Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c29.311

c29.311

So affairs remained for a time, but Janamejaya’s fourth successor abandoned Hastināpura and made Kauśāmbī his capital, because (it is said) Hastināpura was carried away by the Ganges. The explanation is inadequate, because, if that were the whole truth, he could have chosen some other town near by as a new capital, and there was no necessity to move more than 300 miles south across South Pañcāla to Kauśāmbī. Manifestly he was obliged to abandon all the northern part of the Ganges-Jumna doab, and there can be no doubt that he was driven south by pressure from the Panjab. This retreat mixed up the Kurus of Hastināpura with the South Pañcālas, and led to the combination of the Kurus and Pañcālas (including the Sṛñjayas), that is, the blended Kuru-Pañcālas,³ a fusion which may be reckoned, according to the dates estimated in p. 182 (for this king was Adhisīmakṛṣṇa’s son), at about 820 B.C. The Kaurava-Pauravas thus reigned at Kauśāmbī which was in the Vatsa country, and one of the latest kings was Udayana, who was a king of note.⁴