________________
260
AN EARLY HISTORY OF ORISSA
The Buddhist books mention Cheti as one of the sixteen great Janapadas. In the dynastic lists given in the Purāņas, the Haihayas are mentioned as a branch of the Yādavas. The origin of the Chedis is thus stated by Pargiter3:—"Vidarbha of the Yādava clan had three sons named Bhima Kratha, Kaišika and Lomapāda. Kaišika's son, Chidi, founded the dynasty of Chaidya kings in Chidi." From Chidi the name of the clan as well as that of the country became Chedi.
Vasu, from whose line Khāravela's family descended (cf. Line 17 of the Hāthigumphā inscription) was, however, not a Chaidya, but a conqueror of the Chedi country, as already stated. He was 5th in descent from Kuru, who himself was the 72nd Aila. The Jaina Harivamsa Purāņa also includes Vasu in the Aileya list and as the son of the founder of Chedi-lāshțra in the Vindhyas. It is evident from the above Purāņa that king Abhichandra, who was a descendant of king Aileya of Harivamśa, founded Chedi. rāshțra near the Vindhyas. His queen, Vasumati, was from the Ugravamsa and he was succeeded by his son Vasu.
The Chetis or Chedis had two distinct settlements, of which one was in the mountains of Nepal and the other in Bundelkhand. The Mahābhārata mentions the Chedi country as one of many encircling the Kurus' and it lay
1. Ribys Davide, CHI, Vol. I, p. 172. 2. Pargiter, AIHT, p. 102. 3. Ibid, p. 272. 4. JRAS, 1910, pp. 22f. 5. JBORS, Vol. XV, p. 277. 6. Harivamsa Purāņa, Sarga xvii, Slokas 1-39. 7. B. C. Law in AIU, Ed. R.C. Majumdar, p. 9. 8. Original : "paritaḥ kurun".
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
