Geography of Early Buddhism c7.42

c7.42

⁴ Rg Veda mentions a territory called Kīkaṭa ruled by a chieftain named Pramaganda. In later works Kīkaṭa has been alluded to as identical with Magadha (Cf. Abhidhāna-Chintāmaṇi, ‘Kīkaṭā Magadhāhvayaḥ’ also Bhāgavata Purāṇa, I, 3, 24; and Śrīdhara, ‘Kīkaṭaḥ Gayā-pradeśaḥ’). In Vedic, Brāhmaṇa and Sūtra periods, Magadha was considered to have been outside the pale of Aryan and Brahmanical culture and was, therefore, looked down upon by Brahmanical writers. But Magadha was the Buddhist holy land, and has always been included in the Madhyadeśa.