The evidence of the early texts suggests that Siddhārtha Gautama was born in a community that was on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the northeastern Indian subcontinent in the fifth century BCE. It was either <answer>a small republic</answer>, in which case his father was an elected chieftain, or an oligarchy, in which case his father was an oligarch.
What size was Siddhārtha Gautama's birthplace?
a small republic