Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c35.1180

v2.c35.1180

2. Videha, Videhā.—A country and its people. At the time of the Buddha, Videha formed one of the two important principalities of the Vajjian confederacy. Its capital was Mithilā (q.v.). The kingdom bordered on the Ganges, on one side of which was Magadha and on the other Videha.¹ Adjacent to it were Kāsī and Kosala. In the Gandhāra Jātaka² the kingdom of Videha is said to have been three hundred leagues in extent, with sixteen thousand villages, well-filled storehouses and sixteen thousand dancing girls. Videha was a great trade centre, and mention is made³ of merchants coming from Sāvatthi to sell their wares in Videha. The Suruci Jātaka (q.v.) seems to show that a close connection existed between Videha and Benares. In the Buddha's time, one of Bimbisāra's queens was probably from Videha (see Vedehiputta). Mention is also made⁴ of a friendship existing between the kings of Gandhāra and Videha. In earlier times Videha was evidently a kingdom, its best-known kings being Mahājanaka and Nimi (q.v.); but in the Buddha's time it was a republic, part of the Vajjian federation. According to the Mahāgovinda Sutta,⁵ it was King Reṇu who, with the help of Mahāgovinda Jotipāla, founded the Videha kingdom. The Commentaries⁶ state that Videha was colonized by the inhabitants, who were brought from Pubbavideha by King Mandhātā.