Anga[a] was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the A?ga tribe were called the ā?geyas.[1]
A?ga | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unknown (~1100 BCE)–c. 530 BCE | |||||||
.png) A?ga and other kingdoms of the late Vedic period | |||||||
.png) | |||||||
| Capital | Champapuri (near modern Bhagalpur) and Malini (near modern Munger), Bihar | ||||||
| Religion | Historical Vedic religion Jainism Buddhism | ||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||
? | Brahmadatta | ||||||
| Raja (King) | |||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age | ||||||
? Established | Unknown (~1100 BCE) | ||||||
? Disestablished | c. 530 BCE | ||||||
| |||||||
Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, A?ga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti's list of ancient janapadas.
Location
editA?ga proper was located between the Champā river to the west and the Rajmahal hills to the east. However, at times, its territories did extend to the sea in the south, or included Magadha in the west.[1]
The capital of A?ga, named Campā, was located at the confluence of the Campā and Ga?gā rivers, and corresponds to the modern-day area of Campāpurī and Champanagar in Bhagalpur the eastern part of the Indian state of Bihār. According to the Jātakas, Campā was also called Kāla-Campā, while Puranic texts claim its ancient name was Mālinī.[1]
The other important cities within the A?ga kingdom included Assapura (Sanskrit: A?vapura) and Bhaddiya (Sanskrit: Bhadrika).[1]
Etymology
editAccording to the Mahabharata (I.104.53–54) and Puranic literature, A?ga was named after Prince Anga, the founder of the kingdom, and the son of Vali, who had no sons. So, he requested the sage, Dirghatamas, to bless him with sons. The sage is said to have begotten five sons through his wife, the queen Sudesna.[2] The princes were named A?ga, Va?ga, Kali?ga, Sumha and Pundra.[3]
The Ramayana (1.23.14) narrates the origin of name A?ga as the place where Kamadeva was burnt to death by Siva and where his body parts (a?gas) are scattered.[4]
Early history
editA?ga was first mentioned in the Atharvaveda, where it was connected to the Gāndhārīs, Mūjavats, and Māgadhīs. The founder of A?ga might have been the king A?ga Vairocana, who is mentioned in the Aitareya Brāhma?a as a ruler who had been consecrated by the Aryan ritual of Aindra mahābhi?eka.[1]
Vedic literature such as the Baudhāyana Dharmasūtra nevertheless listed the ā?geyas with peoples described as being of "mixed origin."[1]
A?ga was a powerful kingdom at the time of the Aitareya Brāhma?a, which mentions the "world conquest" of one of the ā?geya kings. The ā?geya capital of Campā itself was counted until the time of the Buddha's death among the six most prominent cities of northern India, along with Rājagaha, Sāvatthī, Sāketa, Kosāmbī, and Vārā?asī.[1]
During the Iron Age, A?ga expanded to include Va?ga within its borders, with the capital city of Campā being a wealthy commercial centre from where traders sailed to Suvar?abhūmi. According to the Kathā-sarit-sāgara, the ā?geya city of Vi?a?kapura was located on the shores of the sea.[1]
During the 6th century BCE, the king of A?ga was Dadhivāhana,[1] who was married to the Licchavika princess Padmāvatī, who was herself the daughter of the consul of the Licchavika republic, Ce?aka.[5] Ce?aka's sister Trisalā was the mother 24th Jain Tīrtha?kara, Mahāvīra, thus making Ce?aka his uncle and Padmāvatī his cousin; Ce?aka himself had become an adept of the teachings of Mahāvīra and made the Licchavika capital of Vesālī a bastion of Jainism, and the marriages of his daughters contributed to the spreading of Jainism across northern India.[6] The daughter of Dadhivāhana and Padmāvatī, Candanā or Candrabālā, became the first woman convert to Jainism shortly after Mahāvīra attained Kevala.[1]
Under Dadhivāhana's rule, A?ga had conquered its western neighbour, the state of Magadha, hence why the Vidhura Pa??ita Jātaka described the Māgadhī capital of Rājagaha as a city of A?ga.[1] This conquest brought A?ga in direct contact with Magadha's western neighbour Vatsa, whose king ?atānīka attacked the ā?geya capital of Campā out of fear of Dadhivāhana's expansionism. Dadhivāhana instead sought friendly relations with Vatsa, and he gave his daughter in marriage to ?atānīka's son, Udayana.[1] After ?atānīka's death from dysentery at the same time as a campaign against Vatsa was being carried out by the king Pradyota of Avanti, the latter became the overlord of Vatsa, and Udayana lived as a captive at the court of Pradyota, in Ujjenī.[7]
During Udayana's captivity, the state of Kali?ga attacked A?ga and took Dadhivāhana captive. It was once Pradyota had restored Udayana to his throne, after the latter's marriage to his daughter Vāsavadattā, that Udayana was able to defeat Kali?ga and restore Dadhivāhana on the ā?geya throne, and Dadhivāhana's daughter Priyadar?ikā was married to Udayana; according to the later play Priyadar?ikā, which itself rests on historical records,[8] the ā?geya chamberlain took brought her into the refuge of the forest-king Vindhyaketu, from where she was captured by Udayana's army and, given the name āra?yikā ("she who is from the forest") after being assumed to be Vindhyaketu's daughter, was brought to Vatsa to become servant of Vāsavadattā, and later married Udayana after the ā?geya chamberlain recognised her as once Udayana had defeated Kali?ga.[9]
A?ga's prosperity ended when, in the middle of the 6th century BCE, the Māgadhī crown prince Bimbisāra ?re?ika avenged his father's defeat against A?ga by defeating and killing the ā?geya king Brahmadatta, after which A?ga became part of the Māgadhī empire, and Campā became the seat of a Māgadhī viceroy.[1][10]
Later history
editDuring his pilgrimage there in the end of the 4th century, the Chinese monk Faxian noted the numerous Buddhist temples that still existed in Campā, transliterated Chanpo in Chinese (瞻波 pinyin: Zhānbō; Wade–Giles: Chanpo)[N.B. 1]. The kingdom of A?ga by then had long ceased to exist; it had been known as Yāngjiā (鴦伽) in Chinese.[N.B. 2]
Varman rule on Anga
editIn the 11th–12th century, Anga region was under the control of Varman dynasty. Belava copperplate of Bhojavarman mentions that Jatavarman under the leadership of his father Vajravarman conquered Anga and established the rule of his family.[12]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Raychaudhuri 1953, p. 106-110.
- ^ Devendrakumar Rajaram Patil (1946). Cultural History from the Vāyu Purāna. Motilal Banarsidass Pub. p. 46. ISBN 9788120820852.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ^ Ga?gā Rām Garg (1992). Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 1. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 9788170223740. The prince Va?ga founded Va?ga kingdom, in the current day region of southern Bangladesh and the eastern part of southern West Bengal. The prince Kalinga founded the kingdom of Kalinga, in the current day region of coastal Orissa, including the North Sircars. Also the price Pundra founded Pundra consisting of the northern regions of West Bengal and Bangladesh. The prince Suhma founded Suhma kingdom in the western part of southern West Bengal.
- ^ "Bala Kanda Book I, Chapter 23". Archived from the original on 3 November 2022.
- ^ Deo, Shantaram Bhalchandra (1956). History of Jaina Monachism from Inscriptions and Literature. Pune, India: Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. p. 71. ISBN 978-9-333-68377-7.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - ^ Jain, Kailash Chand (1974). Lord Mahāvīra and His Times. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 67. ISBN 978-8-120-80805-8.
- ^ Smith, R. Morton (1957). "On the Ancient Chronology of India (II)". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 77 (4): 266–280. doi:10.2307/596129. JSTOR 596129.
- ^ Raychaudhuri 1953, p. 203.
- ^ Davane, G. V. (1957). "The Legend of Udayana". Bulletin of the Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute. 18: 344–373. JSTOR 42930814.
- ^ Raychaudhuri 1953, p. 117.
- ^ a b 佛光電子大辭典 (Buddha's Light Electronic Dictionary). Taiwan: Buddha's Light Publishing (Fo Guang Shan)
- ^ Sharma, R. S. (1992). A Comprehensive History of India: A.D. 985–1206. People's Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7007-121-1.
- ^ Campā (Indian, not Vietnamese) was also transliterated, besides 瞻波, in the records as Zhanbopo (瞻博婆) and Zhanpo (瞻婆、瞻匐、瞻蔔、詹波、闡蔔、閻波、占波)[11]
- ^ Anga was also transliterated, besides 鴦伽, in the records as 鴦迦 (different radical for jiā), 泱伽 (same pronunciation), Yāngjué (鴦掘), àng'é (盎誐). Sometimes by metonymy, the kingdom would be called the 'State of Champa'‘’, i.e., 瞻波國.[11]
References
edit- Jha, D. N. (1999). Ancient India : in historical outline. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 9788173042850.
- Malalasekera, G. P. (2003) [1937]. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 9788120618237.
- Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1953). Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of Gupta Dynasty. University of Calcutta.
- Singh, Upinder (2008). A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century. New Delhi: Pearson Longman. ISBN 9788131716779.