Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c14.100

c14.100

We have no definite chronological data to show that the Koliyan-Sakyan feud preceded the defeat of the Sakyas by Viḍūḍabha, but it seems most unlikely that the latter event preceded the former. We have noticed that after Viḍūḍabha's victory the Sakyas virtually vanished from the Indian scene, not only as a political power, but also as an ethnic group. Only a few individual families remained, which dispersed and settled elsewhere.³ This makes it highly probable that the Koliya-Sakyan feud occurred before the war between the Sakyas and the Kosalas. We cannot say definitely how many years before the decease of the Buddha the Koliya-Sakyan quarrel took place. The Koliyas also claimed a share in the relics of the Buddha and got an eighth portion which they enshrined at their chief town, Rāmagāma.⁴