Chetaka
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Chetaka (
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 ...
: ) or Chedaga (
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 the consul of the Licchavi tribe during the 5th century BCE.


Life

Ceṭaka was the son of Keka and Yaśomatī, he belonged to the
Haihaya The Heheya Kingdom (also known as Haihaya, Haiheya, Heiheya _sa.html" ;"title="nowiki/> sa">हैहय was a kingdom ruled by the Yadava people, who claimed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. One of the mo ...
clan, and he had a sister named Trisalā. Ceḍaga was one of the nine elected s ("rulers") of the Council of the Licchavi tribe, which was the supreme authority of the Licchavikas' (
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' ...
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) administration, of which he was the head. As the leader of the Licchavika Council, Ceḍaga was also the ("head of the republic"), that is, the elected consul of the republic, which also made him the head of the
Vajjika League The Vajjika (Pāli: ) or Vrijika (Sanskrit: ) League, Confederacy, or Sangha, also called simply Vajji (Pāli: ) or Vriji (Sanskrit: ), was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribal league which existed during the later Iron Age period in north-east South ...
led by the Licchavikas.


Diplomatic marriages

Ceṭaka contracted several diplomatic marriages between members of his family and the leaders of other republics and kingdoms. One such marriage was the one between his sister, Trisalā, and the Nāyika Siddhārtha, which was contracted because of Siddhārtha's political importance due to its important geographical location close to Vesālī of the Nāya tribe he headed, as well as due to Siddhārtha's membership in the Vajjika Council. Siddhārtha and Trisalā had a son,
Mahāvīra Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...
, who became the 24th
Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
Tīrthaṅkara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passag ...
. Other marital alliances concluded by Ceṭaka included the marriages of his daughters: * Prabhāvatī was married to the king Udāyana of
Sindhu-Sauvīra Sindhu-Sauvīra (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan kingdom in the western region of the subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India. The inhabitants of Sindhu were called the Saindhavas, and the inhabita ...
* Padmāvatī was married to king Dadhivāhana of Aṅga * Mṛgāvatī was married to the king Śatānīka of
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 o ...
, with their son being the famous
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 theo ...
* Śivā was married to king
Pradyota Pradyota dynasty, also called ''Prthivim Bhoksyanti'' (lit. enjoying the earth), is an ancient Indian dynasty, which ruled over Avanti and Magadha, though most of the Puranas ''(except a manuscript of the Brahmanda Purana, preserved in the Uni ...
of Avanti * Jyeṣṭhā was married to Ceṭaka's nephew,
Nandivardhana The Shaishunaga dynasty (IAST: Śaiśunāga, literally "of Shishunaga") is the fourth ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India. According to the Hindu ''Puranas'', this dynasty was the second ruling dynasty of Magadha, succeeding ...
of Kuṇḍagāma, who was the son of Trisalā and the elder brother of Mahāvīra * Cellaṇā was married to the king Bimbisāra 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 ...


Religious policy

Ceṭaka became an adept of the teachings of his nephew
Mahāvīra Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...
and adopted
Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...
, thus making the Licchavika and Vajjika's capital of Vesālī a centre of Jainism. Ceṭaka's sixth daughter, Sujyeṣṭhā, became a Jain nun. The marriages of Ceṭaka's daughters to various leaders, in turn, contributed to the spreading of Jainism across northern South Asia. Ceṭaka's favourable attitude towards Jainism was why
Buddhist 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 ...
sources did not pay notice to him, since he used his power to support the Buddhists' Jaina rivals.


War against Magadha

Relations between the Licchavikas and their southern neighbour, the kingdom 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 ...
, were initially good, with the wife of the Māgadhī king Bimbisāra being the Vesālia princess Vāsavī, who was the daughter of the Licchavika Sakala's son Siṃha. There were nevertheless occasional tensions between Licchavi and Magadha, such as competition with the Mallaka capital 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 ...
over acquiring the relics of the
Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a 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 born in L ...
after his death. In another occasion, the Licchavikas invaded Māgadhī territory from across the Gaṅgā. Later, relations between Magadha and Licchavi permanently deteriorated as result of a grave offence committed by the Licchavikas towards the Māgadhī king Bimbisāra. The hostilities between Licchavi and Magadha continued under the rule of Ajātasattu, who was Bimbisāra's son with another Licchavika princess, Vāsavī, after he had killed Bimbisāra and usurped the throne of Magadha. Eventually Licchavi supported a revolt against Ajātasattu by his younger step-brother and the governor of Aṅga, Vehalla, who was the son of Bimbisāra by another Licchavika wife of his, Cellaṇā, the daughter of Ceḍaga. Bimbisāra had chosen Vehalla as his successor following Ajātasattu's falling out of favour after the latter had been caught conspiring against him. The Licchavikas had then attempted to place Vehalla on the throne of Magadha after Ajātasattu's usurpation and had allowed Vehalla to use their capital Vesālī as a base for his revolt. After the failure of this rebellion, Vehalla sought refuge at his grandfather's place in the Licchavika and Vajjika capital of Vesālī, following which Ajātasattu repeatedly attempted to negotiate with the Licchavikas-Vajjikas. After Ajātasattu's repeated negotiation attempts ended in failure, he declared war on the Vajjika League in 484 BCE. As members of the Vajjika League, the Vaidehas, Nāyikas, and Mallakas were also threatened by Ajātasattu, and, as the Vajjika , Ceḍaga held war consultations with the s of the Licchavikas and Mallikas before the fighting started. The Vaidehas, Nāyikas, and Mallakas therefore fought on the side of the League against Magadha. The military forces of the Vajjika League were initially too strong for Ajātasattu to be successful against them, and it required him to have recourse to diplomacy and intrigues over a number of years to finally defeat the Vajjika League by 468 BCE and annex its territories, including Licchavi, Videha, and Nāya to the kingdom of Magadha. Meanwhile the Mallakas also became part of Ajātasattu's Māgadhī empire but were allowed a limited degree of autonomy in terms of their internal administration. After the Licchavikas' defeat, Ceḍaga committed suicide by jumping into a well with an iron statue tied to his neck. His tribe nevertheless survived their defeat by Ajātasattu, and the structures of the older Licchavi republic continued with a degree of local autonomy under Māgadhī rule, as attested by how the Licchavika Council instituted a festival in the memory of the death of the
Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...
Tīrthaṅkara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passag ...
,
Mahāvīra Mahavira (Sanskrit: महावीर) also known as Vardhaman, was the 24th ''tirthankara'' (supreme preacher) of Jainism. He was the spiritual successor of the 23rd ''tirthankara'' Parshvanatha. Mahavira was born in the early part of the 6t ...
.


See also

* Mahajanapadas * Dighanikaya *
Ambapali Āmrapālī, also known as "Ambapālika", "Ambapali", or "Amra" was a celebrated ''nagarvadhu'' (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali (located in present-day Bihar) in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha's teachings, she b ...
*
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...


References


External links

* * * * History of Bihar 5th-century BC Indian people {{India-royal-stub