of being cherished like heaven, very beautiful; the land possessed of fertility, possessed of various gems of value—the land of that country is full of wealth; therefore go and live there: the people of this country are pious, always happy and learned,[1] to say nothing of other occasions no one here, even in jest, utters a falsehood; the sons do not separate from the fathers, and always remain devoted in obedience to their religious preceptors. In this country no cultivator subjects oxen to carrying loads or dragging the plough, or gives them any kind of pain."
There is, however, one theory which reconciles the apparently conflicting conclusions arrived at by General Cunningham and myself regarding the Chedi country. The Mahábhárat distinctly states (vide supra) that each of the five sons of Vasu, Rájá of Chedi, became the founder of a distinct dynasty of kings; it is evident that Vasu could not have given to his sons kingdoms which he himself did not possess. One of them we find to have been Vrihadratha, Jarâsandha's father, King of Magadha; so that it is perfectly certain that Magadha formed a part of the Chedi Raj of Vasu Rájá. Inscriptions from Tewar shew that Tewar (ancient Tripura) was in the Chedi Raj; hence we have the Chedi Raj extending from Magadha in the east to at least Jabalpur in the west; the northern limits must have been the Ganges, for we know that to the north of the Ganges were the dominions of Rájás not of Vasu's lineage. We know further that at Mânikpur, which must have been somewhere near the present Ratanpur, reigned kings not of Vasu's lineage, nor in Odra, Anga, Kalinga; hence the southern limits appear to have been the present southern limits of the Chutia Nagpur commissionership and the southern limits of Riwa. We have accordingly the large tract of country, including the present districts of Patna, Gaya, the Chutia Nagpur commissionership, Riwa, Jabalpur, and possibly Ara and Mirzapur, as comprising the kingdom of Vasu Rájá, which after him became divided into five separate kingdoms, of which Magadha was certainly one, and Chedi Proper with capital at Tripura, or Tewar, another.
This being admitted as highly probable, if not rigidly accurate, it is no longer difficult to suppose that the capital of Vasu Rájá on the Saktimati (modern Sakri river), on the break-up of the old king's kingdom, became deserted or comparatively neglected, each of his sons naturally selecting a city more centrally placed in his own territory; and hence there is really no discrepancy or contradiction in
- ↑ Contrast this with the notorious saying regarding the people of Bundelkhand.
