Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c14.71

c14.71

The governing authority of the Koliyas was vested in a general assembly of the Kṣatriya chiefs (*rājakulānaṁ*) who are also referred to in the same source as *khattiyas*, *rājās*,¹¹ and *mahārājās*,¹² and whose sons are called *Koliyakumāras*.¹³ In the vast range of the Pāli literature there is no mention of a single Koliyan *rājā* by name. The sole reference to a king of the Koliyas (*Koliyarājā*)¹⁴ mentions him first as the father of a girl designated as *Koliyarājadhītaraṁ*, whereas on the following page of the same *Jātaka* she is alluded to simply as *Koliyadhītā*.¹ We differ from Cowell in not taking the phrase *Koliyarājā* as a proper name, but we believe that it designated a Koliyan king who was the chief or head of the Koliyan assembly. He was not outstanding enough for his name to be remembered. We find no objection to the view that the Koliya *rājā* of the *Asātarūpa Jātaka* was only one of many Koliyan kings, and at the same time may have been the president of the Koliyan assembly. According to Altekar's suggestion the assembly consisted of a "few hundred" members.²