Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c14.s7: South Pañcāla

Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c14.s7

Language: English

South Pañcāla

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This dynasty, which reigned south of the Ganges and was descended from Ajamīḍha as mentioned above, is given by six Puranas.⁶ All these are in general agreement down to Nīpa except that there is much variation in the names of the first five kings. From Nīpa were descended the Nīpas. Then all agree substantially, except that the Matsya wrongly derives Nīpas chief son Samara and Samara’s successors from a younger son of Senajit by a misreading of Kāvyāc ca for Kāmpilye; the Bhāgavata omits most of these successors, and the Garuḍa the last three kings. The Viṣṇu omits the last king Jamamejaya and wrongly tacks the Dvimīḍha line on to this (see above).

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⁶ Vā 99, 167, 170–182. Mat 49, 47–59. Hv 20, 1055–73. Viṣ iv, 19, 11–13. Gar i, 140, 10–13. Bhāg ix, 21, 22–26.

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*Cedi, Magadha, &c.*

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The dynasties in these countries were descended from Kuru’s son Sudhanvan (*ante*), and the genealogy is found in seven Puranas.¹ His fourth successor, Vasu, conquered the kingdom of Cedi,² which belonged to the Yādavas (*ante*), and obtained the title Caidyo-paricara, ‘the overcomer of the Caidyas’. ³ He also subdued and annexed the adjoining countries as far as Magadha. He had five sons, Bṛhadratha, Pratyagraha, Kuśa or Kuśāmba called Maṇivāhana, Yadu (or Lalittha), and a fifth Māvella, Māthailya or Māruta. He divided his territories and established them in separate kingdoms. They were the Vāsava kings, and occupied countries and towns named after themselves.⁴ Cedi and Magadha were two of those kingdoms, two others from their position must have been Kauśāmbī and Karūṣa,⁵ but the fifth is not clear.

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¹ Vā 99, 217–28. Mat 50, 23–34. Hv 32, 1801–13. Viṣ iv, 19, 19. Ag 277, 27–31. Gar i, 140, 25–30. Bhāg ix, 22, 4–9. Also one MS. of Br, see Br 13, 109, note.

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² MBh i, 63, 2334–5, 2342. Vā 93, 26–7. Bḍ iii, 68, 27. Hv 30, 1614–15. Br 12, 15–16.

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³ This title was afterwards misunderstood as Caidya Uparicara, and uparicara was taken to mean ‘moving on high’, and so fable said he could soar through the air. So upari-cara, MBh i, 63, 2367 : Viṣ iv, 19, 19 : Gar i, 140, 26 : &c. Urdhva-cārin, Vā 57, 110 : Mat 143, 25–6 : Bḍ ii, 30, 31 : &c. Antarikṣa-ga, Vā 99, 220 : Mat 50, 26 : Hv 32, 1804 : cf. MBh xii, 339, 12834. He was also called rājoparicara, MBh xii, 338, 12754 : 339, 12838.

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⁴ MBh i, 63, 2360–5; and genealogies above. Rām i, 32, 1–11 is wrong, a jumble of several dynasties.

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⁵ Pad vi, 274, 16–17 says Dantavakra (king of Karūṣa) was of Caidya lineage.

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The eldest son Bṛhadratha took Magadha and founded the famous Bārhadratha dynasty there.⁶ Kuśa or Kuśāmba obviously had Kauśāmbī, Pratyagraha may have taken Cedi, and Yadu Karūṣa. It seems probable the fifth kingdom⁷ was Matsya. The Matsyas existed before (probably as a Yādava tribe), because they were opponents of Sudās;⁸ and Vasu may have conquered this country also, which adjoined Cedi on the north-west. There is no account given anywhere about the Matsya dynasty, except that fable⁹ made Vasu the parent, through a fish, of two children, the fisher-maiden Kālī (p. 69) and a son named Matsya, who became a king. The genealogies in the Viṣṇu and Bhāgavata insert Matsya among Vasu’s sons, and those in the other Purāṇas add Kālī and Matsya to the above five. Thus tradition suggests that one of Vasu’s sons was king of Matsya, and except to account for this there was no reason for introducing him into that fable: possibly then the fifth son should be Matsya, and his kingdom Matsya.

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⁶ Also Hv 117, 6598.

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⁷ Māvellakas are mentioned, MBh vii, 91, 3255 : viii, 5, 138.

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⁸ Rigv vii, 18, 6. See the positions of Sudāsa and Vasu in the Table of Genealogies in chap. XII.

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⁹ MBh i, 63, 2371–98 : impossible even chronologically as regards Kālī.

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After Vasu the genealogies give only the Magadha dynasty. All are in general agreement, subject to variations in names, except that the Brahma ends with Bṛhadratha’s grandson Ṛṣabha, and the Viṣṇu and Bhāgavata by abbreviation make Jarāsandha Bṛhadratha’s son. As regards the collateral dynasties we know only the kings who reigned in the Pāṇḍavas’ time, namely, Damaghoṣa, his son Śiśupāla Sunītha, and his son Dhṛṣṭaketu, kings of Cedi;¹ Vṛddhaśarman and his son Dantavakra, kings of Karūṣa;² Virāṭa, king of Matsya.³

Linked texts (12)

Padmapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Garuḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Vāyupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit