Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c35.216

v2.c35.216

Vajji.—The name of a country and of its people. It was one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas (*q.v.*). The inhabitants appear to have consisted of several confederate clans¹ of whom the Licchavī (*q.v.*) and the Videhā (*q.v.*) were the chief. As time went on the Licchavī became the most powerful of these clans (*Licchavī Vajjiratthavāsīhi pasatthā*),² and the names Vajji and Licchavī were often synonymous.³ Vesālī was the capital of the Licchavis and Mithilā of the Videhas. In the time of the Buddha, both Vesālī and Mithilā were republics, though Mithilā had earlier been a kingdom under Janaka.