Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.155

c9.s7.155

**Magadha** corresponds roughly to the present Patna and Gayā districts of South Bihār. It seems to have been bounded on the north and the west by the rivers Ganges and the Son, on the south by spurs of the Vindhyan range, and on the east by the river Champā which emptied itself into the Ganges near the Aṅga capital.⁵ Its earliest capital was Girivraja, the mountain-girt city,¹ or old Rājagṛiha, near Rājgir among the hills in the neighbourhood of Gayā. The *Mahāvagga*² calls it "Giribbaja of the Magadhas" to distinguish it from other cities of the same name, *e.g.*, Girivraja in Kekaya. The *Mahābhārata* refers to it not only as Girivraja, but as Rājagṛiha,³ Bārhadratha-pura⁴ and Māgadha-pura,⁵ and says that it was an almost impregnable city, *puraṁ durādharshaṁ samantataḥ*, being protected by five hills, *viz.* Vaihāra, the grand rock (*Vipūlaḥ śailo*), Varāha, Vṛishabha, Ṛishigiri and Chaityaka⁶ with their compact bodies (*rakshantīvābhisaṁhatya saṁhataṅgā Girivrajam*). From the *Rāmāyaṇa* we learn that the city had another name, Vasumatī.⁷ The *Life of Hiuen Tsang* mentions still another name, Kuśāgra-pura.⁸ Indian Buddhist writers give a seventh name, Bimbasāra-purī.⁹