Ancient Indian Historical Tradition c29.314

c29.314

No further changes are alluded to for a long time. A list is given of the noteworthy kingdoms that continued to exist (p. 180), viz. states in the eastern part of North India, Ayodhyā, Kāśī, the Maithilas (of Videha), Bārhadrathas (of Magadha, which probably included Aṅga), and Kaliṅga; the middle states of the Vītihotras, Haihayas and Aśmakas; and those that bounded these along their west side, North Pañcāla, the Kurus (the combined Kuru-Pañcālas), Śūrasena and Avanti. The omission from the list of all the countries further west and north-west is significant, and suggests that great changes had occurred there. This is corroborated by allusions to the Panjab nations in the Mahābhārata, which show a steady deterioration in brahmanic estimation from the time of the battle when their princes ranked equally with those of Madhya-deśa, at length those nations are pronounced to be wicked and mlecchas¹ and are unsparingly reprobated.²