Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.523

c6.523

Mathurā which was the home of the Vṛṣṇis and Andhakas, was attacked by demons.⁸ The Vṛṣṇis and the Andhakas being afraid of the demons left Mathurā and established their capital at Dvārāvatī.⁹ It was also besieged by Jarāsandha, king of Magadha, with a huge army. At the time of his great departure Yudhiṣṭhira installed Vajranābha on the throne of Mathurā.¹⁰ On the eve of the rise of the Gupta power, seven Nāga kings reigned here.¹¹ Śatrughna reigned in this city with his two sons Suvāhu and Śūrasena.¹² Ugrasena and Kaṃsa were the kings of Mathurā, which was ruled by Andhaka's descendants.¹³ Pargiter suggests that the conquest of Śūrasena and Mathurā by Rāma's brother Śatrughna a little earlier than the reign of Sudās, may have led some of the Vasiṣṭhas into other kingdoms.¹⁴ Bhīma Sātvata expelled Śatrughna's sons from Mathurā and he and his descendants reigned there.¹⁵ After attacking the Sātvata Yādavas on the west of the Jumna and killing Mādhava Lavana, Śatrughna built the capital city of Mathurā in the country thenceforward called Śūrasena. The Andhakas ruled Mathurā which was the chief Yādava capital.¹⁶ Jarāsandha, king of Magadha, rose to the highest power, extended his supremacy around and as far as Mathurā, where Kaṃsa, the Yādava king, who married two of his daughters, acknowledged him as overlord.