KASHI

Kashi was an ancient Indian kingdom located in the region around its capital Varanasi. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanpadas, great states that emerged in northern India at the start of the 6th century BCE.

Kingdom of Kashi :

The Kingdom of Kashi was an ancient Indian kingdom located in the region around its capital Varanasi, bounded by the Varuna and Asi rivers in the north and south which gave Varanasi its name. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, great states that emerged in northern India at the start of the 6th century BCE. The Jataka tales indicate its capital was one of the richest cities in India, speaking highly of its prosperity and opulence.

These stories tell of a prolonged rivalry between the neighboring kingdoms of Kashi and Kosala, with also some occasional conflict with Anga and Magadha. Kashi once was one of the most powerful states in north India, and although King Brihadratha of Kashi conquered Kosala, Kashi was later incorporated into Kosala by King Kansa during Buddha's time. The Kashis along with the Kosalas and Videhans find mention in Vedic texts and appear to have been a closely allied people.

It was in Kashi territory where Siddarth Gautam first started preaching the Buddhism religion.

Jats in Kashi :

Kasya or Kashya is gotra of Jats :

They were Suryavansh people, who ruled in Kashi. When they lost their kingdom of Kashi to the Magadh, moved from there to else where. Since they had com from Kashi hence known as Kashya or Kashiwat. At present Kasya gotra Jats live in Mandsaur district in Madhya Pradesh. They are in villages Malhargarh in Mandsaur district.

Kashiwat : ---

Burdak :

The Burdak gotra of Jats are probably related with Virudhak. Virudhak was son of Raja Prasenjit and king of Kashi. Soon after usurping the prosperous kingdom built up by his father Bimbisar, the parricide Ajatashatru went to war with his aged uncle Prasenjit, and gained complete control of Kashi. Just after this Prasenjit, like Bimbisar, was deposed by his son Virudhak, and died. The new king, Virudhak, then attacked and virtually annihilated the little autonomous tribe of Shakyas, in Himalyan foothills, and we hear no more of the people which produced the greatest of Indians, the Buddh. Probably Virudhak, like Ajatashatru of Magadh, had ambitions of empire, and wished to embark on a career of conquest after bringing the outlying peoples, who had paid loose homage to his father, more directly under the control of the centre; but his intentions were unfulfilled, for we hear no more of him except an unreliable legend that he was destroyed by a miracle soon after his massacre of Shakyas. A little later his kingdom was incorporated in Magadh.

Varan :

From Varan River

Asiagh :

From Asi River

Kashi :

Vijayendra Kumar Mathur wrote ... Kashi (AS, p.185) (Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh) - According to ancient belief, Kashi is Amarnagari. Scholars believe that this ancient center of worship of Shiv existed even before the Aryan civilization because worship of Shiv (and the Mother Goddess) is considered prevalent even in the pre-Vedic period, but this question is sufficiently controversial.

According to the Purans, the name of this city was probably Kashi only in the name of 'Kash', the seventh king of the Manu dynasty. The first mention of Kashijanpadiyas is found in the Pappalad-Samhita of the Atharv Ved along with the Kausal and Videh washers. Collected mentions of Kashi, Kosal districts in Valmiki Ramayan Kishkindha Kand 40,22 - Mahim Kalamahim Chave Shell Kanan Shobhitam. Brahmamalan Videhaan Malwan Kashi Koslan.

In these countries, Sugriv sent the monkey army to investigate Sita. There is a table of Kashi kings in Vayu Puran 2,21,74 and Vishnu Puran 4,8,2-10 ('Kashyasya Kasheya: Kashiraj:' Kashiraj Gotre-Avatariya Tvamashtha Samyagayurvedam Karishyasi 'etc.). These are the names of ancestral kings of India. But of these, only the names of Divodas and Pratardan are received in Vedic literature. After the Purvanshi kings, Brahmadatt Vanshi kings ruled in Kashi, and in Buddhist literature - especially in the Jatak tales, the common name of all the kings of this dynasty is Brahmadatt. These were probably originally related to the Videhas of Mithila . It is known from Mahabharat that at the time of Magadhraj Jarasand, the kingdom of Kashi was included in Magadh but became independent after Jarasandh. Bhishma the girls of Kashiraja AMBA and Anbalika by hijacking the Vichitrviry had married him in. Anushashan Parv indicates that the King of Kashi Divodas, who was the son of Sudev, settled the city of Varanasi. The circle of this state extended from the northern bank of the Ganges to the south coast of Gomti. This description shows that Kashi was ancient from Varanasi. Shri Krishna of Kashi in Vishnu Puran 5,34, 41Is described as being consumed by the Sudarshan Chakra. Sri Krishna was disgusted with the King of Kashi for helping Mithya Vasudev Poundrak, so he wanted to defeat Kashi by destroying it - Shastramokshchaturan Dagdwatdabalmaujsa Kritva Pregnancy Sage Tanta Varanasi Purim. ' Before the time of Buddha, the kingdom of Kashi was famous all over India and according to Anguskanya it was counted as the then Shodshamaha-

[p.186]: Was in the districts. The Jataka tales are full of the name of Kashi Naresh Brahmadatt. There is also a mention of Kashi princes going to Taxila to study Vidya. At this time there was a lot of enmity between Kashi and the neighboring Videha and Kosal districts. Kashi also had a big hand in ending Videha's power. In many Jataka tales, there is a clear mention of the ambitions of Kashinaras and the greatness of the district of Kashi.

It is mentioned in Gohil Jatak that Kashi was the most prominent city in the whole of India. Its expansion was 12 Kos while the circumference of Indraprastha and Mithila was only 7 Kos. It is mentioned in Tandulnilajatak that the enclosure of the walls of the city was 12 Kos and the circumference of the main cities and sub-cities was about 300 Kos. Other Jatakas mention that there was a forest of 60 Kos around Banaras. Many kings of Kashi have been called 'Sabb Rajanam Agaraja' (Sarvaragyanam Agaraja) among the Jataka. It is also mentioned in the Mahavagga that the Kashi kingdom was very prosperous in ancient times. It is described in Bhojjaniya-Jataka that due to the splendor of Kashi, the teeth of all the surrounding kings used to remain on Kashi. Once, 7 neighboring kings surrounded Kashi.

During the time of Buddh, King Bimbisar of Magadh became very powerful as he conquered the neighboring states of Videh and merged with him in Magadh. He married Kanya Vasavi (Vasavadatt | Vasavadatt) of Prasenjit, the king of Kosal country and gave the kingdom of Kashi, which was under skill at this time, as dowry. It is said in the legends that Kashi was given for the expenditure of cosmetics of vasavadatt.

Buddhist literature of Kashi, besides Varanasi Ketumti, Surundn, Sudassan (Sudarshan), Brhmvddhn (Brhmwarddhn) Pushfwati (Pushpwati) Rmmanagri (Ramanagri Current Ramnagar) and Mulini See names. After Mercury, the glory of Kashi and nearby Sarnath increased for a long time. Assuming Sarnath as important, the Mauryan emperor Ashok replaced his world famous lion stone here (3rd century BCE).

Subsequently, among the major dynasties of the history of India, Kushan, Bharshivnag, Gupt, Maukhari, Pratihar, Chedi and Gahadwar ruled here. The coins and archaeological remains of all these states have been obtained from here. In the 7th century, at the time of Harsh, the Chinese traveler Yuvanchwang traveled to Kashi and Sarnath. The expansion of the suzerainty of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh [p.187]: With the coming of bad days of Kashi. In 1033, a Muslim army chief named Nialtagin first attacked Benares and looted it. 1194 In AD, the Sultans of the Ghulam dynasty incorporated Benares into their kingdom. In 1575 AD, Akbar's finance minister Todarmal built a huge temple of Vishwanath in place of the ancient Vishwanath temple. In 1659, Aurangzeb broke this temple and built the present mosque with its contents. Later, during the height of the Marathas, Ahilyabai Holkar built many ghats and temples on the banks of the Ganges. Punjab Kesari Ranjit Singh also offered a golden umbrella to the present temple of Vishwanath. Among the ghats of Kashi, Dashashwamedh, Manikarnika, Harishchandra and Tulsi Ghat are more famous. Mythological and historical stories are associated with all of them.

The ghat near which Mahakavi Goswami Tulsidas lived during Akbar Jahangir is famous as Tulsidas Ghat. It is said that Tulsidas composed the latter part of the Ramcharitmanas, from the Kishkindha Kanda to the North Kand, at this very pious place.

The famous name of Kashi is relatively newer than the name Varanasi Kashi. But it is also mentioned in the Mahabharata - 'Including Parthivam Kshatram Varanasyan Nadiut: Kanyarthmahavayad Viro Rathayen's Way of Conjunction' Shanti Parva 27,9. 'Tato Varanasi Gatvaarchayatva Vrishadhvajam, Kapilahrade Nar: Shatva Rajuayamavapnayuayat' Vanapara 84,78. The Pandavas did not visit Kashi in the context of the pilgrimage but Bhima mentions his conquest of Kashiraj Subahu in his Digvijay Yatra - 'S Kashiraj Samare Subahumanivirtinam Vashe Chakre Mahabahurbheemo Bhimaprakram:' Van Parv 30,6-7.

Ketumati :

Vijayendra Kumar Mathur has written ... Ketumati (AS, p.222) - A name of Kashi which is mentioned in Buddhist literature.

Kashi nomenclature :

One of the legendary 16 Mahajanpadas. Varanasi's second name 'Kashi' was famous as a district in ancient times and Varanasi was its capital. This is also confirmed by the travelogue of Fahian , a Chinese traveler visiting India in the fifth century. It is mentioned in the Harivanshpuran that the descendant of Pururava who settled 'Kashi' was King 'Kash'. Hence their descendants are called 'Kashi'. It is possible that on the basis of this district, the name of this district is named 'Kashi'. A mythological myth associated with naming Kashi is also available. It is mentioned that Vishnu called this Mukt Kshetra after the fall of Parvati's Muktamaya Kundal and named the shrine Kashi due to its inexplicable ultimate light.

Reference: Bharatkosh-Kashi

Kashyap People :

Thakur Deshraj wrote .... Kashyap - In the description of Shivi people, we have been told by quoting Mr. Crook Sahab that a large group of Jats also belong to Kashyap people. The fame of Suryavansh is told from these Kashyapas. Kashi 's Kashy even within that which Kashyap Jat Kashiwat called. The Lichchhavi Shakya and Knowns of Magadh were also Kashyap. Apart from these, hundreds of Kashyap Gotri clans are present in the Jats. In the Purans, the Caspian Sea has been described as the ashram of the sage Kashyap. Some people Srinagar Kashyap is believed to be the ashram of the sage on the Hari mountain 3 miles away.

Kashi State :

Kashi was the state capital Kashi which was on the banks of the Ganges River. There was a kingdom of Kashya - Kashivat (Jat gotra) people. There's Nares Trka was. (Jat History p. 24, author Tha Deshraj). Bhimsen married Kashiraj's daughter Balandhar and gave birth to a son Swarg.

Source :

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