Kosala Devī was
Empress consort of the
Magadha Empire as the first wife of Emperor
Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 2 ...
(558–491 BC). She was born a princess of
Kashi
Kashi or Kaashi may refer to:
Places
* Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India
**Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas
**Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi
* Kashgar, a cit ...
and was the sister of King
Prasenajit. Her first name is Bhadra-śrī.
Life
Kosala Devī was born to the King of Kosala, Maha-Kosala. She was the sister of King
Prasenajit who succeeded her father as the ruler of Kosala. She was married to King Bimbisara, and brought
Kashi
Kashi or Kaashi may refer to:
Places
* Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India
**Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas
**Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi
* Kashgar, a cit ...
as dowry in the marriage. She became his principal queen.
Buddhist tradition makes
Ajatashatru
Ajatasattu (Pāli ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit ) in Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain histories, (c. 492 to 460 BCE or early 5th century BCE) was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha in East ...
a son of hers; the
Jain
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
tradition make him a son of her husband's second wife, Chellana.
Her niece,
Princess Vajira
Vajira (also called Vajirakumari) was Empress of the Magadha Empire as the principal consort of Emperor Ajatashatru. She was the mother of her husband's successor, Emperor Udayibhadra.
Vajira was born a princess of the Kingdom of Kosala and ...
, the daughter of Pasenadi (Prasenjit) was given in marriage to Ajatashatru.
[
When her husband Bimbisara died at the hands of his own son Ajatashatru, Empress Kosala Devi has said to have died of grief out of her love for her husband. The government revenues of an estate in Kashi had been settled upon by her father as pin money on her marriage. At her death, the payment of course ceased. Ajatashatru then invaded Kashi.]
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosala Devi
Haryanka dynasty
People from Kosala
6th-century BC women
Indian Buddhists
Indian queen consorts
Ancient queens consort
Ancient Indian women