Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times c14.49

c14.49

§ 47 The Jātaka calls the Lichchhavi rulers 'gana-rulers' or republican rulers.² The constitution of the Lichchhavis to which Professor Rhys Davids has alluded is detailed in a later document, the *Aṭṭha-kathā*.³ It mentions three highest officers, the President (Rājā), the Vice-President (Upa-Rājā) and the Generalissimo (Senāpati). An early authority (Jātaka, I, p. 504) adds a fourth officer: the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Bhaṇḍāgārika). There is no doubt that these were the four highest administrative officers and that they composed the cabinet or executive authority. The Jātaka says that the government was located in the city of Vaiśālī which had a system of triple fortifications. The rule (rajjaṃ) vested in the inhabitants (vasantānaṃ), 7707 in number, all of whom were entitled to rule (rājūnaṃ, 'kings'). They became Presidents (rājāno), Vice-Presidents (Upa-rājāno), Commanders-in-Chief (Senā-patino) and Chancellors of the Exchequer.⁴ What the Jātaka means to say is that the 7707 of the inhabitants, probably the foundation families, were the ruling class, that it is they who became (*honti*, 'become') the executive office-holders. The total population was much larger, divided in outer and inner citizens ('Vaisalians'), 1,68,000 in number.⁵ The rulers (gaṇa-rājās) underwent the ceremony of consecration by anointing.⁵