Dakshina Kosala

Dakshina Kosala (IAST: Dakṣiṇa Kosala, "southern Kosala") is a historical region of central India. It was located in what is now Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh along with some parts of Western Odisha. At its greatest extent, it may have also included a part of the Vidarbha region in present-day Maharashtra. Its capitals at various times included Bhadravati, Sirpur (ancient Shripura), Tuman (ancient Tummana), and Ratanpur (ancient Ratnapura). Dakshina Kosala ("South Kosala"), sometimes simply called Kosala, is so-called to distinguish it from Uttara Kosala ("North Kosala") in present-day Uttar Pradesh. Epigraphic evidence suggests that the area bounded by the Shahdol, Raipur, Bilaspur, Anuppur Sambalpur districts was definitely a part of the Dakshina Kosala region. The inscriptions found in these districts record grants of villages located in the Kosala country, and the rulers mentioned in these inscriptions are given the titles indicating their lordship over Dakshina Kosala (such as Kosaladhisha, Kosaladhipati, and Kosala-narendra). According to the 7th century Chinese traveler Xuanzang, the extent of the contemporary Kosala kingdom was 6,000 li in circuit, that is, around 81,000 square miles in area. This suggests that in the 7th century, the Dakshina Kosala region encompassed an area much larger than the region bounded by the above-mentioned districts. The Somavamshi inscriptions suggest that other areas of present-day Odisha, bordering Sambalpur, were also part of the Dakshina Kosala. During Xuanzang's period, Kosala appears to have extended from 78th meridian east to the 85th meridian east in the east–west direction. The northern boundary of Kosala was located a little to the south of Amarakantaka, which was a part of the Mekala kingdom. The Puranas, including the Vayu Purana and the Matsya Purana, mention Mekala and Kosala as distinct regions. The ancient epigraphs, such as the Balaghat inscription of the Vakataka king Prithvishena II, also distinguish between these two regions.