King Yudhishthira: Pandava & Kunti’s son, Yudhishthira was also known as Dharmaraja. Yudhishthira was also known as Ajatashatru. He was the eldest among Pandavas and Kauravas. He was skilled spearsman. Yudhishthira’s spear was called Shakti. Yudhishthira defeated many warriors in the Mahabharata War. However he lacked the capabilities of Arjuna and the power of Bheema, but his true asset was invincible Dharma (truth and righteousness). Despite the wicked plots played by the Kauravas, he managed to maintain a decorum of resilience and harness the anger into learning and empowering his knowledge
It was Yudhishthira who ruled India after the Mahabharata war. Yudhishthira ascended the throne, after the war. Yudhishthira was skilled in spear-wielding. He never lied. His father also took his test on the lake by becoming a Yaksha. After the Mahabharata war, Yudhishthira had become detached from the kingdom, wealth and glory. He wanted to enter the Vanprastha Ashram, but all the brothers and Draupadi persuaded him to follow Kshatryadharma by convincing them in various ways. During his reign, there was peace and prosperity in the entire Indian subcontinent. The five Pandavas, including Yudhishthira, after giving the kingdom to the mighty Parikshit, the son of Arjuna’s son, went towards Uttarakhand for the great journey and got to Punyalok there. After Parikshit, his son Janmejaya took over the kingdom. In the Mahabharata, 6 more brothers of Janmejaya have been told. These brothers are- Kakshasena, Ugrasena, Chitrasena, Indrasena, Susena and Nakhyasena. Nichakshu, the last king of the Kurus and the Nanda dynasty: By 1300 BCE, there were 16 Mahajanapadas in India – Kuru, Panchala, Shurasena, Vatsa, Kosala, Malla, Kashi, Anga, Magadha, Vrijji, Chedi, Matsya, Ashmaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja . Most of the Mahajanapadas were ruled by the king, but in states known as Gana and Sangha, a group of people ruled. Everyone in this group was called a king. But the most powerful of these rulers were those of Magatha, Kuru, Panchala, Shurasena and Avanti. Magath’s rule was the most powerful among them. After the Mahabharata, gradually the center of religion shifted from Taxila (Peshawar) to Pataliputra in Magadha. The history after the Mahabharata is mentioned in the Garga Samhita. After the Mahabharata war, Panchala was ruled by the descendants of the Pandavas and later by the Naga kings. In the Puranas, 27 kings are mentioned from the Mahabharata war to the kings of the Nand dynasty. During this period dynasties like Bharata, Kuru, Druhu, Tritsu and Turvas were disappearing from the political scene and kingdoms like Kashi, Kosala, Vajji, Videha, Magadha and Anga were emerging. In this period, the main center of Aryans was ‘Madhya Pradesh’ whose spread was from Saraswati to Ganga Doab. There were also huge states like Kuru and Panchal here. Puru and Bharata tribes together became known as ‘Kuru’ and ‘Turvash’ and ‘Krivi’ tribes together as ‘Panchal’ (Panchala). Nichakshu was the last king of the Kuru dynasty after the Mahabharata. According to the Puranas, the Hastinapur king Nichakshu, who was a descendant of Parikshit (in the 7th generation from Yudhishthira), after Hastinapur was washed away by the Ganges, made the city of Kaushambi in the Vatsa country his capital. In the 26th generation of this dynasty, Udayan was the king of Kaushambi during the time of Buddha. The departure of the Nichakshu and the Kurus from Kurukshetra is also mentioned in the Sankhyana Srautasutra. After Janmejaya, Satanik, Ashwamedhadatta, Dhisimakrishna, Nichakshu, Usna, Chitraratha, Shuchidratha, Vrishnimat Sushen, Nunith, Ruch, Nrichakshus, Sukhibal, Pariplav, Sunay, Medhavin, Nripanjaya, Dhruv, Madhu, Tigmjyoti, Brihadratha and Vasudan became the kings respectively. The capital was earlier Hastinapur and later kept changing according to time. Shatnik and Udayan took place in Buddha’s time. Udayan was followed by Ahner, Nirmitra (Khandapani) and Kshemak. Nanda dynasty in Nanda dynasty Ugrasena (424-404), Panduka (404-294), Pandugati (394-384), Bhutapala (384-372), Rashtrapala (372-360), Devananda (360-348), Yajnabhanga (348) -342), Mauryananda (342–336), Mahananda (336–324). Before this, the dynasty of Brahadratha was established on Magadha. Brihadratha became the king in the 94th generation of Manu of Ayodhya clan. The kings of their lineage were Somadhi, Shrutashrava, Ayutayu, Nirmitra, Sukritta, Brihatkarman, Senajit, Vibhu, Shuchi, Kshem, Suvrata, Nivriti, Trinetra, Mahasen, Sumati, Achal, Sunetra, Satyajit, Virajit and Arinjaya respectively. He ruled Magadha before Kshemdharma (639-603 BC).
