Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c14.43

c14.43

The allusion in the *Kuṇāla Jātaka*, in the words of the Sakyas, to the "Koliyas dwelling in the hollow of a *kola tree*," and the connection of the name with that of the *kola* is unanimously attested by all the Pāli sources which account for the origin of this ethnic group. If there is any truth in the connection of the Koliyas with the *kola* tree it may imply that sometime before they established themselves at Rāmagāma, they lived in a spot surrounded by *kola*-trees, or that they flourished around their capital. On the other hand, the Pāli texts contain so many obviously fantastic etymologies of this type that little reliance can be placed on the connection of Koliya and *kola*, especially as this is not mentioned in the *Mahāvastu* account.