Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c12.s1.1

c12.s1.1

The Mallas are not referred to in any of the Vedic sources in the sense of a tribe, but only in the sense of "professional wrestlers."[¹] Hence the word does not find a place in the *Vedic Index*. The Mallas as a tribe are first referred to in the list of the sixteen *Mahājanapadas* in the *Aṅguttara Nikāya* and other Buddhist texts.[²] In the *Majjhima Nikāya* the Mallas, along with the Licchavis, are quoted as being typical examples of a *saṅgha* or *gaṇa*.[³] The Mallakas are mentioned among the communities living by the title of *rājā* in the *Arthaśāstra*.[⁴]