Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s1.3

c9.s1.3

The name occurs in various forms throughout the Pāli Canon, and in Jaina texts, Sanskrit literature, Chinese sources and Gupta inscriptions. In the *Divyāvadāna*,⁴ and to a lesser degree in the Pāli Canon and the Gupta inscriptions,⁵ the standard form is *Licchavi*. Kauṭilya,¹ Manu,² the Bhitari inscription of Skanda Gupta ³ and the spurious Gayā grants of Samudra Gupta ⁴ give the word with the vowel ‘i’ instead of ‘a’ in the second syllable, viz. *Licchivi*. In the *Mahāvastu* the usual spelling is *Lecchavi*.⁵ The Chinese translators of the Buddhist Sanskrit literature also employ characters which indicate that they knew the word in two forms: *Licchavi* and *Lecchavi*.⁶ This form bears a very close resemblance to the Prākrit form *Licchaī* that is found in the Jaina Canon, which probably contains material transmitted from a period before the time of Candragupta Maurya.