Page 45 - SST Class 06

powerful and able. They looked after the welfare of King Porus and took him prisoner. Alexander asked
the people. They got built inns and transit points. him, "How should I deal with you?" Porus proudly
The travel in the kingdom was secure; there was no replied, "Like a king deals with another." Alexander
menace of robbers. Criminals were dealt with was pleased at these words and he freed him.
severely.
The administration of the confederacy was looked
5. Military Strength : Magadha maintained a large after by a smaller council of ministers, comprising
and regular army. The soldiers and officers were the Raja (king), the Upraja (deputy king), the
adequately paid. The soldiers who laid down their Senapati (army commander) and the Bhandarika
lives were revered and their parents were given a (treasurer). In addition to this, there were other
place of honour. committees which looked other matters, like
foreign trade and relations, law and justice,
The Republics of Vajji Confederacy
collection of taxes etc. The system of justice had
Vajji was a confederacy of eight republics, the eight layers, in which a person could appeal if he
important of which was the Lichchavis clan. The was held guilty. If he was pronounced innocent at
capital city of the Vajjis was Vaishali (presently in any layer, he was held not guilty. This means that
the district of Muzaffarpur in Bihar). It was a the accused was given eight chances to prove his
prosperous confederacy. We find its mention in the innocence.
Jain and the Buddhist literatures. The rulers of the The Lichchavis were good hosts. They respected
Vajji confederacy were Kshatriyas. Mahavira was other people greatly. They loved art and
also a Lichchavis.
architecture. They built a number of Viharas and
The Vajji Confederacy had adopted a democratic Chaityas, and were praised by the Buddha for this.
style of government. There was an assembly The Lichchavis were brave people. They maintained
comprising 7,707 members, called Rajas. All friendly relations with Bimbisara, but Ajatashatru
important decisions were taken in this assembly by sought to attack them. The powerful kingdom of
the majority opinion. Even the Buddha is believed Magadha had to fight for sixteen long years before it
to have praised them for their way of deliberating could conquer this confederacy; this is enough proof
important matters.
of bravery, courage and heroism of the Lichchavis.

Info Bits
Info Bits Just Think!
The legend goes that Alexander the Great defeated
Why were cities fortified?

v The janapadas fought among themselves and it resulted into 16 mahajanapadas.
v Two types of government were prevalent in mahajanapadas—republic and monarchy.
v The king ruled with the help of a council of advisors who looked after different departments.
v Taxes and services to the king were the chief sources of income for the king.
v New jatis or castes came into being, and the position of women was lowered.
v The kingdom of Magadha became powerful due to the able rulers.

v The source of information for the period between 600-400 BC is both Jain and Buddhist literatures.
v The Vajji confederacy comprised of eight republics and it was conquered over by Ajatashatru.

The Early States
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