Historical Geography of Ancient India c10.439

c10.439

The Śākyas took shelter at Vidiśā being afraid of Viḍuḍabha.⁴ Aśoka halted at the city of Vidiśā, while he was on his way to Ujjayini to join the post of Maurya viceroy (*uparājā*) of Avanti.⁵ Here he married Devi, who was endowed with signs of great persons and a young daughter⁶ of a banker named Deva belonging to Vidiśā. According to the *Mahābodhivamsa* (pp. 98, 110) she was honoured as Vedisamahādevi and was represented as a Śākya princess. Devi was taken to Ujjayini where she gave birth to a son named Mahinda and two years later, a daughter named Samghamittā.⁷ Devi stayed at Vidiśā but her children accompanied their father when he came to Pāṭaliputra and seized the throne. Samghamittā was given in marriage to Agnibrahmā, a nephew of Aśoka (*bhāgineyyo*—sister's son),⁸ and a son was born to them called Sumana. Dr. Barua rightly points out that the Sanskrit legends and the inscriptions of Aśoka are silent on this point.⁹ Vedisamahādevi was by his side at the time of Aśoka's coronation.¹⁰ Dr. Barua thinks that the Vidiśā residence of Devi favours the idea of having separate family establishments for individual wives at different towns.¹¹