OF BHARATAA'AESA OE INDIA. 
163 
i.e., in South India, Burma and parts of China. It is not a 
native of the North- West. The most valuable property of 
the original inhabitants must have been formed by the herds 
of these animals, which were and are still highly esteemed 
and regarded worthy of carrying the symbol of the deity. 
The worship of the buffalo is a most striking feature and 
can only be traced to very ancient times. The buffalo figures 
also in Mahisrmtl, a town founded by king Mahismat, whose 
name implies that he was rich in buffaloes. The worship 
of the fire, or of Agni, prevailed here, and women were 
allowed unrestricted liberty in the choice of their husbands. 
The city was situated in the plateau south of the Goda- 
vari, most probably on a tributary of the Krishna. King 
Nlla of Daksinapatha reigned here. He is mentioned as 
an ally of Duryodhana, though he was killed in battle by the 
son of Drona.^* The people of king Nila are called the 
Mdhisakas, and are mentioned in the Sloka previously to 
the Kolvagireyas, the inhabitants of Kolva or Kolagiri. This 
circumstance places the Mahisakas locally in proximity with 
the Grond tribes. Mysore or Mahisdsur a, the country named 
according to tradition after the buffalo-shaped Asura Mahisa, 
may have been a part of king Nila's empire. The Nilagiri 
mountains and Mysore are conterminous. The name of the 
Asura Mahisa is in this case also used as representing the 
'* Compare the Fdi/offaparva XVIII, 23, 24 of the Mahabharata : 
Sa ca samprapya Kauravyam tatraivantardadhe tada, 
tatha Mahismativasl Nilo Nilayiidhais saha 23. 
Mahlpato mahaviryair Daksinapathavasibhih. 24. 
and ibidem, Dronaparva XXXI, 24,25. 
Sa plutah syandanat tasman-NllaScarmavarasibhrt 
Draunayaneh sirah kayaddhartum aicchat patattrivat. 24. 
TasyOnnatamsam sunasam sirah kayat sakundalam 
Ballgnapaharad-Draunih smayamana ivanagha. 25. 
See Christian Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. I, pp. 681-683 (or 
567-569 in the first edition). 
About the town Mahismatt (Mahesvara) on the Narmada in Indore com- 
pare the article " Mahesvara in Malwa" by Raoji Vasudeva Tullu, m.a., in 
the Indian Antiquary, vol. IV. (1875), pp. 346-348. 
