Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c9.s7.288

c9.s7.288

The relations of the Mallas with the Lichchhavis were sometimes hostile and on other occasions friendly. The introductory story of the *Bhaddasāla Jātaka*⁴ contains an account of a conflict between Bandhula the Mallian, Commander-in-chief of the king of Kośala, and 500 elders of the Lichchhavis. The Jaina *Kalpasūtra*, however, refers to "nine Mallakis" as having combined with the Lichchhavis, and the seigniors of Kāsi-Kośala against Kūṇika-Ajātaśatru who, like Philip of Macedon, was trying to absorb the territories of his republican neighbours. The Malla territory was finally annexed to Magadha. It certainly formed a part of the Maurya Empire in the third century B.C.