Pipphalivana

Gana Sanghas (c. 500 BCE)

Pipphalivana was the capital of the Moriya republic, a gana- sangha of the Mahajanapada period.^[1][2][3] The 7th century CE Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang later referred to it by the name of Nyagrodhavana.^[4][5][5][3]

Buddhist texts like the Dīgha Nikāya and Buddhavaṃsa suggest that Pipphalivana was the chief town and capital of the Moriyas.

Location

Some say that Pipphalivana probably lay between Rummindei (Lumbini) in the Terai region of Nepal and Kasia in the modern-day Gorakhpur district.^[3] The town is identified with Nyagrodhavana (banyan grove), a village in Gorakhpur district which contained the famous Embers' stupa and was mentioned by Hiuen Tsang.^[3][2] Fa-Hien tells us that the stupa lay four yojanas to the east of the river Anoma and twelve yojanas to the west of Kusinara.^[2][4]

Etymology

A tradition explains that the Moriyas took refuge in a pipphalivana (grove of pepper trees) and founded the city Moriyanagara there. The queen of Moriyanagara gave birth to Chandragupta, who was then raised by a herdsman and a hunter.^[2][6]

References

1. Hazra, Kanai Lal (1984). Royal Patronage of Buddhism in Ancient India. D.K. Publications. ISBN 978-0-86590-167-4.
2. Republics in ancient India. Brill Archive.
3. Kapoor, Subodh (2002). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography. Cosmo Publications. ISBN 978-81-7755-299-7.
4. Cunningham, Sir Alexander (1871). The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang. Trübner and Company. pp. 430–433.
5. Sharma 1968, p. 219-224.
6. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri (November 1988). Age of the Nandas and Mauryas. Internet Archive. Motilal Banarsidass Pub. p. 143. ISBN 978-81-208-0465-4. Moriyanagara, perhaps identical with Pipphalivana of early Päli texts, members of which had to take shelter in Pupphapura (Pataliputra) when the last monarch of the line had been put to death by a certain powerful Räjä. The queen consort of Moriyanagara, we are told, gave birth to Chandragupta, and the child is said to have been reared by a herdsman and a hunter.

Bibliography

• Sharma, J. P. (1968). Republics in Ancient India, C. 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-02015-3.