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THE MATSYAS
361 on the south from Ajmer to the junction of the Banās and Chambal, 150 miles; and on the east from the junction to Kot Kāsim, 150 miles; or altogether 490 miles.1
The capital of the country is generally called Virātanagara in the Virātaparvan and elsewhere in the Mahābhārata?; but occasionally it is called Matsyanagara, and also sometimes Matsyasyanagara. Evidently it was this Virātanagara which afterwards became known as Vairāt. This city was the royal seat of the Epic king Virāta, the friend of the Pāņdavas. The fourth book of the Mahābhārata refers to an attempt made by the Trigarttas to plunder the cows of Virāta. Virāta heard that the Trigarttas were taking away thousands of his kine. He thereupon collected his army; kings and princes put on their armour. Dreadful, infuriated elephants appeared like rain-bearing clouds, and were driven to battle by trained and skilled heroes. The leading heroes of Matsya, who followed their king, had 8,000 chariots, 1,000 elephants, and 60,000 horses. Nevertheless King Virāța was taken captive by the Trigarttas, but was rescued by Bhima, the second Pāņdava. The period of exile of the Pāndava brothers concluded with a year's living incognito in the kingdom of Matsya. They then disclosed their identity, and a marriage between Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna, and Uttarā, daughter of King Virāța, was arranged and celebrated with great pomp.
So much for the traditional history of Virāța and his capital. The earliest historical mention of Vairāț is that of the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan Tsang, in 634 A.D. According to him, the capital was 14 or 15 li, or 21 miles, in circuit, corresponding almost exactly with the size of the ancient mound on which the present town is built. The people were brave and bold and their king, who was of the race of Fei-she (either a Vaiśya or a Bais Rajput), was famous for his courage and skill in war.?
We next hear of Vairāt during the reign of Mahmud of Ghazni, who invaded the country in A.D. 1009. The Matsya king submitted to Mahmud, but his country was again invaded in A.D. 1014, and Vairāt taken and plundered by Amir Ali who found an ancient stone inscription at Nārāyaṇ, which was said to record that the temple of Nārāyan had been built 40,000 years previously. As this inscription is also mentioned by the contemporary historian Otbi, we may accept the fact of the discovery of a stone record in characters so ancient that the Brahmins of that day were unable to read them.
1 Cunningham, Ancient Geography, pp. 344-5. 2 Moh., IV, 6, 35; IV, 13, 3.
3 Ibid., IV, 13, 1.
4 Ibid., IV, 14, I. 6 M. N. Dutt, Mahābhārata, Virāta parvan, Chap. XXXI; also Chap. X, and Chap. XXII. & Ibid., Chap. LXXII.
7 Cunningham, Ancient Geography, p. 343.
