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Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c7.s5: 5. Jain Lists of Janapadas

Cosmography and Geography in Early Indian Literature c7.s5

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5. Jain Lists of Janapadas

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We have had occasion to quote above the Jain list of 16 territories side by side with the Buddhist list of the 16 Mahājanapadas (great states) flourishing in the age of the Buddha. The Jain list, found in the *Bhagavatīsūtra*, contains the following names, as we seen—

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1. Aṅga, 2. Vaṅga, 3. Magadha, 4. Malaya, 5. Mālavaka, 6. Accha (Ṛkṣa or Matsya ?), 7. Vatsa, 8. Koccha (Kaccha ?), 9. Paḍha (Pāṇḍya ?), 10. Lāṭa or Rāḍha, 11. Vṛji, 12. Moli (Malla ?), 13. Kāsī, 14. Kośala, 15. Avāha (?), and 16. Subhattara or Sambhuttara (?). The names of at least Nos. 8, 9, 12, 15 and 16 appear to be rather fanciful while such wrongly spelt names also characterise the other Jain lists.

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The Jains divided the peoples of India into two groups, viz. Aryan (Ārya) and Nonaryan (Mleccha). The 16 names quoted above belong to the first of these groups while the second group of Mleccha peoples consists of—

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1. Kirāta, 2. Varvara, 3. Vakuṣa, 4. Yavana, 5. Pahlava, 6. Ṛṣīṇa (Ruṣāṇa ?), 7. Carukīna or Tharukīna (?), 8. Hlāsa, 9. Lakuśa, 10. Draviḍa, 11. Siṃhala, 12. Āraba (Arab), 13. Pulindra (Pulinda), 14. Pakkaṇa (Vokkāṇa ?), 15. Bahala (Bāhlīka ?), 16. Muruṇḍa, 17. Śabara, and 18. Pārasa (Persian).²¹

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²¹ Kirfel, op. cit., p. 227.

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There is a later list of countries of the following 20 Aryan peoples mentioned along with their chief cities and the number of villages therein.

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| 1. | Magadha | Rājagṛha | 16,200,000 |
| 2. | Aṅga | Campā | 100,000 |
| 3. | Vaṅga (v.l. Tilaṅga) | Tāmralipta²² | 80,000 |
| 4. | Kaliṅga | Kāñcanapura (?) | 100,000 |
| 5. | Kāśī | Vārāṇasī | 195,000 |
| 6. | Kosala | Sāketa | 99,000 |
| 7. | Kuru | Gajapura (i.e. Hastināpura) | 87,325 |
| 8. | Kuśārtha or Kuśāvarta | Saurika or Seripura (?) | 282,000 |
| 9. | Pañcāla (i.e. South Pañcāla) | Kāmpilya | 145,000 |
| 10. | Jāṅgala (i.e. North Pañcāla) | Ahicchatra | 68,525 |
| 11. | Saurāṣṭra | Dvāravati | 185,000 |
| 12. | Videha | Mithilā | 800,355 |
| 13. | Vatsa | Kauśāmbī | 68,028 |
| 14. | Sāṇḍilya (?) | Nandipura (?) | 10,000 |
| 15. | Malaya | Bhadrilapura (?) | 100,000 |
| 16. | Matsya (v.l. Vatsa) | Vairāṭapura | 28,000 |
| 17. | Varaṇa (Bannu) | Acchāpurī (?) | 892,000 |
| 18. | Daśārṇa | Mṛttikāvatī (?) ^23 | 41,003 |
| 19. | Cedi | Śuktikamati | 14,000 |
| 20. | Sindhu | Vitabhaya (?) | 68,000 |
| 21. | Sauvīra | Mathurā (really, capital of the Śūrasena) | 68,000 |
| 22. | Śūrasena | Pāpā (Pāvā ; really, capital of the Malla) | 19,015 |
| 23. | Bhṛṅga (?) | Māsapurī (?) | 29,015 |

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²² [Note text missing in source]

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22. The mention of Tāmralipta as the capital of Vaṅga, not corroborated by any other source, is interesting since it reminds us of the Gangaridae of Deltaic Bengal (i.e. the Vaṅga) having their capital at Gange or Ganges (near the confluence of the Bhāgīrathī and the Bay of Bengal) mentioned in the *Periplus* and *Ptolemy’s Geography*.

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23. There appear to have been more than one city called Mṛttikāvatī and one people called Mārttikāvata, the Sālvas having a city named Mṛttikāvatī according to one tradition. See Pargiter, *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, trans., pp. 342, 349, where one of the cities of that name has been located in the Gujarat region.

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²³ [Note text missing in source]

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24. Kuṇāla (? a part of Kosala) Śrāvastī
25. Lāṭa Koṭivarṣa (really, modern Bāṅgaḍh in North Bengal) 61,000
26. Kekay-ārdha (½ of Kekaya) Śvetavyā (? between Kapilavastu and Śrāvastī according to Buddhist literature)

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Some of the names are doubtful, while the names of the capital cities mentioned in relation to a few of them are apparently wrong. The corresponding list of the Mleccha peoples contain 52 names, many of them being fanciful—1. Śaka, 2. Yavana, 3. Kirāta, 4. Śabara, 5. Varvara, 6. Kāya, 7. Muruṇḍa, 8. Oḍra, 9. Bhaṭaka, 10. Bhittika (with variants), 11. Pakvana (Pakkana of the earlier list), 12. Kulakṣa, 13. Koṇḍa, 14. Siṃhala, 15. Pārasa (Persia), 16. Krauñca, 17. Andhra, 18. Draviḍa, 19. Bilvala, 20. Pulinda, 21. Ārosa (Urasā, Aurasa), 22. Domba, 23. Pokkāna (cf. No. 11), 24. Gandhahāraka (Gandhāra), 25. Bahala (Bāhlika), 26. Jallāra, 27. Māmāṣa, 28. Vakuṣa, 29. Malaya, 30. Cuñcuka, 31. Cūlika, 32. Koṅkaṇa, 33. Meda, 34. Pahlava, 35. Mālava, 36. Abhāṣika, 37. Anakṣa, 38. Cīna, 39. Lāsika (Hlāsa ?), 40. Khasa, 41. Khāsika, 42. Nettara, 43. Mahārāṣṭra, 44. Muṣṭika, 45. Āraba, 46. Dombilaka, 47. Kukuṇa (Kukura), 48. Kekaya, 49. Hūṇa, 50. Romaka, 51. Bharupud, and 52. Maruka.²⁴

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²⁴ Kirfel, loc. cit.

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In connection with the fanciful numbers of villages mentioned as pertaining to the Aryan territories of the bigger list, it may be noted that we have seen elsewhere²⁵ how territorial names like Gaṅgavāḍi—96,000, Banavāsi—12,000, Belvola—300, Kuknūr—30, etc., were popular especially in the Karṇāṭa country and how a similar list of countries with the conventional number of grāmas contained therein is found in Chapter 39 (verses 27ff.) of the Kumārikā-khaṇḍa Sub-section of the Māheśvara-khaṇḍa Section of the Skanda Purāṇa.

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²⁵ Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 198ff.

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This list contains the following names which are quoted below together with the number of villages in eaeh one of them : 1. Nivṛt—4 crores, 2. Bālāka—2½ crores, 3. Purasāhaṇaka—1 ½ crores, 4. Amdhala or Amala—4 lakhs, 5. Nepāla—1 lakh, 6. Kānyakubja—36 lakhs, 7. Gājaṇaka or Mājaṇaka—72 lakhs, 8. Gauḍa—18 lakhs, 9. Kāmarūpa—9 lakhs, 10. Dāhala—9 lakhs, 11. Kāntipura—9 lakhs, 12. Mācīpura—9 lakhs, 13. Oḍḍiyāna—9 or 7 lakhs, 14. Jālandhara—9 lakhs, 15. Lohapura (Lahore)—9 lakhs, 16. Pāmbipura—7 lakhs, 17. Raṭarāja (Raṭṭarājya)—7 lakhs, 18. Hariyāla (Hariyāṇa)—5 lakhs, 19. Draḍa (Draviḍa)—

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3½ lakhs, 20. Bambhanavāhaka (Brāhmaṇavāha, Bahmanâbâd)—3½ lakhs, 21. Nīlapura—21 thousands, 22. Amala or Mala—1 lakh, 23. Narendu—1¼ lakhs, 24. Atilāṅgala—1¼ lakhs, 27. Mevāḍa—1¼ lakhs, 28. Vāguri—80 thousands, 29. Gujarāta—70 thousands, 30. Pāṇḍu (cf. No. 68)—70 thousands, 31. Jahāhuti (Jejābhukti)—42 thousands, 32. Kāśmīra—68 thousands, 33. Kauṅkaṇa—63 thousands, 34. Laghu-Kauṅkaṇa—1422, 35. Sindhu—20 thousands, 36. Kaccha—1422, 37. Saurāṣṭra—55 thousands, 38. Lāḍa (Lāṭa)—21 thousands, 39. Atisindhu—10 thousands, 40. Aśvamukha—10 thousands, 41. Ekapāda—10 thousands, 42. Sūryamukha or Sūrpanakha (Sūrpāraka)—10 thousands, 43. Ekabāhu—10 thousands, 44. Sañjāyu (Sañjān)—10 thousands, 45. Śiva (Śivapura)—10 thousands, 46. Kalahayañjaya (Kālañjara)—10 thousands, 47. Liṅgodbhava—10 thousands, 48. Bhadra—10 thousands, 49. Devabhadra— 10 thousands, 50. Cāṭa (Caṭṭagrāma ?)—36 thousands, 51. Virāṭa—37 thousands, 52. Yamakoṭi—36 thousands, 53. Rāmaka (Romaka)—18 crores, 54. Tomara—1¼ lakhs, 55. Karṇāṭa—1¼ lakhs, 56. Yugala or Puṅgala—1¼ lakhs, 57. Strīrājya—5 lakhs, 58. Pulastya or Mulastya—10 lakhs, 59. Kāmboja—10 lakhs, 60. Kośala—10 lakhs, 61. Bāhlika—10 lakhs, 62. Laṅkā—36 thousands, 63. Kuru—46 thousands, 64. Kirāta—1¼ lakhs, 65. Vidarbha—5 lakhs, 66. Vardhamāna—14 thousands, 67. Simhala—10 thousands, 68. Pāṇḍu (cf. No. 30)—36 thousands, 69. Bhayānaka—1 lakh, 70. Magadha—66 thousands, 71. Pāṅgu or Pāṇḍu (cf. Nos. 30, 68)—60 thousands, 72. Varendu (Varendrī)—30 thousands, 73. Mūlasthāna—25 thousands, 74. Yavana—40 thousands, and 75. Pakṣabāhu or Yakṣabāhu—4 thousands.²⁶ Some of the names are redundant; cf. Nos. 30 and 68. It is said to have been a list of 72 names, though we have actually 75 with a few repetitions.

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²⁶ For some emendations for the wrong forms of the names, see Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind., pp. 201-04.

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This list may be slightly better than the Jain one in that a few of its numbers are supported by other traditions as we shall see below. In any case, both the Jain and Puranic lists may be compared with the following list found in Vinayacandra's Kāvyaśikṣā : 1. Surāṣṭra—9 thousands, 2. Lāṭa—21 thousands, 3. Gurjara—70 thousands, 4. Pārata—70 thousands, 5. Dāhala—9 lakhs, 6. Mālava—9 lakhs and 92, 7. Kānyakubja—46 lakhs, etc.

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As regards other epigraphic and literary traditions regarding the number of villages in particular countries, we may refer to the following—
1. Śākambhari—1¼ lakhs, 2. Kosala—6 lakhs and 96, 3. Kāśmīra—66,063, or 1 lakh, or 10 thousands, 4. Gujarāt—80,000 or 70,000, 5. Siwalik (Śākambharī)—125,000, 6. Mālava—1,893,000, 7. Arbuda—1800, 8. Ajmer—1 lakh, 9. Gondwana—70,000, 10. the Nalapura kingdom of the Yajvapālas—75000, etc.²⁷

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²⁷ Cf. *Stud. Geog. Anc. Med. Ind.*, p. 204 ; P. Neogi, *The Economic History of Northern India*, pp. 3ff. ; Stein, *Kalhaṇa's Rājatarangiṇī*. Vol. ii, pp. 438-39.

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