Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s4.39

c9.s4.39

Mithilā, the capital of Videha, is not referred to in the Vedic texts, but is constantly mentioned in the *Jātakas* and the Epics. It has been identified with the small town of Janakpur just within the Nepāl border north of the place where the Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga districts meet. It is stated in the *Suruchi* and *Gandhāra*⁴ *Jātakas* that the city covered seven leagues. At its four gates were four market towns.⁵ We have the following description of the city in the *Mahājanaka Jātaka*⁶:—