Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c14.38

c14.38

The Śākyas were the community wherein the Buddha was born, being the son of the President of the Śākya gaṇa. They were under the suzerainty of the king of Kosala, and their independence was destroyed in the life-time of the Buddha by the king of Kosala. Their council seems to have been composed of 500 members.³ The Śākyas are said to have had a law that each citizen could have only one wife.⁴