Amrapali: A Journey from Courtesan to Monk

By Rajiv Jha

Amrapali is a renowned woman of in Indian history who lived around 2500 years ago in Vaishali, a small town in modern Bihar state of India. Vaishali was the capital of the then state (or Mahajanapad) of Vajji Republic, the first known republic in the world. Amrapali was just 11 years old when she was declared the most beautiful girl in Vaishali. The recognition came with a price, King Manudev, one of the kings of Vaishali, murdered her childhood lover on the days of their marriage. Many other kings and noble men also wanted to ‘own’ Amrapali and thus declared war among themselves. To overcome the situation and keep unity of Vaishali, the royal court declared Amrapali as Nagarvadhu (Bride of Vaishali), a term used for courtesan.
Amrapali was famous not just within Vaishali but also outside the Vajji Republic for her beauty and charm. Various kings and other noble men wanted to be with her. Many used to attend the royal court of Vaishali to get a glimpse of the divine beauty who used to perform dance in the court. Though unwillingly she became a courtesan, Amrapali had a high stature in the society. It was all fine until she met a greedy king.
Ajatshatru, the king of neighboring state of Magadha, had had many failed attempts of conquering Vaishali until he met Amrapali. How would Amrapali have known that the soldier, with who she shared the love and affection, was in fact the biggest enemy of Vaishali! The king would later user her against her own motherland and bring the world’s first republic to an end.
This is the story of not just a person or a specific situation, it is the story of making of Bihar as we know it today. The book attempts to uncover the geopolitical issues of sixth century BCE that did not spare even the enlightened Buddha.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rajiv Jha
• Release date: Aug 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310290145

Book preview

ShortHistory- Amrapali

A journey from Courtesan to Monk

Rajiv Jha

TITLE Copyright © 2015 by Rajiv Jha.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This book is a work of fiction and except for the historical facts, it has no resemblance with any living or dead person or thing. The work does not intend to heart anyone’s religious or personal sentiments.

For any query or information, please contact [e-mail]

Cover design by Sanjiv Jha

First Edition: Aug 2015

ISBN: 9781310290145

CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

Bimbisara & his marriage alliances

The Courtesan

Last Days of Bimbisara

Rise of the greedy king

Failed Attempts

Final War

The Monk - Amrapali

Preface

THe short story Amrapali - A Journey from Courtesan to Monk is an attempt to structure the facts about Amrapali. She is regarded as one of the most famous women in Indian history. Amrapali was born to an unknown parentage and was found under a mango groove as an infant. This abandoned kid bore an immense beauty and charm. At an early age of eleven years, she was declared as the most beautiful woman of Vaishali, a state in the current state of Bihar, India.

Amrapali’s story is around 2500 years old when the written accounts hardly existed. History was passing generations mainly in the form of storytelling traditions. The drawback of such traditions is that the story gets diluted over time largely due to personal interpretations and storytelling methods of the story tellers. Thanks to the spread of Buddhism in countries around India, foreign travelers and philosophers, Chinese in particular, showed interest in documenting stories around Buddha and the then Indian society. Meanwhile, after the annexation of Alexander, the Greek tradition of maintaining written accounts had gained popularity among the Indian kings. Thus, though not from the sixth century, we can still find menuscripts, that were written few hundred years later, throwing light on 500 BCE India.

Ironically none of them avail full picture of that time. Moreover, due