Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.317

c9.s7.317

**Vaṁśa** or **Vatsa** was the country south of the Ganges¹ of which Kauśāmbī, modern Kosam, on the Jumna, near Allahabad, was the capital.² Oldenberg³ is inclined to identify the Vaṁśas with the Vaśas of the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*. But the conjecture lacks proof. The *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* mentions a teacher named Proti Kauśāmbeya⁴ whom Harisvāmin, the commentator, considers to be a native of the town of Kauśāmbī.⁵ Epic tradition attributes the foundation of this famous city to a Chedi prince.⁶ The origin of the Vatsa people, however, is traced to a king of Kāśi.⁷ It is stated in the *Purāṇas* that when the city of Hāstinapura was washed away by the Ganges, Nichakshu, the great-great-grandson of Janamejaya, abandoned it, and removed his residence to Kauśāmbī. We have already seen that the Purāṇic tradition about the Bhārata or Kuru origin of the later kings of Kauśāmbī is confirmed by two plays attributed to Bhāsa. Udayana, king of Kauśāmbī, is described in the *Svapnavāsavadatta* and the *Pratijñā Yaugandharāyaṇa*⁸ as a scion of the *Bhārata-kula*.