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________________ FOREWORD . The history of Vaisali is so glorious and captivating that whatever literature has been produced on it during the last four decades by the historians, archaeologists and writers may not be treated as adequate. The part played by Vaigali in the political and socio-cultural history was submerged in the geopolitics of Aryavarta during the later Vedic period and in the constant moves of larger kingdoms in their efforts for the expansion of their territories. Shortly before the rise of Buddhism, we find sixteen important states occupying the region from the Kabul Valley to the banks of the Godavari listed in an early Buddhist text (the Anguttara Vikaya). This list mentions Vajji (Vtiji) as a state with its capital at Vaisali and formed by the union of several clans. Vaisali's claim to fame rests on the fact that it was perhaps one of the earliest republics (ganas) following a democratic system of government over ap area' much larger than the Greek city-state or a Swiss Canton. Vaisali had no monarch, but a popular assembly and an elders' council who carried on the business of the state. Obviously, clans of the Vtiji confederacy sent their representatives to these assemblies. This was a significant contribution to the evolution of the Indian polity. That this republican confederacy was a strong, well-administered state is undoubted, because Vaisali was the cynosure of the kingdoms that emerged in the later Vedic period. A fierce struggle ensued involving Magadha, Kosala and Vaigali, and mainly foisted by Ajatasatru of Magadha having visions of an empire. To repel the Vrijis, Magadhan statesmen fortified the village of Pataligrama which stood near the confluence of the rivers the Ganga and the Sons. Thanks to bis own tenacity and the Machiavellian policy of bis ministers, Ajatasatru defeated all his adversaries. The Vsiji territory was annexed to the Magadhan kingdom (c. 484 B. C.). The main element of the confederacy, the tribe of the Lichchhavis, however, succeeded in preserving its identity, and survived at least until the fourth century A.D. when it was again influential in the politics of eastern India. Vaigali was the cradle of Buddhism and Jainism. The Buddha gave his sermons in the territories of Kosala, Vaisali and Magadha. He spent the last rainy season of his life near Vaisali city, and then journeyed towards the north. Vardbamana Mabavira, to whom the world owes
| SR No. | 012088 |
| Book Title | Vaishali Abhinandan Granth |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Yogendra Mishra |
| Publisher | Research Institute of Prakrit Jainology and Ahimsa |
| Publication Year | 1985 |
| Total Pages | 592 |
| Language | Hindi, English |
| Classification | Smruti_Granth |
| File Size | 17 MB |