Mahajanapadas

• 500 BCE
• Some Janapadas became more important than others

Salient features:

• most had a “capital city”
  • generally fortified with walls of wood, brick, or stone

Important Mahajanapadas¶

Different texts refer to different list of 16 great Mahajanapadas.

The Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, at several places, gives a list of sixteen great nations:

• Anga
  • First reference found in Atharvaveda
  • Anga was annexed by Magadha in the time of Bimbisara.
• Assaka (or Asmaka)
  • present-day Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra
  • Banks of River Godavari, south of the Vindyas Mountains
    
    • The Godavari River separated the Asmakas from the Mulakas.
  • Capital was Potana / Potali
  • Located on Dakshinapatha
• Avanti
  • One of the four great monarchies of India
  • Present day Malwa, Nimar, and parts of Madhya Pradesh
  • Narmada River divided Avanti into North and South
    • Mahishamati was capital of North Avanti
    • Ujjaini was capital of South Avanti
    • At times of Buddha and Mahavira, it was united, and the capital was Ujjaini
  • Strategic location
    • Was located on the Dakshinapatha, a trade route from Rajgir (Bihar) to Paithan (Maharashtra)
• Chedi
  • Capital was Suktimati (location unconfirmed)
  • Two settlements
    • Mountains of Nepal
    • Bundelkhand near Kausambi
  • Near Yamuna River, between the Kuru and the Vatsa Mahajanapadas
• Gandhara
  • Wool mentioned in Rigveda
  • Noted strong allies of Kuru against Pandavas in Mahabharata
  • Located in the Indus River valley
  • Located on Uttarpatha
  • Important Cities:
    • Takshashila - Taxila
    • Pushkalavati
    • Purushapura (Peshawar) - according to Hecataeus of Miletus
  • King Pukkusati was contemporary of Bimbisara - Middle of 6th Century BCE
• Kashi
  • Capital was Varanasi
  • Varuna River in the north, and Asi River in the source
  • Struggle for supremacy with fellow Mahajanapadas
    • Kosala
    • Anga
    • Magadha
  • Most powerful of the sixteen Mahajanapadas before the time of Buddha
    • King Brihadratha conquered Kosala
    • Later King Kansa Kashi was incorporated into Kosala during the time of Buddha
• Kamboja
  • Located on both sides of the Hindukush Mountains
  • Located on Uttarpatha
  • Mentioned in Edicts of Ashoka
  • Republican (mentioned in Arthashastra of Kautilya)
  • Cyrus I apparently dismantled the Kamboja Mahajanapada into a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, combined with Gandhara.
• Kosala
  • Located around modern Awadh in Central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh
  • Capital was Ayodhya
  • Important Cities:
    • Ayodhya
    • Saketa
    • Banaras
  • Notable Kings
    • King Prasenajit (highly educated)
    • King Virudhaka (son of King Prasenajit)
  • There was conflict between King Prasenajit and Ajatasattu of Magadha
    • It got settled after Magadha conquered the Licchavi Tribe
  • Kosala was merged into Magadha Empire when Vidudabha was the king of Kosala.
• Kuru
  • Kuru founded the Kuru mahajanapada
  • Location
    • Modern Thaneshwar, Delhi, Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh
  • Capital was Indraprastha
  • Earlier they were a monarchy - switched to a republican form in 6-5th century BCE
• Magadha
  • Capital was Pataliputra (present day Patna)
  • Ganga River was the border between Licchavi Tribe and Magadha Empire, with Magadha on the South and Licchavi Tribe on the north of the river.
    • The Licchavi Tribe was later conquered by Magadha
  • Other rivers
    • Son River, Punpun River, Gandak River, Champa River
  • Bounded in the south by the Vindyas Mountains
• Malla
  • ganasangha
  • Later annexed to Magadha Empire
• Matsya (or Maccha)
  • Located south of Kuru and west of Yamuna River
    • Present day parts of Rajasthan
• Panchala
  • Located east of the Kuru between the mountains and the Ganga River
  • corresponded to modern Budaun, Farrukhabad and the adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh
  • Capitals
    • Northern Capital: Adhichhatra or Chhatravati
    • Southern Capital: Kampilya or Kampil
  • Important Cities
    • Kanyakubja or Kannauj
• Surasena
  • Located East of Matsya and west of Yamuna River
  • Brij Region of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan
  • Capital: Madura or Mathura
  • King Avantiputra was the first among the chief disciples of Buddha
  • Had different clans/sects
    • Andhakas
    • Vrishnis
  • Was later annexed to Magadha Empire
• Vajji
  • Neighboring Licchavi Tribe
  • Republican
  • Mithila in northern Nepal was their region
  • Capital: Vaishali
  • It is sometimes called the Vajjika League and was led by the Licchavi Tribe
• Vatsa (or Vamsa)
  • A branch of the Kurus
  • Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh
  • Capital: Kausambi
  • Neighbors of Chedis