Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c11.50

c11.50

One fact which is striking in this matter is that mention is made of Mahāvīra’s father as the chief of the Nāya-clan and as a resident in Kollāga. There is apparently a confusion in the sources about the centre of Nāya power, being either in Kuṇḍapura or in Vesālī which was probably not very far from it. It is evident from the *Uvāsagadasāo* that Kuṇḍapura lay to the northeast of Vesālī.¹ The traditions of its being a *sannivesa*, or a “halting place of caravans,” indicate that it was a relatively insignificant place.² The fact that Mahāvīra was called a Vesālian³ has further complicated the problem of its location. We suggest that Kuṇḍapura, the centre of Nāya power, was different from Vesālī and lay somewhere to the northeast of the latter,⁴ and that when the sources speak of its greatness and prosperity they do not imply Vesālī but refer, in grossly exaggerated terms, to the birthplace of Mahāvīra. When sources speak of the Nāyas as living in Videha they appear to imply the territory of the older Videhas which was later controlled by the Licchavis from their centre at Vesālī. We cannot determine the distance of Kuṇḍapura from Vesālī, but it appears from the context that it was not very far.