THE MAHAJANPADAS

India’s cultural history spans right before the Vedic period; however the political

history started quite late. Chronology forms the basis. Till 6th B.C, northern India

did not have any single ruler. The entire region was divided into smaller

independent kingdoms. Though these kingdoms were bigger than those of Vedic

age, yet there was not one competent who could unite the rest.

The only available source to provide authentic information on kingdoms is

“Anguttar Nikaya”. It is informed that before the rise of Buddhism, the northern

part of India was constituted of “16 Mahajanapadas” as below:

1.Kashi 2. Kosal 3. Anga 4. Magadh 5. Vajji 6. Malla 7. Chedi

8. Vatsa 9. Kuru 10. Panchal 11. Matsya 12. Shursen 13. Ashmak

14. Avanti 15. Gandhar 16. Kambhoj

These Mahajanpadas followed 2 types of rule –

Autocratic Rule: Ruled by Kings by descent – Anga, Magadh, Kashi, Kosal,

Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchal, Matsya, Shursen, Ashmak, Avanti, Gandhar &

Kambhoj.

Democratic Rule: Ruled by elected members from the society – Vajji & Malla

According to historian Hemchandra Raichowdhary – “the list of kingdoms

mentioned in Bhagwati sutra point out to the expanse of these smallkingdoms and

have been collated after the Anguttar Nikaya” (Political History of Ancient India).

Hence, to know about the politicalscenario before 6th B.C, we need to refer to

Anguttar Nikaya only.

The “16 Mahajanpadas” as described in Anguttar Nikaya are as follows –

Kashi: Present Varanasi and nearby areas. To its north was Varuna river and to its

south -Asi river. Sondand Jataka mentions that Magadh, Kosal and Anga were

within the domain of Kashi and ruled by mighty King Bramhadutt . The Jataka

informs us that Kashi was a powerful, prosperous and self contained kingdom.

There was an ongoing war between Kashi and Kosal for annexure. Though Kashi

initially conquered Kosal, later on, King Kansa of Kosal conquered Kashi and

merged it with Kosal.

Kosal: Present Avadh region (Faizabad). This area was spread between Nepal

(north), Sai river (south), Panchal (east) and Gandhak river (west). The capital of

Kosal was Shravasti. From Vedic period, Kosal was a Mahajanpadas. During

Buddha’s time, Kosal was divided into 2 parts- northern part had Saket as its

capital whereas southern part had Shravasti as its capital. The major cities of Kosal

were Ayodhya and Saket.

Anga: Present Bhagalpur & Munger were the part of Anga. The capital was

Champa. Anga was famous for trade & commerce. Due to its trade, Anga was one

of the 6 major kingdoms during Buddha’s time. Digha Nikaya mentions that this

city was designed by famous architect Mahagovind. Magadh was a neighboring

kingdom and there was continuous rivalry between them. King Bramhadutt of

Anga defeated King Bhattiya of Magadh, but later on Anga was acquired by

Magadh.

Magadh: Present Patna & Gaya. To its north was Ganges, Vindhyas to the south,

Champa river to its east and Soan river to its west. The capital of Magadh was

Rajgriha. Magadh became the most powerful kingdoms in northern India. Magadh

was ruled by Bimbisara. He belonged to Haryank dynasty. This was a branch of

Naagvansh. As per D.R.Bhandarkar, Bimbisara was earlier a Commander of

Lichavis who had control over Magadh. But Buddhist texts say that Bimbisara was

made king at the age of 15. Bimbisara was a very ambitious king and expanded his

kingdom through strategic alliances with all neighboring kings. In Mahavagga

Jataka, it is claimed that Magadh had 80,000 villages under its control. Bimbisara

ruled for 52 years. However such a powerful king had a very tragic end. He was

arrested by his own son – Ajaatshatru and painfully killed.

Vajji: This comprised of 8 small kingdoms, out of which the Licchhvis of

Vaishali, Videhas of Mithila and Dnyatruk of Kundagram were more popular. The

Vajjis were a powerful democratic republic during Buddha’s time. Vaishali is

present Basaadh of Muzaffarpur, Mithila is present Janakpur in Nepal, Kundagram

is near Nepal.

Malla: Present Deoria in U.P. Initially it was an autocratic ruling, later on became

a republic. Okak was the ruler of Malla.

Chedi: Present Bundelkhand and neighboring areas. The capital was Sothivati.

Chetiya Jataka mentions Upchar as the king of Chedi.

Vatsa: Present Allahabad and Banda district on the banks of river Yamuna. The

capital of Vatsa was Kaushambi and was ruled by King Udayan. During

excavation the remains of Ghoshitaram vihar and King Udayan’s palace were

found.

Kuru: Present Meerut & Delhi. The capital was Indraprasth. Initially, it had an

autocratic rule, later on Kuru got converted to democratic republic. During

Buddha’s period, the king was Karvayya. Jataka mentions that the area of Kuru

kingdom was 2000 miles.

Panchal: Present Ruhelkhand comprising of Bareilly, Baduan and Farrukhabad.

Earlier it was divided into 2parts – Northern Panchal and Southern Panchal.

Matsya: Present Jaipur, Alwar and Bharatpur. The capital was Viraatnagar. During

Buddha’s period, there was not much importance to this mahajanpad.

Shursen: Present Haridwar. The capital was Mathura. Avantiputra was its King

who later on became one of the major disciples of Buddha. Due to efforts of

Avantiputra, Buddhism spread into Mathura.

Ashmak: Also know as Assak or Ashwak, this mahajanpad was situated on the

banks of river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. The capital was Potil. Chullakling

Jataka mentions that Ashmak King, Arun defeated Kalinga. There was an ongoing

battle with Avanti. In due course, Avanti defeated and occupied Ashmak.

Avanti: Present Malwa region. During Buddha’s period, it was divided into 2 –

northern region had Ujjaini as its capital whereas the southern region had

Mahishmati as its capital. Avanti was ruled by King Pradhot. Ujjaini was the most

important city in ancient India and was a famous Buddhist centre. It was well know

for iron foundry, due to which the army of Avanti was considered un-defeatable.

Gandhar: Present Peshawar and Rawalpindi region. Takshila was the capital.

Gandhar was one of the main trade and educational centre. During 6 th B.C.E,

Gandhar was ruled by Pushkarsarin. He had established cordial relations with

Magadh’s King Bimbisar. Pushkarsarin waged a war against Avanti and captured

it.

Kambhoj: This comprised on south-west Kashmir and area between Hindukush

mountains and Kabul. (also known as Kaafiristan). This Mahajanpadas was a

neighbor of Gandhar. Kautilya described Kambhoj as those whose occupation was

“agriculture, animal rearing and commerce and defense equipment manufacturer.

Kambhoj was famous for its world class horses.

Thus it is observed that the Indian sub continent had de-centralized rule from 6th

B.C. All the 16 Mahajanpadas wanted to increase their region and hence always

waged war with their neighbors. Some weak Mahajanpadas made friendship or

relationship with the neighboring powerful Mahajanpadas. The positive outcome

was the unity of entire Indian sub continent.

By the end of 6th B.C, many weak Mahajanpadas were destabilized and only 4

major Mahajanpadas remained. These were – Kosal, Vatsa, Avanti and Magadh.

These 4 Mahajanpadas collectively dominated the northern India political scene.