Tribes in Ancient India c61.s5.2

c61.s5.2

The Licchavis formed what was called a *samgha* or *gaṇa*, that is, an organised corporation. One of the Buddhist canonical books, the *Majjhima Nikāya*,⁵ speaks of the Vajjis and the Mallas as forming *samghas* and *gaṇas*, i.e. clans governed by an organised corporation and not by an individual sovereign. The *Mahāvastu* says that when plague raged in Vaiśālī, a Licchavi named Tomara was elected by the gaṇa to appeal to the Buddha and bring him to the city.