Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s4.10

c9.s4.10

Twice this last mentioned figure (168,000) certainly seems too large a number for the assembly, but it may suggest that the entire population of the Licchavian capital was more than 7,707. Yet one should not attribute too much weight to such statements, as 84,000 is an oft-quoted number in ancient Indian literature. In our opinion this merely implies that Vesālī was a large city and had many inhabitants. It is difficult to give even an approximate number for the population of Vesālī. When the *Jātaka* author says there were 7,707 kings and a like member of viceroys, generals and treasurers he might be pointing to the entire adult male population of Vesālī.⁴ But again, this may indicate no more than that the city of Vesālī was quite populous.