Mall (Prakrit: ; ; ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Mall, the Mallakas, were divided into two branches, each organised into a (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), presently referred to as the Mall Republics, which were part of the larger Vajjika League.
The Mallakas lived in the region now covered by the Kushinagar district in India, although their precise borders are yet to be determined. The Mallakas' neighbours to the east across the SadÃÂniràriver were the Licchavikas, their neighbours to the west were the Sakyas, Koliyas, Moriyas, and Kauà Âalyas, the southern neighbours of the Mallakas were the KÃÂlÃÂmas and the Gaá¹ gàriver, and the northern Mallaka borders were the HimÃÂlaya mountains. The territory of the Mallakas was a tract of land between the Vaidehas and the Kauà Âalyas.
The territories of the two Mall republics were divided by the river named in PÃÂli, and in Sanskrit, and the two Mall republics respectively had their capitals at KusinÃÂrÃÂ, identified with the modern village of KÃÂsiàin Kushinagar, and at PÃÂvà(now known as Fazilnagar). KusinÃÂràwas close to the Sakya capital of Kapilavatthu to its north-east, and PÃÂvàwas close to the Licchavika capital of VesÃÂlë.
The Mallakas are called in PÃÂli texts, in Jain PrÃÂkrit texts, and in Sanskrit texts.
The Mallakas were an Indo-Aryan tribe in the eastern Gangetic plain in the Greater Magadha cultural region. Similarly to the other populations of the Greater Magadha cultural area, Mallakas were initially not fully Brahmanised despite being an Indo-Aryan people, but, like the Vaidehas, they later became Brahmanised and adopted the (in Pali) or (in Sanskrit) . At some point in time, the Mallakas became divided into two separate republics with their respective capitals at KusinÃÂrÃÂ and PÃÂvÃÂ, possibly due to internal trouble, and henceforth the relations between the two Mallaka republics remained uncordial. Both Mallaka republics nevertheless became members of the Licchavi-led Vajjika League, within which, unlike the Vaidehas, they maintained their own sovereign rights because they had not been conquered by the Licchavikas, and the Mallakas held friendly relations with the Licchavikas, the Vaidehas, and the NÃÂyikas who were the other members of this league.
However occasional tensions between the Mallakas and the Licchavikas did arise, such as in the case of the man named Bandhula, a Mallaka who, thanks to his education received in Taká¹£aà ÂilÃÂ, had offered his services as a general to the Kauà Âalya king Pasenadi so as to maintain the good relations between the Mallakas and Kosala. Bandhula, along with his wife MallikÃÂ, violated the sacred tank of the Licchavikas, which resulted in armed hostilities between the Kauà Âalyas and the Licchavikas. Bandhula was later treacherously murdered along with his sons by Pasenadi, and, in retaliation, some Mallakas helped Pasenadi's son Viá¸Âà «á¸Âabha usurp the throne of Kosala to avenge the death of Bandhula, after which Pasenadi fled from Kosala and died in front of the gates of the MÃÂgadhë capital of RÃÂjagaha.
The Buddha arrived in PÃÂvÃÂ shortly after the Mallakas there had inaugurated their new santhÃÂgÃÂra, which they had named Ubbhataka. From PÃÂvÃÂ, the Buddha and his followers went to KusinÃÂrÃÂ, and on the way they crossed two rivers, the first one being named in Pali and in Sanskrit, and the second one being the which separated the two Mallaka republics. The Buddha spent his final days in the Malla republic of KusinÃÂrÃÂ, and when he sent ÃÂnanda to inform the Mallakas of KusinÃÂrÃÂ of his impending death, ÃÂnanda found the Mallaka Council holding a meeting about public affairs in their santhÃÂgÃÂra.
When ÃÂnanda went again to the Mallakas of KusinÃÂrÃÂ to inform them of the Buddha's passing, he found them this time holding a meeting to discuss the funeral ceremony of the Buddha in the santhÃÂgÃÂra. After the Buddha's cremation, his remains were honoured in the santhÃÂgÃÂra of KusinÃÂrÃÂ for seven days, and it was in this santhÃÂgÃÂra that the Mallakas of KusinÃÂrÃÂ received the envoys of Magadha, Licchavi, Shakya, Buli, Koliya, the Mallakas of PÃÂvÃÂ, and Moriya, who all went to KusinÃÂrÃÂ to claim their shares of the Buddha's relics. The Licchavikas, the Mallakas, and the Sakyas were able to claim shares of the relics, but the other members of the Vajjika League, the Vaidehas and the NÃÂyikas, were not among the 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. The Mallakas of PÃÂvÃÂ were the first ones to arrive with an army to KusinÃÂrÃÂ, and they put forth their claim to the relics in rude and hostile terms. In the end, each Malla republic obtained a share of the Buddha's relics and built their own s and gave their own feasts to commemorate this event.
After the death of the 24th Jain , MahÃÂvëra, the Mallakas and the Licchavikas jointly instituted a festival of lights to commemorate his passing.
The relations of the Licchavikas, who led the Vajjika League which the Mallakas were part of, with their southern neighbour, the kingdom of Magadha, were initially good, and the wife of the MÃÂgadhë king BimbisÃÂra was the VesÃÂlia princess VÃÂsavë, who was the daughter of the Licchavika Sakala's son Siá¹Âha. There were nevertheless occasional tensions between Licchavi and Magadha, such as the competition at the Mallaka capital of KusinÃÂràover acquiring the relics of the Buddha after his death.
In another case, the Licchavikas once invaded MÃÂgadhë territory from across the Gaá¹ gÃÂ, and at some point the relations between Magadha and Licchavi permanently deteriorated as result of a grave offence committed by the Licchavikas towards the MÃÂgadhë king BimbisÃÂra.
The hostilities between Licchavi and Magadha continued under the rule of AjÃÂtasattu, who was BimbisÃÂra's son with another Licchavika princess, VÃÂsavë, after he had killed BimbisÃÂra and usurped the throne of Magadha. Eventually Licchavi supported a revolt against AjÃÂtasattu by his younger step-brother and the governor of Aá¹ ga, Vehalla, who was the son of BimbisÃÂra by another Licchavika wife of his, CellanÃÂ, a daughter of Ceá¸Âaga, who was the head of both the Licchavi republic and the Vajjika League; BimbisÃÂra had chosen Vehalla as his successor following AjÃÂtasattu's falling out of his favour after the latter had been caught conspiring against him, and the Licchavikas had attempted to place Vehalla on the throne of Magadha after AjÃÂtasattu's usurpation and had allowed Vehalla to use their capital VesÃÂlë as base for his revolt. After the failure of this rebellion, Vehalla sought refuge at his grandfather's place in the Licchavika and Vajjika capital of VesÃÂlë, following which AjÃÂtasattu repeatedly attempted to negotiate with the Licchavikas-Vajjikas. After AjÃÂtasattu's repeated negotiation attempts ended in failure, he declared war on the Vajjika League in 484 BCE.
Tensions between Licchavi and Magadha were exacerbated by the handling of the joint MÃÂgadhë-Licchavika border post of Koá¹ÂigÃÂma on the Gaá¹ gàby the Licchavika-led Vajjika League who would regularly collect all valuables from Koá¹ÂigÃÂma and leave none to the MÃÂgadhës. Therefore AjÃÂtasattu decided to destroy the Vajjika League in retaliation, but also because, as an ambitious empire-builder whose mother VÃÂsavë was Licchavika princess of Vaidehë descent, he was interested in the territory of the former MahÃÂ-Videha kingdom which by then was part of the Vajjika League. AjÃÂtasattu's hostility towards the Vajjika League was also the result of the differing forms of political organisation between Magadha and the Vajjika League, with the former being monarchical and the latter being republican, not unlike the opposition of the ancient Greek kingdom of Sparta to the democratic form of government in Athens, and the hostilities between the ancient Macedonian king Philip II to the Athenian and Theban republics.
As important members of the Vajjika League, the Mall republics were also threatened by AjÃÂtasattu, and the Vajjika Ceá¸Âaga held war consultations with the s of the Licchavikas and Mallikas before the fight started. The Mallakas therefore fought on the side of the other confederate tribes of the league against Magadha. The military forces of the Vajjika League were initially too strong for AjÃÂtasattu to be successful against them, and it required him having recourse to diplomacy and intrigues over the span of a decade to finally defeat the Vajjika League by 468 BCE and annex its territories, including Licchavi, Videha and NÃÂya, to the kingdom of Magadha. The Mallakas also became part of AjÃÂtasattu's MÃÂgadhë empire, although they were allowed a limited degree of autonomy in terms of their internal administration, and they stopped existing as a republican tribe when the Maurya dynasty ruled Magadha or shortly after.
The region was reconquered by the Mall King Raja Vishwasen who founded the Kakradih estate in the region, his descendants later called Bisen(or Vishen) Rajputs. Around 11th century Bhim Mall founded the Majhauli Raj(near Deoria district).
Just like a Vaidehas, Licchavikas, and NÃÂyikas, the Mallakas were a tribe, and each of the republics of the Mallakas were organised into a (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), which had a ruling Assembly consisting of the heads of the clans belonging to the / , and who were given the title of s. The position of was hereditary, and after the death of one of them, his eldest son would succeed him by being introduced to the Assembly following a ceremony held, for the Mallakas of KusinÃÂrÃÂ, at the , which was a shrine holding an important political meaning for the republic (the Mallakas of PÃÂvÃÂ had a similar shrine of their own). Similarly to that of the Licchavikas, the Mallaka General Assembly had a large number of members, with the meetings being only rarely attended by all of them.
The Mallaka republics, like the other of the Vajjika League, held their Assembly and Council meetings in their own santhÃÂgÃÂras.
Like the Licchavikas, the Mallakas' Assemblies met rarely while the Assemblies' inner councils, the Mallaka Councils, consisting of four members for the Mallakas of KusinÃÂrÃÂ and of five members for the Mallakas of PÃÂvÃÂ, met more often and performed the public administration within each republic. These Councils were the sovereign bodies of the Mallaka republics.
The refers to the Mallakas as s, that is s who had not been initiated, because they did not practice orthodox Vedic traditions.