Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s5.140

c9.s5.140

Ajātasattu was eventually successful in defeating the Vajjians, but it took him several years, and even then he failed to carry out his threats to “root out, destroy, and utterly ruin the Vajjis”.² That they survived long after Ajātasattu’s victory is evident from a statement in the *Kalpa Sūtra* to the effect that the nine kings of the Lichavis instituted a festival in the memory of Mahāvīra’s great decease.³ This implies that they were still influential at the time of his death, and could not have been completely overthrown by Ajātasattu-Kūṇiya.⁴ This statement is of course only valid on the assumption that Mahāvīra survived the Buddha and died in 468-7 B.C. This theory is accepted by most scholars, but the strongest Jaina tradition points to 528 as the date of Mahāvīra’s death.⁵ Professor Basham believes that “we must assume that Ajātasattu did not carry out his threats, but that the chiefs of the Vajjis were merely reduced to subordination, and allowed a degree of local autonomy”.⁶