Page:History of India Vol 1.djvu/342

 LIFE OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA

N the sixth century before Christ, the kingdom of Magadha was rising to power and greatness. The realm, corresponding to the modern South Bihar, extended to the south of the Ganges, and on either side of the Son River. North of the Ganges it had a powerful rival in the haughty confederation of the Lichchhavis. Rajagriha, to the south of the Ganges, was the capital of Bimbisara, King of the Magadhas; and Vaisali, to the north of the Ganges, was the capital of the Lichchhavis. To the east lay the kingdom of Anga, or East Bihar, which is mentioned in connection with Magadha, and Champa was the capital of Anga. Far to the northwest lay the ancient kingdom of the Kosalas, and its capital had been removed from Ayodhya farther northwards to the flourishing town of Sravasti, where Prasenajit reigned at the time of which we are speaking. The equally ancient country of the Kasis, lying to the south, seems to have been subject at this time to the King of Sravasti, and a viceroy of Prasenajit ruled at Benares.

A little to the east of the Kosala kingdom, two Rh