[5][5] According to Vayu Purana, the capital city of Videha is referred as Jayantapura which was founded by the King Nimi.

[8][9] The Mahā-Videha ("greater Videha") kingdom, located between the Sadānirā river in the west, the Kauśikī river in the east, the Gaṅgā river in the south, and the Himālaya mountains in the north, was founded around 800 BCE, according to the Mahāgovinda Sutta by the king Reṇu with the help of his steward, Mahāgovinda Jotipāla, and claimed by the 5th century CE Buddhist commentator Buddhaghosa to have been colonised by the king Mandhātā with settlers from a place he retroactively referred to as pubba Videha ("old Videha").

Brahmanical literature therefore grouped them along with the Kāśyas, Kauśalyas, Māgadhīs, and Āṅgeyas, as Prācyas (meaning "Easterners") not belonging to the Madhyama-Diś, that is the land of the Brahmaṛṣis where Vedic rituals and customs were followed, and consisting of the areas of the Kuru, Pāñcāla, Matsya, and Śūrasena tribes.

This Brahminisation of Mahā-Videha happened during the reign of the king Janaka, who was one of the leading patrons of the new doctrine of Brahman and whose purohita Yājñavalkya was a disciple of the Kuru-Pāñcāla Vedic sage Uddālaka Āruṇi.

[5] Facing the rising power of Magadha to the south of the Gaṅgā, the Licchavikas established their republic in the southern part of the former Mahā-Videha kingdom's territory and moved their political centre to Vesālī, while the new Videha republic centred around Mithilā existed in a limited territory covering only the northern part of Mahā-Videha.

Vaideha politicians also moved to Vesālī and obtained high posts there, such as the Vaideha minister Sakala who had to flee from his colleagues' jealousy and moved to Vesālī where he became a prominent citizen and was elected Nāyaka; Sakala had two sons, Gopāla and Siṃha, who both married Vesālia women, and Siṃha's daughter Vāsavī married the Māgadhī king Bimbisāra.

[5] The relations of the Licchavikas, who led the Vajjika League which the Vaidehas were part of, with their southern neighbour, the kingdom of Magadha, were initially good, and the wife of the Māgadhī king Bimbisāra was the Vesālia princess Vāsavī, who was the daughter of the Licchavika Nāyaka Sakala's son Siṃha.

There were nevertheless occasional tensions between Licchavi and Magadha, such as the competition at the Mallaka capital of Kusinārā over acquiring the relics of the Buddha after his death.

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.

Ajātasattu's hostility towards the Vajjika League was also the result of the differing forms of political organisation between Magadha and the Vajjika League, with the former being monarchical and the latter being republican, not unlike the opposition of the ancient Greek kingdom of Sparta to the democratic form of government in Athens, and the hostilities between the ancient Macedonian king Philip II to the Athenian and Theban republics.

The position of Gaṇa Mukhya was accessible only to a kṣatriya who had the support of his clan and of influential people, and criteria for his election included personal leadership, strength, eloquence, and popularity.

This woman, who possessed talents and traits such as significant beauty, charm, and was accomplished in dance and music, was not allowed to lead a normal married life, and she was instead chosen to be the Nagaravadhu ("courtesan of the republic"), and spent her life as a public woman with political influence.

[5] Beginning with the Gupta period, the names Mithilā and Tirabhukti replaced that of Videha as the appellation of the whole former territory of the Mahā-Videha kingdom.