Tribes in Ancient India c31.14

c31.14

The city proper, as Rhys Davids says, included the land between the Baraṇā and the Asi. ‘Its extent including the suburbs, is often stated to have been, at the time when it was the capital of an independent kingdom (that is some time before the rise of Buddhism) 12 leagues or about 85 miles.’¹¹ In the Jātakas we find the extent of the city mentioned as 12 yojanas.¹ Nowadays, Benares extends four miles along the bank of the river, which here descends to the water with a steep brink. Down this brink are built flights of steps known as ghats, at the foot of which pilgrims bathe and dead bodies are burnt.²