Tribes in Ancient India c53.130

c53.130

The Mallas invited the Buddha to this hall, saying, ‘Let the Lord, the Exalted One, be the first to make use of it. That it has first been used by the Exalted One will be for the lasting good and happiness of the Pāvā Mallas’. At their request, the Buddha gave a discourse on his doctrine to the Mallas of Pāvā, until the late hours of the night. The Mallas were in assembly and had been doing business in their Council-Hall when Ānanda went to them with the message of the impending death of the Master; and again they gathered in assembly, evidently in the same *Santhāgāra*, to discuss the procedure to be followed in the disposal of the body, and afterwards to discuss the claims put forward by the various Kṣatriya kings and peoples.