The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c21.8

c21.8

Ujjain, the capital of Western India, was equally famous, and equally suitable as the seat of a viceregal government. Reckoned to be one of the seven sacred cities, viz. Benares (Kāsī), Hardwār (Māyā), Kānchī (Conjeeveram), Ayodhyā (Oudh), Dvāravatī (Dwarka), Mathurā, and Ujjain (Avantikā), and standing on the road leading from the busy ports of the western coast to the markets of the interior, it combined the advantages of a favourite place of pilgrimage with those of a great commercial dépôt. The city was recognized as the head-quarters of Indian astronomy, and longitudes were computed from its meridian.¹