________________
KOSALA
99
The kingdom of Kosala, as we have seen, was bounded on the west by the Gumti, on the south by the Sarpikā or Syandikā (Sai) river, on the east by the Sadānīrā which separated it from Videha, and on the north by the Nepā] hills. It included the territory of the Kālāmas of Kesaputta, possibly on the Gumti, and that of the Sākyas of Kapilavastu in the Nepalese Tarai. In the Sutta Nipāta3 the Buddha says, “Just beside Himavanta there lives a people endowed with the power of wealth, the inliabitants of Kosala.4 They are Ādichchas 5 by family, Sākiyas by birth ; from that family I have wandered out, not longing for sensual pleasures.” The Majjhima Nikāya, too, mentions the Buddha as a Kosalan :
"Bhagavā pi Kosalako aham pi Kosalako,”
The political subjection of the sākyas to the king of Kosala in the latter half of the sixth century B.C. is clear from the evidence of the Aggariña Suttanta? and the introductory portion of the Bhaddasāla Jūtalca.
Kosala proper contained three great cities, namely, Ayodhyā, Sāketa and Sāvatthî or Srāvasti, besides a number of minor towns like Setavyā' and Ukkattha. 10 Ayodhyā (Oudh) was a town on the river Sarayū now
1 Râm, II. 49. 11-12; 50.1; VII. 104. 15.
2 Anguttara Nikāya, I. 188 (PTS) TC. II. 808. In the Rig-veda, V, 61, the Dālbhyas, a family or clan closely connected with the Kesins (who possibly gave their name to Kesaputta), are placed on the Gumti.
3. S. B. E., X, Part II, 68-69.
4 Kosalesu niketino. As pointed out by Rhys Davids and Stede, Niketin means 'having an abode,' 'being housed,' 'living in,' cf. J. III, 432-- dumasākha-niketini.
5 Belonging to the Aditya (Solar) race (cf. Lüders, Ins., 929 i). 6 II. 124. 7 Digha Nikāya, III (P.T.S.), 83 ; Dialogues III. 80. 8. No. 465; Fausboll, IV. 145. 9 Pāyāsi Suttanta. 10 Ambattha Sutta.
