Macchā untranslated

Macchā. A country, with its people, included in the traditional list of the sixteen Mahā Janapadas (AN.i.213; iv. 252, 256, 260).

The Macchā are generally mentioned with the Sūrasenā (e.g., DN.ii.200; cp. Kāsikosalā, Vajjimallā). In the Vidhura Paṇḍitajātaka (Ja. i.280) the Macchā are mentioned among those who witnessed the game of dice between the king of the Kurus and Puṇṇaka.

The Macchā country lay to the south or south west of Indraprastha and to the south of Sūrasena. Its capital was Virāṭanagara or Vairāt, so-called because it was the city of King Virāṭa. Rv.vii.6, 18; Cunningham: Ancient Geography of India, p. 19.