Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c16.13

c16.13

In the northeast of India also the republicans occupied a vast area between the Himālayas in the north, the Ganges and the Magadhan kingdom in the south, Kāsi-Kosala in the west, and in the east as far as the Aryan civilization had penetrated. There was indeed pressure from kings such as Ajātasattu of Magadha and Viḍūḍabha of Kosala, but it is doubtful that the republics fell solely because of the aggressive actions of these ambitious kings. The mighty army of Magadha could not subdue the Vajjian Confederacy by the sheer force of their arms, even in a decade, but had also to resort to diplomacy, to sowing seeds of dissension. Through their clever, deceitful and unscrupulous politician Vassakāra, who did not hesitate to employ the meanest tricks, the Magadhans achieved the downfall of the powerful League which could not be defeated in the battlefield. The success of Vassakāra is evidence, not so much of the triumph of ministerial diplomacy, but rather as a sad commentary on the inherent weaknesses of the republican system.