Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.255

c9.s7.255

Buddhist tradition has preserved the names of eminent Lichchhavis like prince Abhaya, Oṭṭhaddha (Mahāli), generals Sīha and Ajita, Dummukha and Sunakkhatta.³ In the introductory portion of the *Ekapanna*⁴ and *Chulla Kāliṅga*⁵ *Jātakas* it is stated that the Lichchhavis of the ruling family numbered 7,707.⁶ There was a like number of viceroys, generals, and treasurers. Too much importance should not be attached to these figures which are merely traditional and may simply point to the large number of *mahallakas*¹ or elders in the clan. The real power of administration especially in regard to foreign affairs seems to have been vested in a smaller body of nine *Gaṇarājās* or archons. The Jaina Kalpasūtra² refers to the **nine Lichchhavis** as having formed a league with nine Mallakis and eighteen clan-lords of Kāśī-Kośala.³ We learn from the *Nirayāvalī Sūtra* that an important leader of this alliance was Cheṭaka whose sister Triśalā or Videha-dattā was the mother of Mahāvīra, and whose daughter Chellanā or Vaidehī was, according to Jaina writers, the mother of Kūṇika-Ajātaśatru.