Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s5.13

c9.s5.13

Bhandarkar, in his treatment of the problem, refers to the *Aṭṭha-Kathā* and the *Sumaṅgala Vilāsinī*, but mainly relies on Turnour as he quotes only Turnour’s article.³ Commenting on the *Commentaries* Bhandarkar says that “although composed during the 5th century A.D. they contain some interesting historical details and their account of the judicial administration of the Vajjian kingdom is certainly worth considering.”⁴ Then he gives the eight stages of the procedure of justice. He probably did not consult the original texts, many of which were not published at the time, as he does not give exact references to the Pāli commentaries. Contradicting himself, Bhandarkar also refers to the region as the “Vajjian Kingdom”. The detailed procedure outlined by this scholar, is certainly too elaborate and complicated to have ever been followed in practice at such an early date.