Geography of Early Buddhism c11.5

c11.5

In the Mahāvaṃsa we find a reference to the kingdom of Vaṅga and of its King Sihabāhu. Sihabāhu’s son Vijaya transplanted a new kingdom in Laṅkā or Ceylon. In the Milindapañho (p. 359) we read of sailors going on boats to Vaṅga. The Vaṅga tribe is also mentioned in the Mahāvagga of the Aṅguttara Nikāya (I, p. 213). There is a doubtful mention of the Vaṅga tribe in the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa. But it is probable that the name Upasena Vaṅgāntaputta had something to do with the Vaṅga kingdom. In the Dīpavaṃsa (p. 54) the reference is to Vaṅga, i.e., the Vaṅga tribe or people and not Vaṅga.