The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c24.102

v1.c24.102

9. The Mithilas take their name from Mithilā, the capital of the Videhas, one of the numerous clans, possibly of Tibeto-Chinese origin, who inhabited Tirhut (the districts of Champāran, Muzaffarpur, and Darbhangā in N. Bihār). Videgha Māthava, to whom the Brāhmanisation of this region is attributed by the Çatapatha Brāhmaṇa (*v. sup.* p. 122) is probably its earliest recorded monarch. According to the Purāṇas the Aryan kings of the Videhas were a branch of the Pūru family. They are derived from Mimi, the son of Ikshvāku and the remote ancestor of Sīradhvaja Janaka, the father of Sītā, the heroine of the Rāmāyaṇa. Like Rāma himself, he is supposed to have lived before the Kali Age. It is possible that he may be the King Janaka of Videha who is celebrated in the Brāhmaṇas and Upanishads; and, if so, the story of the Rāmāyaṇa has its origin in the later Brāhmaṇa period. In the time of the Buddha, the Videhas together with the Licchavis of Vaiçālī (Basārh in the Hājīpur sub-division of Muzaffarpur) and other powerful clans formed a confederation and were known collectively by their tribal name as the Vṛijis (Vajjis). The reduction of their power marks an epoch in the expansion of the kingdom of Magadha¹.