| Malla Republic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 7th century BCEāc. 4th century BCE | |||||||
.jpg) Malla among the Gaį¹asaį¹
ghas | |||||||
.png) Malla, Vajji (the dependencies of Licchavi within the Vajjika League), and other Mahajanapadas in the Post Vedic period | |||||||
| Status | Republic of the Vajjika League | ||||||
| Capital | KusinÄrÄ PÄvÄ | ||||||
| Common languages | Prakrit | ||||||
| Religion | Historical Vedic religion Buddhism Jainism | ||||||
| Government | Aristocratic Republic | ||||||
| Gaį¹a Mukhya | |||||||
| Legislature | SabhÄ | ||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age | ||||||
| ā¢ Established | c. 7th century BCE | ||||||
| ā¢ Disestablished | c. 4th century BCE | ||||||
| |||||||
| Today part of | India | ||||||
Malla (Prakrit: š«š®šš®š MallaÄ«; Pali: Malla; Sanskrit: ą¤®ą¤²ą„ą¤²ā Malla) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Malla, the Mallakas, were divided into two branches, each organised into a gaį¹asaį¹ gha (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), presently referred to as the Malla Republics, which were part of the larger Vajjika League.
Location
The Mallakas lived in the region now covered by the Gorakhpur district in India, although their precise borders are yet to be determined. The Mallakas' neighbours to the east across the SadÄnirÄ river were the Licchavikas, their neighbours to the west were the Sakyas, Koliyas, Moriyas, and KauÅalyas, the southern neighbours of the Mallakas were the KÄlÄmas and the Gaį¹ gÄ river, and the northern Mallaka borders were the HimÄlaya mountains. The territory of the Mallakas was a tract of land between the Vaidehas and the KauÅalyas.
The territories of the two Malla republics were divided by the river named HiraƱƱavatÄ« in PÄli, and Hiraį¹yavatÄ« in Sanskrit, and the two Malla republics respectively had their capitals at KusinÄrÄ, identified with the modern village of KÄsiÄ in Kushinagar, and at PÄvÄ (now known as Fazilnagar). KusinÄrÄ was close to the Sakya capital of Kapilavatthu to its north-east, and PÄvÄ was close to the Licchavika capital of VesÄlÄ«.
Name
Conjectural reconstruction of the main gate of KusinÄrÄ, capital of one of the Malla republics, circa 500 BCE adapted from a relief at Sanchi.
City of KusinÄrÄ in the 5th century BCE according to a 1st-century BCE frieze in Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern Gate.
The Mallakas are called Malla in PÄli texts, MallaāÄ« in Jain PrÄkrit texts, and Malla in Sanskrit texts.
History
Statehood
The Mallakas were an Indo-Aryan tribe in the eastern Gangetic plain in the Greater Magadha cultural region. Similarly to the other populations of the Greater Magadha cultural area, Mallakas were initially not fully Brahmanised despite being an Indo-Aryan people, but, like the Vaidehas, they later became Brahmanised and adopted the VÄseį¹į¹ha (in Pali) or VaÅiį¹£į¹ha (in Sanskrit) gotra. At some point in time, the Mallakas became divided into two separate republics with their respective capitals at KusinÄrÄ and PÄvÄ, possibly due to internal trouble, and henceforth the relations between the two Mallaka republics remained uncordial. Both Mallaka republics nevertheless became members of the Licchavi-led Vajjika League, within which, unlike the Vaidehas, they maintained their own sovereign rights because they had not been conquered by the Licchavikas, and the Mallakas held friendly relations with the Licchavikas, the Vaidehas, and the NÄyikas who were the other members of this league.
However occasional tensions between the Mallakas and the Licchavikas did arise, such as in the case of the man named Bandhula, a Mallaka who, thanks to his education received in Takį¹£aÅilÄ, had offered his services as a general to the KauÅalya king Pasenadi so as to maintain the good relations between the Mallakas and Kosala. Bandhula, along with his wife MallikÄ, violated the Abhiseka-Pokkharaį¹Ä« sacred tank of the Licchavikas, which resulted in armed hostilities between the KauÅalyas and the Licchavikas. Bandhula was later treacherously murdered along with his sons by Pasenadi, and, in retaliation, some Mallakas helped Pasenadi's son ViįøÅ«įøabha usurp the throne of Kosala to avenge the death of Bandhula, after which Pasenadi fled from Kosala and died in front of the gates of the MÄgadhÄ« capital of RÄjagaha.
The Buddha arrived in PÄvÄ shortly after the Mallakas there had inaugurated their new santhÄgÄra, which they had named Ubbhataka. From PÄvÄ, the Buddha and his followers went to KusinÄrÄ, and on the way they crossed two rivers, the first one being named KakutthÄ in Pali and KukustÄ in Sanskrit, and the second one being the HiraƱƱavatÄ« which separated the two Mallaka republics. The Buddha spent his final days in the Malla republic of KusinÄrÄ, and when he sent Änanda to inform the Mallakas of KusinÄrÄ of his impending death, Änanda found the Mallaka Council holding a meeting about public affairs in their santhÄgÄra.
Map of the eastern Gangetic plain before AjÄtasattu's conquests(Malla shown within the Vajjika League)
Map of the eastern Gangetic plain after AjÄtasattu's conquest of the Vajjika League and of Moriya
When Änanda went again to the Mallakas of KusinÄrÄ to inform them of the Buddha's passing, he found them this time holding a meeting to discuss the funeral ceremony of the Buddha in the santhÄgÄra. After the Buddha's cremation, his remains were honoured in the santhÄgÄra of KusinÄrÄ for seven days, and it was in this santhÄgÄra that the Mallakas of KusinÄrÄ received the envoys of Magadha, Licchavi, Shakya, Buli, Koliya, the Mallakas of PÄvÄ, and Moriya, who all went to KusinÄrÄ to claim their shares of the Buddha's relics. The Licchavikas, the Mallakas, and the Sakyas were able to claim shares of the relics, but the other members of the Vajjika League, the Vaidehas and the NÄyikas, were not among the states claiming a share because they were dependencies of the Licchavikas without their own sovereignty, and therefore could not put forth their own claim while Licchavi could. The Mallakas of PÄvÄ were the first ones to arrive with an army to KusinÄrÄ, and they put forth their claim to the relics in rude and hostile terms. In the end, each Malla republic obtained a share of the Buddha's relics and built their own stÅ«pas and gave their own feasts to commemorate this event.
After the death of the 24th Jain TÄ«rthaį¹ kara, MahÄvÄ«ra, the Mallakas and the Licchavikas jointly instituted a festival of lights to commemorate his passing.
Decline
See also: Magadha-Vajji warThe relations of the Licchavikas, who led the Vajjika League which the Mallakas were part of, with their southern neighbour, the kingdom of Magadha, were initially good, and the wife of the MÄgadhÄ« king BimbisÄra was the VesÄlia princess VÄsavÄ«, who was the daughter of the Licchavika NÄyaka Sakala's son Siį¹ha. There were nevertheless occasional tensions between Licchavi and Magadha, such as the competition at the Mallaka capital of KusinÄrÄ over acquiring the relics of the Buddha after his death.
In another case, the Licchavikas once invaded MÄgadhÄ« territory from across the Gaį¹ gÄ, and at some point the relations between Magadha and Licchavi permanently deteriorated as result of a grave offence committed by the Licchavikas towards the MÄgadhÄ« king BimbisÄra.
The hostilities between Licchavi and Magadha continued under the rule of AjÄtasattu, who was BimbisÄra's son with another Licchavika princess, VÄsavÄ«, after he had killed BimbisÄra and usurped the throne of Magadha. Eventually Licchavi supported a revolt against AjÄtasattu by his younger step-brother and the governor of Aį¹ ga, Vehalla, who was the son of BimbisÄra by another Licchavika wife of his, CellanÄ, a daughter of Ceįøaga, who was the head of both the Licchavi republic and the Vajjika League; BimbisÄra had chosen Vehalla as his successor following AjÄtasattu's falling out of his favour after the latter had been caught conspiring against him, and the Licchavikas had attempted to place Vehalla on the throne of Magadha after AjÄtasattu's usurpation and had allowed Vehalla to use their capital VesÄlÄ« as base for his revolt. After the failure of this rebellion, Vehalla sought refuge at his grandfather's place in the Licchavika and Vajjika capital of VesÄlÄ«, following which AjÄtasattu repeatedly attempted to negotiate with the Licchavikas-Vajjikas. After AjÄtasattu's repeated negotiation attempts ended in failure, he declared war on the Vajjika League in 484 BCE.
Tensions between Licchavi and Magadha were exacerbated by the handling of the joint MÄgadhÄ«-Licchavika border post of Koį¹igÄma on the Gaį¹ gÄ by the Licchavika-led Vajjika League who would regularly collect all valuables from Koį¹igÄma and leave none to the MÄgadhÄ«s. Therefore AjÄtasattu decided to destroy the Vajjika League in retaliation, but also because, as an ambitious empire-builder whose mother VÄsavÄ« was Licchavika princess of VaidehÄ« descent, he was interested in the territory of the former MahÄ-Videha kingdom which by then was part of the Vajjika League. AjÄtasattu's hostility towards the Vajjika League was also the result of the differing forms of political organisation between Magadha and the Vajjika League, with the former being monarchical and the latter being republican, not unlike the opposition of the ancient Greek kingdom of Sparta to the democratic form of government in Athens, and the hostilities between the ancient Macedonian king Philip II to the Athenian and Theban republics.
As important members of the Vajjika League, the Malla republics were also threatened by AjÄtasattu, and the Vajjika Gaį¹a Mukhya Ceįøaga held war consultations with the rÄjÄs of the Licchavikas and Mallikas before the fight started. The Mallakas therefore fought on the side of the other confederate tribes of the league against Magadha. The military forces of the Vajjika League were initially too strong for AjÄtasattu to be successful against them, and it required him having recourse to diplomacy and intrigues over the span of a decade to finally defeat the Vajjika League by 468 BCE and annex its territories, including Licchavi, Videha and NÄya, to the kingdom of Magadha. The Mallakas also became part of AjÄtasattu's MÄgadhÄ« empire, although they were allowed a limited degree of autonomy in terms of their internal administration, and they stopped existing as a republican tribe when the Maurya dynasty ruled Magadha or shortly after.
Social and political organisation
Republican institutions
The Assembly
Just like a Vaidehas, Licchavikas, and NÄyikas, the Mallakas were a kį¹£atriya tribe, and each of the republics of the Mallakas were organised into a gaį¹asaį¹ gha (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), which had a ruling Assembly consisting of the heads of the kį¹£atriya clans belonging to the VÄseį¹į¹ha/VaÅiį¹£į¹ha gotra, and who were given the title of rÄjÄs. The position of rÄjÄ was hereditary, and after the death of one of them, his eldest son would succeed him by being introduced to the Assembly following a ceremony held, for the Mallakas of KusinÄrÄ, at the Makuį¹a-bandhana, which was a shrine holding an important political meaning for the republic (the Mallakas of PÄvÄ had a similar shrine of their own). Similarly to that of the Licchavikas, the Mallaka General Assembly had a large number of members, with the meetings being only rarely attended by all of them.
The Mallaka republics, like the other gaį¹asaį¹ gha of the Vajjika League, held their Assembly and Council meetings in their own santhÄgÄras.
The Councils
Like the Licchavikas, the Mallakas' Assemblies met rarely while the Assemblies' inner councils, the Mallaka Councils, consisting of four members for the Mallakas of KusinÄrÄ and of five members for the Mallakas of PÄvÄ, met more often and performed the public administration within each republic. These Councils were the sovereign bodies of the Mallaka republics.
Customs
The Manusmį¹iti refers to the Mallakas as VrÄį¹yakį¹£atriyas, that is kį¹£atriyas who had not been initiated, because they did not practice orthodox Vedic traditions.
See also
| History of South Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Outline
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References
- ^ Sharma 1968, p. 169-181.
- Levman, Bryan G. (2014). "Cultural Remnants of the Indigenous Peoples in the Buddhist Scriptures". Buddhist Studies Review. 30 (2): 145ā180. doi:10.1558/bsrv.v30i2.145. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- Bronkhorst, Johannes (2007). Bronkhorst, J. (2007). Greater Magadha, Studies in the culture of Early India, p. 6. Leiden, Boston, MA: Brill. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i-416. ISBN 9789047419655.
- ^ Sharma 1968, p. 136-158.
- ^ Sharma 1968, p. 85-135.
- Hackin, J. (1994). Asiatic Mythology. Asian Educational Services. p. 83ff. ISBN 9788120609204.
Sources
- Sankrityayan, Rahul (2010). "Buddhacharya"- Life and Teachings of the Buddha (in Hindi). Gautam Book Centre. ISBN 9789380292175.
- Sharma, J. P. (1968). Republics in Ancient India, C. 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-02015-3.
Further reading
- Gorakhpur Janpad aur Uski Kshatriya Jatiyon Ka Itihaas By Dr. Rajbali Pandey, pp. 291ā292
- Kshatriya Rajvansh by Dr. Raghunath Chand Kaushik
- Bhagwan Buddh ke Samkalin Anuyayi tatha Buddha Kendra By Tripatkacharya, Mahopadhyaya Bikshu Buddhamitra, pp. 274ā283.
| Mahajanapadas | |
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| Great Indian Kingdoms (c. 600 BCEāc. 300 BCE) | |