Bimbisara

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

Bimbisara (558 BCE—491 BCE)<ref>Rawlinson, Hugh George. (1950) A Concise History of the Indian People, Oxford University Press. p. 46.</ref><ref>Muller, F. Max. (2001) The Dhammapada And Sutta-nipata, Routledge (UK). p. xlvii. ISBN 0-7007-1548-7.</ref> was a king of the Magadha empire from 543 BCE to his death and belonged to the Shishunaga dynasty.<ref name=Stearns>Stearns, Peter N. (2001) The Encyclopedia of World History, Houghton Mifflin. pp. 76-78. ISBN 0-395-65237-5.</ref>

Career

There are many accounts of Bimbisara in the Buddhist Jatakas, since he was a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. He acquired Anga and placed it under the viceroyalty of his son Ajatashatru, with its capital at Champa.

As per Jainism texts, he is refered to as King Shrenik of Rajgrih.

Marriage alliances

Bimbisara used marriage alliances to strengthen his position. His first wife was the daughter of the king of Kosala and a sister of Prasenjit. His bride brought him Kashi, which was then a mere village, as dowry.<ref>Eck, Diana. (1998) Banaras, Columbia University Press. p. 45. ISBN 0-231-11447-8.</ref> This marriage also ended the hostility between Magadha and Kosala and gave him a free hand in dealing with the other states. Bimbisara's second wife, Chellana, was a Lichchhavi princess from Vaishali.<ref>Luniya, Bhanwarlal Nathuram. (1967) Evolution of Indian Culture, Lakshmi Narain Agarwal. p. 114.</ref> His third wife was a daughter of the chief of the Madra clan of Punjab.<ref>Krishna, Narendra. (1944) History of India, A. Mukherjee & bros. p. 90.</ref>

Death

Tradition tells us that Bimbisara was imprisoned by his son Ajatashatru who is said to have starved him to death. This is reported to have taken place around 491 BC.<ref name=Stearns />