Kosala: A Visual History

Kosala was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas of ancient India around 600 BC, occupying the fertile plain of modern eastern Uttar Pradesh between the Ganges and the Himalayan foothills, with capitals at Shravasti and Ayodhya. It absorbed Kashi (Varanasi) and was the great rival of Magadha; King Pasenadi (Prasenajit) was a friend of the Buddha, who spent many rainy seasons at Shravasti's Jetavana monastery. His son Vidudabha massacred the Shakyas, the Buddha's clan. After Pasenadi's death Kosala was annexed by Ajatashatru of Magadha around 450 BC.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Kosala. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Kosala's territory

Timeline of the Kosala

1. 700 BC
   Kosala emerges as a kingdom
2. 600 BC
   Kashi absorbed
3. 530 BC
   Pasenadi's reignThe Buddha at Shravasti.
4. 490 BC
   Vidudabha destroys the Shakyas
5. 450 BC
   Kosala annexed by Magadha

Ayodhya and the epics

Kosala is the kingdom of the Ramayana: Rama, prince of Ayodhya, is 'the delight of Kosala'. In historical terms Kosala emerged around 700 BC as Vedic settlement pushed east into the Ganges plain, and its capital Shravasti became one of the six great cities of the Buddha's time, a centre of trade on the route to the north-west.

Pasenadi and the Buddha

Pasenadi, a contemporary of the Buddha, is a frequent figure in the Pali canon: a thoughtful, sometimes anxious king who consulted the Buddha on kingship, grief and diet. His sister married Bimbisara of Magadha with Kashi as her dowry, and after Bimbisara's murder Pasenadi fought his nephew Ajatashatru over it. His general Bandhula and then his son Vidudabha overthrew him; he died outside the gates of Rajagriha, seeking help from Ajatashatru.

Absorption

Vidudabha, insulted to learn his mother was a Shakya slave girl, exterminated the Shakyas of Kapilavastu; tradition says he drowned in a flood soon after. Kosala's power collapsed and Magadha, expanding under Ajatashatru and his successors, annexed it in the fifth century BC. Ayodhya's later fame under the Guptas gave the region its lasting religious importance.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Magadha (600 BC to 320 BC)
• Maurya Empire (322 BC to 185 BC)
• Achaemenid Empire (550 BC to 330 BC)
• Gupta Empire (320 to 550)

8 surprising things about the Kosala

1. The Buddha spent 25 rainy-season retreats at Shravasti, more than anywhere else, and preached most of his recorded discourses there.
2. The Jetavana monastery at Shravasti was bought for the Buddha by the merchant Anathapindika, who legendarily covered the ground with gold coins to meet the price.
3. King Pasenadi once complained to the Buddha about overeating and was given a verse to recite before meals; he lost weight.
4. The Buddha's own Shakya clan was a vassal of Kosala; he called Pasenadi a fellow Kosalan.
5. Ayodhya, Kosala's capital in the Ramayana, is one of Hinduism's seven sacred cities and the site of the modern Ram temple dispute.
6. Kosala's name lives on in Dakshina Kosala, the region of Chhattisgarh where refugees supposedly settled.
7. The Kosala-Magadha war over Kashi is one of the earliest wars in Indian history with named kings on both sides.
8. The Buddha's famous 'miracle of Shravasti', multiplying his body and shooting fire and water, was said to have been performed for Pasenadi.

Sources

• Kosala Wikipedia
• Kosala (ancient kingdom, India) Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Mahajanapadas World History Encyclopedia
• Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India (2008) Pearson

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