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{{Short description|Founder King of Videha Kingdom}}
{{See also|Yajurveda|Shatapatha Brahmana}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Videgha Mathava
| title = King of Videha
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| era name =
| father = Mathu
| religion = [[Sanatana]]
| dynasty = Mathu
}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Hindu
| name = Videgha Mathava
| texts = [[Yajurveda]], [[Shatapatha Brahmana]]
| abode = [[Videha]]
| region = [[Videha]]
| dynasty = Mathu
| deity_of = Mithila
| father = Mathu
| other_names = Videgha Madhava
}}

'''Videgha Mathava''' ([[Sanskrit]]: विदेघ माथव, ''videgha māthava''; [[Maithili language|Maithili]]: विदेह माधव, ''videha mādhav'') was the founder and first king of the [[Videha]] kingdom in the ancient [[Indian subcontinent]]. Videha is the ancient name of [[Mithila (region)|Mithila]]
.<ref>{{cite web|last=Thakur |first=Ripunjay Kumar |date=1 March 2022|title=Historical Geography of Early Medieval Mithila: From Videha to Tirhut.|url=https://www.academia.edu/72670545|publisher=New Archaeological & Genological Society, Kanpur, India|issn=2348-8301|access-date=21 August 2025}}</ref> Videgha Mathava previously lived on the banks of the holy [[Sarasvati river]] with his philosophical teacher Gotama Râhûgana. According to [[Shatapatha Brahmana]], Mathava came to Mithila with his teacher and established the kingdom of Videha.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=SINGH |first=LAL BABU |title=Champaran and the Coming of the Aryans into Bihar |date=1996 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44133296 |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=57 |pages=118–125 |jstor=44133296 |issn=2249-1937}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Eisenstadt |first=Shmuel Noah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OFGIYBK2hu8C&q=videgha+mathava |title=The Origins and Diversity of Axial Age Civilizations |date=1986-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-88706-094-6 |language=en}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Videgha Mathava is made of two [[Sanskrit]] words ''Videgha'' and ''Mathava''. According to the commentary of [[Sāyaṇa|Sayana]], ''Mathava'' was the name of a son from the King ''Mathu'' from ''Videgha''. Similarly [[Gautama Maharishi|Gautama]] was a son from the Rishi ''Rahugana''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarvahitkari |url=https://archive.org/details/sanskrit-vangmaya-ka-brihat-ithas-ix-nyaya-gajanan-shastri-musalgaonkar |title=Sanskrit Vangmaya Ka Brihat Ithas IX Nyaya Gajanan Shastri Musalgaonkar |date=2021-01-18 |pages=9 |language=}}</ref> It is believed that the name of the kingdom came to be known as ''[[Videha]]'' after the tribal name ''Videgha'' of ''Mathava''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The literary and religious background of vidyapati |url=https://joell.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/103-110-THE-LITERARY-AND-RELIGIOUS-BACKGROUND-OF-VIDYAPATI.pdf |website=JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE (JOELL)}}</ref>

== Story of Videgha Mathava ==
The story of Videgha Mathava is narrated in [[Yajurveda]]. According to [[Shatapatha Brahmana]], Videgha Mathava migrated from the [[Sarasvati River|Sarasvati river]] valley to the middle [[Ganges|Ganga]] valley. He travelled towards the east with [[Agni]] (fire) but stopped at the river [[Gandaki River|Sadanira]] (Gandak).<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Archeological Survey of India |url=http://ignca.gov.in/Asi_data/42365.pdf |journal=Archeological Survey of India}}</ref> Then Videgha Mathava asked to Lord Agni that where he abided now.{{clarify|date=February 2026}} Lord Agni then said that your abode was at the east of the river [[Gandaki River|Sadanira]]. It is said that Lord Agni ordered Videgha Mathava to establish the new kingdom of "[[Videha]]" <ref name=":0" /> Lord [[Agni]] burned away the vegetation on the other side of the river [[Gandaki River|Sadanira]], so that the tribe could settle there. In later times, the Sadanira formed the boundary between the kingdoms of [[Videha]] and [[Kosala|Koshala]] . He had taken his tribe to the plains of the [[Ganges]] which had dense vegetation in the east. This is the theory of Aryanisation of [[Videha|Videha Kingdom]] in the eastern [[India]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Mithila (region)]]
[[Category:Kings of Videha]]
{{Improve categories|date=March 2023}}

Videgha Mathava - Revision history

GayeKirkpatrick: added the details with sources.