History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c8.s1: Position and importance of Kanauj

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c8.s1

Language: English

Position and importance of Kanauj

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The petty town of Kanauj, lying in latitude 27°5' North and longitude 79°55' East in the Farrukhabad district of the United Provinces, is one of the few cities that have played a noteworthy part in the political life of Ancient India.¹ It has been the witness of the rise and fall of mighty empires, the appearance and disappearance of successive dynasties; and although this fascinating panorama of events chiefly unfolds itself during the centuries that intervene between the decline of the Guptas and the Moslem conquest, we may trace faint beginnings of its chequered career back even to the misty past of the Brahmanic age.

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¹ The importance of Kanauj in ancient times was probably due to its strategic advantages. The city stood on a cliff on the right bank of the Ganges, which was then the highway of commerce and communication, and it must have, therefore, been a convenient centre for river traffic in the upper Doab [see Samuel Beal, *The Travels of Fa-hian (Fo-kuo-ki)*, ch. XVIII, p. xliii; Thomas Watters, *On Yuan Chwang (Si-yu-ki)*, Vol. I (1904), p. 341; *Bāla-Rāmāyaṇa* of Rājaśekhara, Act X, p. 306, ed. Govindadeva Śāstrī (Benares, 1869). The river, however, now flows at a distance of some miles to the east (see *Gazetteer of Farrukhabad*, p. 217; *Imperial Gazetteer of India*, XIV, p. 370]. Besides, as observed by Cunningham, "the situation is a commanding one, and before the use of the cannon the height alone must have made Kanauj a strong and important position" (Cunningham's *Ancient Geography of India*, ed. S. N. Majumdar, (Calcutta, 1924), p. 436).

Linked texts (1)

Bālarāmāyaṇa — Rājaśekhara, Sanskrit