The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t17.2

c6.s3.t17.2

Kosâmbi is mentioned in the ‘Râmâyana,’ the earliest of the Hindu poems, which is generally allowed to have been composed before the Christian era. The story of Udáyana, king of Kosâmbi, is referred to by the poet Kâlidâsa in his ‘Megha-duta,’ or ‘Cloud Messenger,’ where he says that Avanti (or Ujain) is great with the number of those versed in the tale of Udâyana.”* Now, Kâlidâsa flourished shortly after A.D. 500. In the ‘Vrihat Katha,’ of Somadeva, the story of Udâyana is given at full length, but the author has made a mistake in the genealogy between the two Satânikas. Lastly, the kingdom of Kosâmbi, or Kosâmba Mandala, is mentioned in an inscription taken from the gateway of the fort of Khara which is dated in Samvat 1092, or A.D. 1035, at which period it would appear to have been independent of Kanoj.† Kosâmbi, the capital of Vatsa Raja, is the scene of the pleasing drama of ‘Ratnâvali,’ or the ‘Necklace,’ which was composed in the reign of King Harsha Deva, who is most probably the same as Harsha Vardhana of Kanoj, as the opening prelude describes amongst the assembled audience “princes from various realms recumbent at his feet.”‡ This we know from Hwen Thsang to have been true of the Kanoj prince, but which even a Brahman could scarcely have asserted of Harsha Deva of Kashmir. The date of this notice will therefore lie between 607 and 650 A.D.