Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.415

c6.415

From some of the Gāhaḍavāla records (e.g., Rawian Grant, Bhandarkar's List of Northern Inscriptions, No. 222) we find that the Ādikeśava-ghaṭṭa near the confluence of the Varuṇā and the Ganges to the north of Benaras was then regarded as a part of Benaras. The southern boundary of the city of Benaras extended at least up to the confluence of the Asī and the Ganges (I.C., II, 148). A Buddhist inscription from Bodh-Gayā of the reign of Jayacandradeva refers to Kāśī. A king of Kāśī is stated to have been defeated by Lakṣmaṇasena according to the Mādhāinagar Grant (J.P.A.S.B., N.S., Vol. V, pp. 467ff.; cf. E.I., XXVI, Pt. I, India Office Plate of Lakṣmaṇasena). The Caṇḍrāvatī Grant of Caṇḍradeva (E.I., XIV, 193) shows the extension of Gāhaḍavāla dominions from Benaras and Kanauj to the confluence of the Sarayū and Ghargharā (Gogra) in Ayodhyā (Fyzabad district). The kingdom of Kāśī was bordered by Kosala on the north, Magadha on the east, and Vatsa on the west (Cambridge History of India, I, 316). It was a wealthy and prosperous city (Aṅguttara, I, 213; Dīgha, II, 75). Kāśī is mentioned several times in the Vedic literature and in the Epics (Śaṅkhyāyana Śrautasūtra, XVI, 29, 5; Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, III, 8, 2; Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, XIII, 5, 4, 19; Kauśitakī Upaniṣad, IV, 1; Baudhāyana Śrautasūtra, XVIII, 44; Rāmāya: a.