Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c8.2

c8.2

From the days of Cunningham and Rhys Davids a false idea has persisted regarding the real nature and exact number of the component members of the Vajjian Confederacy. Cunningham asserted that "in the time of Buddha, the Vrijis were divided into several clans, such as the Licchavis, the Vaidehis, the Tirabhuktis, and others, whose names are unknown. The exact number of their clans would appear to have been eight, as criminals were arraigned before the aṭṭhakulaka,¹ or 'eight clans,' which would appear to have been a jury composed of one member from each of the separate divisions of the tribe. Hsüan Tsang mentions that the people of the north called them 'San-fa-shi' ² or Samvajji, that is the 'United Vajjis,'—and the same name is referred to in the long and interesting account of the people of Wajji, which is given by Turnour ³ from the Pāli Chronicles of Ceylon".⁴ We know that the Vajjis were divided into at least two branches—the Licchavis of Vesālī and the Videhas of Mithilā—but there is no contemporary or near-contemporary evidence to support the view that the Tīrabhuktis of Tīrabhukti were a part of the Vajjian Confederacy. The district later known as Tīrabhukti may well have formed part of the territory controlled by the Confederacy, but we have no source which tells us it was called Tīrabhukti in the time of the Buddha or even, as Cunningham would have us believe, that a tribe called Tīrabhuktis existed.