Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c6.s1.6

c6.s1.6

Rhys Davids’ work is of great value, but it contains a number of fundamental errors, notably his claim that “the Vajjians included eight Confederate clans,”⁵ and his indiscriminate use of the terms Vajji and Licchavi. Moreover his only sources were the Buddhist texts and he took no account of the Jaina literature, on the basis of which the new name of the Nāyas of Kuṇḍapura⁶ can be added to the list of republican states that flourished at the time of the Buddha and Mahāvīra.