Licchavi

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The Licchavi (also: Lichchhavi) were an ancient Indian tribal oligarchy and dynasty in the Vaishali area , d. H. in today's Bihar . They existed in late Vedic times, when the religious and social system of the Indo-Aryans (e.g. caste system) had spread in northern India. Buddha , d. H. Siddhartha Gautama taught in their environment, as did Mahavira , the founder of Jainism .

Politically, the Licchavi belonged to the eight tribes of the Vajji or Vriji confederation in the area of ​​the Sadanira (today: Gandak ) and Kosi rivers . Other members of this confederation were e.g. B. the Videha, Malla and Shakya (= Buddha's noble family). The Licchavi were connected to the Magadha king Bimbisara through the marriage of a certain Cellana . Bimbisara's son Ajatasattu (ruled approx. 494–462 BC) defeated the Confederation approx. 468 BC. After a 15-year war, he let his minister Vassakara cause unrest among the Licchavi and for the first time also used heavy, armored cars and catapults during the siege of Vaishali (also: Vesali). The Buddhist and Jain sources contradict each other regarding the intensity of the arguments before Vaishali.

The Licchavi are described as a "tribal republic" or more appropriately as a tribal oligarchy . They had democratic principles, but they only applied to the upper classes and not to the common people. The lower classes were not tolerated in their council meetings (allegedly 7,707 clan and clan leaders with 168,000 inhabitants, but these are standardized numbers). At the head was a president or consul, who was titled King (Raja) and General (Senapati). The office was not hereditary, but could remain in a family.

After the Buddha's time, the Licchavi disappeared from the stage, but local princes of this family name seem to have survived in northern Bihar . Kumaradevi, a (hereditary) princess of the Licchavi served around 320 to legitimize the Gupta rulership.

At an unclear point in time (around 200?) A family known as Licchavi established itself in the Kathmandu area , seized power in Nepal and established a golden age of social and cultural harmony there. She named a king Supuspa as her ancestor, but the 23 generation long lineage of Jayadeva I to Pushpapura, India is considered by most historians to be invented, especially since the oldest inscription of this dynasty (or in Nepal, from Manadeva I approx . 464) emphasizes a local origin.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Analogous to the question of the dating of the historical Buddha , these dates can also fluctuate.
  2. ↑ An exception is e.g. B. Tulasī Rāma Vaidya, Triratna Mānandhara, Shankar Lal Joshi: Social History of Nepal, p. 8

literature

  • Michael Witzel : The old India, Munich 2003
  • Radhakrishna Choudhary: Ajataśatru and the Licchavis of Vaiśali, in: Journal of the Oriental Institute Baroda 13 (1963)

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