Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.443

c6.443

Kosambi.—Kosambi (Skt.: Kauśāmbi; Chinese: Kiau-Shang-Mi) was the capital of the Vaṃsas or Vatsas (Vatsapaṭṭana). It was the birthplace of the sixth Tirthankara (*Avassaka Nirjjuti*, 382). A Stone Pillar Inscription was discovered near Kosam, ancient Kauśāmbi, in Allahabad district (*Kosam Inscription of the Mahārāja Vaiśravaṇa* of the year 107; E.I., XXIV, Pt. IV, p. 146). Vaiśravaṇa was one of the rulers of Kauśāmbi, as it is known from this inscription for the first time. The Kosam Inscription of Bhadramagha’s reign has been discovered in course of exploration of the ancient site of Kauśāmbi (*E.I.*, XXIV, Pt. VI, April, 1938). Patañjali mentions this city in his *Mahābhāṣya* (2. 1. 1, p. 32; 2. 2. 1, p. 124). According to the Pauranic tradition the royal dynasty of the Vatsa country, to which king Udayana (Pali: Udena) belonged, traced its descent from Puru and once held its royal seat in the Kuru kingdom with Hastināpura as its capital. Kosambī was one of the important stopping places of persons travelling along the great trade-route connecting Sāketa and Sāvatthī on the north with Patitṭhāna or Paiṭhāna on the bank of the Godāvarī on the south (Barua and Sinha, *Barhut Inscriptions*, p. 12).