Historical Geography of Ancient India c6.675

c6.675

*Sthāneśvara* (*Sthāniśvara*).—It was one of the oldest places in ancient India. The name is said to have been derived either from the *sthāna*, i.e., the abode of Iśvara or Mahādeva or from the junction of the names of Sthānu and Iśvara. It was known to Hiuen Tsang as *Sa-ta-ni-shi-fa-lo* which was more than 1,100 miles in circuit. According to Bāṇa’s *Harṣacarita* (Ch. III), it was the capital of Śrīkaṇṭhajanapada. The famous battlefield of Kurukṣetra is situated on the southern side of Thāneśvara, about 30 miles to the south of Ambala and 40 miles north of Panipat. This town contained an old ruined fort about 1,200 ft., square at the top (C.A.G.I., pp. 376ff., 701). S. N. Majumdar (C.A.G.I., Intro. XLIII) proposes to identify it with Thūna (*Sthūna*) mentioned in the *Vinaya Mahāvagga* (V. 13, 12) and the *Divyāvadāna* (p. 22). Thūna was a Brahmin village (cf. *Jātaka*, VI, 62) forming the western boundary of the Madhyadeśa (*Vinaya Texts*, S.B.E., XVII, 38-39).