thumb|Gana Sanghas (c. 500 BCE) '''Pipphalivana''' was the capital of the Moriya republic, a gana- sangha of the Mahajanapada period.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hazra |first1=Kanai Lal |title=Royal Patronage of Buddhism in Ancient India |date=1984 |publisher=D.K. Publications |isbn=978-0-86590-167-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ooUEAAAAYAAJ&q=pipphalivana |language=en}}</ref><ref name="republic">{{cite book |title=Republics in ancient India |publisher=Brill Archive |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcoUAAAAIAAJ&dq=pipphalivana&pg=PA224 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="geo">{{cite book |last1=Kapoor |first1=Subodh |title=Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography |date=2002 |publisher=Cosmo Publications |isbn=978-81-7755-299-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8897ridkczoC&dq=pipphalivana&pg=PA536 |language=en}}</ref> The 7th century CE Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang later referred to it by the name of Nyagrodhavana.<ref name="cun">{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Sir Alexander |title=The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang |date=1871 |publisher=Trübner and Company |pages=430–433 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yH9Xef_vm1EC |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=219-224}}{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=219-224}}<ref name="geo"/>
Buddhist texts like the ''Dīgha Nikāya'' and Buddhavaṃsa suggest that Pipphalivana was the chief town and capital of the Moriyas.
==Location== Some say that Pipphalivana probably lay between Rummindei (Lumbini) in the Terai region of Nepal and Kasia in the modern-day Gorakhpur district.<ref name="geo"/> The town is identified with Nyagrodhavana (banyan grove), a village in Gorakhpur district which contained the famous Embers' ''stupa'' and was mentioned by Hiuen Tsang.<ref name="geo"/><ref name="republic"/> Fa-Hien tells us that the stupa lay four ''yojanas'' to the east of the river Anoma and twelve ''yojanas'' to the west of Kusinara.<ref name="republic"/><ref name="cun"/>
==Etymology== A tradition explains that the Moriyas took refuge in a ''pipphalivana'' (grove of pepper trees) and founded the city ''Moriyanagara'' there. The queen of ''Moriyanagara'' gave birth to Chandragupta, who was then raised by a herdsman and a hunter.<ref name="republic"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofnandasmaury0000nila/page/143/mode/1up |title=Age of the Nandas and Mauryas |date=November 1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Pub |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-81-208-0465-4 |pages=143 |quote=Moriyanagara, perhaps identical with Pipphalivana of early Päli texts, members of which had to take shelter in Pupphapura (Pataliputra) when the last monarch of the line had been put to death by a certain powerful Räjä. The queen consort of Moriyanagara, we are told, gave birth to Chandragupta, and the child is said to have been reared by a herdsman and a hunter.}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Sharma |first=J. P. |author-link= |date=1968 |title=Republics in Ancient India, C. 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. |url= |location=Leiden, Netherlands |publisher=E. J. Brill |page= |isbn=978-9-004-02015-3 }} {{refend}}
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Category:Ancient Indian cities Category:History of Uttar Pradesh Category:Gorakhpur district