Pre-Buddhist India: A Political, Administrative, Economic, Social and Geographical Survey of Ancient India Based Mainly on the Jataka Stories c4.t2.139

c4.t2.139

If there was neither a male heir nor a kinsman who could succeed, the successor was, most probably, chosen by the ministers and the citizens combined. In no circumstance was the crown formally placed on the head of a woman. However, an incidental statement would seem to indicate that such cases, though exceptional, did occur. Thus says a *gāthā* of the *Kaṇḍina Jātaka*⁵