades of: Atura, 230 Aevaghosa, 272 Asvakas, 107, Asvamedha (horse-sacrifice), 205 Atavicora (oriminal tribes living in forests), 173 Athabbanaveda, 247 Atharvanaveda, 245, 250 Atharvangirasas, 250, 251 Atharvaveda, 247 Atta (soul), 224 Atthaka, country, 106 Atthaka, king, 106 Atthaka, rsi, 147, 252 Atthakula, 123 Atthakulaka, 123 Atthakulika, 172 Asitafijana, 100 Asmakas, 107, * Asoka, 15, 76, 78, 82, 106, Atthidhopana (washing the bones of the dead), 193 Avadhuta, 231 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 119, 238 Assaka, 19, 34, 108, 114, 116, Avanti, 19, 22, 34, 74, 101 104, 105, 120, 134, 135 138 A 130 Assakanna, 2 Assakas, 107 Assakenus, 107 Assamukha, 10 Assapura, 50, 120 Astaka, rsi, 252 > INDEX Bahudaka, 230, 231 Hamsa, 230, 231 Kutibrata (Kuticaka), *230, 231 Paramahamsa, 230, 231 Turiyatitaparamahamsa, 231 Asi, 42 Asikni, 98 Asurabhavana, 2 Asuras, 200, 201 Astrologers, 152 Astrology, 246, 247, 249, Ayojjha, 100, 131, 132 A 250, 266 Abhassaraloka, 231 293 Avantis, 103, 104, 105, 107 108 Aviruddhakas, 198 Aviwa, 32 Astronomers, 155 Acaradasa, 268 * Astronomy, 246, 247, 249, Adiccabandhu, 127 250, 266 Ayodhya, 23, 43, 100, 131 132, 215, 219 " Adipurusa, 122 Adityas, 146 Adrakalpa, 34, 57 Page #256 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 294 INDEX Agama, 256, 257, 260, 264, Bandhupadapacoa, 145 267 Banga, vide Vanga. Ajivikas, 198, 200, 226, 227, Bankers, 175 230, 231, 232, 233, 260, Banking facilities, 191 265, 266 Barbara, 67, 84, 86 Akasaganga, 11 Barbers, 141, 177, 178 Akasattha, 198, 199 Baranasi, 21, 24, 34, 129 Alabhi, 32, 43 Barbaricum, 72 Alabana, 193 Bareilly Dist., 37 . ' Alarakalama, 232, 284 Barhadrathapura, 119 Alavaka, 58 Barhadrathas, 120 Alavi, 32, 58, 135 Baruna, 42 Ariakagusana, 193 Barygaza, 76, 112 Andhras, 113, 114 Basket-makers (nalakara), Andhrakas, 113 178, 179 Angeyas, 117 Baskets (pitakas), 287 Apanas (shops), 189 Bath-attendants, 177, 178 Apastamba, 268 Bathers (malamajjanasama), Aryavarta, 5, 12 161 Asa (Hope), 204 Baudhayana, 20 Anidhasena, 37 Bavart, the chaplain, 157, Atura, 230 158, 218, 219, 283 Avattaganga, 11 Bavharijjas, 201, 253 Ayurveda, 249, 259, 260 Bay of Bengal, 4 Beef-eating, 211 Babbara, 68, 71, 72, 86 Beggars, 177 Babylonia, 185 Belattha olan, 224, 225 Bactrian Greeks, 83, 84, 101 Belattha family, 224 Bahalaganga, 11 Benares, 112, 123, 129, 130, Babudaka, 230 169, 185, 188, 216, 217, Bahuka, 22 219, 239, 279, 281 Bahumati, 22 Berar, 106 Bahvroas 201 Berbai, 188 Bairat, 76 Besarh, 62 Baladova, 101, 198 Begnagar, 84 Balakalonakara, 39, 41" : Besyngeitai, 188 Ballad-ceciters, 162, 163, 179 | Bhaddanana, 209 Page #257 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX Bhoddiy8, 60 Bhadrasana, 209 Bhadrasva, 9 Bhagalpur, 50 Bhagavanpur, 58 Bhagga, 133 Bhagga-Karusas, 109 Bhaggas, 32, 34, 39, 110, 124, 134 Bhaggavagotta, 222 Bhagirathi, 23, 37, 73 Bhagirathi-Ganga, 23, 36 Bhagu, 147, 252 Bhakti, 195, 203 Bhalluka, 109 Bhandarkar, D. R., 104, 131, 238 Bharadvaja, 147, 252 Bharahavasa, 1 Bharata, 14, 104, 118, 129, 215 Bharatavarsa, 3, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 121, 215 Bhargava family, 223 Bhargavas, 11% Bharu, 117 Bharukaccha, 111, 112, 187 Bhasamaggam, 248 Bhatiya, king, 120, 165 Bhattiya, 119, 120 Bhavanavisia, 199, 200 Bhegakalavana, 32, 33 Bhillas, 141 Bhilsa, 26, 75, 109 Bhima, king, 87, 106, 215 Bhimaratha, king, 106 Bhiru, 111 Bhirukaccha, 111 . , Bhoganagann, 53 Bhoja, 73, 106 Bhojaputtag, sixteen, 106, - 107 Bhojakas, 108, 173 Bhopal, 26,75 Bhrgu, 252 Bhrgukaccha, 74, 76, 111 , Bhummas (torrestrial), 198, 199 Bhurloka, 231 Bhutagana Mt., 63 Bhutavidya, 250 Bhavarloka, 231 Bias, 69 , Bihar, 49, 61 Bihar-Sarif. Nawadah, 49 Bimbisara, 49, 87, 111, 119, 120, 123, 135, 136, 161, 166, 167, 280 Bindusara lake, 10, 12 Biology, 260 Bird-oatching, 182 Birdpur Estate, 56, Birds, different species, 66, 183 Blacksmiths, 141, 178, 179 Bloch, J., 47 Bodhayana, 288 Bodhi, prince, 110 Bagra, 60 Bones, Washing the, 193 Botany, 260 Bouting 171 Bow-makers (usukara), 178, 179 Page #258 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 296 INDEX Bowman 178 Buddhaghost, 38, 36, 37, . Brahma, 146, 187, 199, 203, 93, 114, 116, 147, 175, 232 230, 231 Brahmabandhu (Brahma's Buddhakhotta, 289 favourite), 163 Buddhasasanam, 246 Brahmadatta, 98, 108, 118, Buffalo-fights, 171 119, 120, 129, 130, 131 Bulis, 34, 128, 134 Brahmaloka, 231 Bull-fights, 171 Brahmana-candala, 152 Bundelkhand, 40 Brahmana-mahagalas, 161, Burglace (sandhichedakt), 175 172 Brahmana Parivrajakas, 230 Burma, 187 Brahmanas, 139, 142, 148, Butchers (goghatakas), 161 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 158, 161, 162, 163, Cakkavatti (overlord), 16, 174, 178, 180, 201, 213, 121, 169 231, 238 Calondar-makers, 162 Biahmaputra, 64 Camndapannatti, 274 Brahmargidesa, 21 Cammakara (loatherBrahmarsis, 216 workers), 140, 178 Brahma varta, 67 Cammasatakas, 222 Brahmavidya, 250 Camojo, 86 Brahmaviharas, four, 218 Campa, 21, 24, 34, 47, 50, Karuna, 218 118, 119, 161, 185, 236 Mette, 218 Canakya, 1699 Mudita, 218 Cancu, a kind of famine, Upekkha, 218 172 Brahmayoni hill, 26, 47 Candabhaga, 6, 70, 73 Brhadratha, 119, 121 Candadova, 101 Bridges, construction of, 171 Broach, 111 Candagutta, 128, 172 Buddha, 120, 121, 125, 126, Candala-haddipau, 141 127, 128, 131, 132, 136, Candalas, 140, 141, 193 137, 138, 162, 212, 213, Candapajjota, 104, 105, 120, 220, 225, 233, 235, 236, 135, 166, 168 $38, 239, 241 Candragupta, 159 Buddhadatta, 77, 114 Caiki, 181 Page #259 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX 297 Capakara (arrow-makers), Chathagiri, 28 * 178 Chatravati, 87 Cape Comorin, 187 Chattapatha, 71 Caravan merchants, 70, 184 Chavachaddhaka (corpseCarpenters (taochaka), 160, throwors), 140 178, 179 Chenab, 73, 98 Carriage-builders, 179, Cheras, 115 Caste system, 192 Chicacole, 79, 116 Castor, 182 China, 177 Cattle, 224 Chotanagpur hills, 59 Cattle-breeders, 162 Chryae Chora, 188 Cattle-breeding, 154 Cinarattha, 178, 188 Catubbeda (four vadas), Cinas, 86 248 Ciratas, 85 Catuma, 56 Cis-Sutlej States, 17 Catuyamasamvara, 225 Cita (funeral pyre), 193 Caumojee, 85 Agnidagdha, 193 Cavalry, 171 Anagnidagdba, 193 Cave-dwellings (lenas), 235 Citrakuta, 12, 64 Caves, 222 Citta, 175 Cedi, 116, 120, 121, 216 Cleigobora, 103 Cedis, 129, 133, 134 Clerks (iupadakkha), 178 Cellana, 123 Cloth merchants (dussika), Cetaka, 123, 136 178, 179 Cotaputta, 133 Cock-fights, 171 Cetirattha,"40 Cognatos, 146 Cati, 116, 120, 133 Coins, 190 Chaddanta lake, 6, 66 Addhakahapana, 190 Chanda (metre), 245, 265 Addhamasaka, 190 Chandasa (prosody), 249, Addhapada, 190 263 Chiet medium of exChandavas, 201, 253 change, 190 Chandogyas, 201 Copper, 190 Chegadokas, 201, 253 Gold, 190 Chariot-drivers, 155, 178 Kahapana, 159, 190, 192 Charioteers, 171 * Kakanika, 190 Charsada, 72 Masaka, 190 Page #260 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 298 INDEX Pada, 190 Culani Brahmadatta, king, Rikkha, 190 98 Siver, 190 Culla-Himavanta, 4 Suvanna, 190 Cullakalinga, 116 Cola country, 114 Cundadvola, 48 Colas, 113, 115 Cundatthila, 42 Collectors of alma, 162 Cundavila, 42 Comb-makers, 179 Cutoh, 74, 111 Comets, 200, 263 Commensality, 145 Daddarapura, 120 Commerce, 177 Dadhivahana, 118 Conjeeveram, 78 Daivavsdhas, 103 Connubium, 145 Dakkhinakasala, 44 Conveyancing (mudda), 249 Dakkhinagiri, 49, 159 Cooks (gupika), 177, 178 Dakkhinamadhura, 113 Cora, different kinds of, Dakkhinapanoala vide 172 Daksinapanola. Corajettha (ring-loader), 173 Dakkhinapatha, 73, 79, 104, Corapapata, 48, 173, 237 107, 115, 184 Coromandel Coast, 78 Daksinapafioala, 97 Corpse-burners, 179 Daksinatya, 6, 12, 16, 18 Corpse-throwers, 140 Dalbhyas, 58 Cotton, 182 Dalkisor, 69 Council, First Buddhist, 138 Damila, 78, 271 . Second Buddhist. Damilarattha, 114 138 Damilas, 86, 113, 115 Valabhr, 267 Danders, 179 Fourteeam, 288, 287, 288, Dancing girls, 177, 179 179, 192 Dandaka, 106, 239 Cowherds (gopalakk), 141, Dandaki, king, 108, 116, 239 240 Dandakya, 106 Dantapura, 79, 115, 116 Cow-billing, 211 Dappana, 209 Cowry Shells (sippikani), 190Darada, 67 Craftsmen (sippika), 161 Darakatikiocha, 269 Criminal justice, 171 Darbhanga District, and Criminal tribes, 173 Daripatha, 71 Page #261 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX 299 Darius, king, 87 | DhanaIjaya Koravya, 99, Darpana, 209 146 Dasan, 109 Dhananjaya Setthi, 176 Dasanna country, 109 Dhanapalagama, 42 Dasanna, river, 109 Dhanui veda (military or Dagannas, 109 archery science), 249, 258 Dabaratha, 132 Dhanuskoti, 13 Dakarna, 216 Dhatarattha, 118, 129, 200, Dasarnabhadra, 215 240 Dead, disposal of the: Dhruvamadhyamnadik, 38 ajahana, 193 Digha-karayana, 137, 189, amakagusana, 193 261 sivathika, 193 Dighanakha, 223 Doocan, 116 Disakaka (flight of rows), Deer Park, 42 187 Desaka, 51, 60 Disakumaras (quarter-gods), Despised classes, five, 140 200 Devadaha, 55 Disampati, 167 Devadhammikas, 195 Discipline, 287 Devagabbha, 100, 102, 104 Dona, 23 Devaki, 100, 102 Door-keepers (dovarika), Devas, three classes : 178 Sammutideva, 197 Dowry, 176 Upapattideva, 197 Dramal pekkha), 171 Visuddhidev8, 197 Drain cleaners (sandhika), Devasabha, 73, 74 178 Devavatikas, 195 Draupadi, 95 Dravida, 113 Devavidya (etymology), 250 Dream portents (supinam), Devayajanavidya, 250 248 Dhamma, 194, 238, 267 Dronastupa, 67 Dhammakathikas, 286* Drsadvati, 36 Dhammanataka, 167 Drstivada, 267 Dhemmasenapatis, 212 Druggists, 161, 166 Dhammasoka, 138 Drugs, 188 Dhanabhuti, 168 Druhyas, 86 Dhanakataka, 78 Drupada, 168 Page #262 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 300 INDEX Duels, 171 Elephant trainers (hatthiDukkarakarika, a form of pala), 178, 180 penance, 231 Emblems, eight, 208 Dammukha, king, 87, 97, Embryology, 260 122, 216 Epidemics, 178 Dussiki, (cloth merchants), Erakaocha, 109 178, 179 Etiquette, laws of, 243 Dutas, 155 Etymology, 250 Duties, exemption from the Exchange, medium of, 190 payment of, 174 Exegesis (nirutta), 246, 262 Duyyodhana, 121 Exorcism, 262 Dvaraka, 85, 102 Dvaravati, 102, 132, 167, Famino, threo kinds of: 215, 239 Cariou, 172 Dvorikesvari, 59 Salakavrtti, 172 Dyers (rajakara), 178, 1791 Svetasthi, 172 Dynastio list of the kings in Farmors, 162, 165, 160, 170Page #263 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX 301 Gamabhojaka (village head. | Generals, 155 man), 183 Geology, 280 Gamaghatawora (plunderers Geyya, 269 of villagos), 172 Ghanaselapabbata, 75 Gamakhettas (cultivable Chatapandita, LOL lands), 181 Chogra, 25 Game: Ghosaka, 166 Akkharika, 277 Ghositarama, 39 Ganadharas, 211 Ghotainnkha, 261 Ganarajks, 136 Gihivinaya (grhivinaya), Gandak, 25, 54 208 Gandaki, 46 Gijjhakuta, 27, 28, 237 Gandhabba (music), 248 Ginger, dry, 182 Gandhabbayeda (science of Giribbaja, 48, 120 music), 260 Giriyek, 29 Gandhamadada, 9, 12, 62, 82 Gitamarga, 262, 265 Gandhapura, 48 Godavari, 77, 107, 108, 113, Gandhara, 19, 67, 83, 86, 218, 219, 283 97, 109, 116, 120, 122, Goghatakas (butohers), 161 185, 215, 280 Gomata-Kandara, 31 Gandhara-vigaya, 72 Gonaddha, 74 Gandharvavoda (science of Gopa-nEpitam, 141 musio), 249 Gopas, 151 Gandhika (perfumers), 178 Goradhagiri, 27 Ganga, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 17, Gorakhpur, 25 73, 186 " Gorathagiri, 27, 47" Ganges, 37, 100, 121, 122, Gobala, 224, 230, 233, 260 " 129, 135, 136, 214, 229 Gotama mountain, 63 Gangetic Valley, 34 Gotama-gotta, 146 Ganika (prostitutes), 168, Gotta, 146, 147, 222 176, 192 Gotama, 146 Ganivijja (Arithmetic), 274 | Kaphayana, 146 Gaya, 22, 46, 220, 221 Vasettha, 126, 146 Gaya, river, 220 Yuddhitthila, 146 Gayakhetta, 119, 206, 220 Govaddhana, 100 Gayasira, 26, 47, 48 Government, form of: Gayasisa, 26 Monarchical, 183 Page #264 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 302 INDLY Qligarohical, 124, 163 | Hierarchy, 199, 200, 201 Republican, 124, 163 Highway robbers (pantha-m? Iribal, 163 ghatacora), 172 Govinda, 123, 167 Himacala, 5 Graces, four Indian, 204 1 Himalaya, 6, 8, 123 Grammar (Vyakarana), 245, | Fimapanta, 5, 63 247, 263, 264 Hinajatis, fivo, 140 Granaries, publio, 171, 242 Hinasippas (low trades), 140 Grass-outters, 179 Hingulapabbata, 6 . Grdhrakuta, vide Gijjhakuta. Hingulatala, 6 Grhivinaya, 268 Hirafifiavati, 25 Guilds (pugas), 142, 179 Hiranyassiga, 10 Gwalior, 114 Homa, 206 Hopkins, 72, 202 Haddipas, 141 Horse-daorifice (afvamedha), Haihayas, 104, 105 206 Haimavatapati, 12 Horsos of diverse breeds, Hainavatavarsa, 80 65 Haliddhikani, 175 Hotel keepers, 178 Halla, 135 Household servants (pesHamsa, 230 sika), 178 Harikanta, 10 Human-sacrifice (purisaHarikantanadisuri, 12 medha), 205 Harisona, 215 Hunters (luddakasama), Harivarsa, 3, 9, 62 140, 161 Hastinapura, 35, 94, 97, 133, Hyderabad, 18 215 Hydraotes, 69, 92 Hathayoga, 232, 255 Hyphasis, 92 Hattharoba (elephant riders), 178 Icohanangala, 45 Hatthipala (elephant Iochanankala, 161 trainers), 178 Ikshvaku, 122, 125 Hatthipura, 120 Ilavitavarsa, 3, 62 Hazaribagh, 48 Inda, 197, 201, 203 Helmet-wearers, 178 Indakuta, 29 Hemakutaparvata, 3, 9,963 Indapatta, 35, 93, 94, 99 Hermits, 215, 216, 217 Indasalaguba, 29, 30 Page #265 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX 303 Indian ocean, 187 | Jambu river, 7, 9, 10, 132 Indraprastha, 35 Jambudvipa, 1, 3, 7, 9, 13, Indus, 70 42, 68, 77, 80, 93, 102, 139, Infant healing, 259 181, 185, 195 Inscription Jambugama, 53, 54 Barabar Hill-cave, 27 Jambusanda, 7 Barbut, 57 Jambuyana, 7 Barbut gateway, 168 Janaka, 122 Behistun, of Darius, 87 Janakapura, 53 Besnagar Garuda Pillar, Janamejaya, king, 87 84 Jannupatha, 71 * Brahmi, 60 . Janussoni, 161 Hathigumpha, 27, 44, Jarasandha, 121 106, 115 Jataka Junagadh Rock, 84, 112 Akitti, 114 Nagarjunikonda, 79, 85 Apannaka, 184 Ionia, 83, 187 Assaka, 108 Zrivati, 89 Bareru, 185 [rubbeda, 247 Bhaddasala, 126, 136, 137 Isadhara, 2 Cetiya, 120, 133 I sana, 203 Citta-Sambhuta, 282 Isidasi, 272 Cullakalinga, 108 Isigili Mt., 27, 237 Dasaratha, 132, 169 Isipabbajja, 213, 217 Deyadhamma, 197 sipatana, 33, 42 Dhumakari, 95 Isgatthas (soldiers), 155 Dummedha, 130 Igukara, 36 Ekapanna, 124 Itmasa, 245, 246, 247, 248, Gandhara, 123 250, 256 Ghata, 100, 101 Itihaga-Purina, 250, 263, Kalingabodhi, 118 256, 283 Kumbhakara, 37, 97, 214 Itivuttaka, 269 Kunala, 5, 6 Ivory-workers, 179 Kusa, 125 Mahagutasoma, 160 Jacobi, H., 139, 274 Mah@ummagga, 102 Jalapathakammika, 183 Mudupani, 166 Jambavati, 102 Magapakkha, 214 Page #266 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 304 INDEX Nandiyamiga, 132 Kacchas, 111 Phandana, 160 Kadamba mountain, 83 Sambhava, 95 Kahapanas, vide coins. Sambula, 130 Kajangala, 20, 24, 32, 34, 60, Samuddavanija, 186 51, 59, 61, 135 Sankha, 185 Kakandi, 219 Sarabhanga, 106, 169, 219 Kakuttha, 24, 64 Serivanija, 114 Kalabu, king, 239 Silanisamsa, 188 Kalakavana, 20 Siri-kalakanni, 204 Kalamas, 34, 57, 128, 134 Somadatta, 160 Kalamukha, 187, 188 Somanassa, 36, 37, 97 Kalandala-nivajia, 237 Supparaka, 185, 188 Kalarajanaka, 122 Susima, 157 Kalaga, 209 Valabassa, 186 Kalasena, 100, 131 Vidhurapandita, 96, 98, Kalasila, 29, 237 99, 119 Kalidasa, 272 Vessantara, 257 Kulingn, oormtry, 19, 34, 69, Jati, 143, 148 78, 89, 106, 116, 118, 119, Jatilas, 198, 214, 220, 222 134, 216, 239 Java, 187, 188 Kalinga, people, 113 Jayaddisa, prince, 98 Jeta, prince, 176, 235 Kalingne, 116 Jotavana, 236 Kalpa, 250 Jetuttara, 41, 91 Kamarupa, 62 Jhana, modes of, 218, 231, Kamasulras, 246 233, 265 Kamavacaradovas, 199 Jhelum, 70 Kambojas, 72, 83, 84, 85, Jivaka, 49, 237, 280, 281. I 140, 141 282 Kammaca (metal-workers), Jivakambayana, 49, 236 178 Jhiatri clan, 225 Kammasadamma, 36 Jhatrikas, 124 Kampilla, 37, 97 Jotipala, 167, 159, 280 Kampillapura, 43 Judges, 156, 171 Kampilya, 97, 215 Kams8, 100, 101, 102, Kapcayana, 100 | 164 Page #267 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX Kamsabhoga, 67, 100, 102 Kanaka-saptati, 246 anoipura, 78 Kandara: Comata, 31 Kapota, 31 Tapoda, 31 Tinduka, 31 Kanhadipayana, 102, 239 Kanhaganga, 11 Kannamunda lake, 5 Kannapenna river, 77 Kapila, sage, 127 Kapila's formulation, 246 Kapilavatthu, 24, 32, 45, 54, 56, 73, 127, 137, 219, 236 1 Kasmira, 67, 185 Kassaka 151 Kassapa, 147, 220, 252 Kathiawar, 111, 112 Katthahara (fuel suppliers), 178 Kausambi, 37, 94, 118, 133 (agriculturists). 105 Kausiki, 122 Kautilya, 246, 257 Kavandhin Katyayana, 225 Kaveri ivor, 77, 114, 115 Kavirapattana, 114 Keay, T. E., 250 Keith, A. B., 118, 233 Kekaka oountry, 115 Kokayas, 89. 239 Kelasa, 10 Khalamandala, 182 Karakanda, king, 87, 116, Khalatikanavata, 27, 47 Khanumala, 9, 161 Kharavela, 44, 106, 115, 215 Karandu, king, 87, 116 Karavika, 2 Karmara-kumbhakara, 141 Karusas, 110 116, 119, 134, 216 Khattavijja, 258 Khattiyas, 139, 147, 154, 163, 164, 173, 174, 178, 180, 213 Kasi, 19, 21, 22, 24, 33, 41, 89, 108, 123, 125, 129, 130, 131 132 133, 135, 136, 137, 159, 168, 172, 216 Keralaputias, 113, 115 Keralas, 115 Kern, H., 81, 224 Kesaputta, 31, 57, 128, 134 Ketumala, 9 Khomadussa, 55 Kimpurisas, 81, 82. 200 Kimpuruga vaiga, 63 Kinnaras, 81, 200 Kirala, 72, 80, 84, 88, 271 Kisa Samkicca, 226 Kisavaccha, 217, 289 Kitagiri, 42 2 Kokanada, 223 Kolaka, poople, 113 Koliyas, 34, 55, 126, 127. 128. 134, 168 Page #268 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 306 INDEX Kosala, 19, 21, 22, 33, Ladha, 19, 59, 117, 240 43, 44, 45, 46, 74, 89, Lakes, seveu Himalayan, 5 100, 120, 123, 127, 129, Lakkhana-pathakas, 210 130, 131, 132, 134, 135, Land-pilot (thalaniyamaka), 136, 137, 138, 173, 218, 184 280, 281, 282 Latthiyana, 48 Kosambi, 21, 75, 99, 133, Lauhitya, 64 184, 185 Laukika, 265 Kosiki, 52 Law, B. C., 7, 15, 16, 23, Krivis, 98 28, 29, 31, 32, 43, 44, 45, Krsna, river, 113, 114 46, 48, 40, etc. Kyanapura, 103 Leather-worker's (ammaKsatriya Parivrujakas, 230 kara), 178, 179 Ksudrabimavadgiri, 13 Lonas (cave-dwellings), 235 Kukkuta mountain, 63 Kumara Kassana, 280 Lotters of Credit, 190 Kumari, 26 Lovi, S., 71, 188 Kumbhakara (potters), 141, Liochavi clan, 211 ~ 178, 179 Licchavis, 123, 124, 125, Kumbhakaragaina, 180 126, 134, 136, 163 Kumbhavati, city, 106 Loans, 191 Kunala lako, 5 Lohitavastu, 48 Kundagama, 52 Lokapalas, 200 Kundaliya, 223 Lumbinivana, 32, 55 Kunika, 123, 124 Kuraraghara, 75 Maocha, 19, 98, 209 Kuru, 2, 19, 33, 35, 83, 89, Macchikasanda, 42 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 133, Madda country, 89, 116 135, 146, 150, 163, 215 Maddakucchi Deer Park, 33, Kurujavgala, 31, 35 237 Kuruksetra, 21, 35 Maddas, 88, 89, 99 Kururattha, 34, 120 Macimura, 23, 95, 99, 100, Kusavati, 43, 54, 126 | 101, 102, 115, 164, 184. Kusinara, 25, 53, 120, 134 | Madhurasuttapattana, 78 Kutadanta, 181 Madhyadosa, 19, 21 Kuvera, 63, 200 Madra, 67, 83, 88, 89 20B Page #269 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Magadha, 19, 20, 24, 34, | Mahi, 6, 11, 23 46, 49, 50, 87, 111, 119, 120, 121, 123, 125, 128, 134, 135, 136, 138, 161, 163, 165, 206, 220, 241, 282 INDEX A Mahakalinga, 116 Mahamali Ganga, 23 Mahamattas, 155, 158 Mahameru, 2 1 217, 218, 256 Maha-Himavanta, 4, 6 Mahajanapadas, sixteen, 98, 109, 117 Magahatitthakhetta, 46 Magandiya, 223 Maghadeva, 122, 215 Mahadeva, 215 Mahaganga, 23 Makhadeva, 122, 215 Mahagovinda, 34, 157, 158, Makkhali Gosala, 224, 226, 274 Maharastra, 18 Mahasagara, 100 Mahasammata, 127, 133 Mahasara, 57 Mahamoggallana, 286 Mahanadi, 18, 24, 47 Mahapadmahrada, 10, 64 Mahapasenadi, 120, 132 M Mahasthangarh, 60) Mahasudassana, king, 126 Mahavana, 31, 53, 54, 126, 236 Mahavira, 49, 104, 105, 118, 120, 121, 123, 124, 209, 211, 222, 224, 233, 236, 240, 266 Mahendragiri, 47 Mahimsaka, people, 113 Mahimsakarattha, 90, 115 Mahismati, 17, 34, 77, 10 Mahissati, 34, 74, 75, 104 Maholi, 99 Mainaka, 10 Majjhimadesa, 18, 34, 224 Majumdar, R. C., 188 Makandi, 219 307 Malalasekera, G. P., 45, 50, 58, 75, 77, etc. Malay Peninsula, 188 Malaya, 19 Mallaki olan, 211 Mallas, 117, 125, 126, 134, 137, 148, 163 Mallika, 46 * Manas-sarovara, 12, 63 Mandakini lake, 5 Manikara (jewellers), 178 Manimokhala, 205 Manoja, 130 Manussa-vikkaya (traffic in human beings), 191 Mariyada, 152 Marukaccha, 74 A Matanga, hill, 28 Matanga, sage, 239 Matchmakers, 150, 152, 155 Matharavrtti, 246 Mathava, king, 121, 122. " -216 Mathura, 67, 75, 84, 99, TUE Page #270 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 308 INDHX "Matsya, 21, 98, 99, 209 | Mundakan (shavolings), 222 Mauryas, 101, 112 Muttra, 99 Mediterrancan, 187 Muzaffarpur Nast., 52 Megasthenea, 101 MyHol'c, 18, 77 Mekalas, 70, 109, 110 Menander, 88 Mendaka, 175 Naoch (clanoing), 261 Meru, 2, 8 Nagas, 105 Messago-gonders (penanam Nagasena, 277 kacora), 172 Nagavana, 32 Motal-workers (kanimara), Naggaji, kiny, 87, 116, 122, 178 215 Melhori, 103 Naksatravidya, 250 Migadaya, 33 Nakulapita, 175 Migara, bankor, 176, 235 Nalakara (barkot-inukorn), Migasainmata, 25 178 Milalkhabhasa, 86, 110, 113, Nalanda, 45, 236 249, 271 Nalini, river, 10 Miinda, 83, 88 Nandagopa, 201 Mithi, 122 Nanda Vacche, 226 Mithila, 34, 49, 50, 53, 122, Nandiya, 223 123, 216 Nandiyavatta, 200 Mlecchas, 139 Nangaraka, 55 Moggaliputta, 168 Narmada, 17, 18, 74, 77, Moggallana, 212, 234, 239 105 Molini, 41 Nasik, 18, 78 Moliyasivaka, 223 Natthikavada, 110 Money-lenders, 191 Nawal, 32 Mookerjee, R. K., 186, 210 | Nemindhara, 2 Mopluis, 88 Nepal, 56 Moriyas, 34, 128, 134, 138 Naranjara, 22, 24, 47, 236 Mate-hall, 124, 125, 127 Nestlas, 140, 179 Mrgudava, 33, 42 Newal, 32 Mrbapas, 141 Nigaksi, 133 Mudda (conveyancing), 2499 Nigaptha Nataputta, 224, Mukheluvana, 51 . 225 Milaka, 78. 108 1 Nigenches, 198 Page #271 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ Niggahaka (tax-collectors), Pandara, 28 150 Nigrodha, 54 Nimi, king, 122, 215, 216 Nirukta, 262, 263 Nisadas, 151 Nigadha Mt., 3, 9 Niyyamnaka (water-pilot), -187 Nrtyamarga, 262, 265 INDEX Oddakas, 110, 271 Okkaka, 125, 126, 131, 169 Okkalas, 79, 109, 110, 271 Omphis, 88 Opasada, 161 Orissa, 79, 110 Oxydrakai, 69 Pabhosa, 39 Pacinavamsa, il Padapatha, 247 Padha, 19 Paduma mountain, 63 * Palasapura, 236 Palura, 79 Pancala, 19, 21, 23, 33, 36, $6, 97, 98, 120, 122, 135, 163, 215 Pancavati, 78, 219 309 Pandava (hill), 27 Pandu, 168" Pandyas, 113, 115 Panini, 198, 264, 208, 275 Panjab, 120 Pankadha, 45 Panthaghatacora (highway robbers), 172, 173 Paramayona, 70, 187 Parada, 67 Parantapa, 120, 133 Pargiter, F. E., 104, 105 Pariahs, 141 Paribbajakas, 198, 201, 221, 224, 226, 227, 230, 231, 234, 235, 236, 238. 254, 255, 268 Parileyyaka, 39 Parileyyakavana, 31 Pallava, 68 Paithan, 77 Pajjota, 105, 138 Pajjuna, 101 Pakudha Kaccayana, 224, Pataligama, 49, 136, 159 225, 274 Palaka, 105 Pataliputta, 24, 33, 19, 57, 60, 75, 159 Parindas, 113, 114 Paripatra, 20, 23 Parittas, 207, 208 Parava, 130, 266 Pasenadi, 120, 127, 131, 132, 136, 137, 138, 157, 161, 173, 207, 218, 219, 280 Patibhanakuta, 29 Patitthana, 75, 77, 184 Patna, 46 Paudanya, 107 Pava, 54, 126, 134 Pavapuri, 49 Page #272 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 310 INDMX "Pavarikanibavana, 49, 236 | Pubba vidola, 2,9 Payaga, 23, 24 Pulkusa, 140 Pchoa, 66 Pukkusati, king, 87, 120 Periplus, 76 Pulika, 105, 120 Pesakara (woavors), 178 Pulindas, 123 Pesanakacora (message- Pundakaksa-hill, 51, 60 sendera), 173 Pundavardhana, 21, 51, 60 Pettanikas, 173 Pannabhadda, 198 Phalgi1, 48 Punnaka, the Yakkha, 99 Phalikapabbata, 6 Pupphavati, 41 Pilotika, 223 Pirella Kassapa, 224, 274 Pingala, 112, 138 Purinamertha (humani Pimphalivana, 32, 34, 66, i sacrifice), 205 128, 134 Purohitas, 151, 155, 156, Piprava, 56 157, 158, 102, 180, 201, Pitinikas, 200 200, 217 Piyaclasi, 238 Pluri, 133 Pliny, 114 Purlisapura, 08 Pokkharagati, 161 Puskulavati, 72, 87 Pokkharavati, 109, 110 Potali, 78, 107 Radha country, 117 Potaliputta, 223 Rajagaha, 27, 33, 44, 49, Potaliya, 175, 223 75, 78, 119, 121, 173, 176, Potana, 34, 78, 107 184, 232, 236, 237, 255, Potters (kumbhakara), 141, 280, 281 178, 179 Rajagrha, 215 Fotthapada, 222 Rajayoga, 232, 255 Pradyumna, 101 Rajgir, 29 Pragbodhi (hille), 26 Rajputana, 68, 184 Prayaga, 17, 21 Rakkitatala, 7 Prosody (Chandasa), 248, ) Rama, 217, 219 249, 263 Rangama, 34 Prostitutes, 176, 192 Ramasetu, 13 Psthudaka, 66 Ramcsvaram, 13 Ptolemy, 76, 112, 114, 188" Rapti, 23 Pubbaramar, 46, 235 - Rathakara lako, 5 Pabbasela, 114 Ratnagiri, 28 Page #273 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX 311 Ravi, 69 Saketa, 21, 31, 44, 45, 132 Ray Chaudhuri, H. C., 83,1 176, 184 * 85, 94 Sakuladayi, 223 Ronu, 103, 117, 118, 129, Sakyas, 24, 55, 126, 127, 157, 217 128, 131, 134, 137, 146, Kgveda, 169, 246, 250 i 163, 168, 169 Rhys Davids, C.A. F., 55, 58 Salalavati, 21, 25, 26, 32, 190, 262 51, 59 Rhys Davids, T. W., 65, Salavana, 32 "134,- 140, 186, 187, 200, Salavati, 161 204, 221 Sali, 182 Rooklill, W. W., 262, 265 Sulyatantra, 259 Rohanas, 93 Samajjas, 171 Rohini, rivor, 24, 55, 127 Samanas, 224, 226, 227, 234, Rohita, 10, 64 236, 238, 242, 253 Rolwaini, 25 Sainatata, 01 Roruka, 34, 70 Samavati, 166 Rowai, 24 Sambalpur, 18 Rudradaman I, 112 Sambhutiara, 19 Rudrayana, king, 111, 120, Sarskassa, 30 215 Samkissa, 39, 90 Rummindoi, 55 Sannnti (Smrti), 218 Riprarayam, 59 Sandaka, 223 Sanjaya Belaythiputta, 224, Sabara, people, 114 225, 274 Sabhiya, 223 Sankara, 250 Sacrificers (yajaka), 161, 165 Sankhya (Samkhya), 248 Sadanire, 46, 52, 123 Sunupabbata, 6 Saddhiviharika, 288 Sappasundikapabbhara, 48 Sagala, 69, 88, 116 Sappini, 25, 26 Sagara, 100, 164 Sarabha, 223 Sagarika, 166 Sarabhanga, sage, 216, 217, Sahajati, 39, 41, 186 220, 256 Sahancanika, 41 Sarabhu, 6, 11, 22, 23, 43, 40 Salrassambavana, 236 Saraji, 23 Sailagiri, 28 Sarasvati, river, 10, 17, 20), * Sakala, 69, 88 *22; 34, 36 Page #274 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 312 INDEX Sarathipura, 48 | Sialkot, 69 Saravana, 46, 235 Silappapataka, lake, 8 Saravati, 21, 20, 59 Sihapura, 120 Sarayu, 23, 25, 43, 219 Silavati, 56 Saliputta, 168, 212 Sindhu, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 67, Sarnath, 43 70, 98 Sastitantia, 245, 246 Sindhu-Sovirals, 111 Satanika, 118 Sineru Ml., 1, 2, 3 Satiyaputras, 113 Siri (Goddess of Tok), 204 Satodika river, 76 Sirivacoa, 208 Satlapanni, 31 Sisupala, 121 Sattapanniguba, 237 Sita, river, 10 Satthavaha (caravan Sitavana, 237 prorohanla), 70, 184, 185 Sivi, 91, 102, 107 Satvatas, 103, 106 Slaves, 178, 192 Saulimas, 117 Smith, V. A., 13-1 Sauraseni dialoot, 101 Sudrai, 69 Sauparacas, 112 Sohamima, 1999 Sauvira, 67, 70, 111, 120, Sona, river, 24 Sonadayda, 101 Savaras, 113, 114 Sonagiri, 28, 20 Savaris, 214 Sonnabhimi, 178 Savatthi, 21, 23, 26, 31, 39, Sopara, 112 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 111, 112, 124, 132, 161, 173, Soreyya, 30 176, 184, 185, 219, 233, Sotthivati, 40 235 Sotthiya class of Brahinius, Sekhiya rules (laws of oti 147, 155, 201, 247 quette), 243 Sovira, 34, 185 Selectors of lucky sites, 162 Sravasli, 23, 43, 215, 235 Senanigama, 47 Stevenson, 211 Senapatis, 155, 171, 180 Suari, 114 Senis, 179 Subbhabhumi, 59, 117 Seriyarattka, 79 Subha Jivakambanika, 272 Seriyaputa, 57 Subhacaityaka, 28 Setavya, 32, 45, 55 Sugimakhi, 223 Seyaviya, 72; 91 Sudarsana, 9 215 Page #275 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDEX 313 Suddas, 139, 141, 145, Tarukkha, 161 148, 154, 178, 180, 213, Telavaba river, 79, 114. 1242 Telingana, 18 Subma, 51, 60, 117 Telingiri, 114 Sujata, prince, 108 Thalapathakammika, 183 Suktimati, 40 Thanoswar, 17, 67 Sumbhas, 51, 117 Thomas, E. J., 160, 176, Sumedha, 272 234 Sumeru Mt., 1, 2, 3, 8, 62, Thuna, 21, 66 * 201 Tinduka-kandara, 31 Sumgumaragira, 32, 39, 40, Tirhut, 52 110, 134 Tituiriyas, 201, 253 Sunaparanla, 76, 112 Tiyaggala, rock, 11 Sungas, 138 Tiyaggalapokkharani, 11 Supparakas, 111, 112 Todeyya, 161 Surasenas, 67, 74, 98, 99, Toranavatthu, 45 101, 103 Travancore, 18 Surattha, 112, 138 Trikala, 123 Surparska, 74, 76 Tundikeras, 104 Suti (Sruti), 248, 249 Turghna, 35 Suvannabhami, 178, 185, 186, 187, 188 Udayagiri, 28 Suvannatala, 6 Udayana, 133, 138 Suvarnarekha, 26, 32, 59 Uddakaramaputta, 232, 284 Svetapura, 60 Udena, 120, 120, 133 Swat valley, 107 Udambar, 38 Uggaputtaa, 174 Takkagila, 43, 87, 88, 184, Ujjayini, 104, 185 * 278, 280, 281, 282 Ujjeni, 75, 104 Tamalitti, 33, 60, 186 Okkacola, 53 Tambapannidipa, 186 Ukkala, 109, 110 Tamralinga, 188 Ukkala vaasabhanil, 110 Tamralipti, 117 * Ukkattha, 45, 181 Tapasas, 201, 213, 216, Ulumpa, 45 . , 219, 222, 226, 229, 230, Upali, 242, 280 231, 255 Truvela, 42, 47, 48, 49, 220, Tapodarama, 237 1 232 21 Page #276 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 814 INDEX Vera 40. Ulinara, 38 Vedchi, 123 Usiradhyaja Mt., 21 Vedisa, 75, 84, 109 Utkala, 79, 109, 110 Vedisagiri, 75 Utlarakuru, 2, 9, 35, 81, Vediyaka hill, 26, 30 89 Vchalla, 135 Uttara-madhurs, 99, 100, Vekhanassa, 223 102, 113 Velugama, 75 Uttara-madras, 88 Veluvana, 236, 237 Uttarapanoala, 31, 35, 36, Venagapura, 45 37, 43, 97, 120 Vopulla Mt., 27, 29, 3A, 119 Ultarapatha, 18, 19, 66, 67, 71, 73, 90, 100, 107, Verapatha, 187 109, 110, 140, 184 Vesali, 24, 31, 40, 47, 49, 52, 54, 111, 124, 134, Vacchagolta, 223 136, 137, 225 Vablika, 67 Vosges, 139, 145, 148, 150, Vahuda, river, 22 154, 174, 175, 176, 177, Vaibharagiri, 28, 30 178, 180 Vaitadbya, 4, 8, 12, 13, 77, | Vethaclipa, 34, 57 107 Vetravati, 109 Vaj7, 19, 32, 33, 52, 128 Vottavati, 6, 25, 26, 74 Valmiki, 257 Vidarbha, 216 Vamsa, 19, 23, 33, 37, 120, Videgha Mathava, 121 134, 138, 186 Videha, 2, 24, 34, 46, 52, 98, Vanacaraka (explorers of 121, 122, 123, 167, 185, forest regions), 219, 220 186, 215, 216, 217 Vanamantradevas, 200 Vidina, 26 Vangas, 117, 118 Viladabha, 127, 137,169 Vardhamana, 209 Vija.haradhivasa, 44 Varendra, 21 Vijaya, 215 Vargadhara Mt., 4 Vikata Mt., 83 Vasala, 48 Vinasana, 17, 20, 21, 23 Vasa vadatta, 105 Vinataka, 2 Vasudeva, - 100, 101, 102, Vinaya, 267 103, 132, 146, 187, 198 Vindhya, 4, 16, 33, 34, 44, Vatba, 22, 23, 33, 37, 39, 106, 107, 108, 214, 217, 40. 41, 1389 218 GZIB Page #277 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ INDIOX 315 Vipula, 28, 30 Wrosilors, 178 Virudhaka (Virilhaka), 132, * 200 Yadayas, 05, 103 Visakha, 40, 235 Yajnikas, 181 Vitamsa, 6, 73 Yajpur, 47 Vratyas, 118 Yamuna, 6, 11, 17, 22, 23, Vrsabha Mt., 28 24, 26, 38, 40, 41, 99, 109, 133, 185, 214 Water-pilot (niyyamaka), Yasodhara, 204 * 187 Yavana Tusaspa, 112 Weavers (posakara), 141, Yonas, 82, 83, 84, 140, 178, 179 14] Wood-oarvors, 141 Wreath makers, 179 | Zimmer, 190 Published by Luzeo & Co., 46 Great Russell Street, London, * and printed by G. E. Bingham, Baptist Mission Press, 414 Lower Circular Road, Calcutta. Page #278 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Page #279 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________ 70 Talalalala & Sindhu MAP OF INDIA showing important kingdoms, towns, English Miles Joe' Brahmaputta Suadri Jeruvati u 2 SODA Kanyakhouse L LAL $IRAR VANSA saglagang s Kalimbawa Som MAGAD sta AVANTI ut yindt m enacerade Scrpura Range MENMAKA shine KALINGIA ANDHRA WIKIRA SYAMRAPARNI ETC EYEONE Loncito Eart 7 of Greenwich