Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c14.9

c14.9

Significantly, however, most of the sources connect their name with the *Kola* (masculine) or *Kolā*, *kolī* (feminine), meaning the jujube tree. The word *kola* occurs in this sense independently in the *Majjhima Nikāya*⁷ and the *Sujāta Jātaka*.⁸ All the Sanskrit Pāli, and Ardhamāgadhī dictionaries give this word (*kroḍa*), the same meaning, "jujube tree," or Hindi *ber*.⁹ The *Sujāta Jātaka*¹⁰ makes it clear that the jujube fruit (*kolaphala*) was red in hue and as large as an egg,¹ thus distinguishing it from another variety of the jujube fruit which comes from thorny bushes and is much smaller than the fruit of the Pāli texts. Both kinds are found in India today and both are called *ber*.