Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c8.s6: Later notices of Kanauj

History of Kanauj to the Moslem Conquest c8.s6

Language
English

Later notices of Kanauj

c8.s6.1

Darkness then descends upon the fortunes of Kanauj, and the city sinks into oblivion for a long period except for the glimpse that we catch of it about the time of the Mahābhārata war. In his peace overtures Yudhiṣṭhira is represented to have said to Duryodhana: “We are desirous of peace; give us even a single province of the empire. Give us even Kuśasthala, Vrikasthala, Mākandī, Vāraṇāvata, and for the fifth any other that thou likest. Even this will end the quarrel.”⁵ Kuśasthala evidently stands for Kanauj, and we may, therefore, assume from Yudhiṣṭhira’s readiness to compromise his claims for these five towns that they were of some importance at that time.

c8.s6.2

⁵ Mbh. V, Sec. 30, verse 19, (P. C. Roy’s Eng. Trans. V, Sec. 31, p. 77). In T. R. Kṛṣṇāchārya’s edition of the Śrīmanmahābhāratam, based on South Indian texts, we have the name ‘Avisthalam’ instead of ‘Kuśasthalam’ (V, Sec. 31, verse 19).

c8.s6.3

We are next told that it was at Kānyakubja that the Buddha “descended to earth again after his glorious ascent to the Trayastriṃśa heaven.” The spot was marked by the erection of a Tope, which was the fifth of the eight great Topes connected with the Master's career¹. He also preached there a sermon on sorrow and impermanency, representing the body as being like a bubble or foam². Strangely enough, the story of Kanauj itself presents a striking illustration of the truth of this discourse!

c8.s6.4

¹ Watters, I, p. 337.

c8.s6.5

² Beal, *The Travels of Fa-hian* (Fo-Kuo-ki), ch. xviii, p. xliii. The insignificance of Kanauj at the time of the Buddha is, however, demonstrated by its omission in the *Jātakas*.

c8.s6.6

During the rule of the Mauryas Kanauj, like other towns in the north, must have formed part of their wide dominions, but it was otherwise an obscure place that played no part in their history. After the death of Aśoka, the Maurya empire crumbled to pieces, and seems to have been parcelled out amongst his sons. One of the latter, named Jalauka, pushed his conquests as far as Kānyakubja in the east.³ The statement, however, is very confused, and should not be implicitly relied upon as authoritative evidence of the alleged fact.

c8.s6.7

³ *Rājat.* Vol. I, Bk. I, verse 117, (Stein, Trans., p. 22).

c8.s6.8

The next mention of Kanauj is to be found in the *Mahābhāṣya* of the celebrated grammarian Patañjali usually assigned to circa 150 B. C.⁴ He gives the form Āhicchatrī and Kānyakubjī in the sense of a woman born at these two towns respectively.⁵ The use of the adjective derived from the name of the town thus clearly shows that Kānyakubja was a well-known place in the second century B. C. and it must have been founded considerably earlier.

c8.s6.9

⁴ Smith, *Early History of India* (4th ed.), p. 228; Keith, *A History of Sanskrit Literature* (1928), p. 428.

c8.s6.10

⁵ Kielhorn, *Mahābhāṣya*, II, p. 233 (see under "Gotrāvayavāt," Adhyāya 4, Pāda 1, Sūtra 79 of Pāṇini).

c8.s6.11

It is again assumed that Kanauj is mentioned twice, firstly under the name of Kanagora; and secondly, under that of Kanogiza, in the *Geography* of Klaudios Ptolemy, who wrote his great work sometime about 140 A. D.¹ Kanagora is placed in longitude 135°, latitude 30°40', and is enumerated as one of the seven towns belonging to the Prasiake (Prācya), or the East. Among other cities mentioned are Sambhalaka, Adisdara, and Sāgala, which perhaps represent respectively Sambhal in Rohilkhand, Ahicchatra (Adikoṭa) identified with Ramnagar in the Bareilly district,² and Sākala, the modern Sialkot in the Punjab according to Smith.³ Saint Martin, however, believes that it stands for Sakula or Saghela, mentioned in the Ceylonese chronicles among the royal cities of Northern India, and which in the opinion of Turnour is the same as Kuśinagara, so well-known in Buddhist traditions.⁴ As observed by Dr. Vincent Smith, "it would be natural to find Kanauj in this company, and it is possible that Kanagora may be intended for that city".⁵ But from the form of the name it would seem more reasonable to identify it with Karṇapura or Kanakapura, i.e., modern Cawnpore, a trading centre not far from Kanauj.

c8.s6.12

¹ *Ancient India as described by Ptolemy*, ed. S. N. Majumdar Śāstri (Calcutta, 1927), pp. 134, 227-28; *Ind. Ant.* XIII, pp. 352-353, 380-81.

c8.s6.13

² Compare also *Kātikā* on Pāṇini, I, 75, where both Ahicchatra and Kānyakubja are included in the Prācya.

c8.s6.14

³ *J. R. A. S.*, 1908, p. 766.

c8.s6.15

⁴ *Ptolemy's Ancient India*, p. 135.

c8.s6.16

⁵ *J. R. A. S.*, 1908, p. 766.

c8.s6.17

The second name, Kanogiza, which bears a great resemblance to Kānyakubja, is placed in longitude 143° and latitude 32°. It occurs in a list of inland towns of transgangetic India.⁶ Ptolemy, while giving here the name more correctly, has put the city hopelessly out of position with reference to the Ganges, from which he has removed it several degrees although it was actually situated upon its bank. To add to our difficulty, none of the towns Selampura, Kassida, Eldana, and Asanbara, mentioned in the list containing Kanogiza, can be identified with any degree of certainty. Thus, though it is tempting to identify the one on the ground of affinity in sound to Kānyakubja, and the other because it is more correctly placed, we have no positive evidence to show that these names represent Kanauj.¹

c8.s6.18

⁶ *Ptolemy's Ancient India*, pp. 224-25.

c8.s6.19

¹ On the other hand Kennedy says, "We have certain reasons for thinking that both Ptolemy's Kanagora and Kanogiza refer to Kanauj, and we know no reason to the contrary" (*J. R. A. S.*, 1908, p. 880). See also Cunningham, *Arch. Surv. Ind. Rep.* Vol. I (1862-63), p. 280; Smith, *J. R. A. S.*, 1908, p. 766.

c8.s6.20

The first notice of Kanauj with some scanty details is in the work of Fa-hian, who visited the town about the beginning of the fifth century A. D. So far, the references to Kanauj were purely legendary and incidental, but the record of Fa-hian is of historical importance, as it contains the impressions of an eye-witness. His meagre account is as follows: "Fa-hian resided in the Dragon *Vihāra* during the summer retreat. After this was over, going south-east seven *yojanas*, he arrived at the city of Ki-jou-i (Kanauj). This city borders on the Ganges. There are two *Sanghārāmas* here, both belonging to the system of Little Vehicle. Going from the city six or seven *li* in a westerly direction, on the north bank of the river Ganges, is the place where Buddha preached for the good of his disciples. Tradition says that he preached on impermanency and sorrow, and also on the body being like a bubble or foam. On this spot they have raised a tower, which still remains."² It is evident from the above description that during the pilgrim's itinerary, when the power of the Guptas was at its meridian, Kanauj was quite an unimportant and negligible place¹. The sun of the glory of Pāṭaliputra was still in the ascendant, but it soon began to decline, and the next century saw the rise of another political centre that was destined to hold pre-eminence till the avalanche of the Moslem conquest.

c8.s6.21

² Beal, *The Travels of Fa-hian (Fo-Kuo-ki)*, ch. xviii, p. xliii.

c8.s6.22

¹ Notwithstanding this testimony, it was at one time asserted that the Guptas had their capital at Kanauj (See Prinsep, *Indian Antiquities*, I, p. 284; Burgess, *Arch. Surv. W. India*, II, p. 80; Frazer, *Literary History of India*, p. 251). In the light of later researches, however, the error has become too obvious even to need any refutation or discussion (see Smith, *J. R. A. S.*, 1908, pp. 769-70; *J. A. S. B.*, 1884, p. 184 f; Fleet, *C. I. I.* Vol. III; Allan, *Gupta Coins*; Raychaudhuri, *Political History of India*, etc.).

Linked texts (4)