: Vaishali: World’s First Republic Was In India, And A Turning Point In History #IndiaNEWS #History Today, the Magna Carta, a document that constitutes a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges,

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Vaishali: World’s First Republic Was In India, And A Turning Point In History #IndiaNEWS #History
Today, the Magna Carta, a document that constitutes a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges, is regarded as one of the most important symbols of liberty. It has a long and winding history, and an 800-year-old legacy.
So was it this document that laid the foundation of democracy as we know today?
American and British societies would like to believe so — leaders have, time and again, invoked the charter to symbolise the struggle for justice and freedom. But much before the Magna Carta came into existence in 1215, the Indian subcontinent was already replete with several independent republics, some as old as 6th century BC.
As author Mohan Guruswamy wrote in 2015, “The main characteristics of these were a raja, elected or hereditary, and a deliberative assembly. These assemblies met regularly and passed laws pertaining to finances, administration and justice…. While the assemblies mostly comprised the nobility and landowners, in some cases, they included all free men. �
Vaishali is considered the worlds first republic (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
A turning point in history
Among these was Vaishali, home of the Licchavi clan, and today known as the world’s first republic. It is an archeological site located in present-day Bihar. This, history says, is where Gautam Buddha delivered his last sermon, and was home to the earliest known example of a stupa.
Vaishali was part of the Vajji confederacy and the 16 mahajanapadas (kingdoms) of ancient India. Among the most famous figures to be associated with this land was royal courtesan Amrapali, who later turned an ardent Buddhist nun. The establishment of the mahajanapadas was considered a turning point in history, where a number of large cities arose after the demise of the Indus Valley Civilisation.
In its prime, Vaishali was surrounded by three walls and gates with watch towers, with “many storeyed buildings, pinnacled houses, leisure gardens and lotus ponds�. Brick, stone, mud and wood were the main components of architecture here. After its early excavation, it was discovered that the first barrier of defence for the city was built with baked bricks; the second consisted of a massive rampart made of compact earth; and the third with bigger bricks.
Over time, excavations have indicated that inhabitants of Vaishali lived on the town’s eastern side, where the ground rises gradually. This enabled the population to escape annual floods, and where a majority of ruins were later unearthed. Wells, pottery, implements and platters of stone were excavated in large numbers here.
Vaishali, though still an oligarchy, was different in its neighbouring absolute monarchies.

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