State and Government in Ancient India c23.s2.3

c23.s2.3

Only a few republics lingered in the Gupta period in the Punjab and Rajputana. The principal ones among them were the Madras in the Central Punjab, the Kuṇindas in the Kangra valley, the Yaudheyas in the south-eastern Punjab, the Arjunāyanas in Agra-Jaipur tract and the Mālavas in Central Rajasthan. The Prārjunas, the Sanakānīksas, the Kākas and the Abhīras flourished in Central India; they were very small in size. The Lichchhavis had probably a republican constitution, but it had almost glided into monarchy by *c.* 300 A. D. The head of the Sanakānīka republic had the title Mahārāja. The head of the Yaudheya republic also, who was its commander-in-chief as well, enjoyed the title of Mahārāja, but he was elected.¹ No republic of the age permitted its head to put his name or bust upon its coinage.