Malla (tribe)

Malla (Prakrit: 𑀫𑀮𑁆𑀮𑀈 ; Malla; मल्ल​ ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Malla, the Mallakas, were divided into two branches, each organised into a (an aristocratic oligarchic republic), presently referred to as the Malla Republics, which were part of the larger Vajjika League. The Mallakas lived in the region now covered by the Gorakhpur district in India, although their precise borders are yet to be determined. The Mallakas' neighbours to the east across the Sadānirā river were the Licchavikas, their neighbours to the west were the Sakyas, Koliyas, Moriyas, and Kauśalyas, the southern neighbours of the Mallakas were the Kālāmas and the Gaṅgā river, and the northern Mallaka borders were the Himālaya mountains. The territory of the Mallakas was a tract of land between the Vaidehas and the Kauśalyas. The territories of the two Malla republics were divided by the river named in Pāli, and in Sanskrit, and the two Malla republics respectively had their capitals at Kusinārā, identified with the modern village of Kāsiā in Kushinagar, and at Pāvā (now known as Fazilnagar). Kusinārā was close to the Sakya capital of Kapilavatthu to its north-east, and Pāvā was close to the Licchavika capital of Vesālī. The Mallakas are called in Pāli texts, in Jain Prākrit 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 Kusinārā and Pāvā, possibly due to internal trouble, and henceforth the relations between the two Mallaka republics remained uncordial.