The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c10.16

c10.16

In the sixth century b. c. Kosala appears to have occupied the rank afterwards attained by Magadha, and to have enjoyed precedence as the premier state of Upper India. It is therefore mentioned as often as the rival power. At the beginning of the historical period, the smaller kingdom of Kāsī, or Benares, apparently had lost its independence, and had been annexed by Kosala, with which its fortunes were indissolubly bound up. The lesser state owes its fame in the ancient books not only to its connexion with its powerful neighbour, but also to its being one of the most sacred spots in Buddhist church history, the scene of Buddha's earliest public preaching, where he first 'turned the wheel of the Law'.