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Tribes in Ancient India c10: Chapter VI. The Cedis

Tribes in Ancient India c10

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Chapter VI. The Cedis

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The Cedis formed one of the most ancient tribes among the Kṣatriyas in early Vedic times. As early as the period of the Ṛgveda, the Cedi kings had acquired great renown by their munificent gifts at sacrifices, and also by their great prowess in battle. Ṛṣi Brahmātithi of the family of Kāṇva sings the praises of King Kaśu, the Caidya, in a hymn addressed to the Aśvins (*Ṛgveda*, VIII, 5, 37-9). From this account, even making allowances for some exaggeration, which is inevitable in these Dānastutis or laudatory verses for munificence and charity, one may conclude that the Cedi king was very powerful, for he is described as making a gift of ten Rājās or kings as slaves to a priest who officiated at one of his sacrifices.

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The Cedis are not expressly mentioned in the later Vedic literature, but it would be wrong to suppose that they had become extinct, for they appear in the *Mahābhārata* as one of the leading powers of Northern India. It is probable that they were not so prominent in their sacrificial rites, or their political power, in the Brāhmaṇa age as they had been in the earlier era of the Ṛgvedic hymns; but there were ups and downs in the history of every great Kṣatriya power in India.

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Another well-known Cedi monarch of ancient times, Vasu, who acquired the designation of Uparicara, is glorified in the *Mahābhārata*, and traditions about him and his successors are also recorded in the Jātakas. This Cedi king appears to have been characterised by great religious merit. Himself a Paurava, he is recorded to have been, through his daughter Satyavatī, the progenitor of the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas.

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In the *Ādiparvan* of the *Mahābhārata*,¹ we read that Vasu, the Paurava, conquered the beautiful and excellent kingdom of the Cedis on the advice of the god Indra, whose friendship he had acquired by his austerities, and who, pleased with his asceticism, presented him with a great crystal car.² Because of his riding on it and moving through the upper regions like a celestial being, he came to be known as Uparicara.³ King Uparicara Vasu had one son and one daughter by an apsarā named Adrikā. The daughter, who was named Satyavatī, became the mother of Kṛṣṇadvaipāyana and others, and was the queen of King Śāntanu. The son afterwards became a virtuous and powerful monarch named Matsya. We further read that Uparicara Vasu Caidya had a few other sons, namely, Bṛhadratha, Pratyagraha, Kuśāmba and others, who founded kingdoms and cities which were named after them.¹ The Vāyupurāṇa (Chap. 99) also confirms the story of the conquest of the Cedi country by Vasu the Paurava. We read there that Yayāti had a chariot which used to move according to his desire. This chariot came into the hands of Vasu, king of the Cedis. According to another account, Vasu, a descendant of Kuru, conquered the Yādava kingdom of Cedi, and established himself there, whence he was known as Caidya-Uparicara. His capital was Śuktimatī on the river of the same name. He extended his conquests eastwards as far as Magadha and apparently also north-west over Matsya. He divided his territories of Magadha, Cedi, Kauśāmbi, Karūṣa and apparently Matsya among his five sons. His eldest son Bṛhadratha took Magadha with Girivraja as his capital, and founded the famous Bārhadratha dynasty there.²

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¹ M. N. Dutt, *Mahābhārata*, p. 83.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 84.

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 85.

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¹ M. N. Dutt, Mbh., p. 84; Mbh. Ādiparvan, Chap. 63, pp. 69-71.

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² Pargiter, Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, p. 282.

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Another section of the Mahābhārata³ also speaks of the greatness of the Cedi monarch, Uparicara Vasu, and describes an Aśvamedha sacrifice which he performed.

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³ Mbh., Śāntiparvan, Chaps. 136 and 137, pp. 1802-4.

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In the Cetiya Jātaka,⁴ we find a dynastic list of the ancestors of Upacara or Apacara, who was the ruler of Sotthivatinagara⁵ in the kingdom of Ceti. King Upacara had five sons one of whom went to the east, and founded Hatthipura; while the second son went to the south, and founded Assapura; the third to the west, and founded Sīhapura; the fourth to the north, and founded Uttarapañcāla; and the last son went to the north-west, and founded Daddarapura.

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⁴ Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. III, pp. 454-461. See also Pañcāla chapter.

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⁵ Evidently identical with Śuktimati.

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The next Cedi monarch who appears to have acquired considerable power in the Epic period is Śiśupāla who is called Damaghoṣasuta (Mbh., I, 7029) or Damaghoṣātmaja (II, 1594; III, 516). He allied himself with the great Jarāsandha and on account of his heroism was appointed generalissimo of the Magadhan emperor.⁶ His conduct appears to have roused the displeasure of many of the Kṣatriya tribes of his time, but he was looked upon with such fear that he was considered as an incarnation of the great Daitya Hiraṇya-Kaśipu,⁷ and the Epic tells us that he bore a charmed colours like a deer.¹ The Cedi king along with Bhīma and others was placed in the front of the Pāṇḍava army.² He and his brother Suketu were killed in the Kurukṣetra war.³ Bhīma mentioned eighteen kings who by their great strength ruined their friends and relations, and among them was Sahaja of the Cedi dynasty.⁴ From the Aśvamedhaparvan of the *Mahābhārata*,⁵ we learn that Arjuna fought and defeated Sarabha, the son of Śiśupāla, at the city of Śukti in the kingdom of Cedi.

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⁶ Mbh., II, 14, 10-11.

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⁷ Ādiparvan, 67, 5.

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¹ *Droṇaparvan*, Chap. 22, pp. 1012-3.

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² *Bhīṣmaparvan*, Chap. 19, p. 830. See also Chap. 59, p. 935.

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³ *Mbh.*, *Karṇaparvan*, Chap. 6, p. 1169.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, *Udyogaparvan*, Chap. 74, p. 717. Cf. *Ibid.*, Chap. 72, p. 714.

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⁵ Chapters 83-4, pp. 2093-4.

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The *Viṣṇupurāṇa* (4-12) and the *Agnipurāṇa* (275) tell us that the descendants of Cedi, son of Kauśika, were known as Caidyas. The *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa* (Chaps. 129-31) refers to a Cedi princess, Suśobhanā by name, who was one of the many queens of King Maru. It is recorded in the *Viṣṇupurāṇa* (4, 12) that Vidarbha, son of Jyāmagha, had three sons of whom Kauśika was one. Cedi was a son of Kauśika, and the descendants of this Cedi were known as Caidyarājās.⁶ In the *Matsyapurāṇa* (Chap. 44), Cedi is written as Cidi.⁷ The *Kūrmapurāṇa* (Chap. 24) tells a similar story of the origin of the name of Cedi. King Vidarbha, it says, had a son named Cidi, and after him, his descendants came to be known as Caidyas. Dyutimān was the eldest of his sons, the others being Vapusmān, Bṛhatmedhā, Śrīdeva and Vītaratha. Pargiter observes⁸ that Cedi and other kingdoms, e.g. Vatsa, did not come under the rule of the Pauravas; but we may note that the famous king Vasu Uparicara was a Paurava by birth. Pargiter suggests that Pratyagraha may have taken Cedi.⁹

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⁶ *Vāyupurāṇa*, Chap. 95.

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⁷ *Agnipurāṇa*, Chap. 275.

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⁸ *Ancient Indian Historical Tradition*, p. 293.

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⁹ *Ibid.*, p. 118.

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In the *Mahābhārata*, we find the Cedis allied in a group with such western tribes as the Pañcālas, Matsyas and Karūṣas, and also with peoples who lived in the east, such as the Kāśīs and Kośalas. We read of the Cedi-Kārūṣakāḥ bhūmipālāḥ, or rulers of the Cedis and Kārūṣakas, who espoused the cause of the Pāṇḍavas.¹⁰ Elsewhere the Cedi-Pañcāla-Kaikeyas are grouped together.¹¹ Again, we are told that Dhṛṣṭaketu was the leader of the Cedi-Kāśī-Karūṣa peoples¹²; and we find the group Cedi-Kāśī-Karūṣa fighting together.¹³ Sometimes the Cedis are grouped together with the Kārūṣas and the Matsyas ¹; or with the Kārūṣas, Matsyas, and Pañcālas ²; or with the Kārūṣas and Kośalas.³ These examples could be further multiplied; but we can gather from those already quoted that the Cedis are found combined with the Matsyas in the majority of cases, and it seems that the Matsyas were their immediate neighbours on the west, and the Kāśīs on the east.

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¹⁰ V, 22.

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¹¹ V, 144.

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¹² V, 196.

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¹³ VI, 47; VI, 106; VI, 115; VI, 116.

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¹ VI, 54; VIII, 30.

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² VI, 59.

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³ VII, 21.

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The capital of the Cedi king, Dhṛṣṭaketu, is called Śuktimatī,⁴ and is described as named after Śukti or oyster.⁵ This city appears to have stood on the river Śuktimatī which, we are told,⁶ flowed near the capital of the Cedi king, Vasu Uparicara, and which is also described in the geographical chapter of the Bhīṣmaparvan (VI, 9) as one of the rivers in Bhāratavarṣa.

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⁴ Mbh., III, 22.

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⁵ Mbh., XIV, 83.

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⁶ Mbh., I, 63.

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The Viṣṇudharmottara Mahāpurāṇa (Chap. 9) mentions Cedi as a janapada or country, and so does the Padmapurāṇa (3rd chapter). Cedi (Ceti) is also mentioned in the Jaina and Buddhist literatures as one of the sixteen mahājanapadas.⁷ The Cetis, says Rhys Davids, were probably the same tribe as that called Cedi in older documents, and had two distinct settlements. One, probably the older, was in the mountains in what is now called Nepal. The other, probably a later colony, was near Kauśāmbī to the east, and has been confused with the land of the Vaṃsa (Vatsa).⁸ S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar in his Ancient India ⁹ agrees with Rhys Davids that one branch of the Cedis had their local habitat in Bundelkhand, the other being located somewhere in Nepal. D. R. Bhandarkar says that Ceta or Cetiya corresponds roughly to the modern Bundelkhand ¹⁰; while Rapson says that in the post-Vedic period the Cedis occupied the northern portion of the Central Provinces.¹¹ In the Cambridge History of India (p. 84), we read that the Cedis dwelt in Bundelkhand to the north of the Vindhyas; while Pargiter says ¹² that Cedi lay along the south of the Jumna. The following is a summary given by N. L. Dey in his Geographical Dictionary (p. 14): According to Tod, Chanderi, a town in Malwa, was the capital of Śiśupāla who was killed by Kṛṣṇa. According to Dr. Führer, Dahala Maṇḍala was the ancient Cedi. Some are of opinion that Cedi comprised the southern portion of Bundelkhand and northern portion of Jabbalpur. Kālañjara was the capital of Cedi under the Gupta kings. Cedi was also called Tripuri.

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⁷ Aṅguttara Nikāya, Vol. IV, pp. 252, 256 and 260; Cf. Bhagavatī Sūtra.

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⁸ Buddhist India, p. 26.

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⁹ p. 8.

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¹⁰ Carmichael Lectures, 1918, p. 52.

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¹¹ Ancient India, p. 162.

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¹² Ancient Indian Historical Tradition, p. 272.

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Cunningham remarks that in the inscriptions of the Kalachuri or Haihaya dynasty of Cedi, the Rājās assumed the titles of ‘Lords of Kālañjarapura and of Tri-Kaliṅga’. Kālañjar is the well-known hill-fort in Bundelkhand; and Tri-Kaliṅga or the ‘three Kaliṅgas’ must be the three kingdoms of Dhanaka or Amarāvatī on the Kistnā, Andhra or Warangal, and Kaliṅga or Rājāmahendri.¹

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¹ Ancient Geography, p. 518.

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It is stated in the *Vessantara Jātaka* that Cetaraṭṭha (i.e. Cedi-rāṣṭra, kingdom of the Cedis) was 30 yojanas distant from Jetuttara-nagara, the birthplace of King Vessantara. It was inhabited by 60,000 Khattiyas (Kṣatriyas) who are also described as Cetiya-rājās. Vessantara with his wife and children started from Jetuttara at breakfast-time and reached the capital of Cetaraṭṭha in the evening. The Cedis’ hospitality to strangers is illustrated by this story; for we read that the Cedis offered food and hospitality to Vessantara who had been banished from the kingdom of his father Śivi; and when the prince proceeded to Vaṅkapabbata, the ‘60,000 Khattiyas’ followed him to a certain distance as a kind of bodyguard.²

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² Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. VI, pp. 514-5.

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In the *Ādiparvan* of the *Mahābhārata*, we read that the kingdom of Cedi was full of riches, gems and precious stones, and contained much mineral wealth. The cities in the kingdom were full of honest, virtuous, and contented people. Here sons were mindful of their parents’ welfare; here lean kine were never yoked to the plough or to the cart engaged in carrying merchandise,—they were all well-fed and fat. In Cedi, the four castes were engaged in doing their respective duties.³

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³ M. N. Dutt, Mahābhārata, Ādiparvan, p. 84.

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In the *Vedabbha Jātaka*, we read that in a village in Benares there was a brahmin who was acquainted with a charm called Vedabbha. He went to the Cetiya country with the Bodhisattva, who was his pupil. Five hundred robbers caught them in a forest on the way, took the brahmin prisoner, and told the Bodhisattva to fetch a ransom for him. By repeating his charm, the brahmin caused money to shower from the sky; whereupon the robbers took the money and released him. But the first band of robbers was attacked by another band of the same number; and eventually the brahmin and all the robbers were destroyed, so that when the Bodhisattva returned with the ransom money, he found none there.⁴ This account shows that the way from Benares to Cedi was frequented by robbers and was unsafe for travellers.

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⁴ Jātaka (Fausböll), Vol. I, pp. 253 foll.

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In the *Aṅguttara Nikāya*,¹ we read that on several occasions Mahācunda, an eminent disciple of the Buddha, dwelt in the town of Sahajāti among the Cedis. The same Nikāya ² further tells us that Anuruddha (first cousin and disciple of the Buddha) dwelt among the Cedis in the Deer-Park of Pācīnavamsa. In the *Dīgha Nikāya*,³ we read that the Buddha went to the Cedis and other tribes while out preaching; while the *Saṃyutta Nikāya* ⁴ informs us that many theras were dwelling among the Cedis in the Sahañcanika.

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¹ Vol. III (P.T.S.), pp. 355-6; Vol. V, pp. 41 ff.; 157-161.

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² P.T.S., Vol. IV, pp. 228 ff.

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³ Vol. II, pp. 200, 201, 203, *Janavasabha Suttanta*.

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⁴ Vol. V, pp. 436-7.

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The Cedis of the Vedic period, like other tribes, e.g. the Purus, were a group of families, says Dr. V. A. Smith, and in each family the father was master. The whole tribe was governed by a Rājā whose power was checked to an undefined extent by a tribal council. The details recorded suggest that the life of the people was not unlike that of many tribes of Afghanistan in modern times, before the introduction of fire-arms.⁵

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⁵ *Ancient and Hindu India*, p. 22.

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The later kings of Cedi used an era according to which the year I was equivalent to A.D. 248-9. This era, also called the Traikūṭaka, originated in Western India, where its use can be traced back to the fifth century. The reason for its adoption by the kings of Cedi is not apparent.⁶ Rapson remarks that each of certain eras, e.g. the Traikūṭaka, Cedi, or Kalacuri era of 249 A.D., the Gupta era of 319 A.D., and the era of King Harṣavardhana of 606 A.D., marks the establishment of a great power in some region of India, and originally denoted the regnal years of its founder.⁷

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⁶ V. A. Smith, *Early History of India*, 4th Ed., p. 409.

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⁷ *Ancient India*, p. 22.

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Kokalladeva I of the Cedi dynasty helped Bhojadeva II (c. 907-910 A.D.) to ascend the throne of Kanouj; and it is evident from the stone inscription of the kings of the Cedi dynasty discovered at Vishari that Kokalladeva I erected two wonderful monuments.⁸ During the reign of Mahīpāladeva of Bengal (c. 978-1030), Gāṅgeyadeva of the Cedi dynasty attacked Gauḍa and occupied Mithilā.⁹ Towards the close of the eleventh century, Kānyakubja (Kanouj) came under the sway of Karṇadeva (c. 1040-1070), son of Gāṅgeyadeva.¹⁰

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⁸ R. D. Banerjee, *Vāṅgālār Itihāsa*, p. 202.

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⁹ *Ibid.*, p. 224.

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¹⁰ *Prācīna Mudrā*, p. 215.

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Numismatists suppose that Gāṅgeyadeva issued a new coinage in Uttarāpatha.¹¹ Only coins of this monarch of the Cedi dynasty of Dāhala have been discovered, and no coins of the kings prior or posterior to him in the dynasty are known to us.¹ Gold, silver and copper coins of Gāṅgeyadeva have been discovered. On one side is the name of the king in two lines, and on the other a figure of a four-armed goddess.²

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¹¹ *Ibid.*, p. 211.

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¹ *Prācīna Mudrā*, p. 212.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 212.

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Coins of one king of the Cedi or Kalacuri dynasty of Kalyāṇapura have also been discovered. On one side of the coins is engraved the figure of the boar-incarnation, and on the other is written ‘Murāri’ in Nāgarī characters. Murāri, as R. D. Banerjee says, is perhaps another name of Someśvaradeva, the second king of the above-mentioned Cedi dynasty.³

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³ *Ibid.*, p. 184.

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