Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s4.31

c9.s4.31

The kingdom of **Videha**, over which Janaka ruled seems to be mentioned for the first time in the *Saṁhitās* of the *Yajur Veda*.² It corresponds roughly to the modern Tirhut in North Bihār.³ It was separated from Kosala by the river Sadānīrā, usually identified with the modern Gaṇḍak which, rising in Nepāl, flows into the Ganges opposite Patna.⁴ Oldenberg, however, points out⁵ that the *Mahābhārata* distinguishes the Gaṇḍakī from the Sadānīrā: "*Gaṇḍakīñcha Mahāśoṇaṁ Sadānīrāṁ tathaiva cha.*" Pargiter, therefore, indentifies the Sadānīrā with the Rāpti.¹ We learn from the *Suruchi Jātaka*² that the measure of the whole kingdom of Videha was three hundred leagues. It consisted of 16,000 villages.³