Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c27.278

v2.c27.278

1. Pañcāla, Pañcālajanapada, Pañcālaraṭṭha, Pañcālā.—One of the sixteen Mahājanapadas.¹ It consisted of two divisions: Uttara-Pañcāla and Dakkhiṇa-Pañcāla. The river Bhagīrathi (q.v.) formed the boundary between the divisions. According to the Kumbhakāra Jātaka,² the capital of Uttara-Pañcāla was Kampillanagara, where a king named Dummukha once reigned. Pañcāla was to the east of the Kuru country, and, in ancient times, there seems to have been a constant struggle between the Kurus and the Pañcālas for the possession of Uttara-Pañcāla. Thus, sometimes, Uttara-Pañcāla was included in the Kuru kingdom,³ but at other times it formed a part of Kampillaraṭṭha,⁴ Kampilla probably being the capital of Dakkhiṇa-Pañcāla. So it happened that sometimes the kings of Kampillaraṭṭha had their capital in Uttara-Pañcāla-nagara, while at others the kings of Uttara-Pañcāla-nagara had their capital in Kampilla-nagara. Cūḷaṇi-Brahmadatta (q.v.) is described in the Mahā-Ummagga Jātaka⁵ as king of Pañcāla, with his capital in Kampilla. There seems to have been a chieftain (rājā) of Pañcāla even in the Buddha’s day, for we are told⁶ that Visākha Pañcāliputta (q.v.) was the son of the daughter of the “Pañcāla-rājā.” Pañcāla is generally identified⁷ with the country to the north and west of Delhi, from the foot of the Himālaya to the river Chambal.