Mahajanapadas

History may be defined as collection of evidences, research based on facts & figures and presentation of  authentic information about past events. History is a strong medium to get connected with ancient roots.   Scholars who write about history are called Historians. As we all are aware that   India witnessed several invasions. Adequate justice could not be done to honor our heros  due to lack of interest by the invaders. Small contributions in the field of  History of Ancient India by historians during Colonial rule could not do justice to earlier Proud rulers of South North East & West India & their successors.  Ancient Indian History, therefore  became victim of history of religions by historians of colonial era. “ Truth of those dark times was not Truth, it was just someone’s version  to please their religious & political bosses.

Research work to  examine and analyse the sequence of events, and all attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect by the Truthful  Historians of pre partition era  was discouraged by Rulers. Indian History   suffered from obscurities, uncertainties,  and ambiguities during colonial era. Post partition period saw emergence of a  dedicated class of Ancient India Historians, who brought out facts & the revolutionary vision of our historians and highlighted the truth of glorious past of India.

“We  must be aware that truth marches along long fields of winding shadows out of an abyss the cursed black hole. Truth is a shower of raining stars hailing down from the heavens. It covers the earth & makes it gold.”

Truth is therefore more desirable then many white diamonds. It is the thing, we must, search for, A thing, we  must prize for, A thing we must hold. And here is the Truth of Ancient India.

Vedic Period:

The Vedic Period is distinguished by the Indo-Aryan culture which was associated with the texts of Vedas, sacred to Hindus, and that were orally composed in Vedic Sanskrit. The Vedas are some of the oldest extant texts, next to those in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The Vedic era in the subcontinent lasted from about 1500-500 BCE, laying down the foundation of Hinduism and other cultural dimensions of early Indian society. The Aryans laid down Vedic civilization all over North India, particularly in the Gangetic Plain.  This period saw the second major rise in urbanization in India after the Indus valley Civilization ie Mahajanapadas. The word “maha” means great and the word “janapada” means foothold of a tribe. In the later Vedic Age a number of small kingdoms or city states had mushroomed across the subcontinent and also find mention in early Buddhist and Jain literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE, sixteen “republics” or Mahajanapadas has been established, namely; Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or Vriji),Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti,Gandhara, and Kamboja

The Magadha was one of the most prominent and prosperous of mahajanapadas. The capital city Pataliputra( Patna, Bihar) was situated on the confluence of major rivers like Ganga, Son, Punpun and Gandak. The alluvial plains of this region and its proximity to the iron rich areas of Bihar and Jharkhand helped the kingdom to develop good quality weapons and support the agrarian economy. These factors helpedMagadha to emerge as the most prosperous state of that period. The kingdom of the Magadhas roughly corresponded to the modern districts of Patna and Gaya in southern Bihar and parts of Bengal in the east. The capital city of Patna was It was bounded in the north by river Ganges, in the east by the river Champa, in the south by the Vindhya mountains and in the west by the river Sona. During Buddha’s time its boundaries included Anga. Its earliest capital was Girivraja or Rajagaha (modern Rajgir in Nalanda district of Bihar). The other names for the city were Magadhapura, Brihadrathapura, Vasumati, Kushagrapura and Bimbisarapuri. It was an active center of Jainism in ancient times. The first Buddhist Council was held in Rajagaha in the Vaibhara Hills. Later on, Pataliputra became the capital of Magadha.

The BuddhistAnguttara Nikaya at several places, gives a list of sixteen great hindu nations in South Asia:

1. Anga
2. Kosala
3. Kashi
4. Magadha
5. Vriji
6. Malla
7. Chedi
8. Vatsa (or Vamsa)
9. Kuru
10. Panchala
11. Machcha (or Matsya)
12. Surasena
13. Assaka (or Asmaka)
14. Avanti
15. Gandhara
16. Kamboja