RAS question
Ajatashatru of Magadha conquered the Vajji confederacy by:
Correct answer: (C) Creating division among the Lichchhavis through his minister Vassakara.
Ajatashatru of Magadha conquered the Vajji confederacy by using his minister Vassakara to create divisions among the Lichchhavis before attacking and annexing Vajji.
Explanation
Buddhist tradition links Ajatashatru's victory over Vajji to political disruption rather than a simple battlefield breakthrough. The Vajji state union included the Lichchhavis, with Vaishali as their capital, and Ajatashatru knew the Lichchhavis were difficult to defeat in open battle. He therefore sent his minister Vassakara under the cover of an apparent quarrel and expulsion from Magadha. Vassakara then used diplomacy and intrigue to sow discord within the Lichchhavi sangha. Once their unity had been weakened, Ajatashatru defeated the Vajji sangha and merged it into Magadha. The wider struggle took about 16 years.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Naval warfare does not fit the account, which explains Ajatashatru's success through internal division among the Lichchhavis followed by annexation.
- (B) A massive frontal attack is the opposite of Ajatashatru's logic: he recognised that the Lichchhavis could not easily be beaten on the battlefield and first weakened their unity.
- (D) Bribery of a king is misplaced because the Vajji-Lichchhavi polity is presented as a republican sangha, not as a monarchy defeated by buying off a single ruler.
Concept
This tests the sixth-century BCE Mahajanapada phase, especially the contest between expanding monarchies such as Magadha and republican sanghas such as Vajji. RAS repeatedly asks this because it links political forms, state expansion and Buddhist-source traditions in early Indian history.