The Social Organisation in North-East India in Buddha's Time c11.65

c11.65

In the Vedic age, the kingdom devolved either directly upon the eldest son of the king, or the new king was elected by the people.¹ The first case is what generally occurs even in the period described in the Jâtakas. Kingship was hereditary in the family (*kulasantakam rajjam*, I. 395; II. 116; IV. 124) and indeed, when there were several sons, it was the eldest who succeeded his father on the throne (I. 127; II. 87, 212), whilst the second son became the Viceroy (*uparâjan*). As a rule, only the sons of the eldest queen (*aggamahesî*), who must be of the same caste as the king and thus a *Khattiyâ*, seem to be legitimate; yet there are instances which make it probable that this legitimacy was not always considered a *conditio sine qua non* of succession. In the already-quoted Kaṭṭhahâri Jâtaka the king makes the son born of a wood-gatherer (Kaṭṭhahâri) the Viceroy (uparâjan) and after the death of his father, the latter succeeded to the throne.