 |
| Image Courtesy: Wikipedia |
The Mahajanapada famously known as the 16 mahajanapadas is a set of sixteen kingdoms which emerged during the Vedic Age in the northern region of Ancient India from the 6th to 4th Century BCE.
The 6th to 5th BCE or the second urbanization period is often remarked as the major turning point where we saw a great Socio-economic development along with the political and religious development across the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
Origins:
In the late Vedic period when the people of a Tribal unit (known as Jana) in order to settle down permanently started simple land grabbing process which eventually formed a very well planned communities.
These communities gave rise to ‘Janapada’ which means the Foothold of a tribe, which suggests that tribal identity became a major factor in defining the territory of a particular state. Some ‘Janapadas’ began to expand their community and hence came to be known as the ‘Mahajanapadas.’
Some ‘Mahajanapadas’ went to extreme extents attacking ‘Janapadas’ in order to expand their region and wealth.
As said earlier this time period was one of the most important as here we saw the emergence of massive Indian cities which were built after the fall of the Indus Valley Civilization. These massive Indian cities were home to the 16 great kingdoms described in the ancient texts. In the modern era the term ‘Mahajanapadas’ is often used to refer these 16 Kingdoms.
Due to the formation of the ‘Mahajanapadas’ the centre of political activity shifted from the western Gangetic plain to Eastern Gangetic Plain. Mostly the ‘mahajanpadas’ were mostly Ganantras which is oligarchic republics while the others had monarchical policy.
List of
Mahajanapadas:
Magadha:
Magadha was one of the most renowned yet one of the most prosperous kingdoms of ancient India and one of the most wealthiest ‘mahajanapadas.’ Pataliputra remained as the capital of Magadha for many years.
The Magadha kingdom was bounded by 3 water bodies; Ganges in the north, river Champa in the east, and river Son in the west. According to ancient texts, the dislike of the Magadhas in early times was due to the fact that the Magadhas were not yet wholly Brahmanised.
As per the Vedic texts Brihadratha was the earliest known ruler of Magadha. The kingdom was also ruled by King Bimbisara, under whom Magadha flourished.
Magadh is also famous for originating who of India's greatest Empire Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire which are considered to be the Ancient India's 'Golden Age' because of the advances it made in the fields of Science, audiology, religion, mathematics and philosophy.
Maghada was the place where Gautama Buddha spent most of his life making it a place to embrace for the Buddhists.
Gandhara:
Purushapura or present-day Peshawar served as a grand Gandharic city according to Hecataeus of Miletus. In ancient texts like ‘Rigveda,’ ‘Ramayana,’ and ‘Mahabharata' we get multiple references pertaining to Gandhara.
The capital of the Kingdom was Taksashila (Taxila) though it changed to Purushapura for some amount of time but Takshashila was the most developed City and was renowned for being the center of learning, the 'Taksashila University.’
Scholars came from all over the world came here in order to seek greater knowledge and wisdom. As per some modern-day scholars Gandhara is considered to be a part of an empire though it was a huge kingdom on its own.
Dr. T. L. Shah has an argument that 2 kingdoms of the renowned 16 Mahajanapadas 'Gandhara and Kamboja' were two provinces of a single empire.
Kamboja:
The state of Kamboja had a republican political policy as found in several ancient scripts. The capital of Kamboja is called Poonch.
As found in some ancient scripts there were two Kamboja settlements, a theory which is correct and proven by modern-day historians.
Ancient Kamboja was located in the present day Kashmir and Hindu Kush mountain range. But some clans of Kamboja might have crossed and gone on to the southern side to plant some more colonies.
We find mention in many ancient Indian texts like the edicts of Ashoka the Great that these clans of people then got associated with the Gandharas and Daradas.
Kuru:
According to the ancient text Puranas the Puru-Bharata family was the origin of Kurus. On the other hand Aitareya Brahmana located Kuru in the Madhyadesha with its Northern side Uttarkurus situated being there Himalayas.
The titular chieftain Korayvya ruled Kuru At the time of the Budhha. Surrounded by the rivers Aruna, Ashumati, Hiranvati, Apaya, Kausiki, Sarasvati and Drishadvati or Rakshi Kuru flourished to have a great economic growth and Wealth.
Indraprastha which is present day Delhi and Meerut served as the Capital City which was known for people with good health and deep wisdom. The boundaries of Kuru were roughly around modern day Delhi, Thaneswar and Meerut District of Uttar Pradesh.
Other communities like the ‘Panchalas’ and the ‘Yadavas’ had matrimonial relations with Kurus them. A well-known monarchical state Kuru formed a republican government in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE.
The Kurus also followed the king consul constitution, we find the evidence in Kautiliya’s ‘Arthashastra,’ which was written in Sanskrit in the 4th century BCE.
Kosala:
The kingdom of Kosala was located in the North West region to the kingdom of Magadha. From Puranas we came to know that King Ikshvaku was the ruler of Kosala.
Bounded by Ganges in the south, river Gandak in the east, and the Himalaya Mountains in the north Kosala was a well known Kingdom with a monarchical political policy. Some Vedic texts suggest that Kosala was the biggest and most powerful kingdom ever in history.
The capital of Kosala was Ayodhya but some differs from this having claims in different ancient texts suggests that it was Savatthi (Sravasti). It was located about 70 miles to north-west of Gorakhpur. The territory of Kosala corresponded to the modern Awadh in Central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.
The ruler of Kosala kingdom was King Prasenajit during the time of the Buddha and Mahavira. Kosala and Magadha both tried by hooks and crooks to take supremacy but after a series of tactical moves, when Kosala was being ruled by Vidudabha the kingdom of Kosala got merged with Magadha.
Malla:
The Mallas who were referred in lot of Ancient texts as powerful people who dwelled in Northern South Asia.
Malla kingdom also had monarchical forms of government but some Buddhist texts refer to the kingdom as a republican dominion which made evident that they also turned away from the monarchical structure.
The kingdom was made up of nine territories, one for each of the nine confederated clans. It was situated in the northern side of Magadha and was divided by the river Kakuttha (present day Kuku) in two parts.
Ancient cities like Kusinara which was also the Capital City belonged to the Malla kingdom are considered extremely important by Jains and Buddhists.
According to some attention Buddhist and Jain texts, Gauthama Buddha and Lord Mahavira had their last meals in Pava and Kusinara Cities respectively, which is the main reason it's a very important City for Buddhists and Jains.
Panchala:
The Panchala kingdom was situated in between river Ganges and mountain ranges of Himalaya in the Eastern side of Kuru. Panchala territory consisted of modern Budaun, Farrukhabad and the adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The kingdom was divided into two parts, namely Dakshina-Panchala and Uttara-Panchala. The capital city of Uttara-Panchala was Adhichhatra (present-day Bareilly) while Kampilya (present-day Farrukhabad) was made the capital of Dakshina-Panchala.
From being a monarchial Kingdom Panchala chose to become Republican during the 6th and 5th BCE. Later it got merged in with the Maurya Empire.
Matsya:
The Matsya kingdom was founded by an Indo-Aryan tribe of Vedic age in the Southern region of Kuru kingdom.In the Western boundary it had Yamuna River which served as the main water source; apart from that Yamuna also separated Matsya kingdom from the Panchalas.
The capital city was Viratanagara (present-day Bairat), which was named after the kingdom’s founder Virata. The Kingdom consisted areas of present Jaipur in Rajasthan and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur.
As per some ancient texts, Matsya was ruled by a King named Sujata who also ruled Chedi which later became a separate Kingdom. Matsya embarked its political power during the time of Buddha.
Chedi:
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata we find great prominence of the Chedi Kingdom. According to the ancient text, Chedi was ruled by an ally of the kings from Magadha and Kuru named Shishupala.
Suktimati has been described as the kingdom’s capital presently according to some historians it's the present day Banda city in Uttar Pradesh, though still they're not confirmed as there's an other contradicting statement comes in saying it is present day Rewa in Madhya Pradesh.
Two distinct settlements one was in the mountains of Nepal and the other in Bundelkhand near Kausambi shows that Chedis spreaded in two settlements.
Anga:
Angas is described as despised people in the references which are made in the ‘Atharva Veda'. Angas were among the earliest groups of Aryan people according to some ancient texts.
River Champa separated Anga and its rival Magadha, which served as the main water source for both the kingdoms. Anga became a great center of trade, attracting merchants from the neighboring kingdoms over a period of time.
King Bimbisara’s one and only conquest was to take over Anga and eventually annexed by Magadha.
Avanti:
For the rise of Buddhism Avanti was important. And in post Mahavira and Buddha, the kingdom of Avanti was considered as one of the four great monarchies along with Kosala, Magadha, and Vatsa.
The kingdom's only source of water was from river Narmada which also separated Avanti into two parts – North Avanti and South Avanti.
Though the parts were divided at the time of Buddha and Mahavira, during which Ujjaini served as the common capital of the integrated kingdom which is present in present day Malwa and Madhya Pradesh.
For Buddhists it was a huge attraction as many important theras and theris were born and resided there. In the late days Avanti got defeated by the king Shishunaga of Magadha and became a part of Magadha.
Vatsa:
Near the present-day Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh Vatsa or Vasma was present. The capital city was named Kosambi which was an important City for Vatsa's Economic and Political growth. It had a monarchical form of government and King Udayana of the 7th century BCE ruled Vatsa.
Though Udayana initially opposed the teachings of the Buddha, he became a follower of Buddha later in his life and even made Buddhism as the state religion of Kausambi. Vatsa’s capital city was a prominent entrepot of passengers and goods, coming in from the south and north-west.
Assaka:
The Kingdom of Assaka was located in southern India outside the pale of Madhyadesa. The river Godavari which was the only source of water also separated Assaka from Mulaka, which was also known as Alaka. It is said that Mulaka was once a part of Assaka.
According to ancient Buddhist texts, Assaka was ruled by King Brahmadatta. Its capital city was Potali which refers to the Paudanya of Mahabharata, presently it is in the Nandura Tehsil in Maharashtra.
Ancient Buddhist text known as ‘Anguttara Nikaya’ described Assaka as one of the 16 ‘mahajanapadas.’
Surasena:
In the west of river Yamuna and to the east of Matsya kingdom Surasena Kingdom was located. Avantiputra the king of Surasena played an important role in propagating Buddhism as he was among the earliest known chief disciples of Buddha.
Madhura or Mathura was the capital of Surasena, was known as a city where worshipping Krishna was considered prominent as it was the place where Lord Krishna was born, raised and ruled.
Though Surasena Kingdom was a flourishing one but it lost its independence when it got annexed by the Magadhan Empire.
Vajji:
One of the most prominent ‘mahajanapadas’ of ancient India was Vajji. Vajji was bounded by river Gandaki in the west and was in the northern side of river Ganges. River Gandaki separated Vajji from their rivals Malla & Kosala and was their major source of water.
Vaishali was its capital city. Vajji confederated right or nine clans and also housed popular ancient cities like Hatthigama, Bhoganagara, and Kundapura.
Kashi:
Aryan people who settled in Varanasi (formerly known as Benaras) were called The Kashis.
The capital city of Kashi was Varanasi which got its name from river Varuna in the north and river Assi in the south which also bounded Kashi kingdom. Before the time of the Buddha the Kingdom of Kashi was the most powerful among ‘mahajanapadas.’
Kashi was in constant conflict with kingdoms of Kosala, Magadha, and Anga as it was one of the most prosperous kingdoms during its heyday.
While trying to annexe Kashi in their kingdom Kosala was got once defeated by Kashi but later Kashi got annexed by Kosala under the rule of King Kansa, who ruled at the time of Buddha.
Though as time progressed the ‘mahajanapadas got attacked and later got annexed in different empires but still the historic significance of these 16mahajanpadas remains highly observed as it was a major turning point in Indian Civilization.
Written by: Gourav Chowdhury
.png)
0 Comments