Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c8.28

c8.28

Moreover, the Jaina traditions, while confirming the existence of a confederation of some kind, in no way confirm its consisting of eight tribes, but suggest a much larger combination. The Jaina *Kalpa Sūtra* refers to a set combination of the Mallas, the Licchavis and the *gaṇarājās* of Kāsi-Kosala.¹ This formula, which is also to be found in other Jaina sources,² is not altogether clear, but seems to mean "the nine Mallas, the nine Licchavis, indeed the eighteen tribal chiefs of Kāsi-Kosala." Whether the total is 36 or 18 (the 18 chiefs of the last phrase being the total of the Mallas and Licchavis in the previous phrases), it is certainly not eight and gives no support to the accepted theory. Though the Jaina scriptures have admittedly been subject to interpolation and emendation, they seem certainly closer to the period they represent than does Budhaghosa, who in any case nowhere states that the Vajjian Confederacy consisted of eight confederated tribes.