Tribes in Ancient India c60.55

c60.55

The Bhaggas of the Sumsumāra Hill are casually referred to in some suttas of the *Majjhima* and *Saṃyutta Nikāyas*.¹ There is no doubt that the Sumsumāra Hill, their capital, was used as a fort. It was situated in a deer park at Bhesakaḷāvana. In the lifetime of the Buddha, Prince Bodhi, son of Udena (Udayana), ruled over the Bhaggas, apparently as his father’s Viceroy. He became a follower of the Buddha.² When the Buddha was amongst the Bhaggas, the householder Nakulapitā came to him and asked for instruction, afterwards becoming one of the devotees of the Master at Bhesakaḷāvana.³ The Bhagga country lay between Vesālī and Sāvatthī.⁴ In the *Apadāna*,⁵ the Bhaggas are mentioned with the Kārūsas.