Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c10.s7.1

c10.s7.1

During the Brāhmaṇa period the Videhas had close relations with Magadha, Kāsī and Kosala, as has already been noticed.⁴ But at the time of the Buddha, after the seizure of their kingdom by the Licchavis, they had become members of the Vajjian Confederacy. The very fact of the replacement of their kingdom by a new form of government put them in a special relationship with the Licchavis. This may be the reason that they had a different status in the Confederacy from that of the neighbouring republics of the Mallas of Pāvā and Kusinārā. Their not claiming a part of the relics of the Buddha at Kusinārā, along with the Licchavis of Vesālī, the Mallas of Pāvā and Kusinārā, the Sakyas of Kapilavatthu, etc.,⁵ confirms the view that the Videhan republic had no sovereign rights. The others claimed shares of the relics and later built *stūpas* in their capital towns to enshrine them. The Mallas, though constituent members of the Confederation, did not loose their sovereign rights to the Licchavis, as the latter did not conquer the former.