Vatsa or Vamsa (Pali and Ardhamagadhi: , literally "calf") was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Location The territory of Vatsa was located to the south of the Gaṅgā river, and its capital was the city of or , on the Yamunā river and corresponding to the modern-day location of Kosam. History The early period The Vatsas were a branch of the Kuru dynasty. During the Rig Vedic period, the Kuru Kingdom comprised the area of Haryana/ Delhi and the Ganga-Jamuna Doab, till Prayag/ Kaushambi, with its capital at Hastinapur. During the late-Vedic period, Hastinapur was destroyed by floods, and the Kuru King shifted his capital with the entire subjects to a newly constructed capital that was called Kosambi or Kaushambi. In the post Vedic period, when Arya Varta consisted of several Mahajanpads, the Kuru Dynasty was split between Kurus and Vatsas. The Kurus controlled the Haryana/ Delhi/ Upper Doab, while the Vatsas controlled the Lower Doab. Later, The Vatsas were further divided into two branches—One at Mathura, and the other at Kaushambi. The Puranas state that after the washing away of Hastinapura by the Ganges, the king , the great-great grandson of Janamejaya, abandoned the city and settled in . This is supported by the and the attributed to . Both of them have described the king Udayana as a scion of the family (). The Puranas provide a list of ’s successors which ends with king . Other Puranas state that the Vatsa kingdom was named after a king, Vatsa. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata attribute the credit of founding its capital to a Chedi prince or . The Mahabharata and the Harivansa states the close connection between the Vatsas and the Bhargas (Bhaggas). Mahajanapada period The first ruler of the dynasty of Vatsa, about whom some definite information available is II, Parantapa. While the Puranas state his father’s name was , tells it was . II married a princess of Videha, who was the mother of Udayana. He also married , a daughter of the Licchavi chieftain . He attacked , the capital of during the rule of . The wife of Śatānīka and the mother of Udayana was Queen Mṛgāvatī (in Sanskrit) or Migāvatī (in Prakrit). She was the daughter of Chetaka, the leader of Vaishali. It is recorded that she ruled as a regent