Page:History of India Vol 2.djvu/53

Rh books combined tell us much about the history of Magadha, Anga, Kosala, Kasi, and Vaisali, while they leave us in the dark concerning the fortunes of most other parts of India.

In the Puranic lists the earliest dynasty which can claim historical reality is that known as the Saisunaga, from the name of its founder, Sisunaga.

He was, apparently, the king, or raja, of a petty state corresponding roughly with the present Patna and Gaya Districts, his capital being Rajagriha (Rajgir), among the hills near Gaya. Nothing is known about his history, and the second, third, and fourth kings are likewise mere names.

The first monarch about whom anything substantial is known is Bimbisara, or Srenika, the fifth of his line. He is credited with the building of New Rajagriha, the lower town at the base of the hill crowned by the ancient fort, and with the annexation of Anga, the small kingdom to the east, corresponding with the modern District of Bhagalpur, and probably including Monghyr (Mungir). The annexation of Anga was the first step taken by the kingdom of Magadha in its advance to greatness and the position of supremacy which it attained in the following century, and Bimbisara may be regarded as the real founder of the Magadha imperial power. He strengthened his position by matrimonial alliances with the more powerful of the neighbouring states, taking one consort from the royal family of Kosala, and another from the influential Lichchhavi clan at Vaisali. The latter lady was