History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c19.4

v1.c19.4

First, Kośala is described by Hiuen Tsang as lying north-west of Kalinga and as surrounded by mountains. This clearly identifies the country with the eastern portion of the modern Central Provinces. The king was, he says, a Kshatriya. This also shows that the Haihaya kings who were ruling there prided themselves on their being Kshatriyas. The people, he further states, were tall and black. The Haihayas were Yaduvamśi people and all lunar race Kshatriyas like Śri Krishna were darker in complexion than solar race Kshatriyas the first race of Aryan invaders. But the Haihayas appear to have been the darkest of the lunar Kshatriyas owing perhaps to their exposure to the fierce heat of the Nerbudda valley. Even now the representatives of these Haihayas in the U. P. are very dark. This is what Crooke says in his Tribes and Castes of the N. W. P. Vol. II p. 493. “The Hayobans Rājputs, settled in the Balli district, are of the lunar race and are of the highest rank among the tribes of the district. They claim descent from one Chandragot king of Ratanpur in C. P. who crossed the Ganges and conquered the aboriginal Cheros. Their first settlement was to the south of the Ganges at Bihia which town they still visit. They are very dark in complexion.” This description of the offshoot of the Hayobansa Rajputs of C. P. takes us to Ratanpur which appears to have been their capital in C. P. for centuries and perhaps was the capital of Kośala visited by Hiuen Tsang.