The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times c11.12

c11.12

All these clans were not necessarily independent. For instance, the Śâkiyas owned the suzerainty of Kośala and, before the death of the Buddha, suffered a complete destruction of their autonomy.¹ Thus, the fundamental political conditions in this epoch are the same as those reflected in somewhat later literature which has already been noticed. It is, however, interesting that autonomy, so long as it lasted, carried with it autonomy of political organization. A monarch might be the suzerain of an oligarchy.