Shakya: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Republican tribe confederacy in Iron-Age India}} |
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{{About|the ancient group|other uses|}} |
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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2013}} |
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[[File:Mahayanabuddha.jpg|thumb|220px|right|[[Shakyamuni Buddha]], the most famous of the Shakyas. Seated stucco from the [[China|Chinese]] [[Tang Dynasty]], [[Hebei|Hebei province]].]] |
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[[File:Kapilavastu,_Ancient_India_600_BC.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kapilavastu]], the capital of Śākya Gaṇa-rājya, in Ancient India (c. 600 BCE)]] |
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| conventional_long_name = Shakya Republic |
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'''Shakya''' ([[Sanskrit]]: {{IAST|Śākya}}, [[Devanagari]]: शाक्य, [[Pali|{{IAST|Pāli}}]]: {{IAST|Sākya}}) is a [[Suryavanshi]] <ref>as per Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 9, Ch.12] : The Dynasty of Kusha, the Son of Lord Ramacandra : TEXT 14 Shakyas belong to the dynasty of lord Rama (remember that Rama was Suryavanshi Kshatriya, and obviously he was a Hindu) ''[http://prabhupadabooks.com/pdf/SB9.2.pdf]'', An exact sentence derived----> "From Sanijaya will come Sakya, from Sakya will come Suddhoda, and from Suddhoda will come Langala i.e Rahula (As Siddhartha i.e Buddha abdicted the throne) From Langala will come Prasenajit, and from"</ref> [[Kshatriya]] <ref>as per History text book "History-Our Past I" (prescribed by NCERT, approved by Ministry of Education, Govt. of India) page 65, The story of the Buddha, An exact sentence derived-----> "The Buddha belonged to a gana known as the Sakya gana, and was a [[kshatriya]]." ''[http://www.ncert.nic.in/ncerts/textbook/textbook.htm?fess1=0-12]''</ref> clan of the ancient [[Vedic period]]''(1500-500 BCE)''. The name is derived from the [[Sanskrit]] word śakya which means capable, able. The [[Genealogy]] of Shakyas is found in Book IV of the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'',<ref name="sacred-texts.com">Vishnu Purana CHAP. XXII “[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp115.htm]”</ref> the [[Bhagavata Purana]]<ref name="srimadbhagavatam.org">Bhagavata Purana, Canto-9, Chapter-12”[http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/canto9/chapter12.html]”</ref> and the [[Brahma Purana]].<ref name="books.google.com.sg">Brahma Purana, Chapters 7 and 8 “[http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=J2c6-tAt4vwC&pg=PA17]”</ref> |
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| common_name = Sakya |
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| era = [[Iron Age]] |
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| status = [[Vassal state]] of [[Kosala]] |
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| government_type = [[Ganasangha|Aristocratic Republic]] |
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| legislature = [[Sabhā]] |
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| year_start = {{c.|7th century BCE}} |
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| year_end = c. 5th century BCE |
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| event_end = Conquered by [[Virudhaka|Viḍūḍabha]] of Kosala |
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| p1 = Kosala |
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| s1 = Kosala |
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| image_map = Gana_Sanghas_(c._500_BCE).jpg |
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| image_map_alt = |
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| image_map_caption = Shakya among the [[Gaṇasaṅgha|{{transliteration|sa|Gaṇasaṅgha}}]]s |
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| image_map2 = Mahajanapadas (c. 500 BCE).png |
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| image_map2_caption = Shakya to the north of the [[Mahajanapadas]] in the post-Vedic period |
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| leader1 = |
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| capital = [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]] |
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| common_languages = [[Prakrit]]s<br />[[Munda languages]]{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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| religion = [[Sramana]] religions, [[Solar deity|Sun worship]], [[Trees in mythology|tree worship]], [[Snake worship|serpent worship]] |
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| currency = |
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| title_leader = |
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| today = [[India]]<br />[[Nepal]] |
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}} |
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[[File:Tibetan - Buddha Shakyamuni - Walters 543082 - Three Quarter.jpg|right|thumb|[[The Buddha|Siddhartha Gautama]], called [[Shakyamuni]] "Sage of the Shakyas," the most famous Shakya. Seated bronze from [[Tibet]], 11th century.]] |
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'''Shakya''' ([[Pali|Pāḷi]]: {{transliteration|pi|Sakya}}; {{lang-sa|शाक्य|translit=Śākya}}) was an ancient [[clan]] of the northeastern region of [[South Asia]], whose existence is attested during the [[Iron Age in India|Iron Age]]. The Shakyas were organised into a [[Gaṇasaṅgha|{{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}}]] (an [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] [[Oligarchy|oligarchic]] [[republic]]), also known as the '''Shakya Republic'''.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} The Shakyas were on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] in the [[Greater Magadha]] cultural region.{{sfn|Levman|2014}}{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007|p=6}} |
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==Location== |
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The Śākyas formed an independent republican state, known as ''{{unicode|Sakya Gaṇa-rājya}}''. The Śākya capital was [[Kapilavastu]] (Pāli: Kapilavatthu) in present-day Nepal, which lies near the border of the present-day Uttar Pradesh state of India.<ref>[Warder, A.K. (2000), Indian Buddhism, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers]</ref> |
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[[File:Map of Shakya Gaṇasaṅgha.png|thumb|Map of Shakyan territory]] |
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The Shakyas lived in the [[Terai]] – an area south of the foothills of the [[Himalayas]] and north of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]] with their neighbors to the west and south being the kingdom of [[Kosala]], their neighbors to the east across the [[Rohni River]] being the related [[Koliya]] tribe, while on the northeast they bordered on the [[Malla (tribe)|Mallakas]] of [[Kushinagar]]. To the north, the territory of the Shakyas stretched into the Himalayas until the forested regions of the mountains, which formed their northern border.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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The capital of the Shakyas was the city of [[Kapilavastu (ancient city)|Kapilavastu]].{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}<ref name=EoB2010>{{cite book|last=Trainor|first=K|editor-last=Keown|editor-first=D|editor2-last=Prebish|editor2-first=CS|title=Encyclopedia of Buddhism|chapter=Kapilavastu|pages=436–7|publisher=Routledge|location=Milton Park, UK|year=2010|isbn=978-0-415-55624-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NFpcAgAAQBAJ&q=kapilavatthu}}</ref> |
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The most famous Shakya was the prince Siddhartha Shakya (5th century BCE) who was the founder of [[Buddhism]] and came to be known as [[Gautama Buddha]]. Siddhartha was the son of [[Suddhodana]]. Suddodhana was the elected leader of Shakya Republic. As [[Gautama Buddha]] founded a new religion and abdicated the throne, so the lineage continued with his son Rahula. |
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==Etymology== |
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The name of the Shakyas is attested primarily in the [[Pali]] forms {{transliteration|pi|Sakya}} and {{transliteration|pi|Sakka}}, and the [[Sanskrit]] form {{transliteration|sa|Śākya}}.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|pp=182-206}} |
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The Shakyas' name was derived from the Sanskrit root {{transliteration|sa|śak}} ({{lang|sa|शक्}}) ({{transliteration|sa|śaknoti}} ({{lang|sa|शक्नोति}}), more rarely {{transliteration|sa|śakyati}} ({{lang|sa|शक्यति}}) or {{transliteration|sa|śakyate}} ({{lang|sa|शक्यते}})) meaning "to be able," "worthy," "possible," or "practicable."{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} |
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=== The accounts of the Purāṇas === |
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The name of the Shakyas was also derived from the name of the {{transliteration|sa|śaka}} or {{transliteration|pi|sāka}} tree,<ref name=Fleet1906>{{cite journal|last=Fleet|first=J. F.|author-link=J. F. Fleet|title=The Inscription on the Piprawa Vase|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2521022|journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland|volume=38|issue=1|pages=149–180|year=1906|doi=10.1017/S0035869X00034079|jstor=2521022|s2cid=161625116|quote=we find only a fanciful desire to account for the name Sakya by identifying it with the word {{transliteration|pi|sakya}}, {{transliteration|sa|śakya}}, in the sense of 'able, capable, smart.' But, looking below the surface, we find in the allusion to {{transliteration|pi|sākasaṇḍa}}, {{transliteration|pi|sākavanasaṇḍa}}, the grove of teak-trees, the real origin of the other name, Sākiya, Śākiya, Śākya.}}</ref>{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} which Bryan Levman has identified with either the [[teak]] or [[Shorea robusta|sāla]] tree,{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}}{{sfn|Levman|2014}} which is ultimately related to word [[wikt:शाखा#Sanskrit|{{transliteration|sa|śākhā}}]] ({{lang|sa|शाखा}}), meaning 'branch,’<ref>{{cite book|last1=Douglas Q.|first1=Adams|author-link1=Douglas Q. Adams|last2=Mallory|first2=J. P.|author-link2=J. P. Mallory |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|year=1997|publisher=Routledge|location=UK|isbn=978-1-884-96498-5 |page=208}}</ref> and was connected to the Shakyas' practice of [[#Tree worship|worshipping]] the {{transliteration|sa|śaka}} or {{transliteration|pi|sāka}} tree.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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[[File:Descendants of Kusa (son of Lord Rama).jpg|thumb|right| Descendants of Kusha, son of Lord Rama (Bhagavata Purana)]] |
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[[File:Descendants of Kusha (..continued).jpg|thumb|right| Descendants of Kusha (..continued) (Bhagavata Purana). King Shakya's son was Shuddhodhana. Shuddhodhana son was Siddhartha Shakya (Gautam Buddha), but since he abdicted the throne, the lineage continued with his son Langala (Rahula). Sumitra was the last ruler of the solar dynasty]] |
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| image1 = The eastern Gangetic plain after Bimbisara's conquests.jpg |
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| caption1 = Map of the eastern Gangetic plain before Viḍūḍabha's conquest of Kālāma, Sakya and Koliya |
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| image2 = The eastern Gangetic plain after Ajatasattu's, Vidudabha's and Udayana's conquests.jpg |
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| caption2 = Map of the eastern Gangetic plain after Viḍūḍabha's conquest of Kālāma, Sakya and Koliya |
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}} |
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==History== |
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The [[Genealogy]] of [[Shakyas]] is found in Book IV of the ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'',<ref name="sacred-texts.com"/> the [[Bhagavata Purana]]<ref name="srimadbhagavatam.org"/> and the [[Brahma Purana]].<ref name="books.google.com.sg"/> |
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===Origin=== |
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The Shakyas were an eastern sub-Himalayan ethnic group on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Gangetic plain in the [[Greater Magadha]] cultural region.<ref name="Levman"/>{{sfn|Bronkhorst|2007|p=6}} The Shakyas were of 'mixed origin' ({{transliteration|sa|saṃkīrṇa-yonayaḥ}}) of [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] and [[Munda peoples|Munda descent]], with the former group forming a minority.<ref name="Levman">{{harvnb|Levman|2014}}: "The founder of the Sakya clan, King Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka) has a Munda name, suggesting that the Sakyas were at least bilingual (Kuiper 1991, 7; Mayrhofer 1992, vol. 1, 185). Many of the Sakya village names are believed to be non-IA in origin (Thomas 1960, 23), and the very word for town or city (nagara; cf. the Sakya village Nagakara, the locus of the Cūḷasuññata Sutta ) is of Dravidian stock (Mayrhofer 1963, vol. 2, 125)."<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br />"The Sakya clan derive their ancestry from King Ikṣvāku, whose name is of Austro-Asiatic Munda origin (see above, page 148). While the Sakyans' rough speech and Munda ancestors do not prove that they spoke a non-IA language, there is a lot of other evidence suggesting that they were indeed a separate ethnic (and probably linguistic) group."<br />------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /> "Okkāka was the legendary progenitor of the Sakyas, and bears a name of Munda ancestry"</ref> The Shakyas were closely related to their eastern neighbours, the [[Koliya]] tribe, with whom they intermarried.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=207-217}} |
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====Alternative origin hypothesis==== |
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King Shakya was one of the last descendants of [[Ikshvaku dynasty]], commonly known as [[Suryavansha]]. [[Rama]] was one of the earlier descendants of Ikshvaku. Other well known descendants include Satyavarta, [[Harishchandra]], [[Bhagiratha]], [[Raghu]] (after whom this dynasty also came to be known as Raghuvansha), [[Dasharatha]] father of [[Rama]] etc. |
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Scholars such as [[Michael Witzel]] and [[Christopher I. Beckwith]] have equated the Shakyas with Central Asian nomads who were called [[Scythians]] by the Greeks, [[Saka|{{transliteration|peo|Sakā}}]]s by the Achaemenid Persians, and {{transliteration|sa|Śāka}} by the Indo-Aryans. These scholars have suggested that the people of the Buddha were Saka soldiers who arrived in South Asia in the army of [[Darius the Great]] during the [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley]], and saw in [[Scytho-Siberian world|Scytho-Saka nomadism]] the origin of the wandering asceticism of the Buddha.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Attwood |first=Jayarava |date=2012 |title=Possible Iranian Origins for the Śākyas and Aspects of Buddhism |url=http://www.jocbs.org/index.php/jocbs/article/view/26/29 |journal=Journal of the Oxford Centre For Buddhist Studies |volume=3 |pages=47–69 |access-date=4 June 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Beckwith |first=Christopher I. |author-link=Christopher I. Beckwith |date=2015 |title=Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey]], United States |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |pages=1–21 |isbn=978-0-691-17632-1 }}</ref> |
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Scholars criticize the Scythian hypothesis due to a lack of evidence, with Bryan Levman maintaining that the Shakyas were native to the north-east [[Ganges|Gangetic]] plain and unrelated to the Iranic Sakas.<ref>{{harvnb|Levman|2014}}: "The evidence for this final wave is however, very slim and there is no evidence for it in the Vedic texts; for their western origin, Witzel relies on a reference in Pāṇini (4.2.131, madravṛjyoḥ) to the Vṛjjis in dual relation with the Madras who are from the northwest, and to the [[Mallas]] in the [[Jaiminiya Brahmana|Jaiminīya Brāhamaṇa]] (§198) as arising from the dust of [[Rajasthan]]. Neither the Sakyas nor any of the other eastern tribes are mentioned, and of course there is no proof that any of these are [[Indo-Aryan migrations|Indo-Aryan group]]s. I view the Sakyas and the later Śakas as two separate groups, the former being aboriginal."</ref> |
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Chapter 1 of Vishnupurana mentions that [[Brahma]] created [[Daksha]] out of his thumb. Daksha had a daughter [[Aditi]], who was mother of [[Sun]]. From the Sun was born [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]]. Since the Sun-god was Manu's father, his lineage came to be known as the [[Suryavansha]] (the descendants of Sun). [[Manu (Hinduism)|Manu]] had many sons of whom 50 perished quarelling with one another. Ten sons survived, one of whom was [[Ikshvaku]]. |
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===Statehood=== |
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Also according to Puranas like [[Garuda Purana]],<ref name="dharmakshetra.com">[http://www.dharmakshetra.com/avatars/Matsya%20Purans.html]</ref>{{page needed|date=January 2014}} [[Matsya Purana]]<ref>[http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/gpu/gpu10.htm#fr_68 Chapter 8, Line 10-11]</ref> etc. [[Buddha]] (Siddhartha Shakya) was the ninth [[avatar]] of [[Vishnu]], succeeding [[Rama]] and [[Krishna]]. |
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By the sixth century BCE, the Shakyas, the [[Koliya]]s, [[Moriya (tribe)|Moriya]]s, and [[Malla (tribe)|Mallakas]] lived between the territories of the [[Kosala|Kauśalyas]] to the west and the [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavikas]] and [[Videha|Vaidehas]] to the east, thus separating the [[Vajjika League]] from the Kosala kingdom.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} By that time, the Shakya republic had become a vassal state of the larger [[Kosala|Kingdom of Kosala]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya|last=Walshe|first=Maurice|publisher=Wisdom Publications|year=1995|isbn=0-86171-103-3|url=http://lirs.ru/lib/sutra/Long_Discourses_of_the_Buddha(Digha_Nikaya).Walshe.pdf|pages=409}}</ref>{{sfn|Batchelor|2015|loc=Chapter 2, Section 2, 7th paragraph}} |
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During the fifth century itself, one of the members of the ruling aristocratic oligarchy of the Shakyas was [[Śuddhodana|Suddhodana]]. Suddhodana was married to the princess [[Maya (mother of the Buddha)|Māyā]], who was the daughter of a Koliya noble, and the son of Suddhodana and Māyā was [[Gautama Buddha|Siddhartha Gautama]], the historical Buddha and founder of [[Buddhism]].{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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=== The accounts of Buddhist texts === |
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The Śākyas are mentioned in later Buddhist texts as well including the {{IAST|Mahāvastu}} ([[circa|c.]] late 2nd century BCE), {{IAST|Mahāvaṃsa}} and {{IAST|Sumaṅgalavilāsinī}} (c. 5th century CE), mostly in the accounts of the birth of the Buddha, as a part of the ''Adichchabandhu''s (kinsmen of the sun)<ref name="law">Law, B.C. (1973). ''Tribes in Ancient India'', Bhandarkar Oriental Series No.4, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pp. 245-56</ref> or the {{IAST|Ādichcha}}s (solar race or [[Suryavansh]]) and as descendants of the legendary king {{Unicode|[[Ikshvaku|Ikṣvāku]]}} ({{IAST|Pāli: Okkāka}}) |
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During the life of the Buddha, an armed feud opposed the Shakyas and the Koliyas concerning the waters of the river Rohiṇī, which formed the boundary between the two states and whose water was needed by both of them to irrigate their crops. The intervention of the Buddha finally put an end to these hostilities.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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{{quote|There lived once upon a time a king of the {{IAST|Śākya}}, a scion of the solar race, whose name was [[Suddhodana|{{IAST|Śuddhodana}}]]. He was pure in conduct, and beloved of the Śākya like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful, and steadfast, who was called the [[Queen Maya|Great {{IAST|Māyā}}]], from her resemblance to {{IAST|Māyā}} the Goddess.|''Buddhacarita'' of [[Asvaghosa|{{IAST|Aśvaghoṣa}}]], I.1-2}} |
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After the death of the Buddha, the Shakyas claimed a share of his relics from the Mallakas of [[Kusinārā]] on the grounds that he had been a Shakya.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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The Buddhist text ''Mahavamsa'' (II, 1-24), traces the origin of the ''Sakyas'' ({{IAST|Śākya}}s) to king Okkaka (Ikshvaku) and gives their genealogy from [[Mahasammata]], an ancestor of Okkaka. This list comprises the names of a number of prominent kings of the [[Ikshvaku dynasty]], which include Mandhata and [[Sagara (Vedic king)|Sagara]].<ref name="law"/> According to this text, Okkamukha was the eldest son of Okkaka. Sivisamjaya and Sihassara were the son and grandson of Okkamukha. King Sihassara had eighty-two thousand sons and grandsons, who were together known as the Sakyas. The youngest son of Sihassara was Jayasena. Jayasena had a son, Sihahanu, and a daughter, Yashodhara (not to be confused with prince Siddhartha's wife), who was married to Devadahasakka. Devadahasakka had two daughters, Anjana and Kaccana. [[Sihahanu]] married Kaccana, and they had five sons and two daughters; Suddhodana was one of them. Suddhodana had two queens, Maya and Prajapati, both daughters of Anjana. Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha) was the son of Suddhodana and Maya. Rahula was the son of Siddhartha and Yashodara (also known as Bhaddakaccana), daughter of Suppabuddha and granddaughter of Anjana.<ref name="misra">Misra, V.S. (2007). ''Ancient Indian Dynasties'', Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, ISBN 81-7276-413-8, pp.285-6</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chap002.html|title=Mahavamsa, Chapter II|last=Geiger|first=Wilhelm (tr.)|year=1912|publisher=Ceylon Government Information Dept.,Colombo (in lakdvia.org website)|accessdate=2009-10-26}}</ref> |
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===Conquest by Kosala=== |
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{{Main article|Kosala}} |
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Shortly after the Buddha's death, the [[Kosala|Kauśalya]] king [[Virudhaka|Viḍūḍabha]], who had overthrown his father [[Pasenadi]], invaded the Shakya and Koliya republics, seeking to conquer their territories because they had once been part of [[Kosala]]. Viḍūḍabha finally triumphed over the Shakyas and Koliyas and annexed their state after a long war with massive loss of lives on both sides. Details of this war were exaggerated by later Buddhist accounts, which claimed that Viḍūḍabha exterminated the Shakyas in retaliation for having given in marriage to his father the slave girl who became Viḍūḍabha's mother. In actuality, Viḍūḍabha's invasion of Shakya might instead have had similar motivations to the conquest of the [[Vajjika League]] by Viḍūḍabha's relative, the [[Magadha|Māgadhī]] king [[Ajatashatru|Ajātasattu]], who, because he was the son of a Vajjika princess, was therefore interested in the territory of his mother's homeland. The result of the Kauśalya invasion was that the Shakyas and Koliyas merely lost political importance after being annexed into Viḍūḍabha's kingdom. The Shakyas nevertheless soon disappeared as an ethnic group after their annexation, having become absorbed into the population of Kosala, with only a few displaced families maintaining the Shakya identity later. The Koliyas likewise disappeared as a polity and as a tribe soon after their annexation.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=207-217}} |
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The massive life losses incurred by Kosala during its conquest of Shakya and Koliya weakened it significantly enough that it was itself soon annexed by its eastern neighbour, the kingdom of [[Magadha]], and its king [[Viḍūḍabha]] was defeated and killed by the Māgadhī king [[Ajātasattu]].{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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The Shakya tribe claimed descent from the sage [[Gautama Maharishi|Gautama]], one of the [[Saptarshi]]s.<ref name="Thomas2000">{{cite book | author=Edward Joseph Thomas | title=The Life of Buddha as Legend and History | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KvpTvxyDiHUC&pg=PA22 | date=1 January 2000 | publisher=Asian Educational Services | isbn=978-81-206-0979-2 | pages=22–}}</ref><ref>(1) The Indian Encyclopaedia, p.2677 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Nt4nbp1VIhsC&pg=PA2677]'' |
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----(2) Buddhism, pg.301 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=EX6lYpzehTAC&pg=PA301]'' |
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----(3) Buddha and Buddhist Synods in India and Abroad By Amarnath Thakur, p.12 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=K3PLpwruJJQC&pg=PA12]''</ref> It thus belonged to the Gautama [[gotra]] (clan), tracing its lineage to the [[Brahmin]]s.<ref>(1) The Indian Encyclopaedia, p.2677 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Nt4nbp1VIhsC&pg=PA2677]'' |
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----(2) Buddha and Buddhist Synods in India and Abroad By Amarnath Thakur, p.12 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=K3PLpwruJJQC&pg=PA12]'' |
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----(3) The Life of Buddha as Legend and History By Edward Joseph Thomas, p.22 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=KvpTvxyDiHUC&pg=PA22]'' |
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</ref> This is why the Buddha is known as Gautama Buddha.<ref>The Āryan Path of the Buddha, By K. Manohar Gupta, p.71 ''[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=I5owyPqm1XAC&pg=PA71]''</ref> |
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===Legacy=== |
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[[File:Buddha Sakyamuni on the Rummindei pillar of Ashoka.jpg|thumb|The words ''[[The Buddha|Bu-dhe]]'' and ''Sa-kya-mu-nī'' "Sage of the "Shakyas" in [[Brahmi script]], on [[Ashoka]]'s [[Minor Pillar Edict]] of [[Lumbini]] (circa 250 BCE).]] [[File:Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho inscription in Bharhut.jpg|thumb|[[Bharhut]] inscription: ''Bhagavato Sakamunino Bodho'' "The illumination of the Blessed Sakamuni", circa 100 BCE.<ref name=JL>{{cite book |last1=Leoshko |first1=Janice |title=Sacred Traces: British Explorations of Buddhism in South Asia |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781351550307 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gS4rDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA64}}</ref>]] |
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According to the ''Mahavastu'' and the ''[[Lalitavistara]]'', the seat of the Shakya administration was the ''saṃsthāgāra'' (Pali:''[[Santhagara|santhāgāra]]'') (assembly hall) at Kapilavastu. A new building for the Shakya samsthagara was constructed at the time of Gautama Buddha, which was inaugurated by him. The highest administrative authority was the ''sidharth '', comprising 500 members, which met in the samsthagara to transact any important business. The ''Shakya Parishad'' was headed by an elected ''raja'', who presided over the meetings.<ref name="law"/> |
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====In Buddhism==== |
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The Śākyas formed an independent republican state, known as Shakya Ganarajya, at the foothills of the Himālayas. The Śākya capital was Kapilavastu (Pāli: Kapilavatthu). This system of administration is adopted by Constitution of India which identifies India as a republican state or Ganatantra (republic). |
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The Buddha was given the epithet of the "Sage of the Shakyas," {{transliteration|pi|Sakka-muni}} in Pali and {{transliteration|sa|Śākya-muni}} in Sanskrit, by his followers.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=159-168}} |
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The functioning of the proceedings in the [[Trāyastriṃśa]] heaven ruled by [[Śakra (Buddhism)|Sakka]], lord of the [[deva (Buddhism)|devas]] in [[Buddhist cosmology]], are modelled on those of the Shakya [[santhāgāra]] or general assembly hall.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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The Buddhist literature Mahabagga mentions that: |
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====Descent claims==== |
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गण पूरकोवा भविस्सामीति ''{{unicode|Gaṇa pūrkovā bhavissāmīti}}'' |
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[[Tharu people]] of Tarai region of India and Nepal claim descent from Sakya.<ref name=Skar1995>{{cite journal |author=Skar, H. O. |year=1995 |title=Myths of origin: the Janajati Movement, local traditions, nationalism and identities in Nepal |journal=Contributions to Nepalese Studies |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=31–42 |url=http://lib.icimod.org/record/9900/files/6846.pdf}}</ref> Significant population of [[Newar people|Newars]] of [[Kathmandu valley]] in Nepal use the surname Shakya and also claim to be the descendants of the Shakya clan with titles such as Śākyavamsa (of the Shakya lineage) having been used in the past.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gellner|first=David|date=1989|title=Buddhist Monks or Kinsmen of the Buddha? Reflections on the Titles Traditionally Used by Sakyas in the Kathmandu Valley|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1810/227309/kailash_15_0102_01.pdf?sequence=2|journal=Kailash – Journal of Himalayan Studies|volume=15|pages=5–20}}</ref> |
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According to ''[[Hmannan Yazawin]]'', first published in 1823, the legendary king [[Abhiyaza]], who founded the [[Tagaung Kingdom]] and the Burmese monarchy belonged to the same Shakya clan of the Buddha.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hla Pe | first=U | title=Burma: Literature, Historiography, Scholarship, Language, Life, and Buddhism | location=Singapore | publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies | year=1985 | isbn=978-9971-98-800-5 | page = 57 }}</ref> He migrated to present-day Burma after the annexation of the Shakya kingdom by Kosala. The earlier Burmese accounts stated that he was a descendant of [[Pyusawhti]], son of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.<ref>{{cite book | last= Lieberman | first= Victor B. | title= Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, volume 1, Integration on the Mainland | year=2003 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-80496-7 | page=196}}</ref> |
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It indicates that there was an officer who used to see the number of ganas and their koram in the Rajasabha (state assembly). |
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The erstwhile King of Aragal and the nominal head of [[Gautam (clan)|Gautam Rajput]] clan also claimed descent from Sakya.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anagarika H. |first=Dharmapala |title=Message from Raja Saheb of Aragal |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.70778/mode/2up |journal=The Maha-Bodhi |volume=39 |pages=508}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Valisinha |first=Devapriya |title=Buddhist Shrines in India |publisher=Maha Bodhi Society of Ceylon |year=1948 |pages=173}}</ref> |
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During Buddhist period, the Buddhist books like ''Pali-pitaka'', ''Majjhamnikaya'', ''Mahabagga'', ''Avadana-shataka'' have mentioned ganas and sanghas many times. During Buddhas period there were 116 republics or ganasanghas in India. |
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==Culture and society== |
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In [[Buddhist]] times, ''{{unicode|Gaṇa}}''s were assemblies of the [[Sangha]]s, early democratic republics known as ''{{unicode|Gaṇa-rājya}}''s, literally "rule of the assembly", a term paralleling ''[[democracy|demo-kratia]]'' or ''[[Soviet (council)|soviet]] republic''. The term was revived in ''{{unicode|Bhārata Gaṇarājya}}'', the official name of the [[Republic of India]]. |
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===Ethnicity=== |
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The Shakyas lived in what scholars presently call the [[Greater Magadha]] cultural area, which was located in the eastern Gangetic plain to the east of the confluence of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā rivers. Like the other eastern groups of the Greater Magadha region, the Shakyas were {{transliteration|sa|saṃkīrṇa-yonayaḥ}} ("of mixed origin"), and therefore did not subscribe to the [[Varna (Hinduism)|{{transliteration|sa|caturvarṇa}}]] social organisation consisting of [[Brahmin|{{transliteration|pi|brāhmaṇa}}]]s, [[Kshatriya|{{transliteration|pi|khattiya}}]]s, [[Vaishya|{{transliteration|pi|vessa}}]]s, and [[Shudra|{{transliteration|pi|sudda}}]]. While non-Indo-Aryan indigenous clans were given the status of {{transliteration|pi|sudda}}s, that is of slaves or servants, indigenous clans who collaborated with the Indo-Aryan clans were the status of {{transliteration|pi|khattiya}}s. The Buddhist suttas are ambiguous on the status of the Buddha, sometimes calling him a kshatriya, but mostly ignoring the varna system. Additionally, the populations of Greater Magadha did not subscribe to the supremacy of the {{transliteration|sa|brāhmaṇa}}s of the peoples of [[Āryāvarta|{{transliteration|sa|Āryāvarta}}]], and {{transliteration|pi|khattiya}}s were regarded as higher in the societies of Greater Magadha.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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Vedic literature therefore considered the populations of [[Greater Magadha]] as existing outside of the limits of {{transliteration|sa|Āryāvarta}}, with the [[Manusmriti|{{transliteration|sa|Manusmṛiti}}]] grouping the [[Videha|Vaidehas]], [[Magadha|Māgadhīs]], [[Licchavis of Vaishali|Licchavikas]], and [[Malla (tribe)|Mallakas]], who were the neighbours of the Shakyas, as being "non-Aryan" and born from mixed caste marriages, and the [[Baudhayana sutras|{{transliteration|sa|Baudhāyana-Dharmaśāstra}}]]s requiring visitors to these lands to perform purificatory sacrifices as expiation.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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=== Annexation by Kosala === |
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{{IAST|Vidaḍūbha}}, the son of [[Pasenadi]] and {{IAST|Vāsavakhattiyā}}, the daughter of a {{IAST|Śākya}} named {{IAST|Mahānāma}} by a slave girl, ascended the throne of [[Kosala]] after overthrowing his father. As an act of vengeance for cheating Kosala by sending his mother, the daughter of a slave woman, for marriage to his father, he invaded the {{IAST|Śākya}} territory, massacred them and annexed it.<ref>Raychaudhuri H. (1972). ''Political History of Ancient India'', Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.177-8</ref><ref>Kosambi D.D. (1988). ''The Culture and Civilsation of Ancient India in Historical Outline'', New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, ISBN 0-7069-4200-0, pp.128-9</ref> |
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This negative view of the peoples of the Greater Magadha region by the Vedic peoples extended to the Shakyas, as recorded in the {{transliteration|pi|Ambaṭṭha Sutta}}, according to which the {{transliteration|sa|brāhmaṇa}}s described the Shakyas as "fierce, rough-spoken, touchy and violent," and accused them of not honouring, respecting, esteeming, revering or paying homage to the {{transliteration|sa|brāhmaṇa}}s owing to their "menial origin."{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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== Claimed descents == |
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===Language=== |
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The ancient Buddhist texts ''[[Mahavamsa]]'' and [[Jain]] literature ''Punyashrava Katha Kosh'', trace the origin of [[Maurya dynasty]] from the Shakya clan. According to this account, the Mauryans were a group of Shakyas who fled from Kapilvastu to Pipphalvana after [[Virudhaka]] attacked their kingdom. |
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The Shakyans were at least bilingual, under the linguistic influence of [[Munda languages]], as attested by many of their villages having Mundari names, and the name of the founder of their clan, which has been recorded in the Sanskrit form {{transliteration|sa|Ikṣvāku}} and the Pali form {{transliteration|pi|Okkāka}}, being of [[Munda peoples|Munda origin]].<ref name="Levman"/> |
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===Social organisation=== |
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According to ''[[Mahavamsa]]'', the [[Sri Lanka]]n kings [[Panduvasdeva of Upatissa Nuwara]] (504-474 BCE) and his descendant [[Pandukabhaya of Anuradhapura]] (437-367 BCE), beonged to a branch of the Shakya clan descended from Gautama Buddha's cousin Pandu Shakya.<ref>''Mahavamsa'' Sections [http://mahavamsa.org/mahavamsa/original-version/08-consecrating-panduvasudeva/ 8], [http://mahavamsa.org/mahavamsa/original-version/09-consecrating-abhaya/ 9] and [http://mahavamsa.org/mahavamsa/original-version/10-consecrating-pandukabhaya/ 10]</ref> |
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====Class system==== |
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The society of the Shakyas and Koliyas was a stratified one which did not subscribe to the [[Varna (Hinduism)|{{transliteration|sa|caturvarṇa}}]] social organisation consisting of [[Brahmin|{{transliteration|pi|brāhmaṇa}}]]s, [[Kshatriya|{{transliteration|pi|khattiya}}]]s, [[Vaishya|{{transliteration|pi|vessa}}]]s, and [[Shudra|{{transliteration|pi|sudda}}]]s, but instead consisted of an aristocratic class of {{transliteration|pi|khattiya}}s and a slave or servant class of {{transliteration|pi|sudda}}s,{{sfn|Levman|2014}} themselves comprising at least an aristocracy, as well as land-owners, attendants, labourers, and serfs.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=207-217}} |
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Landholders held the title of {{transliteration|pi|bhojakā}}s, literally meaning "enjoyers (of the right to own land)," and used in the sense of "headmen."{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=207-217}} |
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According to ''[[Hmannan Yazawin]]'', first published in 1823, the legendary king [[Abhiraja]], who founded the [[Kingdom of Tagaung]] and the [[Burmese monarchy]] belonged to the same Shakya clan of the Buddha.<ref>{{cite book | last=Hla Pe | first=U | title=Burma: Literature, Historiography, Scholarship, Language, Life, and Buddhism | location=Singapore | publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies | year=1985 | isbn=9789971988005 | page = 57 }}</ref> He migrated to the present-day Burma after the annexation of the Shakya kingdom by Kosala. The earlier Burmese accounts stated that he was a descendant of [[Pyusawhti]], son of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.<ref>{{cite book | last= Lieberman | first= Victor B. | title= Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, volume 1, Integration on the Mainland | year=2003 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-80496-7 | page=196}}</ref> |
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The lower classes of Shakya society consisted of servants, in Pāli called {{transliteration|pi|kammakara}}s ({{lit|labourers}}) and {{transliteration|sa|sevaka}}s ({{lit|serfs}}), who performed the labour in the farms.{{sfn|Levman|2014}}{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=207-217}} |
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===Migration to Kathmandu (Nepal)=== |
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[[File:Itum baha.jpg|thumb|right|Itumbahal, one of the Shakya monasteries in [[Kathmandu]]]] |
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====Administrative structure==== |
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Some Nepalese communities also claim descent from the Shakya clan of the Buddha. According to one legend, after the annexation of Kapilavastu by Virudhaka, one group of Shakyas fled northward to the hills, and settled in western Nepal. In order to hide from persecution, they took the title of [[Koliya]] And [[Maurya caste|Moriya]].{{citation needed|date=January 2014}} When they learned of the forest monastery in [[Sankhu]] established during the time of Buddha, they migrated to [[Kathmandu Valley]] under the [[Kirat]]s. Later, they established two settlements in Yembu and Yengal. In Yengal, they renovated the monasteries of Manjupattan. By [[Licchavi (kingdom)|Licchavi]] era, Yembu and Yengal were called Koligram and Dakshin Koligram respectively. They established various monasteries in both settlements, and retook the title of Shakyas in the late Licchavi era. Various monastic traditions are still followed to date in many of these monasteries. |
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The Sakyas were organised into a [[Gaṇasaṅgha|{{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}}]] (an [[Aristocracy|aristocratic]] [[Oligarchy|oligarchic]] [[republic]]) similarly to the [[Licchavi (tribe)|Licchavikas]].{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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== |
====The assembly==== |
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The heads of the Sakya [[kshatriya|{{transliteration|pi|khattiya}}]] clans of the {{transliteration|pi|Gotama}} {{transliteration|pi|gotta}} formed an Assembly, and they held the title of {{transliteration|pi|rājā}}s. The position of {{transliteration|sa|rājā}} was hereditary, and after a {{transliteration|pi|rājā}}'s death was passed to his eldest son, who while he was living held the title of {{transliteration|sa|uparājā}} ("Viceroy").{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} |
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* [[Janapadas]] |
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* [[Koliya]] |
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The political system of the Sakyas was identical to that of the Koliyas, and like the Koliyas and the other {{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}}s, the Assembly met in a [[santhāgāra]], the main of which was located at Kapilavatthu, although at least one other Sakya santhāgāra also existed at Cātuma. The judicial and legislative functions of the Assembly of the Sakyas were not distinctly separated, and it met to discuss important issues concerning public affairs, such as war, peace, and alliances. The Sakya Assembly deliberated on important issues, and it had a simple voting system through either raising hands or the use of wooden chips.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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====The council==== |
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Similarly to the other {{transliteration|sa|gaṇasaṅgha}}s, the Sakya Assembly met rarely and it instead had an inner and smaller Council which met more often to administer the republic in the name of the Assembly. The members of the council, titled {{transliteration|pi|amaccā}}s, formed a college which was directly in charge of public affairs of the republic.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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* Rhys Davids, C.A.F. 1926. ‘Man as Willer.’ ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies''. 4: 29-44. |
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* Silk, Jonathan A. 2008 ‘Putative Persian perversities: Indian Buddhist condemnations of Zoroastrian close-kin marriage in context.’ ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies'', 71: pp 433–464. |
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====The {{transliteration|pi|mahārājā}} (Consul)==== |
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* van Geel, B. ''et al.'' 2004. [http://cio.eldoc.ub.rug.nl/FILES/root/2004/JArchaeolScivGeel/2004JArchaeolScivGeel.pdf Climate change and the expansion of the Scythian culture after 850 BC: a hypothesis] ''Journal of Archaeological Science''. 31 (12) December: 1735-1742. |
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The head of the Sakya republic was an elected chief, which was a position of [[Primus inter pares|first among equals]] similar to [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Roman consul|consuls]] and [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[archon]]s, and whose incumbent had the title of {{transliteration|pi|mahārājā}}. The {{transliteration|pi|mahārājā}} was in charge of administering the republic with the help of the council.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}}{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=207-217}} |
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* Witzel, Michael. 1997. [http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/canon.pdf The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu] (Materials on Vedic Śākhās, 8) in ''Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts. New Approaches to the Study of the Vedas''. Harvard Oriental Series. Opera Minora, vol. 2. Cambridge 1997, 257-345 |
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=====Functioning of the assembly===== |
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When sessions of the Assembly were held, the {{transliteration|pi|rājā}}s gathered in the santhāgāra; while four {{transliteration|pi|amaccā}}s were posted in the four corners or sides of the hall so as to clearly and easily hear the speeches made by the {{transliteration|pi|rājā}}s; and the consul {{transliteration|pi|rājā}} took his appointed seat and put forward the matters to be discussed once the Assembly was ready.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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During the session, the members of the Assembly expressed their views, which the four {{transliteration|pi|amaccā}}s would record. The Assembly was then adjourned, after which the recorders compared their notes, and all the {{transliteration|pi|amaccā}}s came back and waited for the recorders' decision.{{sfn|Sharma|1968|p=182-206}} |
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===Lifestyle=== |
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====Aristocratic marriage customs==== |
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Another reflection of non-Indo-Aryan cultural practices of the Shakyas was the practice of sibling marriages among their ruling clans, which was forbidden among {{transliteration|sa|Vaidika}} peoples, and was a practice of social demarcation and of maintaining power within a smaller sub-group of the Shakya clan, and was therefore not permitted among the lower classes of the Shakya.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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====Religion==== |
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Since they lived in the [[Greater Magadha]] cultural area, the Shakyas followed non-Vedic religious customs which drastically differed from the [[Brahmanism|Brahmanical]] tradition,{{sfn|Levman|2014}} and even by the time of the Buddha, Brahmanism and the {{transliteration|sa|brāhmaṇa}}s had not acquired religious or cultural preponderance in the Greater Magadha area to which Shakya belonged.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bronkhorst |first=Johannes |author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst |date=2011 |title=Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism |location=[[Leiden]], Netherlands; [[Boston]], United States |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |page=1 |isbn=978-9-004-20140-8 }}</ref> |
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It was in this non-Vedic cultural environment that [[Śramaṇa|{{transliteration|sa|Śramaṇa}}]] movements existed, with one of them, [[Buddhism]], having been founded by the Shakya Siddhartha Gautama, the historical [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]].{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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=====Sun worship===== |
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The Shakyas worshipped the [[Surya|Sun-god]], whom they considered their ancestor,{{sfn|Batchelor|2015|p=32-33}} hence why the Shakya {{transliteration|pi|khattiya}} clan claimed to be of the {{transliteration|pi|Ādicca}} ({{transliteration|sa|Āditya}} in Sanskrit) [[gotra|{{transliteration|pi|gotta}}]],{{sfn|Batchelor|2015|p=36}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Nakamura |first=Hajime |author-link=Hajime Nakamura |date=2000 |title=Gotama Buddha: A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts |volume=1 |location=[[Tokyo]], Japan |publisher=Kosei Publishing Company |page=124 |isbn=978-4-333-01893-2 }}</ref> and of the [[Solar dynasty|Sūryavaṃśa]] ("Solar dynasty").{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} |
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=====Origin myth===== |
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The Shakya {{transliteration|pi|khattiya}} clan claimed descent from the Sun-god via his descendant, named {{transliteration|pi|Okkāka}} (in [[Pali|Pāli]]) and {{transliteration|sa|Ikṣvāku}} (in [[Sanskrit]]), and whose eight twin sons and daughters who were married to each other had founded the capital city of the Shakyas and were the tribe's ancestors. This was an origin myth of the ruling status of the {{transliteration|pi|khattiya}} families of the Shakya clan, who had the right to be represented in the {{transliteration|pi|santhāgāra}}, were often related to each other, and possessed adjacent areas of land, thus establishing kinship, which itself helped form rights of landownership, and, therefore, of political authority.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} |
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This myth was also a foundation myth of the city which, as the residence of the ruling families of the clan, the city, which was the centre of political and economic activity, was associated with that clan's [[Janapada|{{transliteration|sa|janapada}}]] (territory), and was equated with the whole {{transliteration|sa|janapada}} itself.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} |
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The myth of the Shakyas' ancestors being four pairs of married twin siblings was a myth which traced the origins of the ruling Shakya families to a common ancestor, and was also a myth of an early human utopia where humans were born as couples.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|p=392-399}} |
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=====Tree worship===== |
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The important role of the [[Shorea robusta|Sāl tree]] in the life of the Buddha according to the Buddhist texts, as well as his representation as a [[Ficus religiosa|Bodhi tree]] and his Enlightenment occurring under one such tree, suggest that the Shakyas practised tree worship, a custom likely derived from Munda religious customs of worshipping sacred groves, and the important role in their traditions of the Sāl tree, whose flowering marks the beginning of their New Year and Flower Feast festivals: the [[Santal people|Santal]] tribe worship the Sāl tree and gather to make communal decisions under them Sāl trees.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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The importance of the tree spirits called [[Yaksha|{{transliteration|pi|yakkha}}s and {{transliteration|pi|yakkhī}}s]] in Pali ({{transliteration|sa|yakṣa}}s and {{transliteration|sa|yakṣī}}s in Sanskrit) in early Buddhist texts is an attestation of the worship of these beings done at {{transliteration|pi|yakkha}} [[cetiya|{{transliteration|pi|cetiya}}]]s. The worship of {{transliteration|pi|yakkha}}s and {{transliteration|pi|yakkhī}}s, which was of pre-Indo-Aryan autochthonous origin, was prevalent in the Greater Magadha region.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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=====Serpent worship===== |
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The [[nāga|{{transliteration|sa|nāga}}]] king [[Mucalinda]], who in Buddhist mythology protected the Buddha during a storm under a mucalinda tree, was a both snake- and a tree-deity, thus alluding to the practice of serpent worship among the Shakyas, which originated from among the pre-Indo-Aryan [[Tibeto-Burman languages|Tibeto-Burman]] populations of northern South Asia.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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=====Funerary customs===== |
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The cremation rituals of the Shakyas which were performed for the funeral of the Buddha as described by Buddhist texts involved wrapping his body in 500 layers of cloth, placing it in an iron vat full of oil as a mark of honour, and then covering it with another iron pot before being cremated. These rites originated from the pre-Indo-Aryan autochthonous populations of the eastern Gangetic plains, as were the practices such as honouring the Buddha's body with singing, dancing, and music, as well as placing his bones in a golden urn, the veneration of these remains and their burial in a round [[stupa|{{transliteration|sa|stūpa}}]] which possessed a central mast, flags, pennants, and parasols at a public crossroads, which were rituals that were performed by the pre-Indo-Aryan populations for their greater rulers.{{sfn|Levman|2014}} |
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== See also == |
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* [[Shakya (surname)]] |
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* [[Family tree of Sinhalese monarchs]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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== |
==Sources== |
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{{refbegin}} |
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* [http://coinindia.com/galleries-shakya.html Shakya janapada coins] |
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* {{cite book |last=Batchelor |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Batchelor (author) |date=2015 |title=After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age |location=[[New Haven, Connecticut]], United States |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-21622-6 }} |
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*{{cite book |last=Bronkhorst |first=Johannes |author-link=Johannes Bronkhorst |date=2007 |title=Greater Magadha, Studies in the culture of Early India |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i-416 |doi=10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i-416 |isbn=978-9-047-41965-5 }} |
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*{{cite journal |last=Levman |first=Bryan G. |date=2014 |title=Cultural Remnants of the Indigenous Peoples in the Buddhist Scriptures |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276914202 |journal=Buddhist Studies Review |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=145–180 |doi=10.1558/bsrv.v30i2.145 |access-date=4 June 2022|doi-access=free }} |
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* {{cite book |last=Sharma |first=J. P. |date=1968 |title=Republics in Ancient India, C. 1500 B.C.-500 B.C. |location=[[Leiden]], Netherlands |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|E. J. Brill]] |isbn=978-9-004-02015-3 }} |
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* {{cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |author-link=Romila Thapar |date=2013 |title=The Past Before Us |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 }} |
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{{refend}} |
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Latest revision as of 04:55, 30 October 2024
Shakya Republic | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 7th century BCE–c. 5th century BCE | |||||||||
.jpg) Shakya among the Gaṇasaṅghas | |||||||||
.png) Shakya to the north of the Mahajanapadas in the post-Vedic period | |||||||||
| Status | Vassal state of Kosala | ||||||||
| Capital | Kapilavastu | ||||||||
| Common languages | Prakrits Munda languages[1] | ||||||||
| Religion | Sramana religions, Sun worship, tree worship, serpent worship | ||||||||
| Government | Aristocratic Republic | ||||||||
| Legislature | Sabhā | ||||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age | ||||||||
• Established | c. 7th century BCE | ||||||||
• Conquered by Viḍūḍabha of Kosala | c. 5th century BCE | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | India Nepal | ||||||||
Shakya (Pāḷi: Sakya; Sanskrit: शाक्य, romanized: Śākya) was an ancient clan of the northeastern region of South Asia, whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The Shakyas were organised into a gaṇasaṅgha (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), also known as the Shakya Republic.[2] The Shakyas were on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain in the Greater Magadha cultural region.[1][3]
Location
[edit]
The Shakyas lived in the Terai – an area south of the foothills of the Himalayas and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain with their neighbors to the west and south being the kingdom of Kosala, their neighbors to the east across the Rohni River being the related Koliya tribe, while on the northeast they bordered on the Mallakas of Kushinagar. To the north, the territory of the Shakyas stretched into the Himalayas until the forested regions of the mountains, which formed their northern border.[2]
The capital of the Shakyas was the city of Kapilavastu.[2][4]
Etymology
[edit]The name of the Shakyas is attested primarily in the Pali forms Sakya and Sakka, and the Sanskrit form Śākya.[5]
The Shakyas' name was derived from the Sanskrit root śak (शक्) (śaknoti (शक्नोति), more rarely śakyati (शक्यति) or śakyate (शक्यते)) meaning "to be able," "worthy," "possible," or "practicable."[2][6]
The name of the Shakyas was also derived from the name of the śaka or sāka tree,[7][6] which Bryan Levman has identified with either the teak or sāla tree,[6][1] which is ultimately related to word śākhā (शाखा), meaning 'branch,’[8] and was connected to the Shakyas' practice of worshipping the śaka or sāka tree.[1]
History
[edit]Origin
[edit]The Shakyas were an eastern sub-Himalayan ethnic group on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Gangetic plain in the Greater Magadha cultural region.[9][3] The Shakyas were of 'mixed origin' (saṃkīrṇa-yonayaḥ) of Indo-Aryan and Munda descent, with the former group forming a minority.[9] The Shakyas were closely related to their eastern neighbours, the Koliya tribe, with whom they intermarried.[10]
Alternative origin hypothesis
[edit]Scholars such as Michael Witzel and Christopher I. Beckwith have equated the Shakyas with Central Asian nomads who were called Scythians by the Greeks, Sakās by the Achaemenid Persians, and Śāka by the Indo-Aryans. These scholars have suggested that the people of the Buddha were Saka soldiers who arrived in South Asia in the army of Darius the Great during the Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley, and saw in Scytho-Saka nomadism the origin of the wandering asceticism of the Buddha.[11][12]
Scholars criticize the Scythian hypothesis due to a lack of evidence, with Bryan Levman maintaining that the Shakyas were native to the north-east Gangetic plain and unrelated to the Iranic Sakas.[13]
Statehood
[edit]By the sixth century BCE, the Shakyas, the Koliyas, Moriyas, and Mallakas lived between the territories of the Kauśalyas to the west and the Licchavikas and Vaidehas to the east, thus separating the Vajjika League from the Kosala kingdom.[2] By that time, the Shakya republic had become a vassal state of the larger Kingdom of Kosala.[14][15]
During the fifth century itself, one of the members of the ruling aristocratic oligarchy of the Shakyas was Suddhodana. Suddhodana was married to the princess Māyā, who was the daughter of a Koliya noble, and the son of Suddhodana and Māyā was Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha and founder of Buddhism.[2]
During the life of the Buddha, an armed feud opposed the Shakyas and the Koliyas concerning the waters of the river Rohiṇī, which formed the boundary between the two states and whose water was needed by both of them to irrigate their crops. The intervention of the Buddha finally put an end to these hostilities.[2]
After the death of the Buddha, the Shakyas claimed a share of his relics from the Mallakas of Kusinārā on the grounds that he had been a Shakya.[2]
Conquest by Kosala
[edit]Shortly after the Buddha's death, the Kauśalya king Viḍūḍabha, who had overthrown his father Pasenadi, invaded the Shakya and Koliya republics, seeking to conquer their territories because they had once been part of Kosala. Viḍūḍabha finally triumphed over the Shakyas and Koliyas and annexed their state after a long war with massive loss of lives on both sides. Details of this war were exaggerated by later Buddhist accounts, which claimed that Viḍūḍabha exterminated the Shakyas in retaliation for having given in marriage to his father the slave girl who became Viḍūḍabha's mother. In actuality, Viḍūḍabha's invasion of Shakya might instead have had similar motivations to the conquest of the Vajjika League by Viḍūḍabha's relative, the Māgadhī king Ajātasattu, who, because he was the son of a Vajjika princess, was therefore interested in the territory of his mother's homeland. The result of the Kauśalya invasion was that the Shakyas and Koliyas merely lost political importance after being annexed into Viḍūḍabha's kingdom. The Shakyas nevertheless soon disappeared as an ethnic group after their annexation, having become absorbed into the population of Kosala, with only a few displaced families maintaining the Shakya identity later. The Koliyas likewise disappeared as a polity and as a tribe soon after their annexation.[2][10]
The massive life losses incurred by Kosala during its conquest of Shakya and Koliya weakened it significantly enough that it was itself soon annexed by its eastern neighbour, the kingdom of Magadha, and its king Viḍūḍabha was defeated and killed by the Māgadhī king Ajātasattu.[2]
Legacy
[edit]
In Buddhism
[edit]The Buddha was given the epithet of the "Sage of the Shakyas," Sakka-muni in Pali and Śākya-muni in Sanskrit, by his followers.[17]
The functioning of the proceedings in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven ruled by Sakka, lord of the devas in Buddhist cosmology, are modelled on those of the Shakya santhāgāra or general assembly hall.[2]
Descent claims
[edit]Tharu people of Tarai region of India and Nepal claim descent from Sakya.[18] Significant population of Newars of Kathmandu valley in Nepal use the surname Shakya and also claim to be the descendants of the Shakya clan with titles such as Śākyavamsa (of the Shakya lineage) having been used in the past.[19]
According to Hmannan Yazawin, first published in 1823, the legendary king Abhiyaza, who founded the Tagaung Kingdom and the Burmese monarchy belonged to the same Shakya clan of the Buddha.[20] He migrated to present-day Burma after the annexation of the Shakya kingdom by Kosala. The earlier Burmese accounts stated that he was a descendant of Pyusawhti, son of a solar spirit and a dragon princess.[21]
The erstwhile King of Aragal and the nominal head of Gautam Rajput clan also claimed descent from Sakya.[22][23]
Culture and society
[edit]Ethnicity
[edit]The Shakyas lived in what scholars presently call the Greater Magadha cultural area, which was located in the eastern Gangetic plain to the east of the confluence of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā rivers. Like the other eastern groups of the Greater Magadha region, the Shakyas were saṃkīrṇa-yonayaḥ ("of mixed origin"), and therefore did not subscribe to the caturvarṇa social organisation consisting of brāhmaṇas, khattiyas, vessas, and sudda. While non-Indo-Aryan indigenous clans were given the status of suddas, that is of slaves or servants, indigenous clans who collaborated with the Indo-Aryan clans were the status of khattiyas. The Buddhist suttas are ambiguous on the status of the Buddha, sometimes calling him a kshatriya, but mostly ignoring the varna system. Additionally, the populations of Greater Magadha did not subscribe to the supremacy of the brāhmaṇas of the peoples of Āryāvarta, and khattiyas were regarded as higher in the societies of Greater Magadha.[1]
Vedic literature therefore considered the populations of Greater Magadha as existing outside of the limits of Āryāvarta, with the Manusmṛiti grouping the Vaidehas, Māgadhīs, Licchavikas, and Mallakas, who were the neighbours of the Shakyas, as being "non-Aryan" and born from mixed caste marriages, and the Baudhāyana-Dharmaśāstras requiring visitors to these lands to perform purificatory sacrifices as expiation.[1]
This negative view of the peoples of the Greater Magadha region by the Vedic peoples extended to the Shakyas, as recorded in the Ambaṭṭha Sutta, according to which the brāhmaṇas described the Shakyas as "fierce, rough-spoken, touchy and violent," and accused them of not honouring, respecting, esteeming, revering or paying homage to the brāhmaṇas owing to their "menial origin."[1]
Language
[edit]The Shakyans were at least bilingual, under the linguistic influence of Munda languages, as attested by many of their villages having Mundari names, and the name of the founder of their clan, which has been recorded in the Sanskrit form Ikṣvāku and the Pali form Okkāka, being of Munda origin.[9]
Social organisation
[edit]Class system
[edit]The society of the Shakyas and Koliyas was a stratified one which did not subscribe to the caturvarṇa social organisation consisting of brāhmaṇas, khattiyas, vessas, and suddas, but instead consisted of an aristocratic class of khattiyas and a slave or servant class of suddas,[1] themselves comprising at least an aristocracy, as well as land-owners, attendants, labourers, and serfs.[2][10]
Landholders held the title of bhojakās, literally meaning "enjoyers (of the right to own land)," and used in the sense of "headmen."[2][10]
The lower classes of Shakya society consisted of servants, in Pāli called kammakaras (lit. 'labourers') and sevakas (lit. 'serfs'), who performed the labour in the farms.[1][10]
Administrative structure
[edit]The Sakyas were organised into a gaṇasaṅgha (an aristocratic oligarchic republic) similarly to the Licchavikas.[2][1]
The assembly
[edit]The heads of the Sakya khattiya clans of the Gotama gotta formed an Assembly, and they held the title of rājās. The position of rājā was hereditary, and after a rājā's death was passed to his eldest son, who while he was living held the title of uparājā ("Viceroy").[2][6]
The political system of the Sakyas was identical to that of the Koliyas, and like the Koliyas and the other gaṇasaṅghas, the Assembly met in a santhāgāra, the main of which was located at Kapilavatthu, although at least one other Sakya santhāgāra also existed at Cātuma. The judicial and legislative functions of the Assembly of the Sakyas were not distinctly separated, and it met to discuss important issues concerning public affairs, such as war, peace, and alliances. The Sakya Assembly deliberated on important issues, and it had a simple voting system through either raising hands or the use of wooden chips.[2]
The council
[edit]Similarly to the other gaṇasaṅghas, the Sakya Assembly met rarely and it instead had an inner and smaller Council which met more often to administer the republic in the name of the Assembly. The members of the council, titled amaccās, formed a college which was directly in charge of public affairs of the republic.[2]
The mahārājā (Consul)
[edit]The head of the Sakya republic was an elected chief, which was a position of first among equals similar to Roman consuls and Greek archons, and whose incumbent had the title of mahārājā. The mahārājā was in charge of administering the republic with the help of the council.[2][10]
Functioning of the assembly
[edit]When sessions of the Assembly were held, the rājās gathered in the santhāgāra; while four amaccās were posted in the four corners or sides of the hall so as to clearly and easily hear the speeches made by the rājās; and the consul rājā took his appointed seat and put forward the matters to be discussed once the Assembly was ready.[2]
During the session, the members of the Assembly expressed their views, which the four amaccās would record. The Assembly was then adjourned, after which the recorders compared their notes, and all the amaccās came back and waited for the recorders' decision.[2]
Lifestyle
[edit]Aristocratic marriage customs
[edit]Another reflection of non-Indo-Aryan cultural practices of the Shakyas was the practice of sibling marriages among their ruling clans, which was forbidden among Vaidika peoples, and was a practice of social demarcation and of maintaining power within a smaller sub-group of the Shakya clan, and was therefore not permitted among the lower classes of the Shakya.[1]
Religion
[edit]Since they lived in the Greater Magadha cultural area, the Shakyas followed non-Vedic religious customs which drastically differed from the Brahmanical tradition,[1] and even by the time of the Buddha, Brahmanism and the brāhmaṇas had not acquired religious or cultural preponderance in the Greater Magadha area to which Shakya belonged.[24]
It was in this non-Vedic cultural environment that Śramaṇa movements existed, with one of them, Buddhism, having been founded by the Shakya Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha.[1]
Sun worship
[edit]The Shakyas worshipped the Sun-god, whom they considered their ancestor,[25] hence why the Shakya khattiya clan claimed to be of the Ādicca (Āditya in Sanskrit) gotta,[26][27] and of the Sūryavaṃśa ("Solar dynasty").[6]
Origin myth
[edit]The Shakya khattiya clan claimed descent from the Sun-god via his descendant, named Okkāka (in Pāli) and Ikṣvāku (in Sanskrit), and whose eight twin sons and daughters who were married to each other had founded the capital city of the Shakyas and were the tribe's ancestors. This was an origin myth of the ruling status of the khattiya families of the Shakya clan, who had the right to be represented in the santhāgāra, were often related to each other, and possessed adjacent areas of land, thus establishing kinship, which itself helped form rights of landownership, and, therefore, of political authority.[6]
This myth was also a foundation myth of the city which, as the residence of the ruling families of the clan, the city, which was the centre of political and economic activity, was associated with that clan's janapada (territory), and was equated with the whole janapada itself.[6]
The myth of the Shakyas' ancestors being four pairs of married twin siblings was a myth which traced the origins of the ruling Shakya families to a common ancestor, and was also a myth of an early human utopia where humans were born as couples.[6]
Tree worship
[edit]The important role of the Sāl tree in the life of the Buddha according to the Buddhist texts, as well as his representation as a Bodhi tree and his Enlightenment occurring under one such tree, suggest that the Shakyas practised tree worship, a custom likely derived from Munda religious customs of worshipping sacred groves, and the important role in their traditions of the Sāl tree, whose flowering marks the beginning of their New Year and Flower Feast festivals: the Santal tribe worship the Sāl tree and gather to make communal decisions under them Sāl trees.[1]
The importance of the tree spirits called yakkhas and yakkhīs in Pali (yakṣas and yakṣīs in Sanskrit) in early Buddhist texts is an attestation of the worship of these beings done at yakkha cetiyas. The worship of yakkhas and yakkhīs, which was of pre-Indo-Aryan autochthonous origin, was prevalent in the Greater Magadha region.[1]
Serpent worship
[edit]The nāga king Mucalinda, who in Buddhist mythology protected the Buddha during a storm under a mucalinda tree, was a both snake- and a tree-deity, thus alluding to the practice of serpent worship among the Shakyas, which originated from among the pre-Indo-Aryan Tibeto-Burman populations of northern South Asia.[1]
Funerary customs
[edit]The cremation rituals of the Shakyas which were performed for the funeral of the Buddha as described by Buddhist texts involved wrapping his body in 500 layers of cloth, placing it in an iron vat full of oil as a mark of honour, and then covering it with another iron pot before being cremated. These rites originated from the pre-Indo-Aryan autochthonous populations of the eastern Gangetic plains, as were the practices such as honouring the Buddha's body with singing, dancing, and music, as well as placing his bones in a golden urn, the veneration of these remains and their burial in a round stūpa which possessed a central mast, flags, pennants, and parasols at a public crossroads, which were rituals that were performed by the pre-Indo-Aryan populations for their greater rulers.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Levman 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Sharma 1968, p. 182-206.
- ^ a b Bronkhorst 2007, p. 6.
- ^ Trainor, K (2010). "Kapilavastu". In Keown, D; Prebish, CS (eds.). Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Milton Park, UK: Routledge. pp. 436–7. ISBN 978-0-415-55624-8.
- ^ Sharma 1968, pp. 182–206.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Thapar 2013, p. 392-399.
- ^ Fleet, J. F. (1906). "The Inscription on the Piprawa Vase". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. 38 (1): 149–180. doi:10.1017/S0035869X00034079. JSTOR 2521022. S2CID 161625116.
we find only a fanciful desire to account for the name Sakya by identifying it with the word sakya, śakya, in the sense of 'able, capable, smart.' But, looking below the surface, we find in the allusion to sākasaṇḍa, sākavanasaṇḍa, the grove of teak-trees, the real origin of the other name, Sākiya, Śākiya, Śākya.
- ^ Douglas Q., Adams; Mallory, J. P. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. UK: Routledge. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-884-96498-5.
- ^ a b c Levman 2014: "The founder of the Sakya clan, King Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka) has a Munda name, suggesting that the Sakyas were at least bilingual (Kuiper 1991, 7; Mayrhofer 1992, vol. 1, 185). Many of the Sakya village names are believed to be non-IA in origin (Thomas 1960, 23), and the very word for town or city (nagara; cf. the Sakya village Nagakara, the locus of the Cūḷasuññata Sutta ) is of Dravidian stock (Mayrhofer 1963, vol. 2, 125)."
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"The Sakya clan derive their ancestry from King Ikṣvāku, whose name is of Austro-Asiatic Munda origin (see above, page 148). While the Sakyans' rough speech and Munda ancestors do not prove that they spoke a non-IA language, there is a lot of other evidence suggesting that they were indeed a separate ethnic (and probably linguistic) group."
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"Okkāka was the legendary progenitor of the Sakyas, and bears a name of Munda ancestry" - ^ a b c d e f Sharma 1968, p. 207-217.
- ^ Attwood, Jayarava (2012). "Possible Iranian Origins for the Śākyas and Aspects of Buddhism". Journal of the Oxford Centre For Buddhist Studies. 3: 47–69. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- ^ Beckwith, Christopher I. (2015). Greek Buddha: Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia. Princeton, New Jersey, United States: Princeton University Press. pp. 1–21. ISBN 978-0-691-17632-1.
- ^ Levman 2014: "The evidence for this final wave is however, very slim and there is no evidence for it in the Vedic texts; for their western origin, Witzel relies on a reference in Pāṇini (4.2.131, madravṛjyoḥ) to the Vṛjjis in dual relation with the Madras who are from the northwest, and to the Mallas in the Jaiminīya Brāhamaṇa (§198) as arising from the dust of Rajasthan. Neither the Sakyas nor any of the other eastern tribes are mentioned, and of course there is no proof that any of these are Indo-Aryan groups. I view the Sakyas and the later Śakas as two separate groups, the former being aboriginal."
- ^ Walshe, Maurice (1995). The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Digha Nikaya (PDF). Wisdom Publications. p. 409. ISBN 0-86171-103-3.
- ^ Batchelor 2015, Chapter 2, Section 2, 7th paragraph.
- ^ Leoshko, Janice (2017). Sacred Traces: British Explorations of Buddhism in South Asia. Routledge. p. 64. ISBN 9781351550307.
- ^ Sharma 1968, p. 159-168.
- ^ Skar, H. O. (1995). "Myths of origin: the Janajati Movement, local traditions, nationalism and identities in Nepal" (PDF). Contributions to Nepalese Studies. 22 (1): 31–42.
- ^ Gellner, David (1989). "Buddhist Monks or Kinsmen of the Buddha? Reflections on the Titles Traditionally Used by Sakyas in the Kathmandu Valley" (PDF). Kailash – Journal of Himalayan Studies. 15: 5–20.
- ^ Hla Pe, U (1985). Burma: Literature, Historiography, Scholarship, Language, Life, and Buddhism. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 57. ISBN 978-9971-98-800-5.
- ^ Lieberman, Victor B. (2003). Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830, volume 1, Integration on the Mainland. Cambridge University Press. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-521-80496-7.
- ^ Anagarika H., Dharmapala. "Message from Raja Saheb of Aragal". The Maha-Bodhi. 39: 508.
- ^ Valisinha, Devapriya (1948). Buddhist Shrines in India. Maha Bodhi Society of Ceylon. p. 173.
- ^ Bronkhorst, Johannes (2011). Buddhism in the Shadow of Brahmanism. Leiden, Netherlands; Boston, United States: Brill. p. 1. ISBN 978-9-004-20140-8.
- ^ Batchelor 2015, p. 32-33.
- ^ Batchelor 2015, p. 36.
- ^ Nakamura, Hajime (2000). Gotama Buddha: A Biography Based on the Most Reliable Texts. Vol. 1. Tokyo, Japan: Kosei Publishing Company. p. 124. ISBN 978-4-333-01893-2.
Sources
[edit]- Batchelor, Stephen (2015). After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age. New Haven, Connecticut, United States: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-21622-6.
- Bronkhorst, Johannes (2007). Greater Magadha, Studies in the culture of Early India. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i-416. ISBN 978-9-047-41965-5.
- Levman, Bryan G. (2014). "Cultural Remnants of the Indigenous Peoples in the Buddhist Scriptures". Buddhist Studies Review. 30 (2): 145–180. doi:10.1558/bsrv.v30i2.145. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
- 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.
- Thapar, Romila (2013). The Past Before Us. Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-72651-2.