Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s4.94

c9.s4.94

Although great power is attributed to Ceḍagarāya in the *Niryāvalikā*, he was actually no more than head of the state and was elected by the Assembly to carry out public business with the help of the other eight Licchavian kings. Besides Tomara, the *Bhaddasāla Jātaka* refers to the blind Mahāli whom the Licchavian kings rushed to consult when they heard that Bandhula the Mallian was violating their sacred tank.³ This suggests that even at that time Mahāli was an important adviser of the Assembly.⁴ Before he lost his eyesight he might have been the chief of the Assembly. Ceḍaga, Tomara and Mahāli, appear to have been influential within a short span of time.¹ Could it be that they were successive chiefs or presidents of the Licchavian *gaṇa*? It seems obvious that the chief of the republic with the eight other *rājās* formed the council of the Licchavis.² It is probably this body of nine *rājās* which, according to the *Mahāparinibbāna Sutta*, met fairly frequently and discussed public business.³ The famous words of the Buddha encouraging frequent and harmonious meetings may not have been intended to apply to the full Assembly. If it was as large as we have suggested, frequent meetings of so large a body might be calculated to interfere with the military, social, and economic life of a community living in such conditions as prevailed in the ancient world.