Nicakṣu (8th century BC) was the last Kuru King of

Hastinapura Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'' is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas; it is ...

and first King of

Vatsa kingdom Vatsa or Vamsa (Pali and Ardhamagadhi: , literally "calf") was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Location The territory of Vatsa was located to the south o ...

. He was the descendant of

Janamejaya Janamejaya () was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period. Along with his father and predecessor Parikshit, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns into collections, and ...

and the ancestor of

Udayana Udayana, (Devanagari: उदयन) also known as Udayanācārya (Udyanacharya, or Master Udayana), (circa 975 - 1050 CE) was an Indian philosopher and logician of the tenth century of the Nyaya school who attempted to devise a rational theolog ...

of Vatsa.

Historicity

During the excavation of

Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'' is described as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas; it is also mentioned in ancient Jain ...

(1950s), archeologist come across layer of Period-II (1100 B.C. - 800 B.C.) from were they find Early Painted Grey Ware ceramics. Archeologist B. B. Lal noted that this Period of occupation ended with a great flood in the river, which washed away a considerable portion of the settlement, as indicated by the erosional scar on the mound. The Puranic text also confirm the great flood which washed away Hastinapur during the reign of Nicakṣu. In the excavation of

Kosambi Kosambi (Pali) or Kaushambi (Sanskrit) was an ancient city in India, characterized by its importance as a trading center along the Ganges Plain and its status as the capital of the Vatsa Kingdom, one of the sixteen mahajanapadas. It was loca ...

(1957-59) led by G. R. Sharma they find pottery belonging to the

Painted Grey Ware The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) is an Iron Age Indo-Aryan culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra valley in the Indian subcontinent, conventionally dated 1200 to 600–500 BCE, or from 1300 to 500–300 BCE. It is a suc ...

. When this artifacts were compared to artifacts found at typical Painted Grey Ware sites such as

, shows that

represents a late stage in the history of this ware. As

, the King of

Vatsa Vatsa or Vamsa (Pali and Ardhamagadhi: , literally "calf") was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Location The territory of Vatsa was located to the south o ...

and the descendent of Nicakṣu, was a contemporary to

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

and according to archeological proof of flood, archeologist B. B. Lal assign reign of Nicakṣu around 875 BCE.

Reign

He succeeded his father King Adhisimakrishna. The Puranas state that after the washing away of

by the Ganges, the Bhārata king Nicakṣu, the great-great-grandson of

, abandoned the city and settled in Kauśāmbī starting

branch of Kuru clan. This is supported by the Svapnavāsavadattā and the Pratijñā-Yaugandharāyaṇa attributed to Bhāsa.Pargiter, F.E. (1972) ''Ancient Indian Historical Tradition'', Chaunan, Delhi, pp.269-70 He was succeeded by Ushņa.

References

Citations

Source

* * *{{cite book, author=Braj Basi Lal, title=Excavations at Bharadwaja Ashram: with a note on the exploration at Chitrakuta, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8sEmwEACAAJ, year=2011, publisher=Archaeological Survey of India , ref= {{sfnref, B. B. Lal, 2011 9th-century BC Indian monarchs Kings of Kuru Kings of Vatsa

Historicity

Reign

See also

References

Citations

Source