Indian Antiquary Vol 62

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 173

ETTEMBER, 1933) THE EXTENT AND CAPITAL OF DAKŞIŅA KOSAL 4
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THE EXTENT AND CAPITAL OF DAKŞINA KOSALA.
BY RAI BAHADUR HIRALAL, M.A. ABOUT half a century ago General Cunningham endeavoured to fix the boundaries of Daksiņa Kosala, to which he gave the alternative name of Maha-Kosala, without stating where he found that name. He described its extent as comprising "the whole of the upper valley of the Mahanadi and its tributaries from the source of the Narbada at Amarkantak, in the north, to the source of the Mahanadi itself near Kanker, on the south, and from the valley of the Wen-Ganga, on the west to the Hasdo and Jonk rivers on the cast." But these limits, he added, "have often been extended, so as to embrace the hilly districts of Mandla and Bâlâghất, on the west up to the banks of the Wen-Ganga and the middle valley of the Mahanadi on the east, down to Sambalpur and Sonpur." “Within its narrowest limits the province was 200 miles in length from north to south and 125 miles in breadth, east to west. At its greatest extent, excluding the tributary territories of Orissa, it formed a square of about 200 miles on each side. At the time of Hwen Thsang's visit in 639 A.D., he describes the kingdom as 6,000 li, or 1,000 miles in circuit, an extent which could have been attained by inclusion of the district of Vakåtaka, on the west comprising the present districts of Chånda, Nagpur and Seoni. With this addition the kingdom of Moha Kosala would have been just 300 miles from west to east."
Since the above was written, full fifty years have passed away, during which several inscriptions have been found in and out of the so-called Maha Kosala country, and a number of books on ancient historical places have also been written, but none of them seem to fix the boundaries of that country more definitely than what the father of Indian Archæology did. The latest book by a great antiquarian, which takes cognizance of this matter is Mr. R. D. Banerji's History of Orissa, published in 1930, which states that "in medieval ages the country to the west of Khiñjali was called Maha Kosala or Daksina Kosala and was subject to the Somavaṁsis and the Haihayag of Tripuri and Ratnapura." This description does not give any definite idea as to how far it extended in any of the four directions, not even on the east, where it is stated to have abutted on Khiñjali, in view of the fact that Mr. Banerji had a very confused idea of the limits of Khiñjali, as has been pointed out in J BORS., XVI (1930), pp. 113 ff. He does not state the limits in the other three directions, which he has left to be inferred from the vague statement about a region subject to the Somavamšís and the Haihayas. The Haihaya kingdom extended far and wide. To the north or northwest lay their original capital at Tripuri in the heart of the Dahala country which extended to the banks of the Ganges. If that is to be taken as the northern limit, it would go far beyond the Vindhyas in the region of Uttarapatha, while Dakşina Kosala was admittedly one of the earliest Aryan colonies in the Dakşinapatha or country south of the Vindhyas. After all, Mr. Banerji was concerned with Orissa, and perhaps it was sufficient for his purposes to point out that the western boundary of the country he was dealing with, marched with Dakşiņa Kosala.
1 The old Sanskrit literature does not seem to mention it. There are 1 umerous references to that country, which is either designated Kosala or Dakpina Kosala, in order to distinguish it from Oudh, whose old name was Kosala or Uttara Kosala. Wo find a king bearing the name of Mahakoeala in the line of kings of the latter country, but he does not seem to have given his name to any country. In a country watered by the MahAnadi containing villages with names such as Mahl Samunda (samudra), and bounded by or having in close proximity countries, forests or hills named Maha Kantara, Mohirdetra, Mahabhoja, Mahavinayaka (a hill peak in Jaipur Zamindari) Mahendra (mountain), etc., it perhaps soemed appropriate to call Dakgina Kosala Maha Kosala, especially when its area exceeded that of the northern Kosala, although Yuan Chwang assigns an equal extent to both.
2 Cunningham's Archæological Reports, vol. XVII (1881-82), pages 68-69. 3 R. D. Banerji, History of Orissa, vol. I, p. 7. 4 JAHRS., vol. IV, p. 162.