Geography of Early Buddhism c8.33

c8.33

In the Milindapañho we are told that King Milinda (Menander), a powerful Græco-Bactrian King, ruling over the Madda country with Sāgala as his capital became a convert to Buddhism (S.B.E., Vol. XXXV, p. 6). That Sāgala or Sākala (modern Sialkot in the Punjab) was the capital of the Madra country is also attested to by the Mahābhārata (II, 32, 14)—‘Tataḥ Sākalama-bhyetva Madrānāṃ putabhedanam’, as also by several Jātakas (e.g., the Kālingabodhi Jātaka, No. 479; the Kusa Jātaka, No. 531). The Madras had a monarchical constitution and their territory may be said to correspond roughly to Sialkot and its adjacent districts which were known as late as the 18th century as the Madradeśa.