DISCUSSION 69 societies was still a clan or kula (Kulanam samuhas tuganah samparikirtiiah). When the Mallas of Kusinara came to offer their last homage to the dying Buddha, Ananda introduced them not family-wise but clan-wise (^Yan nuna aham Kosinarake Malle kula-parivattaso kula-panvattaso thapeiva Bhaga" vantam vandapeyyam9') What is the basic difference between a clan and a family? First, the former belongs to the period of classlessness and tribal slavery, while the latter belongs to the feudal period. Secondly, Manu lays down that not only the partition of property but also of (J3int) family should take place in every fifth generation (IX. 186-187). In contradistinction to this a clan was comprised of seven generations. Ehrcnfels says that a clan in Kerala used to split up as soon as its members numbered more than a hundred. Hence we can take the average number of the members of a clan to be fifty. When the ruling clan of the Kuru tribe numbered more than a hundred it led to the splitting up of the clan into the two clans of the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Grammatical literature tells us that the tribal confederation of the Tri-gartas was constituted of six phratries (vargas), and the tribe of the Salvas was also comprised of phratries {auayauas), one of which, the Udumbara, was made up of four clans. The Sabha-parva (14.35,66) mentions thai the Yadava oligarchy had eighteen clans. The tribal council of the Sakya oligarchy, which was one of the smallest oligarchies of the time, consisted of 500 Khattiyas, and that of the Yaudheyasoflater period: 5000. The Licchavi oligarchs numbered 7707, while the population of their capital Vaisali was 1,68,000. A tribal council, it should be noted, consisted only of the elected elders of a tribe while all those initiated with that tribe's samskara constituted the full members of a tribe. Hence, we can surmise that an average tribe could put forth at least 1000 adult males in the event of war, a tribe being a self-acting armed force, that is all its adult males constituted its army. Family Feud or Tribal War? Now, how many were the tribes that took part in the great Bharata war? The earliest great war to be mentioned by Rigveda VII-18 is the war of ten kings, a war in which at least ten tribes participated. The hymns enumerate them as follows: 1) Tritsu, 2) Bharata, 3) Parsu, 4) Turvasa, 5) Drihyu, 6) Puru, 7) Anu, 8) Matsya, 9) Paktha, 10) Bhalanas, 11) Alina, 12) Vishanin, and so on. The battle fought out on the banks of the Parushni or the Yamuna must have fielded at least 10,000 warriors. As for the Mahabharata battle, which was far bigger than the Rigvedic one, even if we exclude the inflated number of tribes that are supposed to have participated in it, we can safely include 1) Kuru, 2) Gandhara, 3) Bahlika, 4) Sindhu, 5) Madra, 6) Avanti, 7) Puru 8) Kosala, (9) Pragjyotisha, 10) Anga, and 11) Alambusha, who fought on the side of the Kauravas: 1) Pandava, 2) Pancala, 3) Matsya, 4) Hidimba, 5) Magadha, 6) Cedi, and 7) Kasi, fought on the Pandava side. Thus, at least eighteen tribes fought on both sides; hence, tlie