Tribes in Ancient India c60.10

c60.10

The *Mahāvamsa Commentary*⁴ furnishes us with some interesting information about the origin of the Moriyas of Pipphalivana and their connection with the Maurya rulers of Magadha. We are told that there are two theories about the derivation of the name Moriya. According to one theory, the name is derived from ‘modiya’, meaning pleasing or delightful; the Moriyas were a people who lived in a delightful land. According to the other, the name is connected with ‘mora’, peacock, and the people came to be known as Moriyas from the fact that the place where they founded their city always resounded with the cries of peacocks. Further, the city which they founded had buildings of blue stone, like the neck of the peacock. It is said that the Moriyas were originally Śākyan princes of Kapilavatthu, who escaped to the Himālaya regions to save themselves from the attacks of Viḍūḍabha, the ambitious and cruel usurper of the throne of Kosala, and established a city there, building it around a lake in a forest tract abounding in peepul trees.