Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c12.s3.4

c12.s3.4

One of these, the realm of Ālavaka,² demands some notice as the relic of a past that was fast disappearing. This little state was situated near the Ganges and was probably identical with the Chanchu territory visited by Yuan Chwang (Hiuen Tsang). Cunningham and Smith identify it with the Ghāzīpur region.¹ The name is derived from the capital Āḷavī² (Sanskrit Aṭavī, *cf.* Āṭavika) or Ālabbhiyā³ which stood close to a large forest that doubtless suggested the particular nomenclature.⁴ In the *Abhidhānappadīpikā* Āḷavī finds a place in a list of twenty famous cities: Bārāṇasī, Sāvatthī, Vesālī, Mithilā, Āḷavī, Kosambhī, Ujjenī, Takkasilā, Champā, Sāgala, Suṁsumāragira, Rājagaha, Kapilavatthu, Sāketa, Indapaṭṭa, Ukkaṭṭha,⁵ Pāṭaliputtaka, Jettuttara,⁶ Saṁkassa⁷ and Kusinārā. The *Chullavagga*⁸ mentions the Aggālave shrine at Āḷavī which the Buddha honoured by his visits, as it lay on the way between the capitals of Kosala and Magadha. In the *Uvāsaga-dasāo* the king of Āḷabhiyā is named Jiyasattū (Jita-śatru, conqueror of enemies). But *Jiyasattū* seems to have been a common designation of kings⁹ like the epithet *Devānampiya* of a later age.¹⁰ The name is given also to the rulers of Sāvatthī, Kampilla, Mithilā, Champā, Vāṇiyagāma, Bārāṇasī and Polasapura, who were all contemporaries of Mahāvīra.¹ Buddhist writers refer to other "Yakkha" principalities besides Ālavaka.²