Political History Of Ancient India

SR No.: 032292
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta
Publication Year: 1950
Total Pages: 714
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 17 MB

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BHOJA KINGDOMS within Vidarbha both by the Mahābhāratal and the Harivansa.? The Chammak grant of the Vākāțaka king Pravarasena II makes it clear that the Bhojakata territory included the Ilichpur district in Berar, a part of ancient Vidarbha. As pointed out by Dr. Smith, the name of Bhojakața, 'castle of the Bhojas,' implies that the province was named after a stronghold formerly held by the Bhojas, an ancient ruling race mentioned in the edicts of Asoka. Kālidāsa in his Raghuvamsas calls the king of Vidarbha a Bhoja.
But Vidarbha was not the only Bhoja state. The Aitareya Brāhmana refers to several Bhoja kings of the south. A line of Bhojas must have ruled Daņdaka. A passage in the Kauţiliya Arthaśāstra ' ruus thus :
"Dandakyo nāma Bhojah kāmāt Brāhmaṇa-kanyām abhimanyumānas sabandhu-rāshtro vinanāśa”—a Bhoja known as Dāņdakya, or king of Dandaka, making a lascivious attempt on a Brāhmaṇa girl, perished along with his relations and kingdom. We learn from the Sarabhanga Jātaka 8 that the kingdom of Daņdaki (Daņdaka) had its capital at Kumbhavati. According to the Rāmāyana' the name of the metropolis was Madhumanta, while the Mahāvastu 10 places it at Govardhana (Nāsik).
It is clear, from what has been stated above, that there were, in the age of the later Vaidehas, and the treatises called Brāhmaṇas, many kingdóms in the south, both
1 v. 157. 15-16. 2 Vishnu parva, 60. 32. 3 JRAS., 1914, p. 329.
4 In Ind. Ant., 1923, 262-263, Bhojakata is identified with Bhat-kuli in the Amraoti district.
5 V. 39-40.. 6 Cf. also Mbh., V. 48. 74 ; 157. 17 , Harivamsa, Vishnu parva, 47, 5. 7 Ed. 1919, p. 11. 8 No. 522. 9 VII. 92. 18. 10 Senart's Edition, p. 363.