Panchala
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River
Ganges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...
and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
and Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. During the ancient times, it was home to a confederacy, the Panchalas and in c. 6th century BCE, it was considered as one of the solasa (sixteen) mahajanapadas
Mahajanapadas
Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...
.
Geographical extent
The Panchalas occupied the country to the east of the Kurus, between the upper Himalayas and the river GangesGanges River
The Ganges or Ganga, , is a trans-boundary river of India and Bangladesh. The river rises in the western Himalayas in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, and flows south and east through the Gangetic Plain of North India into Bangladesh, where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. By discharge it...
. It roughly corresponded to modern Budaun, Farrukhabad and the adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. The country was divided into Uttara-Panchala and Dakshina-Panchala. The northern Panchala had its capital at Ahichatra, (also known as Adhichhatra and Chhatravati, near present-day Ramnagar village in Aonla
Aonla, Uttar Pradesh
Aonla is a city and a municipal board in Bareilly district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.-Geography:Aonla is located at . It has an average elevation of 237 metres .-Industry:IFFCO factory of Urea is located in Aonla...
tehsil of Bareilly district
Bareilly District
Bareilly district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. City of Bareilly is the district headquarters. The district consists of six tehsils. These are: Aonla, Baheri, City of Bareilly, Faridpur, Meerganj and Nawabganj. Bareilly district is a part of Bareilly Division....
, while southern Panchala had it capital at Kampilya or Kampil
Kampil
Kampil is a town and a nagar panchayat in Farrukhabad district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located about 45 km from Farrukhabad, is a very important place from an historical and mythological point of view.-Ancient:...
in Farrukhabad district
Farrukhabad District
Farrukhabad district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The town of Fatehgarh is the district headquarters. The district is part of Kanpur Division....
. The famous city of Kanyakubja or Kannauj
Kannauj
Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...
was situated in the kingdom of Panchala.
Panchala during the Vedic period
Panchala was the second "urban" center of Vedic civilization, as its focus moved east from the PunjabPunjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, after the focus of power had been with the Kurus in the early Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. This period is associated with the Painted Grey Ware culture
Painted Grey Ware culture
The Painted Grey Ware culture is an Iron Age culture of Gangetic plain, lasting from roughly 1200 BC to 600 BC. It is contemporary to, and a successor of the Black and red ware culture. It probably corresponds to the later Vedic period. It is succeeded by Northern Black Polished Ware from ca. 500...
, arising beginning around 1100 BCE, and declining from 600 BCE, with the end of the Vedic period. The Shaunaka
Shaunaka
Shaunaka is the name applied to teachers, and to a Shakha of the Atharvaveda. It is especially the name of a celebrated Sanskrit grammarian, author of the , the , the and five Anukramaṇīs to the Rigveda. He is claimed as the teacher of Katyayana and especially of Ashvalayana, and is said to have...
and Taittiriya
Taittiriya
Taittirīya is a shaka of the Black Yajurveda*Taittiriya Samhita , see Black Yajurveda*Taittiriya Upanishad...
Vedic schools were located in the area of Panchala.
The ruling confederacy, the Panchalas, as their name suggests, probably consisted of five clans - the Krivis, the Turvashas, The Keshins, the Srinjayas and the Somakas. Each of these clans is known to be associated with one or more princes mentioned in the Vedic texts - the Krivis with Kravya Panchala, the Turvashas with Sona Satrasaha, the Keshins with Keshin Dalavya, the Srinjayas with Sahadeva Sarnjaya and the Somakas with Somaka Sahadevya. The names of the last two clans, the Somakas and the Srinjayas are also mentioned in the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
and the Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
. King Drupada
Drupada
Drupada , also known as Yajnasena, is a character in the Mahābhārata. He is king of the land of Panchala.In his youth he studies with, and becomes a friend of Drona. Drupada makes him promise to share all his fortunes with him. Later, when Drupada becomes king of Panchaladesa, Drona reminds him...
, whose daughter Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
was married to the Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
s belonged to the Somaka clan. However, the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
and the Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
consider the ruling clan of the northern Panchala as an offshoot of the Bharata
Bharata (emperor)
Bharata was a legendary emperor of India, and is referred to in Hindu and Jain mythology. He was son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntala and thus a descendant of the Lunar Dynasty of the Kshatriya caste. Bharata conquered all of greater Greater India, uniting it into a single entity which was named...
clan and Divodasa, Sudas, Srinjaya, Somaka and Drupada
Drupada
Drupada , also known as Yajnasena, is a character in the Mahābhārata. He is king of the land of Panchala.In his youth he studies with, and becomes a friend of Drona. Drupada makes him promise to share all his fortunes with him. Later, when Drupada becomes king of Panchaladesa, Drona reminds him...
(also called Yajnasena) were the most notable rulers of this clan.
Panchala under Magadhan rule
Originally a monarchicalMonarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
, the Panchalas appear to have switched to republican corporation around 500 BCE. The Buddhist text, Anguttara Nikaya
Anguttara Nikaya
The Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
mentions Panchala as one of the sixteen mahajanapadas of the c. 6th century BCE. The 4th century BCE Arthashastra
Arthashastra
The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with The Arthashastra (IAST: Arthaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy and...
also attests the Panchalas as following the Rajashabdopajivin (king consul) constitution. Panchala was annexed into the Magadha empire during the reign of Mahapadma Nanda
Mahapadma Nanda
Mahapadma Nanda was the first king of the Nanda dynasty. He was the son of Mahanandin, a Kshatriya father from the Shishunaga dynasty, with a shudra wife. Sons of Mahanandin from his Kshatriya wives opposed the rise of Mahapadma Nanda, on which he eliminated all of them to claim the throne...
.
The Yuga Purana
Yuga Purana
The Yuga Purana is an ancient Indian text, part of the larger Puranic literature. It is considered as one of the oldest Purana, written around 250 CE. The Yuga Purana consists two chapters, within the larger text of the Gargi Samhita, also called Vriddha Gargiya Jyotisha...
section of the Gargi Samhita informs us that Panchala was invaded and occupied by the Yavana (Greco-Bactrian) army led by King Dhamamita (Demetrius
Demetrius I of Bactria
Demetrius I was a Buddhist Greco-Bactrian king . He was the son of Euthydemus and succeeded him around 200 BC, after which he conquered extensive areas in what now is eastern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan thus creating an Indo-Greek kingdom far from Hellenistic Greece...
) during Brihadratha
Brihadratha
Brihadratha, also known as Maharatha, was the founder of the Barhadratha dynasty, the earliest ruling dynasty of Magadha. According to the Mahabharata and the Puranas, he was the eldest of the five sons of Vasu, the Kuru king of Chedi. and his queen Girika...
's reign But soon they had to leave to Bactria
Bactria
Bactria and also appears in the Zend Avesta as Bukhdi. It is the ancient name of a historical region located between south of the Amu Darya and west of the Indus River...
to fight a fierce battle (probably between Eucratides and Demetrius).
Panchala during post-Mauryan period
Numismatic evidence reveals the existence of independent rulers of Panchala during the post-Mauryan period. Most of the coins issued by them are found at Ahichatra and adjoining areas. All the coins are round, made of a copper alloy and have a set pattern on the obverse-a deeply incised square punch consisting of a row of three symbols and the ruler's name placed in a single line below them. The reverse bears depictions of the deities or sometimes of their attributes, whose names form a component of the issuers' names (for example, coins of Agnimitra bear the depiction of AgniAgni
Agni is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire and the acceptor of sacrifices. The sacrifices made to Agni go to the deities because Agni is a messenger from and to the other gods...
). The names of the rulers found on these coins are Vangapala, Yajnapala, Damagupta, Rudragupta, Jayagupta, Suryamitra, Phalgunimitra, Bhanumitra, Bhumimitra, Dhruvamitra, Agnimitra, Indramitra, Vishnumitra, Jayamitra, Prajapatimitra, Varunamitra, Anamitra, Bhadraghosha and Yugasena (the reverse of the coins of Varunamitra, Yugasena and Anamitra do not exhibit any deity). Shaunakayaniputra Vangapala, ruler of Ahichatra, whom Vaidehiputra Ashadhasena mentioned as his grandfather in his Pabhosa inscription, is identified with king Vangapala, known from his coins. The name of Damagupta is also found on a clay sealing.
The last independent ruler of Ahichatra was probably Achyuta, who was defeated by Samudragupta
Samudragupta
Samudragupta , ruler of the Gupta Empire , and successor to Chandragupta I, is considered to be one of the greatest military geniuses in Indian history according to Historian V. A. Smith. His name is taken to be a title acquired by his conquests...
, after which, Panchala was annexed into the Gupta Empire
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed approximately from 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent. Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the...
. The coins of Achyuta found from Ahichatra have a wheel of eight spokes on the reverse and the legend Achyu on the obverse.