Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c29.235

v2.c29.235

The extent of the city of Benares, including its suburbs, at the time when it was the capital of an independent kingdom, is often stated¹² to have been twelve leagues. The names of several kings are mentioned in the Jātakas, among them being those of Aṅga, Uggasena, Udaya, Kikī, Dhanañjaya, Mahāsilava, Vissasena, and Saṃyama.¹³ The name which occurs most frequently, however, is that of Brahmadatta, which seems to have been the dynastic name of the Benares kings. In the Mahāgovinda Sutta, the foundation of Bārāṇasi is attributed to Mahāgovinda, its first king being Dhataraṭṭha, contemporary of Reṇu.¹⁴ The Ceylon Chronicles¹⁵ mention the names of others who reigned in Benares—e.g., Duppasaha and sixty of his descendants; Asoka, son of Samaṅkara, and eighty-four thousand of his descendants; also sixteen kings, ancestors of Okkāka. The city itself had been known by different names at different periods; thus, in the time of the Udaya Jātaka it was called Surundhana; in that of the Sutasoma, Sudassana; in that of the Soṇananda, Brahma-vaddhana; in that of the Khaṇḍahāla, Pupphavatī; in that of the Yuvañjaya, Rammanagara¹⁶; and in that of the Saṅkha, Molinī.¹⁷ It was also called Kāsinagara and Kāsipura,¹⁸ being the capital of Kāsi. The Bhojājāniya Jātaka¹⁹ says that "all the kings around coveted the kingdom of Benares." In the Brahāchatta Jātaka,²⁰ the king of Benares is mentioned as having captured the whole of Kosala. At the time of the Buddha, however, Benares had lost its great political importance. Kosala was already the paramount power in India, and several successful invasions of Kāsi by the Kosalans under their kings Vaṅka, Dabbasena and Kamsa, are referred to. The final conquest would seem to be ascribed to Kamsa because the epithet Bārāṇasiggaha (conqueror of Benares) is an established addition to his name.²¹