Republics in Ancient India, c. 1500 B.C.–500 B.C. c9.s5.63

c9.s5.63

We know from the Pāli and Prākrit sources that there was hostility and subsequent war between the Vajjians and Vedehiputto Ajātasattu. Professor Basham has shown that it was a long and chequered affair and that it may have taken ten or eleven years for Ajātasattu to subdue his foes.² The Buddhist and the Jaina sources give two different stories to account for the reasons that led to mutual hostility and subsequent war and diplomacy. The *Nirayāvalikā*³ contains the account of a splendid rutting elephant who was called "Sprinkler" (*Seyaṇaä*) because he was in the habit of sprinkling bathing ladies of the Magadhan court with water from his trunk. This elephant, together with a priceless necklace that was called *aṭṭhārasavaṅka* because it had curves at 18 points, was given by King Seṇiya (Bimbisāra of the Buddhist texts) to his younger son Vehalla, the governor of Campā.