Mahajanapada Period (600 BC - 325 BC)
- Rise in 6th Century in Northern India
- Mahajanapada is a Sanskrit Word which means Maha or Great Kingdom (Maha - Great and Janapadas - Foothold of a tribe , Country)
- Buddhist Literature (Anguttara Nikaya , Mahavastu) & Jain Literature (Bhagavati Sutta) present a list of 16 Mahajanapadas
Two type of states in Mahajanapada -
- Monarchial States - Anga , Magadha , Kashi , Kosala , Vasta , Chedi , Shursena , Matsya , Avanti and Gandhara
- Republicans States - Vajji , Malla , Kuru , Panchal , Kamboja , Shakya (Kapilvastu) , Koliyas (Ramgrama) and Moriya (Pipplevana)
Kasi
- Location - Between Varuna and Asi River
- Capital - Varanasi
- Modern Area - District of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
- Kasi were first mentioned in the Paippalada recension of the Atharveda
- The ruling clan of Kasi appears to have been member of Bharata Clan
- When Kasi was ruled by Dhrtarastra whom the Mahagovinda Suttanta calls a "Bharata Prince"
- A long struggle for the supremacy between Kashi & the three kingdoms of Kosala , Anga and Magadha
- During this struggle, king Brihadratha conquered Kosala but later king Kansa incorporated Kashi into Kosala
- Chinese traveler Huen Tsang refered to the Temple of Kashi
Anga
- Location - Between Champa river to the west & the Rajmahal hills to the East
- Capital - Champa / Champanagari
- Modern Area - District of Munger and Bhagalpur in Bihar
- First mentioned in Atharva Veda along with Magadha, Gandharis & Mujavats
- Anga Vairocans - Founder of Anga
- Famous for it trade & Commerce and Merchants used to sail to Suvarnabhumi (Burma)
- The existence of Anga is attested during the Iron Age
- Assapura & Bhaddiya important city of Anga Kingdom
- Bimbisara avenged his father defeat against Anga by defeating & killing the Angeya king Brahmadatta after which Anga became part of Magadhi Empire
Magadha
- Location - South of Bihar at the Eastern Ganga Plain
- Capital - Girivraj, Rajgriha/Rajgir (Bimbisara) ; Patliputra (Udayin) ; Vaishali (Shishunga) & Patliputra (Kalashok)
- Other Names of the City were Magadhapura, Brihadrathpura, Vasumati, Kushagrapura, Bimbisarapuri
- Patliputra (Patna , Bihar) - Situated on the confluence of Ganga, Son, Punpun & Gandak river
- Ruled by Brihadratha Dynasty, Pradyota Dynasty, Haryanka Dynasty, Shishunga Dynasty, Mauryan Dynasty by the end of it
- Magadha was succeeded by four of Northern India greatest empire - Nanda Empire, Maurya Empire, Shunga Empire & Gupta Empire
- The Pala Empire also ruled over Magadha & maintained a royal camp in Patliputra
- Sramana Movement gave rise to diverse range of Heterodont Beliefs & Magadha kingdom was the nerve centre of this revolution
Vajji
- Location - Area in Mithila region in Northern Bihar (Present day Darbhanga, Madhubani & Muzaffarpur)
- Modern Area - District of Muzaffarpur & Vaishali in Bihar)
- Capital - Videha, Mithila & Vaishali
Malla
- Location - Between Kosala & Videha
- Modern Area - District of Deoria, Basti, Gorakhpur and Siddharth Nagar in Uttar Pradesh
- Capital - Kushinagar (Kushinagar) & Pawa (Fazilnagar)
- Buddha fell ill at Pava & attained Nirvana at Kushinagar
- Lord Mahavira took his Nirvana at Pavapuri
Kosala
- Location - North-West of Magadha
- Modern Area - District of Faizabad, Gonda, Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh
- Capital - North Kosal (Sravasti/Sahet-Mahet) & South Kosal (Saket/Ayodhya)
- Kosala region gave rise to the Sramana Movement (Jainism & Buddhism)
- Northern Black Polished Ware Culture (700 - 300 BCE)
- Mahavira the 24th Tirthankar of Jainism taught in Kosala
- Majjhima Nikaya (Buddhist Text) - Buddha as a Kosala (Shakya Clan)
- Prasenajit ruled by famous king during the era of Mahavira & Buddha
- Kosala was ruled by Deva Dynasty, Datta Dynasty & Mitra Dynasty
- King Vidudabha merged Kosala into Magadha
Vasta /Vamsa
- Location - South of Ganga river
- Modern Area - District of Allahabad, Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh
- Capital - Kausambi (on the Yamuna river)
- The prominent ruler of Vamsa was Udayana
- It had a Monarchial form of government
- The first ruler of the Bharata Dynasty of Vatsa (information available is Satanika II, Parantapa)
- Satanika II married a princess of Videha, who was the mother of Udayana
- Buddha visited Kausambi several times during the reign of Udayana on his effort to spread the Dharma, Eightfold path & Four Noble Truth
- Udayana was an Upasaka (lay follower) of Buddha
Chedi/Cheti
- Location - Bundelkhand division (Madhya Pradesh) South of Yamuna along with Ken river
- Modern Area - Bundelkhand
- Capital - Shaktimati/Sotthivati
- Rigveda mention about Chedis
- According to old authority, Chedis lay near Yamuna midway between the Kingdom of Kurus & Vastas
Kuru
- Location - Stretched from the Ganga river & the Border of Panchala in the East to the Saraswati
- Modern Area - Haryana & Delhi
- Capital - Indraprastha (Modern Delhi)
- Kuru was a Vedic Indo-Aryan tribal Union in Northern Iron Age
- Appeared in the Middle Vedic Period, alliance between Bharatas & Puru Clan after the Battle of Ten Kings
- First recorded states-level society in the Indian Subcontinent
- Center of the Power in the Kurukshetra region
- First political center of the Vedic Period
- First Kuru capital was at Asandivat (Assandh - Haryana) , Later Indraprastha (Modern Delhi)
- Hastinapur as the main kuru Cities
- It became the dominant political & cultural center of the middle Vedic Period during the reign of King Parikshit & Janamejaya
- The Atharveda praises Parikshit, the "king of the Kurus" as the great ruler of a thriving , prosperous realm
- Shatapatha Brahamana - Parikshit son Janamejaya as a great conqueror (performed the Ashvamedha/Horse Sacrifice)
- Iron was first mentioned as "Syama Ayasa" means Black Metal in the Atharveda
Panchala
- Location - West of the Gomti river & the North of the Chambal river
- Modern Area - Budaun, Farrukhabad , Ruhelkhand & Western Uttar Pradesh
- Capital - North Panchal (Ahichhatra) & South Panchal (Kampilya)
- The famous city of Kanyakubja (Kannauj) was situated in the kingdom of Panchala
- Fourth Century BCE Kautilya Arthashastra attests to the Panchala following the Rajashabdopajivin (King Consul) Constitution
Shurasena
- Location - Lay to the East of Matsya & West of Yamuna
- Modern Area - Brajmandal (Uttar Pradesh), Haryana, Rajasthan & Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)
- Capital - Madhura (Mathura)
- Avantiputra (King of Shurasena) - First Chief Disciples of Buddha
Machcha/Matsya
- Location - South of Kuru & West of the Yamuna
- Modern Area - Alwar, Bharatpur and Jaipur in Rajasthan
- Capital - Viratnagar / Bairat
- King Virata - Founder of Viratanagara
- King Sujata - Ruled over both Chedis & Matsyas
Assaka/Ashmaka
- Location - Between the rivers of Narmada and Godavari
- Modern Area - Telangana & Maharashtra
- Capital - Podana, Potali, Potana (Modern day Bodhan in Telangana)
Avanti
- Location - Avanti was divided into a Northern & Southern part by the Vindhya Mountain
- Modern Area - Malwa
- Capital - North Avanti (Ujjayini) & South Avanti (Mahishmati)
- Northern section drained by the Sipra river & Southern section drained by Narmada river
- Chandragupta (Mauryan Dynasty) conquered Avanti to his dominions
- Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya) patron of the poet Kalidasa expelled the Shakas & held court at Ujjayini
Gandhara
- Location - North-West Pakistan & Part of South-East Afghanistan
- Modern Area - Western part of Pakistan & Afghanistan
- Capital - Taxila (near Rawalpindi, Pakistan) and Pushkalavati
- Gandhara existence since the time of the Rigveda
- Takshashila & Pushkalavati , the two cities of this Mahajanapadas are named as Taksa & Pushkar
- The Iron Age Gandhara Kingdom emerged as a major imperial power during the reign of King Pushkarasarin
- Gandhara was conquered by the Achaemenids in 6th Century BCE & Alexander the Great in 327 BCE
- Later became the parts of Mauryan Empire
Kambojas
- Modern Area - Hazara District of Pakistan
- Capital - Rajapur / Hataka / Poonch (situated in present day Kashmir & Hindu Kush)
- Kamboja was a kingdom of Iron Age India that spanned parts of South & Central Asia
- The Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian people of the Kshatriya caste forming Mahajanapada during Second-Urbanization Period
- Northern and Western border in present day Tajikistan & Eastern Uzbekistan
- Eastern border in present day Jammu & Kashmir
- Southern border in present day Iran & Southern Afghanistan
- Kautiliya Arthashastra & Ashoka Edict No. XIII which affirms that the Kambojas were a republic people
Mahajanapada, Capital & Present Location of 16 Mahajanapadas
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