Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.629

c6.629

Rāmagāma.—It is Rampur Deoriya in the district of Basti in Oudh. The Koliyas had their settlement here. The Koliyas were one of the republican clans in the Buddha's time having two settlements, one at Rāmagāma and the other at Devadaha. The *Sumaṅgalavilāsinī* (pp. 260-62) records an interesting story of their origin. According to the *Mahāvastu* (I, 352-55) the Koliyas were the descendants of the sage Kola. The *Kuṇāla-Jātaka* (*Jāt.*, V, 413) says that the Koliyas used to dwell in the Kola tree. Hence they came to be called the Koliyas. The Buddha brought about a conciliation between the Śākyas and the Koliyas who had long been in conflict. (*Theragāthā*, V. 529; *Jāt.*, Cowell, V, p. 56). The Śākyas and the Koliyas had the river Rohiṇī confined by a single dam and they cultivated their crops by means of water of this river (*Jātaka*, Cowell, V, 219ff.). Buddha succeeded in restoring peace among his kinsmen when a quarrel broke out between the Śākyas and the Koliyas regarding the possession of this river (*Jātaka*, I, 327; IV, 207). Cunningham identifies it with the modern Rowai or Rohwaini, a small stream which joins the Rāptī at Gorakhpur.