DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

6.2] TRIBAL JANAPADAS 151
Pavarika, supposedly named after the three donors, at Kosambl. The
leading monk of Kosamtn, Pindola Bharadvaja, does not appear in the
central Buddhist tales. It is doubtful whether his legend is original or
later written into the canon because of the traders of Kosambl. Of the
rest, the Surasena kingdom with capital at Mathura was known to the
Greeks. The Buddha rarely went there. It was not popular among the
almsmen because of five great shortcomings : “ uneven roads, excessive
dust, vicious dogs, cruel Yaksas (demons), and a considerable difficulty
in getting alms “. Three Aryan tribal kingdoms of Kuru, Pancala, and
Matsya were known to the epic tradition also. The first has already
been considered in the last chapter. The Uttara-pancalas had a capital
at Kampilla. Little is known of the Matsyas, whose name occurred in
the Ten-King battle against Sudas. Their traditional land is modern
Bharatpur. The Cetiya (Cedi) kingdom and its king-lists occur in Jat.
422, which speaks of the destruction of the line through a priest’s curse.
Elsewhere, the kingdom seems identical with the Madra. A famous
Mbh. episode was the death of Sisupala, king of Cedi, at the hands of
Krsna. In the early middle ages, Cedi became the name of a state in
central India by the Narmada river. The rapid catalogue serves only to
prove the extent of settlement, trade, development of kingship, and the
adoption of ancient names from brahmin tradition by totally unrelated
people.
All these took little direct part in the main developments, which
concern the remaining great janapadas. Among these, two remained
independent, powerful, military tribal oligarchies, expanding beyond
their proper janapada territory. The Mallas should be the Malloi in
Alexander’s campaigns, though the latter are identified with the
later Malava tribe (in spite of a missing syllable). The Gangetic
Mallas occupied territory just to the east of the Kosalan sphere of
influence, with two known centres at Pava (modern Fadaona) and
Kusinara (Kasia) where the Buddha’s last hours were spent. They were
independent, though not so feared as their eastern neighbours, the Vajji
or Licchavi ksatriyas. Malla later means athlete or wrestler (like the
Iranian Pehlevan from Pehlevi). The usage goes back to the two Malla
pancratiasts Canura and Mustika killed by Krsna and his brother in
the arena.