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Malla (India)
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya. It was named after the ruling clan of the same name. The Mahabharata (VI.9.34) mentions the territory as the Mallarashtra (Malla state). The Malla mahajanapada was situated north of Magadha
Magadha
Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...
. It was a small mahajanapada. The mahajanapada was divided into two main parts and the river Kakuttha (present day Kuku) was probably the dividing line. The capital of these two parts were Kusavati or (modern Kasia near Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur
Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...
) and , modern Padrauna, 12 miles from Kasia). and are very important in the history of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
since Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
took his last meal and was taken ill at Pava and went to his at .
The Mallas were a powerful clan of eastern India at the time of Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
and they are frequently mentioned in Buddhist and Jaina works. The Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
(II.30.3) mentions that the second Pandava
Pandava
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
Bhima
Bhima
In the Mahābhārata, Bhima is one of the central characters of Mahabharata and the second of the Pandava brothers...
is said to have conquered the chief of the Mallas in course of his expedition to eastern India. The Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
(VI.9.46) mentions Mallas along with the Angas, Vangas, and Kalingas as eastern tribes. The Mallas were republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
an people with their dominion consisting of nine territories (Kalpa Sutra; Nirayavali Sutra), one of each of the nine confederated clans.
The Mallas, like the Licchavi
Licchavi (clan)
The Licchavis were the most famous clan amongst the ruling confederate clans of the Vajji mahajanapada of ancient India. Vaishali, the capital of the Licchavis, was the capital of the Vajji mahajanapada also. It was later occupied by Ajatashatru, who annexed the Vajji territory into his...
s, are mentioned by Manusmriti as Vratya Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
s. They are called Vasishthas (Vasetthas) in the Mahapparnibbana Suttanta. The Mallas were a brave and warlike people. Jainism
Jainism
Jainism is an Indian religion that prescribes a path of non-violence towards all living beings. Its philosophy and practice emphasize the necessity of self-effort to move the soul towards divine consciousness and liberation. Any soul that has conquered its own inner enemies and achieved the state...
and Buddhism found many followers among the Mallas. The Mallas originally had a monarchical form of government but later they switched to Gana (republic or non-monarchial) of which the members called themselves rajas. The Gana were taking decisions from their Santhagara
Santhagara
Santhagara is a pali word derived from combination of Santha or Sanstha in Sanskrit and Agara and was used for the general assembly hall of a particular Ga%E1%B9%87a_sangha kshatriya clan of ancient northern India where the old and younger of the same clan meets to decide on the general and state...
. The Mallas appeared to have formed alliance with Lichchhavis for self defense. They however, lost their independence not long after Buddha’s death and their dominions were annexed to the Magadhan empire.
The two main towns of the Malla mahajanapada were , where the Jain founder Mahāvīra
Mahavira
Mahāvīra is the name most commonly used to refer to the Indian sage Vardhamāna who established what are today considered to be the central tenets of Jainism. According to Jain tradition, he was the 24th and the last Tirthankara. In Tamil, he is referred to as Arukaṉ or Arukadevan...
breathed his last and Kuśināra
Kushinagar
Kushinagar , Kusinagar or Kusinara is a town and a nagar panchayat in Kushinagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site, where Gautama Buddha is believed to have attained Parinirvana after his death.-Demographics: India census, Kushinagar had a...
, where Śākyamuni Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
went to his . The Cullavagga of the Vinaya Pitaka
Vinaya Pitaka
The ' is a Buddhist scripture, one of the three parts that make up the Tripitaka. Its primary subject matter is the monastic rules for monks and nuns...
mentions another town named Anupiya. A fourth town called Uruvelakappa is mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya
Anguttara Nikaya
The Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
. The fifth town was named as "Bhoganagara"http://www.vipassana.info/ma/mallaa.htm.
Mallas in the present-day India
Malla people are still found in GorakhpurGorakhpur
Gorakhpur is a city in the eastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, near the border with Nepal. It is the administrative headquarters of Gorakhpur District and Gorakhpur Division. Gorakhpur is one of the proposed capitals of the Purvanchal state which is yet to be formed...
, Deoria
Deoria
Deoria is a town in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is one of 5 tehsils of Deoria district. The name of the Railway Station is Deoria Sadar.-Ancient:...
, Kushinagara and adjoining districts of eastern Uttarpradesh, India. They constitutes a major fraction of Sainthwar community which derives its name from Santhavara, meaning "group of Nobles". Historians such as Rahul Sankrityayan
Rahul Sankrityayan
Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan , who is called the Father of Hindi Travel literature, was one of the most widely-traveled scholars of India, spending forty-five years of his life on travels away from his home. He became a buddhist monk and eventually took up Marxist Socialism...
, Rajbali Pandey, Raghunath Chand Kaushik, Tripatkacharya Mahopadhyaya Bikshu Buddhamitra, K. S. Singh have conducted extensive research on kshatriya tribes during Buddha period and, hold the view that Sainthwar (Santhavara) community carries the Buddhist legacy of ancient Santhagra kshatriyas, mainly, the Malla of Kusinara.
One should not be confused with ancient Mallas with Mallas of Majhauli Raj
Majhauli Raj
Majhauli Raj is a town and a nagar panchayat in Deoria district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It has a fascinating history of Rajput clan called as Bisens. Origin of Bisens traced back to the sixteen Mahajanpadas era, and the foundation of this clan was led by suryavanshi princess...
, Deoria who traces their origin to Brahmin Mayur Bhat and Suryavanshi Princess Surajprabha. Bisva Sen was born from Mayur Bhat and Surajprabha. Bisva Sen is considered as first person of Bisen
Bisen
Bisen/Vishen are the Suryavanshi Rajput clan found in North India, mainly in the state of Uttar Pradesh.They trace their descent from Raja Prithvi Mull of Majhaul, and get their name from the Sanskrit words visva meaning "entire" and sena means an "army".In other words it connotes those who have...
rajput clan. The 80th descendents of Bisva Sen was Hardeo Sen who got the title of Malla from Delhi kings on account of his bravery in 11th century. Majhauli Malla claims that Hardeo Sen accepted the title of Malla happily as Surajprabha, mother of Bisvasen was from ancient Malla dynasty. The second theory put by Buddhist scholar and Madhuban Malla (branch of Majhauli) is that Bisva Sen was born to non-Buddhist Malla prince and Mauryan princess. However, Majhauli do not find any mention in history before Akbar period.