Mithila (IAST: mithilā, also known as Mithilanchal, Tirhut and Tirabhukti) is a geographical and cultural region located in the Indian subcontinent. The native language is known as Maithili and its speakers are referred to as Maithils.[1]
The majority of the Mithila region falls within modern-day India, more specifically in the state of Bihar.[2]
Mithila is bounded in the north by the Himalayas, and in the south, west and east by the Ganges, Gandaki and Mahananda respectively.[3][4] It extends into the southeastern TeraiofNepal.[5][6][7]
This region was also called Tirabhukti, the ancient name of Tirhut.[8]
The name Mithila is believed to be derived from the King Mithi. He established Mithilapuri.[9] Since he was born out of the body of his father, he was called Janaka.
After this, the later kings of Mithila adopted the title Janaka. The most famous Janaka was Seeradhwaja Janaka, father of Sita. There were 52 kings in the dynasty of Janaka.[10]
Following the fall of the Videhas, Mithila came under the control of the Vajjika League which was a confederacy of clans the most famous of which was the Licchavi.[13] The capital was in the city of Vaishali in modern-day Bihar.[14] Mithila under Vajji was eventually conquered by the king of Magadha, Ajatashatru.
The Karnata dynasty was founded by Nanyadeva with the capital being in Simraungadh in Mithila.[15]
In the court of Harisimhadeva, the Royal Priest was Jyotirishwar, the author of Varna Ratnakar. Upon Ghiyasuddin Tughlak's invasion of Mithila (Tirhut), King Harisimhadeva, along with many Maithils, fled to Nepal and founded a new dynasty in Nepal.[16]
Nanyadeva apart from being a great warrior, also had a keen interest in music. He classified and analyzed the Ragas and opines Madhya Laya is chosen for Hasya (humorous) and Sringar (libido) rasa, Bilambit is chosen for Karun (compassion) rasa and Drut is chosen for Veer (brave), Rodra (anger), Adbhut (marvellous) and Bhayanak (fearful) rasas. He wrote a treaty on music 'Saraswati Hridayalankar' which is preserved in the Bhandarkar Research Institute of Pune.[18] Nanya Dev is also considered to be the "forgotten King of Mithila".
Harisimhadeva was instrumental in initiating and implementing PanjiVyavasthaorPanji Prabandha in Maithil Brahmins and Maithil Kayasthas (Karn Kayasthas). He was also ga reat patron of art and literature.
In 1325, following the collapse of the Karnat dynasty in 1324,[19] Nath Thakur became the first Maithil ruler. The dynasty that followed him was called Oiniwar Dynasty, an comprised a further 20 rulers.[20]
16th century to 20th century : Raj Darbhanga[edit]
^Yadav, Yogendra P. date missing. Reading Asia: New Research in Asian Studies; Frans Hüsken, Dick van der Meij; Chapter 12 – The Maithili Language at page 240
^ abEncyclopaedia of Hinduism. Nagendra Kumar Singh, p. 3239.
^Verma, Harsh (2013), "Leadership and Dharma: The Indian Epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and Their Significance for Leadership Today", Fictional Leaders, Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 182–201, doi:10.1057/9781137272751_13, ISBN978-1-349-44498-4
^Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialectsinDialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 17 116-124, 141-143
^Raychaudhuri, Hemchandra (1972), Political History of Ancient India, University of Calcutta, Calcutta, pp. 106–113, 186–90