Tribes in Ancient India c60.12

c60.12

When the Moriyas are introduced to us in the *Mahāparinibbāna Suttanta*, they are contemporaries and powerful rivals of the Śākyas of Kapilavastu. Viḍūḍabha’s invasion of Kapilavastu and the carnage committed upon its citizens took place, if the tradition is to be believed, shortly before the demise of the Buddha. There may be some truth in the suggestion that the Moriyas were in some way connected with the Śākyas of Kapilavastu, and with the advance of ethnological researches it may be found that the matrimonial alliance of the Śākyas with the neighbouring hill peoples brought some new tribes into existence.