Notes: The kingdom of Kosala

Kosala has been described as a very famous kingdom in ancient literature and the Puranas. It was divided into two parts from very ancient time as Uttara (North) Kosala and Daksini (South) Kosala. The Mahabharata (11.30.33; cf, Raghuvamsa, IX, 17) mentions Uttara Kosala in reference to the kingdom of Ayodhya. In regard to Daksini Kosala there are different traditions. The Puranas have described that Iksvaku, the eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu gave the southern portion of his share of Madhyadesa to forty-eight of his sons. One of them named Dandaka brought the forest region of modern Chhattisgarh under his control, which came to be known as Dandakaranya (Padmapurani, V. 8, 130; Bhagavata Purani, I, 6, 4). According to Pargiter, Rama’s sojourn in the region during his exile associated it with his home country Kosala and the name Daksina Kosala came into vogue (Ancient Indian Historical Traditions, London, 1922, p. 278). The second tradition traces the origin of South Kosala to Kusa, the second son of Rama who got this kindom as his share in the partition of Kosala, (Valmiki’s Ramayani, VII, Ch 108 (4,5), p. 1063). I third tradition mentioned in the Mahabharata refers to a mass migration of the people of Kosala owing to the terror of Jarasandha. The immigrants settled in Chhattisgarh region and it came to be known as South Kosala.

Whatever may be the tradition, South Kosala emerged as a separate kingdom from very ancient time although its territorial extent is not known from any source. In seventh century B.C. the kingdom of Kasi lay between the two Kosalas. A war between the two Kosalas in about 500 B.C. has been described in the Buddhist work Avadana Sataka (Mitra, K.L.–Sanskriti Buddhist Literaturte of Nepal, p. 20). Whereas, North Kosala was annexed to the empire of Magadha in about 400 B.,C., South Kosala continued to enjoy its independence till 400 B.C. when it was incorporated in Magadha. (Sahu, J.K.–Historical Geography of Orissa, Delhi, 1997 pp. 58-59 ff; hereinafter referred to as HGO).

South Kosala came under the Nandas and the Mauryas in the fourth century B.C. Thereafter, it was known to have been under the rule of the Satavahanas in the second century A.D. (EI-VIII, p. 71; HGO, Ch II; Banerjee, R.D.–History of Orissa, I, p. 83, Calcutta, 1930, hereinafter referred to as Banerjee, HO; Sahu, N.K.–Utkal University History of Orissa, I, Bhubaneswar, 1964, p. 415 ff hereinafter referred to as UUHO).

In the middle of the second century A.D., the Meghas came to rule in South Kosala (Sahu, J.,K. “The Meghas of South Kosala”, Proceeding of Indian History Congress, hereinafter referred to as PIHC, 1977, Bhubaneswar). The name of south Kosala came to be used prominently from that time onwards both in literature and epigraphy to denote the territory comprising of the eastern part of Chhattisgarh and the western part of Orissa. (Markandeya Purani, 54, Vr. 53, ed by M.C. Pal; Vamana Purani, 13, Vr. 55, ed. M.C. Pal; Brahmandi, 49, Vrs. 44-71; Natasastra of Bharat Muni, Ch XXIII, Vrs. 104, 105; Kamasutra of Vatsyayana, Ch II, Sec. V, Vr. 27).

The Allahabad Pillar Inscription (CIII, III, p. 8) of Samudragupta (cir. 350 A.D) makes the earliest reference to Kosala, i.e. Daksini Kosala. No mention of the name of South Kosala has been made in any epigraphic record of the Nalas (cir. 350-500 A.D) who preceded the Sarabhapuriyas in the Kosala region. It is surprising to note that the Sarabhapuriyas (cir. 500-700 A.D) who ruled from both Sarabhapura and Sripura had not mentioned the name of South Kosala, in their epigraphic records. However, the celebrated Chinese Pilgrim Yuan-Chwang has mentioned the name as Kosala as Kiao-sa-lo. The Panduvamsis were the first to use the name of Kosala from the beginning of eighth century A.D. onwards as revealed from epigraphic records.