Moriya (

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 ...

: ) 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 Moriyas 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 Moriya Republic.

Location

The Moriyas lived to the north-east 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 ...

, from which they were separated by the Anomā or Rāptī river. The Moriyas' western neighbours were the

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, while the Mallakas lived to their east, and the Sarayū river was their southern border. The capital of the Moriyas was

Pipphalivana Pipphalivana was the capital of the Moriya republic, a gana- sangha of the Mahajanapada period. The 7th century CE Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang later referred to it by the name of Nyagrodhavana. Buddhist texts like the ''Dīgha Nikāya'' and Buddhav ...

, which the 7th century CE Chinese pilgrim

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

later referred to by the name of Nyagrodhavana.

Name

The Moriyas originally obtained their name from the Mora (

peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

) because the peacock was their

totem A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or ''doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system. While ''the wo ...

History

Like the other republican tribes neighbouring them, the Moriyas were an Indo-Aryan tribe in the eastern Gangetic plain in the

Greater Magadha Greater Magadha is a concept in studies of the early history of India. It is used to refer to the political and cultural sphere that developed in the lower Gangetic plains ( Johannes Bronkhorst defines the region to comprise modern day Bihar and e ...

cultural region. After the death of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, the Moriyas claimed a share of his relics from the Mallakas of

Kusinārā Kushinagar ( Hindustani: or ; Pali: ; Sanskrit: ) is a town in the Kushinagar district in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is an important and popular Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Buddhists believe Gautama Buddha attained ''parinirvana''. Etymo ...

, in whose territory he had passed away and had been cremated. The Moriyas received the embers from the Buddha's cremation, which they then enclosed within a in their capital of Pipphalivana. The Moriyas were annexed by the king Ajātasattu of

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

very soon shortly after he had annexed the

Vajjika League The Vajjika (Pali, Pāli: ) or Vrijika (Sanskrit: ) League, Confederacy, or Sangha, also called simply Vajji (Pali, Pāli: ) or Vriji (Sanskrit: ), was an ancient Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan tribal league which existed during the later Iron ...

Legacy

The Moriya tribe were the ancestors of the

Maurya dynasty The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

who under the leadership of Candagutta Moriya in the 4th century BCE seized power in the Magadha empire. Candagutta and his descendants would expand Magadha's empire so that it at one point ruled most of South Asia. Under the reign of Candagutta's grandson

Asoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

, who was a patron of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, Buddhist writers attempted to connect Asoka to the Buddha by claiming that his ancestral tribe, the Moriyas, were descended from Sakyas who had fled from the Kauśalya king

Viḍūḍabha Viḍūḍabha ( pi, विडूडभ ; sa, विरूढक ) was a king of Kosala during the lifetime of the Buddha. Life Early life He was the son of Prasenajit and , the daughter of a Shakyan chief named by a slave girl .K ...

's annexation of their state by fleeing into the mountains. The record of the oldest Buddhist texts, according to which both the Moriyas and the Sakyas were among the tribes who claimed a share of the Buddha's relics from the Mallakas of Kusinārā, however shows that the Moriyas were contemporaneous with the Sakyas, and therefore already existed before the destruction of the Sakya republic; the geographical location of the Moriya republic, which was further to the south of Sakya, furthermore counters the claim that the Moriyas were descended from Sakyas who had fled into the Himālaya mountains, which were to the north of the Sakya state.

Political and social organisation

Republican institutions

The Moriyas were a tribe organised into a (an

The Assembly

Like the other s, the ruling body of the Moriya republic was an Assembly of the elders who held the title of s (meaning "rulers"), whose sons were the s ("princes").

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 the membership of the Assembly. The Council met more often than the Assembly and was directly in charge of administering the republic.

The Consul

The Moriya Assembly elected from among the s a chief who would be the head of the republic and run its administration with the help of the Council.

References

Sources

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