Book Title: Political History Of Ancient India
Author(s): Hemchandra Raychaudhari
Publisher: University of Calcutta

Previous | Next

Page 177
________________ 148 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA Kamboja is constantly associated with Gandhāra in literature and inscriptions. Like Gandhāra it is included in the Uttarāpatha, i.e., the Far North of India. It should, therefore, be clearly distinguished from "Kambuja" in the Trans-Gangetic Peninsula (i.e., Cambodia), and must be located in some part of North-West India close to Gandhāra. The Mahābhārata connects the Kambojas with a place called Rājapura. "Karna Rājapuran gatvā Kāmbojā nirjitā-stvayā."5 The association of the Kambojas with the Gandhāras enables us to identify this Rājapura with the territory of that name mentioned by Yuan Chwange which lay to the south or south-east 1 Mbh., XII. 207. 43 ; Anguttara N., P. T. S., I. 213 ; 4. 252, 256, 261 ; Rock Edict V of Asoka. Quite in keeping with the association with Gandhāra, famous for its good wool (Rig. V. 1. 126. 7), is the love of Kambojas for blankets (Kambala ) to which Yāska (II. 2) bears testimony. 2 Cf. Mbh., XII. 207. 43. Rājatarangini, IV. 163-165. The chronicle does not place Kamboja to the north of Kashmir. It simply places the territory in the Uttarāpatha, and clearly distinguishes it from the land of the Tukhāras, apparently lying further to the north. 3 For the Hindu colony of "Kambuja'' see Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, III, pp. 100 ff.; B. R. Chatterji, Indian Cultural Influence in Cambodia ; R. C. Majumdar, Champā. 4 Mbh., VII. 4. 5. 5 "Karna having gone to (gatvā) Rājapura" vanquished the Kambojas. The passage can hardly imply that Karna marched to Kamboja "via Rājapura." It is also futile to suggest that Rājapura had anything to do with Rājagriha in Bactria (as is done by a writer in the Proceedings and Transactions of the Sixth Oriental Conference, Patna, p. 109). The Ram. I. 6. 22; the Mbh. VII. 119. 14. 26. and the Mudrārākshasa, II. clearly distinguishes Kamboja from Balhika (Bactria). 6 Watters, Yuan Chwang, Vol. I, p. 284. Cunningham (AGI, 1924, p. 148) identifies Rājapura with the chiefship of Rajaori to the south of Kashmir. The fact that the Mahabharata (II. 27 ) makes separate mention of Kamboja and Abhisāra (with which the Rajaori region is identified) need not mean that the two were absolutely distinct entities in all ages. Does not the Great Epic (II. 30. 24-25) distinguish between Suhma and Tāmralipti and does not the Dasakumāra-charita with equal emphasis place Dāmalipta in Suhma? The truth is that Rajaori formed only a part of Kamboja which included other areas as well. The ruling family of Rājauri (Rajaori) in later times were the Khasas (Stein in JASB 1899, Extra No. 2. 28).

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714