Monarchy period References to what has been termed the "monarchy period" of Vaishali come from literary sources including the
Puranas and give an indication of the early
Indo-Aryan expansion eastwards in to the Gangetic plains. These sources detail that
Vaivasvata Manu descendants settled and ruled in the region Vaishali starting with a King named Nābhānediṣṭha who is said to have founded the city. Traditional sources consider him to be a contemporary of
Dasaratha, father of one of the greatest Kings during Treta Yuga
Lord Rama, who is one avatars of Lord
Vishnu. They belonged to the line of the
Ikshvaku dynasty or the Sun Dynasty during ancient time in Bharat.
Republic period or Vrijji
Mahajanapada, 600 BCE. The
Vajjika League was likely established at some point between the Kosalan conquest of
Kasi and the
Magadhan conquest of
Anga which would place it around the 6th century BCE. The Vajjika League was located on the territory of the former Mahā-Videha kingdom founded by the tribe of the
Vaidehas, an Indo-Aryan tribe in the eastern Gangetic plain in the
Greater Magadha cultural region. Around 800 BCE the Mahā-Videha ("greater Videha") kingdom was established between the
Sadānirā river in the west, the
Kauśikī river in the east, the
Ganges river in the south, and the
Himālaya mountains in the north. Shortly before or during the lifetime of the
Buddha, around the 7th or 6th century BCE, the Mahā-Videha kingdom was invaded by the
Licchavikas, an
Indo-Aryan tribe who temporarily occupied the Vaideha capital of
Mithilā, from where they could best administer the territory of Videha. The consequence of the occupation of Videha by the republican Licchavikas was that the Licchavikas relatively peacefully overthrew the already weakened Vaideha monarchical system and replaced it by a republican system. Facing the rising power of
Magadha to the south of the Ganges, the Licchavikas established their republic in the southern part of the former Videha kingdom and moved their political centre to the until then marginal location of Vesālī, which the Licchavikas turned into their largest city as well as their capital and stronghold. Meanwhile, the new Videha republic existed in a limited territory centred around Mithilā and located to the north of Licchavi. Many members of the Vaideha aristocracy who had submitted to the Licchavikas joined them in moving to Vesālī, and therefore became members of the Licchavika ruling aristocratic Assembly. Once settled around Vesālī, the Licchavikas formed a state organised as a Gaṇasaṅgha| (an
aristocratic republic). The Licchavikas themselves henceforth became the leading power within the territory of the former Mahā-Videha kingdom, with the Licchavika Assembly holding the sovereign and supreme rights over this territory. The Licchavikas founded the Vajjika League as a temporary league led by themselves, and named after the
Vajji tribe proper, who had been the most powerful tribe in the region of Vesālī and were one of the constituent tribes of the league, within which they held their own sovereign rights. The Videha republic was ruled by an Assembly of the Kshatriya|s residing in and around Mithilā, and governing in the name of the Licchavika Assembly: the Videha republic was thus under significant influence of the Licchavi republic, and it joined the Vajjika League, within which it had limited autonomy concerning their domestic administration under the supervision of Licchavi, who fully controlled Vaideha foreign policy. The
Nāyikas, who were a sub-group of the Vaidehas who formed an independent tribe, were another constituent republic of the Licchavi-led Vajjika League, and hence they held autonomy in matters of internal policy while their war and foreign policies were handled by the Vajjika League. The Licchavikas and the
Mallakas were considered to be the republican states of
Kāsī-
Kosala by Jain sources, and both Mallaka republics joined the Licchavi-led Vajjika League to deal with danger they might have faced in common during periods of instability, and within which they held friendly relations with the Licchavikas, the Vaidehas, and the Nāyikas who were the other members of this league, although occasional quarrels did break out between these republics. Unlike the other confederate tribes such as the Vaidehas and Nāyikas, who had no sovereign rights of their own because they were dependencies of Licchavi, the Mallakas maintained their own sovereign rights within the Vajjika League. During the 6th century BCE, the ("head of the republic") of the Licchavikas, that is the head of state of the Licchavikas and of their Council, was
Ceṭaka or Ceḍaga, which also made him the head of the Council of the Vajjika League. Ceḍaga's sister
Trisalā was married to the Nāyika
Siddhārtha, with this marriage having been contracted because of Siddhārtha's political importance due to the important geographical location close to Vesālī of the Nāya tribe he headed, as well as due to Siddhārtha's membership in the Vajjika Council. The son of Siddhārtha and Trisalā, that is Ceḍaga's nephew, was
Mahāvīra, the 24th
Jain Tīrthaṅkara. Ceṭaka became an adept of the teachings of his nephew
Mahāvīra and adopted
Jainism, thus making the Licchavika and Vajjika capital of Vesālī a bastion of Jainism, and his sixth daughter,
Sujyeṣṭhā, became a Jain nun, while the diplomatic marriages of his other daughters to various leaders, in turn, contributed to the spreading of Jainism across northern South Asia:
Prabhāvatī was married to the king
Udāyana of
Sindhu-Sauvīra;
Padmāvatī was married to king
Dadhivāhana of
Aṅga;
Mṛgāvatī was married to the king
Śatānīka of
Vatsa, with their son being the famous
Udayana;
Śivā was married to king
Pradyota of
Avanti;
Jyeṣṭhā was married to Ceṭaka's nephew,
Nandivardhana of Kuṇḍagāma, who was the son of Trisalā and the elder brother of Mahāvīra;
Cellaṇā was married to the king
Bimbisāra of
Magadha. After the death of the Buddha, the Licchavikas, the Mallakas, and the
Sakyas claimed shares of his relics while the Vaidehas and the Nāyikas did not appear among the list of 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. By the time
Xuanzang visited Vaiśālī in the early 7th century, it was on the decline: he wrote of it that "the capital is ruined" and "it may be called a village or town" (as opposed to a city).
Visits of the Buddha to Vaiśālī Vaishali is well known for its close association with the Buddha. After leaving Kapilavastu for renunciation, Prince Siddhartha came to Vaishali first and undertook his initial spiritual training from
Uddaka Rāmaputta (Rāmaputra Udraka) and
Āḷāra Kālāma. After the Enlightenment the Buddha frequently visited Vaishali. He organized the
sangha on the pattern of Vaishalian democracy. It was here that he first allowed females to join the sangha, initiating his maternal aunt
Mahaprajapati Gautami into the order. His last
Varshavasa (rainy season resort) was here and he announced his approaching
Mahaparinirvana (the final departure from the world) just three months in advance. Before leaving for Kusinagara, where he died, he left his alms-bowl (Bhiksha-Patra) here with the people of Vaishali.
Jainism at Vaishali The
Śvetāmbaras state that the final
Tirthankara,
Lord Mahavira, was born and raised in Kshatriyakund district, Vaiśālī to King
Siddhartha and Queen
Trishala. According to the
Jain text Uttarapurāṇa,
King Chetaka ruled as a
Republican
President in Vaishali and was a famed ruler. He is also mentioned as a staunch follower of
Jainism. According to the text, Chetaka had ten sons and seven daughters. His sister Priyakarini (also known as
Trishala) was married to
Siddhartha of the
Nāya clan. His daughter Chellana married
Shrenik (also known as
Bimbisara). As per Indologist
Hermann Jacobi,
Vardhaman Mahavira's mother Trishala was the sister of
King Chetaka. ==Archaeological sites==