Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.234

c9.s7.234

We have seen that during the Brāhmaṇa period Videha (Mithilā) had a monarchical constitution. The *Rāmāyaṇa*⁴ and the *Purāṇas*⁵ state that Viśālā, too, was at first ruled by “kings.” The founder of the Vaiśālika dynasty is said to have been Viśāla, a son of Ikshvāku according to the *Rāmāyaṇa*, a decendant of Nabhāga the brother of Ikshvāku, according to the *Purāṇas*. Viśāla is said to have given his name to the city. After him came Hemachandra, Suchandra, Dhūmrāśva, Sṛiñjaya, Sahadeva, Kuśāśva, Somadatta, Kākutstha and Sumati. We do not know how many of these Vaiśālika “kings” (*nṛipas*) can be accepted as historical and as having actually ruled as monarchs in North Bihār. A king named Sahadeva Sārñjaya is mentioned in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*.¹ In the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*² he is mentioned with Somaka Sāhadevya. None of these kings, however, are connected with Vaiśālī in the Vedic literature. The *Mahābhārata* speaks of a Sahadeva (son of Sṛiñjaya) as sacrificing on the Jumna,³ and not on the Gaṇḍak. The presence of Ikshvākuids as a constituent element of the Vṛijian confederacy, which had its metropolis at Vaiśālī, is, however, as already stated, suggested by the *Sūtrakṛitāṅga*.