Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c12.s2.7
Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c12.s2.7
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c12.s2.7
The usage of the name Malla to mean "wrestler" or "boxer" may have been a secondary one. Perhaps in the Malla tribe the menfolk were highly skilled in the art of wrestling and were widely recognized as such. Thus, this tribal name also began to be applied to professional wrestlers, many of whom were actually members of the Malla tribe in early times.⁶ The *Vālodaka Jātaka* refers to 500 page-boys of Sāvatthi who wrestled like the very Mallians.⁷