Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c14.29

c14.29

We are told⁶ that a king of Banaras, named Rāma, suffered from leprosy, and, being detested by the women of his court, entrusted the kingdom to his eldest son, and himself retired into the forest. There, living on woodland leaves and fruits, he soon recovered, and while wandering about, came across Piyā, the eldest of the five daughters of king Okkāka.⁷ She herself was afflicted with leprosy. Rāma cured her and married her. In due course they begot sixteen pairs of sons. With the help of the king of Banaras, they built a town in the forest, removing a big Kola tree in doing so. The city there upon came to be called Kolanagara, and because the site was discovered on a “tigertrack”, Vyagghapatha, it was also called Vyagghapajjā. The descendants of the king were known as the Koliyas.