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6. Janapadas and Mahajanapadas

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6. Janapadas and Mahajanapadas 6. Janapadas and Mahajanapadas 6.1 Janapadas 6.1 Janapadas 6.2 Mahajanapadas The period from about 1000 BC to 600 BC is considered to be the post- 6.3 Rise of the Magadha Empire Vedic period. It is in this period that the janapadas came into existence. Janapadas were the many small States that spread Try this. from today’s Afghanistan which is to the Write the names of the sixteen northwest of the Indian subcontinent to mahajanapadas in the proper places on Bengal and Odisha in the east and to an outline map of India. Maharashtra in the south. The janapada called ‘Ashmak’ occupied Some janapadas had a gana-parishad of a part of today’s Maharashtra. The senior citizens. Members of the gana- names of these janapadas can be found parishad came together for discussions in Sanskrit, Pali and Ardhamagadhi and made decisions regarding literature. One can also find information administrative issues. The place where about them in the writings of Greek these discussions took place was known historians. Some of the janapadas were as the santhagar. Gautam Buddha hailed monarchies, while others were republics. from the Shakya Republic. Every janapada had its own coinage. 6.2 Mahajanapadas Mahajanapadas Kosala Vatsa Avanti Magadha The Kosala The mahajanapada The ancient The ancient mahajanapada Vatsa was located kingdom of mahajanapada was located in the in the region around Avanti was of Magadha was foothills of the Prayag, that is located in the spread through Himalayas in the Allahabad, in Uttar Malwa region of the regions of region of Uttar Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh. Gaya, Patna in Pradesh and Kosam, the capital Ujjayani (Ujjain) Bihar and some Nepal. of Vatsa, was the was its capital. regions in The famous ancient city of The city was an Bengal. cities of Kosala Kaushambi. important trade The capital of were Shravasti, It was an important centre. Magadha was Kushavati and centre for trade. Rajgriha The king of Saket. Three extremely Avanti, Pradyot, (Rajgir). Shravasti was rich merchants of was a King the capital of Kaushambi had contemporary of Bimbisara’s Kosala. built three viharas Gautama Buddha palace was built Gautama Buddha for Gautama and Vardhaman by the architect had lived in the Buddha and his Mahavir. Mahagovind. famous vihara followers. Jeevaka, the Jetvan at During the reign King Udayana was famous Shravasti for a of King a contemporary of physician, was long time. Nandivardhan, Gautama Buddha. the State of at the court of The Kosala After king Avanti was Bimbisara. king Prasenjit Udayana, the State merged into Bimbisara had was a of Vatsa could not the Magadha become a contemporary of maintain its Empire. follower of the Buddha and independent Gautama Vardhaman existence for long. Buddha. Mahavir. The king of Avanti Later, the State mahajanapada of Kosala merged conquered the State. with Magadha. Some janapadas gradually became and Vatsa to Magadha. Nearly the entire stronger and expanded their geographical region of northern India came under the boundaries. Such janapadas came to be control of Magadha. That was how the known as mahajanapadas. From the Magadha Empire took shape. literature of that period, it is clear that The Nanda Kings of Magadha : The up to the sixth century BCE, sixteen Nandas ruled the Magadha Empire mahajanapadas had acquired special between 364 BCE and 324 BCE. They importance. Kosala, Vatsa, Avanti and had set up a good administrative system Magadha among them became more necessary to run the huge empire. They powerful. had a huge four-column army of infantry, 6.3 Rise of the Magadha Empire cavalry, chariots and elephants. The Ajat shatru, the son of Bimbisara, Nandas also introduced the system of continued with the policy of expansion standard weights and measures. of the Magadha Empire. He successfully King Dhananand was the last king conquered many republics of the east. of the Nanda dynasty. By this time, the The kingdom of Magadha prospered Magadha Empire had extended up to the during the reign of Ajatshatru. He had Punjab in the west. However, during become a follower of Gautama Buddha. Dhananand’s reign, the ambitious youth After the Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Chandragupta Maurya won Pataliputra, Buddha, it was during his reign that the ended the Nanda regime and laid the first Buddhist Council or Sangiti was foundation of the Maurya Empire. held at Rajgriha. In the next chapter, we will read about the foreign invasions on the western and northwestern frontiers of India during the rise of the Maurya Empire. Also, we will read about the Maurya Empire in greater detail. Do you know ? The ancient and modern names of the 16 mahajanapadas : (1) Kashi (Benaras), (2) Kosal (Lucknow), (3) Malla (Gorakhpur), Ajatshatru Sculpture (4) Vatsa (Allahabad), (5) Chedi (Kanpur), The foundation for the new capital (6) Kuru (Delhi), (7) Panchal (Rohilkhand), Pataligram of Magadha was laid during (8) Matsya (Jaipur), (9) Shurasen Ajatshatru’s period. Later, it became (Mathura), (10) Ashmak (Aurangabad, famous as ‘Pataliputra’. Pataliputra was Maharashtra), (11) Avanti (Ujjain), probably in the vicinity of today’s (12) Ang (Champa East Bihar), Patna city. (13) Magadha (South Bihar), (14) Vrijji A noteworthy successor of Ajatshatru was the Magadha king Shishunag. He (North Bihar), (15) Gandhara (Peshawar), annexed the kingdoms of Avanti, Kosala (16) Kamboj (Near Gandhara) .
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