Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s5.109

c9.s5.109

If we take the miraculous element out of the text the plain fact emerges that the Buddha, with his monks, reached Koṭigāma by boat. The commentator states that was the last village or the frontier-post of the Magadhan king. But it would appear from the context that this Koṭigāma was situated between Pāṭaligāma and Nādikāgāma. The latter are the "two villages near the river," or on the bank of the Ganges. Then the Nādikā villages must be placed near or on the north bank of the Ganges opposite Pāṭaligāma and Koṭigāma must be located between the two. The two villages stood on the two banks—the Nādikā villages on the north in Vajjian territory,⁸ and Pāṭaligāma on the south bank in Magadhan territory. But it is possible for Koṭigāma to be located between the two villages only if it was situated on an island between the two streams of the Ganges. We have considerable evidence to prove that at this time there was an island about twelve miles long and four miles wide dividing the Ganges into two streams.⁹