Mahasilakantaka War
The Mahasilakantaka War literally "Battle of Great Stones" [1]was fought in ancient India between the Haryanka Empire of Magadha under Ajatashatru and the Republic of Vaishali ruled by King Chetaka of the Lichhavi, in the present-day state of Bihar. The Mahasilakantaka War included one of the largest and bloodiest battles in Indian history in which more than a lakh people were massacred.[2]The war was contemporary to the times of Lord Mahavira , Gautam Buddha and Mankhaliputra Goshalak.[3]↵The conflict between Ajatashatru and the Lichhavis was a protracted one and may have lasted at least between 484 and 468 BCE ending with the victory of the former.[1]
However A.L. BASHAM suggests that the first campaign, soon after which Gośala died, must have taken place at some time between the date of Ajātaśatru's accession and the year preceding the Buddha's death. He held the view that the first campaign occurred in 485 B.C. and the death of Gośala in 484 B.C., if a year is allowed for the news of the "Battle of Great Stones" to spread to Sãvatthi and to become fixed in the popular consciousness.[4] With regard to Mahavira's nirvana as taking place at Pāvăpuri during the Buddha's lifetime and as mentioned in the Pali scriptures, he considers it to be that of Gośāla at Savatthi, which the Bhagavati Sutra also mentions as having been accompanied by quarrel and confusion. The Mahaparinibbāna Sutta records that the preparations for the campaign against the Vajjis were made in the last year of the Buddha's life while Mahavira was still alive during the course of war.[5]
| Mahasilakantaka Sangram | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Vaishali Republic | Magadha | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| King Chetaka | Ajatshatru | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
|
| |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1 lakh plus lakhs of civilians massacred [2] | Unknown | ||||||
Background[edit]
Once Queen Padmavati, wife of Ajatashatru, was sitting in her balcony in the evening. She saw Halla and Vihalla kumaras with their wives sitting on Sechanaka elephant and one of the wives wearing the 18 fold divine necklace. [7]Then she heard one of the maidservants speaking from the garden below "It's Halla and Vihalla kumaras and not the king who enjoy the real pleasures of the kingdom" and she thought "what's the use of the kingdom if I do not have both the jewels in my possession?"
So, she shared this thought with Ajatashatru the same night and became excessively insistent in her demand. Ajatashatru, at last, agreed and sent a request to both his brothers to give the elephant and the necklace to him, which both his brothers denied saying that these gifts were given by their dear father so why should they part from them? Ajatashatru sent the request thrice but got the same reply all three times. This greatly annoyed him, so he sent his men to arrest them. Meanwhile, Halla and the Vihalla kumaras availed a chance and escaped to their maternal grandfather Chetaka who was the King of the great kingdom of the Vaishali republic (Vajjis/Lichchavis). Ajatashatru sent notice thrice to Chetaka to surrender them but was denied by Chetaka.
This was enough for Ajatashatru. He called his half brothers, Kalakumaras (10 kalakumaras, those born to King Bimbisara and 10 Kali Queens Kali, Sukali, Mahakali, etc.) to merge their army with his, since it was well known to Ajatashatru that Vaishali republic had always been invincible in the past and he alone would not be able to defeat it. Each Kalakumara brought 3000 horses, 3000 elephants, 3000 chariots and 30000 infantrymen each. On the other hand, Chetaka invited his own allies 9 Mallas, 9 Lichhvis and 18 kings of Kasi-Kosala to fight his grandson Ajatashatru. All these kings came with 3000 horses, 3000 elephants, 3000 chariots and 30000 infantrymen each. Thus all together there were 57000 elephants, 57000 chariots, 57000 horses, and 570000 infantrymen.[2]
Course of the War[edit]
First Phase[edit]
The war began. King Chetaka was a devout follower of Lord Mahavira and had a vow to not shoot more than one arrow per day in a war. It was known to all that Chetaka's aim was perfect and his arrows were infallible. His first arrow killed one Kalakumara, commander of Ajatashatru. On the consecutive nine days the rest of the nine Kalakumaras were killed by Chetaka. [8]Deeply sorrowed by the death of their sons, the Kali queens were initiated as nuns in the holy order of Lord Mahavira.
Second Phase[edit]
As Ajatashatru was moving towards defeat he practised penance for three days and offered prayers to Sakrendra and Charmendra (Indra of different heavens) who then helped him in the war. They protected him from the infallible arrow of Chetaka.[9] The war became very severe and by the divine influence of the Indras even the pebbles, straws, leaves hurled by Ajatashatru's men were said to have fell like rocks on the army of Chetaka. This war was thus named "Mahasilakantaka",[10] in which more than a lakh (1,00,000) people died. Next, the Indras granted a huge, automatically moving chariot with swinging spiked maces on each side, and said to have been driven by Charmendra himself, to Ajatashatru. The chariot moved about in the battlefield crushing lakhs of soldiers.[11] This war-chariot was named Ratha-Musala.[12]
Siege and Conquest[edit]
In this battle, Chetaka was defeated.[13]But, Chetaka and others immediately took shelter inside the city walls of Vaishali and closed the main gate. [14]The walls around Vaishali were so strong that Ajatshatru was unable to break through them. Many days passed, Ajatshatru became furious and again prayed to Indra, but this time Indra refused to help him. But Ajatshatru was informed by an oracle of a demi-goddess "Vaishali can be conquered if Sramana (monk) Kulvalaka gets married to a courtesan."[15]
Ajatashatru inquired about the monk Kulvalaka and sent for the prostitute Magadhika disguised as a devout follower. The fallen women attracted the monk towards herself and finally, the monk gave up his monkhood and married her. Later Magadhika on Ajatashatru's orders brainwashed Kulvalaka to enter Vaishali disguised as an astrologer.[16] With great difficulty, he did enter Vaishali and learned that the city was saved by a Chaitya (altar) dedicated to Lord Munisuvrata .Kulvalaka then started telling people that this altar is the reason why the city is suffering through a bad period. The people uprooted the altar from its very foundation. Kulvalaka gave a signal and Ajatashatru proceeded as per prior arrangement. This was the last attack. Vaishali was conquered by Ajatashatru.
Aftermath[edit]
Sechanaka the elephant died after it fell in a pit with iron rods and fire made by Ajatashatru's soldiers. Later Halla and Vihalla kumaras got initiated as monks in the holy order of Lord Mahavira. Chetaka courted Sallekhana (fasted unto death). Ajatashatru not only conquered Vaishali but also Kashi-Kosala.The Lichhavis emigrated to Nepal soon after and established the Lichhavi Kingdom in the Kathmandu Valley.[4]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Nagraj (Muni.) (1974). King Bimbiṡāra and King Ajātaśatru in the Age of Mahāvīra & Buddha. Agama & Sahitya Prakashan, Jaina Vishva Bharati. pp. 63, 64, 65. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020.CS1 maint: Date and year (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Nagraj, Muni (1986). Āgama Aura Tripiṭaka, Eka Anuśilana: History & tradition. Today & Tommorow's Printers and Publishers. Search this book on
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Basham, Arthur Llewellyn (1981). History and Doctrines of the Ajivikas, a Vanished Indian Religion. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 66–78. ISBN 978-81-208-1204-8. Search this book on
- ↑ Jain, Kailash Chand (1991). Lord Mahāvīra and His Times. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 75, 76. ISBN 978-81-208-0805-8. Search this book on
- ↑ Upinder Singh 2016, p. 272.
- ↑ Stricklin, William A. (2020-02-07). The Prince and I - Miss Olive. Dorrance Publishing. ISBN 978-1-64530-432-6. Search this book on
- ↑ Nagraj (Muni.) (1974). King Bimbiṡāra and King Ajātaśatru in the Age of Mahāvīra & Buddha. Agama & Sahitya Prakashan, Jaina Vishva Bharati. Search this book on
- ↑ Gaekwad's Oriental Series. Oriental Institute. 1962. p. 322. Search this book on
- ↑ Jain Journal, Volume 21. Jain Bhawan. July 1986. p. 126.CS1 maint: Date and year (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Sinha, Bindeshwari Prasad (1974). Comprehensive history of Bihar. Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute. p. 700. Search this book on
- ↑ Sikdar, Jogendra Chandra (1964). Studies in the Bhagawatīsūtra. Research Institute of Prakrit, Jainology & Ahimsa. pp. 65, 66, 67. Search this book on
- ↑ Pathak, Vishwambhar Sharan; Shastri, Ajay Mitra; Handa, Devendra; Gupta, C. S. (1995-10-01). Viśvambharā, probings in orientology: Prof. V.S. Pathak festschrift. Harman Pub. House. Search this book on
- ↑ Bhattacharyya, Narendra Nath (1999-12-01). Jain philosophy: historical outline. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 9788121508872. Search this book on
- ↑ Nagraj (Muni.) (1974). King Bimbiṡāra and King Ajātaśatru in the Age of Mahāvīra & Buddha. Agama & Sahitya Prakashan, Jaina Vishva Bharati. Search this book on
- ↑ Jain Journal. Jain Bhawan. July 1967. p. 115. Search this book on
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