The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c19.s4.15

v1.c19.s4.15

One of the very oldest fragments preserved in the canon is a ballad on the first meeting of Bimbisāra and Gotama. In the ballad the latter is called ‘the Buddha.’ But the meeting took place about seven years before he became the Buddha in our modern sense; and this unwonted use of a now familiar title would have been impossible in any later document⁶. Gotama has only just started on his search for truth. The king, with curious density, offers to make him a captain, and give him wealth. It will be noticed that the king still resides in the palace of the old capital at the Giribbaja, ‘the Hill Fort.’ Some years afterwards when Gotama returns as a teacher, the king was lodged in the new palace that gave its name to the new capital, Rājagaha, ‘the King's House.’ The ruins of both these places are still extant; and the stone walls of the Giribbaja are probably the oldest identified remains in India. Dhammapāla says that the place was originally built or planned by Mahā-Govinda, the famous architect, to whom it was the proper thing to ascribe the laying out of ancient cities¹.