Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c10.s7.8

c10.s7.8

As a member of the Vajjian Confederacy, the Videhans also were threatened by the Magadhan king with ruin and annihilation.⁴ Hence they were on hostile terms with Magadha and fought against it along with the other Confederates of the Vajjian League. Though Ajātasattu's mother was a Videhan princess, this probably did not deter him from fighting against his mother's kinsmen who had espoused the cause of the confederacy.⁵ As the Mallas were also components of the Confederation, the Videhans should have been on good terms with them and our sources do not contradict this. The Buddhist sources relate that their relations with the Licchavis, Nāyas, Mallas, etc. were close, and similarly the Brāhmaṇic literature indicates the close relations of the older Videhan kingdom with Kāsi, Kosala and Magadha.