Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c15.s4.t2.23

c15.s4.t2.23

There are only a few scattered references to the Kālāmas, to their famous philosopher Āḷāra, the teacher of the Buddha before the latter attained *Sambodhi*, and to Bharaṇḍu the Kālāma, once a co-disciple of the Buddha.¹ We do not know if the Kālāmas retained the independence of their *nigama* for long after Pasenadi died.² The fact that they did not claim a share in the relics of the Buddha suggests that soon after Viḍūḍabha captured the throne from his father, he annexed the territory of the Kālāmas of Kesaputta to the directly-governed Kosalan kingdom. But it is not improbable that they were indifferent towards Buddhism; if they were in fact connected with the Keśins of the *Brāhmaṇa* literature it is likely that they would be more sympathetic towards Brāhmaṇism. The only early source mentioning the Kālāmas is the *Aṅguttara Nikāya*. Their not being mentioned in the *Jātakas* suggests that they no longer existed as an ethnic *nigama* after the death of Pasenadi.