Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c10.s1.1

c10.s1.1

The study of the Videhas presents peculiar problems that do not appear among others republics of the Buddhist period. They are included if not directly mentioned, among the *Prācyas* in the ethnological table of the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa*.¹ Unlike the Licchavis who are conspicuously absent in the *Brāhmaṇa* literature, the Videhas are mentioned in these sources but do not enjoy the prestige of the Kuru-Pāñcālas. In the *Brāhmaṇas* they are closely associated with the Kāśīs, Kośalas, Magadhans and Aṅgas.² All these peoples inhabited the land east of the Ganges-Yamunā confluence to the north and south of the river. This was the home of the oldest Jaina and Buddhist communities lying in or near the tracts into which Agni Vaiśvānara did not cross in the flaming course of his travel over the east.³