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 located on the Yamuna River about southwest of its confluence with the Ganges at Prayaga (modern Prayagraj), which made it a powerful center for trade and beneficial for the Vatsa Kingdom.

==History== thumb|left|Woman riding two bulls (bronze), from Kausambi, During the 2nd millennium BCE Ochre Coloured Pottery culture spread in the region. Kosambi was one of the greatest cities in India from the late Vedic period until the end of the Maurya Empire with occupation continuing until the Gupta Empire. As a small town, it was established in the late Vedic period, by the rulers of thu Kuru Kingdom as their new capital. The initial Kuru capital, Hastinapur, was destroyed by floods, and the Kuru King transferred his entire capital with the subjects to a new capital that he built near the Ganga-Jamuna confluence, which was 56 km away from the southernmost part of the Kuru Kingdom, and is now known as Prayagraj, previously called Allahabad.During the period prior the Maurya Empire, Kosambi was the capital of the independent kingdom of Vatsa, one of the Mahajanapadas. Kosambi was a very prosperous city by the time of Gautama Buddha, at which point it was a place where a large number of wealthy merchants resided. Kosambi was an important entrepôt of goods and passengers from north-west and south. It figures very prominently in the accounts of the life of Buddha.