Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India c8.s3.124

c8.s3.124

Mahāpurī appears to refer to Delhi which was the capital of the Mughal emperors at the time of the composition of the work to which the verse belongs. Mahā-Kośala is no doubt the same as old Kośala ruled by the Sūrya-vamśī kings from their capital at Ayodhyā, near modern Fyzābād in Oudh (Ayodhyā). The name Mahā-Kośala thus appears to be wrongly applied now to indicate South Kośala, *i.e.* the Raipur-Sambalpur-Bilaspur region in Madhya Pradesh and Orissa.³ If we prefer the reading *sarvataḥ* to *pūrvataḥ*, Mahāpurī would possibly indicate Ayodhyā, the ancient capital of the Kośala *janapada*.