LECTURE IV
Section 3.
Gauḍa, Rāḍha and Vanga
It is regrettable, that it is too often assumed by some Bengali scholars devoted to historical research, that in the tenth century and earlier, the name Gauḍa signifies Bengal. That the name Gauḍa is of comparatively recent origin, and that we do not meet with the name during the time of the Imperial Guptas, must be admitted by all. In the Calcutta edition of the Matsya Purāṇa (Ch. XII, 30), it has been stated that Śrāvasti, was founded in the Gauda deśa by Rājā Śrāvasta, son of Yuvanāśva of the Ikṣāku family.[1] The date of this passage is unknown, but it can be said that for the well-known town Śrāvasti to have been founded by the Rājā in the Gauḍa deśa, Gauḍa must have been lying to the north of Kośala and to the north-west of Mithilā. That this was the geography of Gauḍa in the eighth century A.D., is perfectly clear from poet Vākpati's description in his Gauḍa-vaho Kābya. The hero of the poem first proceeded against the king of Magadha who was also the Lord of Gauḍa, and after having slain him, led his army against the king of Bengal, whose territory lay far to the east near the sea coast (verses 413, 417, 418 and 419). On noticing the fact, that Yaśovarman did not proceed to any other part of Bengal, and some time
- ↑ On reference to the text of the Purāṇa, it will be unmistakably seen that the old Kośala country of the Ikṣākus, has been described and place names in Oudh and its neighbourhood, have been strictly discussed; there will then be no room for supposition, that this reference to Śrāvasti is to any other Śrāvasti of any other province lying outside the Oudh territory.
