State and Government in Ancient India c13.72

c13.72

There is no doubt that the Mallas, the Lichchhavis and the Videhas were republics during the life time of the Buddha. Their neighbours, the kings of Magadha and Kośala, were anxious to conquer them, and so we find these republics often forming confederation among themselves. Sometimes we find the Lichchhavis confederating with the Mallas and sometimes with the Videhas. The latter two, however, disappear from history from *c.* 500 B. C., when they were conquered by Magadha. The Lichchhavis had also to bow before the Magadhan imperialism, but they reasserted their independence by *c.* 300 B. C. They were a powerful state at the beginning of the 4th century A. D. and it was by an alliance with them that the Guptas could rise to the imperial position.