RISE OF MAHAJANAPADAS
➮ The Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya gives the list of sixteen Mahajanapadas at the time of Buddha.
➮ These Mahajanapadas extended from Northwestern Pakistan to east Bihar and from the Himalayas to the river Godavari.
Mahajanapada Capital Area
Mahajanapada | Capital | Area |
Anga | Champa | Bhagalpur, Munger (Bihar) |
Magadha | Rajgriha | Patna, Gaya (Bihar) |
Kasi | Varanasi | Near Varanasi |
Kosal | Saketa, Sravasti | Eastern Uttar Pradesh |
Vajji (Ganasangha) | Vaishali | Muzaffarpur (Bihar) |
Malla | Kusinara/Pava | Gorakhpur (U.P.) |
Chedi | Suktimati | Bundelkhand (U.P.) |
Vatsa | Kaushambi | Allahabad (U.P.) |
Kuru | Indraprastha | Meerut Delhi region |
Panchal | Ahicchatra, Kampilya | Western U.P. |
Sursena | Mathura | Mathura (U.P.) |
Gandhar | Taxila | Peshawar (Pakistan) |
Kamboja | Rajpura | Near Gandhar |
Asmak | Paithan | Godhavari area (M.H.) |
Avanti | Ujjain, Mahishmati | Malwa region |
Matsya | Viratnagar | Near Jaipur |
➮ Kashi was famous for its cotton textiles and market for horses.
➮ Champa was noted for its trade and Commerce.
➮ Vajji represented a confederacy of eight clans.
➮ The Buddha died in the vicinity of Kusinara.
➮ The Northern Panchalas had their capital at Ahicchatra.
➮ The Southern Panchalas had their Capital at Kampilya.
➮ Viratnagar was used as the hiding place by Pandavas.
➮ Mathura was located at the junction of two famous trade routes i.e. Uttrapatha and Dakshinapatha.
➮ The Kambojas were regarded as uncultured by the Brahmanical texts.
➮ The Buddha calls himself Kosalan in the Majjhima Nikaya.
➮ Kashi had emerged as a cloth manufacturing center by the time of Buddha.