ancient

Vedic Period

 

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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( PatnaBihar) 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.

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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

 

 

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