Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s4.151

c9.s4.151

This republican people had its own territory, and the Licchavian Assembly was the sovereign power of the state. They could exile or kill anybody deserving of such punishment within their jurisdiction, just as the kings of Kosala and Magadha could within their respective kingdoms.¹ It is explicitly mentioned in the *Majjhima Nikāya* that "these *saṅghas* and *gaṇas* like that of the Vajjians and the Mallas had full sovereign rights, like Pasenadi had in Kosala, and Ajātasattu had in Magadha".² If the Vajjis and the Mallas had sovereign rights in their territories, the Licchavian republic also had such rights within its domain.