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122 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
The cause of the transition from monarchy to republie in Mithila has already been stated. Regarding the change at Viśālā we know nothing.
Several scholars have sought to prove that the Lichchhavis, the most famous clan of the Vrijan confederacy (Vajjiraṭṭhavasi hi pasattha), were of foreign origin. According to Smith they had Tibetan affinities. He infers this from their judicial system and the disposal of their dead, viz., exposing them to be devoured by wild beasts. Pandit S. C. Vidyabhushana held that the name Lichchhavi (Nichchhivi of Manu) was derived from the Persian city of Nisibis.3 The inadequacy of the evidence on which these surmises rest has been demonstrated by several writers. Early Indian tradition is unanimous in representing the Lichchhavis as Kshatriyas. Thus we read in the Maha-parinibban Suttanta: "And the Lichchhavis of Vesali heard the news that the Exalted One had died at Kusināra. And the Lichchhavis of Vesali sent a messenger to the Mallas, saying: "The
1: DPPN, II, 814.
2. Ind. Ant., 1903, p. 233 ff. In the case of Tibet we have only three courts as against the seven tribunals of the Lichchhavis (viz. those of the Vinichchhaya mahamattas) (inquiring magistrates), the Vohärikas (jurist-judges), Suttadharas (masters of the sacred code), the Aṭṭhakulakas, (the eight clans, possibly a federal court), the Senapati (general), the Uparaja (Viceroy or Vice-Consul), and the rajā (the ruling chief) who made their decisions according to the paveni potthaka (Book of Precedents). Further, we know very little about the relative antiquity of the Tibetan procedure as explained by S. C. Das which might very well have been suggested by the system expounded in the Aṭṭhakatha. This fact should be remembered in instituting a comparison between Tibetan and Vajjian practices. Regarding the disposal of the dead attention may be invited to the ancient practices of the "Indus" people (Vats, Excavations at Harappa, I. ch. VI.) and the epic story in Mbh. IV.
3 Ind. Ant., 1902, 143, ff; 1908, p. 78. There is very little in Vidyabhushana's surmise except a fancied resemblance between the names Nichchhivi and Nisibis. Inscriptions of the Achaemenids are silent about any Persian settlement in Eastern India in the sixth or fifth century B. C. The Lichchhavi people were more interested in Yaksha Chaityas and the teaching of Mahavira and the Buddha than in the deities and prophets of Iran.
4 Modern Review, 1919, p. 50; Law, Some Ksatriya Tribes, 26ff,
