Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s4.27

c9.s4.27

Dr. D. R. Bhandarkar, on the authority of the *Jātakas* quoted above, held the view that "every one of these (7,707) Licchavi kings had with him his own viceroy, general and treasurer".¹ He further says that "whether there were as many as 7,707 Licchavi kings ever staying in Vesāli, as the *Jātaka* preambles inform us, is somewhat doubtful. What we may safely infer is that the number of the kings constituting the Licchavi *Gaṇa* was pretty large. It again seems that the Licchavi kings had each his separate principality where he exercised supreme power in certain respects. Except on this supposition it is not intelligible why each should have his own *uparājā*, *senāpati* and *bhaṇḍāgārika*, and act as the magistrate in inflicting punishments."²