Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c10.s6.1

c10.s6.1

An unusual feature of the Videhan republic appears to have been that the most beautiful woman of the *gaṇa* was not allowed to lead a normal married life. A woman such as Piṅgalā, possessed of surpassing beauty, charm, and accomplishments in dance and music, was chosen to be the courtesan of the republic. The Videhans had a troop of the "most beautiful dancing girls, panegyrists and musical instrument players".¹ According to the *Gandhāra Jātaka*,² Videha had not only 16,000 villages with well-filled store-houses, but also 16,000 dancing girls. Thus, it would appear that, whatever the number of villages, each village and town had its dancing girl or courtesan. She should have been the most beautiful woman of the village or town. The sources indicate that they also had what appears to have been a sort of beauty competition for the selection of the most beautiful woman of the whole *gaṇa*. A later source, *Bhaviṣyata Purāṇa*,³ informs us that Piṅgalā was the courtesan of the Videhans of Mithilā. She is said to have spent her life as a public woman. It is not unlikely that such women had some political influence in the Videhan republic.