Bhagga (

Pāli Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

: ;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

) was an ancient Indo-Aryan

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

of north-eastern

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

whose existence is attested during the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. The Bhaggas were organised into a (an

aristocratic Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At the time of the word's ...

oligarchic Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

), presently referred to as the Bhagga Republic.

Location

The Bhaggas lived between the Gangā and the Yamunā, in the near north of the

Vatsa Vatsa or Vamsa (Pali and Ardhamagadhi: , literally "calf") was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Location The territory of Vatsa was located to the south of ...

kingdom's capital of Kosāmbī, and to the west of the Kāsī kingdom's capital of Vārāṇasī. The northern neighbour of the Bhaggas was the kingdom of

Kosala The Kingdom of Kosala (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indian kingdom with a rich culture, corresponding to the area within the region of Awadh in present-day Uttar Pradesh to Western Odisha. It emerged as a janapada, small state during the late Ve ...

. The Bhaggas lived far from the other republican Indo-Aryan tribes such as the Licchavikas, Mallakas, Moriyas,

Koliya Koliya (Pāli: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan clan of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The Koliyas were organised into a (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), presently referred to as the Koliya Republ ...

s, and

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...

s, who were located between the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

and the lower course of the Gangā, with the kingdoms of Kāsī and Kosala separating Bhagga from these tribes. The capital of the Bhaggas was Suṃsumāragiri.

Name

The name of the Bhaggas is the Pali form of the name of the ( sa, भर्ग) Indo-Aryan ethnic group mentioned in Sanskrit literature.

History

The

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

and the Harivansa states the close connection between the Vatsas and the Bhargas (Bhaggas). The Bhaggas were dependencies of the kingdom of Vatsa, and therefore did not have sovereign rights concerning their external affairs and foreign policy although they were internally still organised as a republic. A prince of Vatsa lived in the Bhagga capital of Suṃsumāragiri as a viceroy of the king of Vatsa, who was the suzerain of the Bhaggas. The Buddha visited Bhagga shortly after his Enlightenment, during the early phase of his preaching. The Bhaggas had already been assimilated into Vatsa under the rule of the latter's king

Udayana Udayana, (Devanagari: उदयन) also known as Udayanācārya (Udyanacharya, or Master Udayana), (circa 975 - 1050 CE) was an Indian philosopher and logician of the tenth century of the Nyaya school who attempted to devise a rational theol ...

, and they were annexed by that kingdom under his successor around the time of the Buddha's death. The Bhaggas were not among peoples who claimed a share of the Buddha's relics because they had stopped existing as an independent polity by the time of his death. Similarly, the Vaidehas and the Nāyikas did not claim a share of the relics because they were dependencies of the Licchavikas without their own sovereignty, and therefore could not put forth their own claim while the Licchavikas, the Mallakas, and the Sakyas could claim shares.

Political and social organisation

Republican institutions

The Bhaggas were a tribe organised into a (an

The Assembly

Like the other , the ruling body of the Bhagga republic was an Assembly of the elders who held the title of s (meaning "chiefs").

The Council

The Assembly met rarely, and the administration of the republic was instead in the hands of the Council, which was a smaller body of the Assembly composed of councillors selected from among the Assembly's members. The Council met more often than the Assembly.

The Consul

The Bhagga Assembly elected a consul who presided over it and administered the republic with the help of the Council.

References

Sources

* * {{refend Ancient peoples of India Ancient peoples of Nepal Gaṇa saṅghas