Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.262

c9.s7.262

³ *Nava Mallaī (Mallaī) nava Lechchhaī (Lechchhaī) Kāsī Kosalagā (variant Kosalakā) aṭṭhārasa vi gaṇarāyāṇo.* The *Kalpasūtra of Bhadrabāhu*, ed by Hermann Jacobi, 1879, *Jinacarita*, p. 65 (§ 128); *Nirayāvaliyā Suttam* (Dr. S. Warren), 1879, § 26; *SBE*, XXII, 1884, p. 266. Dr. Barua is inclined to identify the nine Lichchhavis and the nine Mallakis with the eighteen gaṇarājās who belonged to Kāśī and Kośala. He refers in this connection to the *Kalpadrumakalikāvyākhyā* which represents the Mallakis as *adhipas* (or overlords) of Kāśī-deśa, and the "Lechchhakis" as *adhipas* of Kośala-deśa, and further describes them as *sāmantas* or vassals of Cheṭaka, maternal uncle of Mahāvīra (*Indian Culture*, Vol. II. p. 810). It is news to students of Indian history that in the days of Mahāvīra the kingdoms of Kāśī and Kośala acknowledged the supremacy of the Mallas and Lichchhavis respectively, and formed part of an empire over which Cheṭaka presided. Even Dr. Barua hesitates to accept this interpretation of the late Jaina commentator in its entirety and suggests that the nine Mallas and the nine Lichchhavis...derived their family prestige from their original connection with the dynasties of Kāśī and Kośala. The *Paramattha-jotikā* (Khuddaka pāṭha commentary), however, connects the Lichchhavis not with the dynasty of Kośala but with that of Kāśī. The divergent testimony of these late commentators shows that they can hardly be regarded as preserving genuine tradition. There is no suggestion in any early Buddhist or Jaina text that either the Lichchhavis or the Mallas actually ruled over any grāma or nigama in Kāśī-Kośala (see *Indian Culture*, II, 808). The gaṇarājās of Kāśī-Kośala apparently refer to the Kālāmas, Śākyas and other clans in the Kosalan empire.