Kampilya was the capital of the Panchala Kingdom, which was a mahajanapada mentioned in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

. Kampilya was the capital of southern Panchala and Ahichchhatra was the capital of northern Panchala. Kampilya was ruled by

Drupada Drupada (), also known as Yajnasena (, ), is the king of the southern part of Panchala Kingdom, in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the father of Draupadi, the epic's lead female character. In the Kurukshetra War as the head of 1 akshauhi ...

during

period. It is mentioned in Mahabharata that when the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

s were in exile and staying in Ekachakra (

Etawah Etawah (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Iṭāvā''), also known as Ishtikapuri, is a city situated on the banks of Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawa ...

), (

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

) they learned that

, King of Panchala, had announced the

Swayamvara ''Svayaṃvara'' ( ) is a matrimonial tradition in ancient Indian society where a bride, usually from '' Kṣatriya'' (warrior) caste, selects her husband from a group of assembled suitors either by her own choice or a public contest between her ...

of his daughter

Draupadi Draupadi (), also referred to as Krishnā, Panchali and Yajnaseni, is the central heroine of the Indian epic poetry, ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata''. In the epic, she is the princess of Panchala Kingdom, who later becomes the empress of K ...

. Then they went to Kampilya ( Kampil,

), the capital of Drupada.

History

Previously called by the names Kampilya and Makandi, the history of Kampilaji dates back to the times of Bhagawan Vimalanatha. It is also the birthplace of king Harisen of the

Ikshvaku dynasty The Solar dynasty or (; ), also called the Ikshvaku dynasty, is a legendary Indian dynasty said to have been founded by Ikshvaku. In Hindu literature, it ruled the Kosala Kingdom, with its capital at Ayodhya, and later at Shravasti. They ...

. It was the capital of king Drupad who ruled this place during the period of Bhagawan Neminatha. Many remains found during the excavation work indicate that there were many Jain temples at this place. But now the place is being transformed into a village. This is also the birthplace of Sati Draupadi among the 16 sati. The deities at this place are said to belong to the Guptan period.

References

* Sister Nivedita & Ananda K. Coomaraswamy: Myths and Legends of the Hindus and Bhuddhists, Kolkata, 2001 * Nagendranath Basu: 'Bangla vishva kosha' Ancient Indian cities Mahabharata Pañcāla {{india-hist-stub