Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s2.27

c12.s2.27

The **Moriyas** (Mauryas) were the same clan which gave Magadha its greatest dynasty.¹ They are sometimes spoken of as of Sākyan origin, but the evidence is late. Earlier evidence distinguishes between these two clans.² The name is derived, according to one tradition, from *mora* (*mayūra*) or peacock. The place where they settled down is said to have always resounded with the cries of these birds. Pipphalivana, the Moriya capital, is apparently identical with the Nyagrodhavana or Banyan Grove, mentioned by Hiuen Tsang, where stood the famous Embers Tope.³ Fa Hien tells us that the Tope lay four *yojanas* to the east of the river Anomā, and twelve *yojanas* (probably some 54 miles) to the west of Kusinārā.⁴