Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c13.s3.1

c13.s3.1

There is not a single mention of the Sakyas in the entire pre-Buddhist Brāhmaṇic literature. But in the Pāli texts frequent mentions of king Okkāka (Ikṣvāku) are found in association with the Sakyas.⁴ This may suggest the latter's connection with the Kuru-Pāñcāla dynasty of the Ikṣvākus and indicate that the Sakyas, like the Videhas, the Licchavis, the Mallas and others, had moved eastwards from the western region of north India. The study of the Brāhmaṇic literature and the knowledge gained from the Buddhist texts about the Kosalans on the one hand, and the Videhas and Licchavis and their geographical locations on the other, tend to suggest that the Sakyas had, during the 7th century B.C. or a little earlier, taken possession of a tract of land along the Himālayan foothills occupied by the Kosalans and bordering on the Videhan territory. During the lifetime of the Buddha, the Sakyas, along with the Koliyas, the Moriyas and the Mallas, separated the Kosalan territory from that of the Videhas and the Licchavis. This would suggest that these republics expanded at the cost of the Kosalan kingdom.¹