Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c10.s3.1

c10.s3.1

Like the word Licchavi, the words Videha and Mithilā inspired a few etymological interpretations by earlier commentators and writers. Modern writers have either reproduced them and accepted them without comment or criticism or have not touched on the point at all. The word Videha, which is applied to the country, has an obvious connection with Videgha Māthava of the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*.⁴ The authors of the *Vedic Index* comment that, "Videgha is the name of a man, Māthava, in the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa*. It is legitimate to assume that it is a name given to him as king of the Videghas or the later Videhas".⁵ From this the word will apply to the people of Videha or the Videhans⁶ and to their king. There are quite a few examples of kings being called Videha of Vedeha.⁷ However, in the *Māta-Posaka Jātaka* "Vedeha" is also given as the personal name of the king of Kāsī.⁸ But in most cases it is the title of the kings of Mithilā, the capital of Videha,¹ e.g. Suruci,² Sādhina,³ Somanassa,⁴ Nimi,⁵ and Aṅgati.⁶ Thus it seems that Videha was the name of the people who colonized the region east of Sadānīrā, with their centre at Mithilā, and their rulers were entitled "Videha" or "Vedeha," meaning king or chief of the Videhas.