Indian Antiquary Vol 45

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 14

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(JANUARY, 1916
therefore have been ruling in Benares before he became master of Girivraja, presumably then the capital of Magadha. It is difficult to tell who was the ruler of Kabi displaced by the Saibunagas. Very possibly, it was one of the successors of Brahmadatta, the last of whom was Bhallata of the Pura mic list. Corresponding to him or his son we have Bhalla tiyall in the Jatakas. The other things we know about Sibunaga depend on scattered notices in the Buddhist legends. The Burmese legend of Gaudamai2 makes Siśunåga the protege of a Nâga, when a child, apparently hinting at the fact that the king was of Nâga extraotion.
The Nâgas were a prominent non-Aryan race in India. We have their name preserved in various parts of the country : Nagarjuni hills, Nagpur, Nagaur, Nagarkot, Nägapatnam and Nagarkovil. Någa princes find mention in historical records. The Buddhist records speak of Nâga rulers in Kâmpilya and elsewhere, and the early Chôla traditions speak of Chôla kings marrying Nâga princesses in the south of India, Nagadatta, and Nagasena are among the names of kings mentioned in the Allahabad pillar inscription of Samudragupta. There is a Nâgârjuna in the dynastic lists of the Silahâras of Nepal and of Kashmir. Någavardhana was a nephew of the Châļukya king Pulikesin II and Nagabhata was king of the Gurjaras about 800 A, D. It is possible that these princes could be affiliated ethnically to the primitive tribes of the Näga hills.
Like the Dravidian princes with whom they intermarried the Någas were adopted into the Aryan fold, and their position gradually improved in the social scale. The Saisunaga princes are styled Kshatrabandhavah in the Puranas. Mr. V. A. Smith 13 translates this epithet by 'kings with Kshatriya kinsfolk.' But the real meaning of the word is Kshatriyadhamâh Kshatriyas of a very low order.' In modern times the Rêyas of Udaipur claim descent from Nagar Brahmans, and their ancestors are known as Brahma Kshatris.14
Of the second king, Kakavarya, all that we know is that Bâna 15 has preserved a tradition to the effect that, curious of marvels, he was carried away by a condemned man to an unknown place in an aerial car, and that a dagger was thrust into his throat in the vicinity of the city. These traditions, combined with the appellation given to the king (Kâkavar a means 'black as a crow'), seem to imply that the king was fond of new views and daring innovations, and that he was murdered by the orthodox party on account of his patronage of reformed views in religion, which were so much in the air in that century. The third and fourth kings seem to have been able warriors, as they are styled Kshêmadharman16 and Kshatrajit by the Brahmans, and Prasenajit and Mahâpadma by the Buddhist and Jainas. That they were making gradual conquests appears from the Mahavagga, 17 which says that Bimbisâra had the sovereignty of 80,000 villages and called an assembly of their 80,000 overseers. The only conquest mentioned of Bimbisâra is that of the Anga country. So these villages of Magadha must have been acquired under the predecessors of Bimbigâra, who also appear to have made frequent attempts at the conquest of the Auga kingdom as well.18
11 The Buddha in one of his previous births'-in the Bhallafiya J dlaka. 12 Bigandet; Legend of Gaudama; Vol. II, page 115. 13 Early history of India, 3rd Edition, page 45. 1 D. R. Bhandarkar in J. A. S. B. 1909.
15 Harsha Charita : Uchchisa VI, page 223. 16 This may easily be considered a variant of Kshatradharman. For the next king Kshatrajit or Kshatraujas the Mütnya P. has Kshemavit or Kshemirchis. For Mahapadma, father of Bimbishra, see Rockhill : Life of the Buddha (Dulva XI, f. 99). Prasenajit appears in the Divyúvadina list, (Cowell's Edition, page 369.) 17 Mahávagga V, 1:
15 The Campeyya Jataka.