Vedic Index of Names and Subjects v1.c3.s11.421

v1.c3.s11.421

Kīkaṭa.—The name of this people occurs only in one passage of the Rigveda, where they appear as hostile to the singer and as under the leadership of Pramaganda. Yāska² declares that Kīkaṭa was the name of a non-Āryan country, and later³ Kīkaṭa is given as a synonym of Magadha. Hence Zimmer⁴ concludes that the Kīkaṭas were a non-Āryan people living in the country later known as Magadha. Weber⁵ holds that this people were located in Magadha, but were Āryan, though at variance with other Āryan tribes, perhaps because of heretical tendencies, for Magadha was later a seat of Buddhism. But the identification is uncertain, and is doubted by Oldenberg⁶ and Hillebrandt.⁷