Historical Geography of Ancient India c5.s5.95

c5.s5.95

The earliest mention of the Kāśīs as a tribal people seems to be met with in the Paippalāda recension of the *Atharvaveda*. Patañjali in his *Mahābhāṣya* (Ed. Kielhorn, Vol. II, p. 413) mentions Kāśī cloth. The city of Kāśī is stated to have been situated on the Varaṇāvatī river.¹² According to the *Rāmāyaṇa* it was not a city, but a kingdom.¹³ According to the *Vāyu Purāṇa*, the kingdom of Kāśī seems to have been extended up to the river Gomatī. Before the Buddha’s time Kāśī was a great political power. It was the most powerful kingdom in the whole of Northern India.¹⁴ Sometimes Kāśī extended its suzerain power over Kosala, and sometimes Kosala conquered Kāśī, but in the Buddha’s time Kāśī lost its political power. It was incorporated into the Kosalan kingdom for some time and for sometime into the Magadhan kingdom. There were fights between Pasenadi of Kosala and Ajātasattu of Magadha for the possession of Kāśī. Kāśī was finally conquered and incorporated into the Magadhan kingdom. Ajātasattu became the most powerful king of Northern India after defeating the Kosalans.¹⁵