Janapadas and Mahajanapadas

Janapadas and Mahajanapadas

• In 6th century BC, ancient India had a number of kingdoms which emerged during the Vedic age.

• This period saw socio-economic development along with religious and political developments across the Indo-Gangetic plain.

• These permanent settlements led the evolution from Janapadas to Mahajanpada.

• The term janapada literally means the place where a group of people, or a tribe/ clan (jana) place their foot (pada)

Mahajanapadas -

• It is amalgamation of large number of rural and urban settlement alongwith inhabitants

Sources of information of Mahajanpadas-

• The Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya (a part of Suttapitak) provided the names of 16 Mahjanapadas.

• Another Buddhist text Mahavastu also provided such list of sixteen Mahajanapadas.

• The Buddhist Auguttara Nikaya, at several places, gives a list of sixteen Mahajanapadas.

• Another Buddhist texts, the Digha Nikaya mentions only twelve Mahajanapadas and omits four of them (Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja).

• Jaina text Bhagavati Sutra provided the details of 16 Mahjanapadas

Sixteen Mahajanapdas-

• Two kinds of states were therei.e. monarchical and republican states.

• Both the forms of government rest on stable systems and well established principles.

• Some states were ruled by Kshatriya rulers, even though some non-Kshatriya kings also existed

Anga-

• The Kingdom of Anga corresponded roughly to the modern districts of Monghr and Bhagalpur of East Bihar.

• The river Champa was the boundary between Anga and Magadha.

• Its Capital was Champa.

• In the middle of the 6th Century B.C. the kingdom of Anga was occupied by Magadha.

Kasi-

• It was loacted around Varanasi which was the capital as well.

• It is believed that this city got its name from rivers Varuna and Asi as mentioned in the Matsya Purana.

• There was rivalry between the kingdoms of Kashi and Kosala.

• Kashi was also involved in occasional conflicts with Anga and Magadha

Kosala-

• Kosala roughly corresponds to modern Avadh in Uttar Pradesh.

• The Sarayu River divided it into a northern and a southern part.

• Capital -Shravasti, which is identified with SahethMaheth, was the capital of north Kosala.

• Kushavati the capital of South Kosala.

• Saketa and Aydhya were two other important cities and political centres.

• The popular king of Kosala was Prasanjit contemporary of Bimbisara and Ajatsatru of Magadha.

• It was a monarchical kingdom.

• Kosala succeeded in conquering Kashi. It extended its power over the Sakyas of Kapilavastu.

Magadha-

• It also finds reference in the Atharva Veda which tells that Magadha was semi-brahmanical place.

• It was situated in present day Bihar close to Anga, separated by river Champa.

It was bound by the Ganga, Son and Champa rivers on the north, west, and east respectively and the Vindhyan range on the south.

Capital-

• Its first capital was Girivraja or Rajagriha, modern Rajgir.

• This city was closely associated with the lives of the Buddha as well as Mahavira.

• However later, its capital shifted to Pataliputra, often associated with modern Patna.

• Later, Magadha became a center of Jainism.

• Along with that, the first Budhist Council was held in Rajagriha.

Vajji-

• Its capital was Vaishali.

• It was an important Mahajanapadas.

• The major races residig here were Licchavis, Vedehans, Jnatrikas and Vajjis.

• The Vajji confederacy is said to have been led by Chetaka, who was the brother of Trishala (mother of Mahavira)

Malla-

• It was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas.

• It finds mention in ‘Mahabharata’ and Buddhist and Jain texts.

• They were a republic.

• Their capital was Kusinara located around present day Deoria and Uttar Pradesh and also Kusinagara

Chedi-

• The Chedi territory was situated in the eastern part of the modern Bundel Khand in Central India.

• Its capital was Shuktimati.

• This was mentioned in the Rigveda,

Vatsa-

• Vatsa territory was situated around the region of Allahabad with the capital Kausambi.

• There was a prosperous trade and business scenario in 6th century BC.

• It was famous for cotton textiles. According to a Buddhist tradition the Vatsa were a Kuru clan who had shifted from Hastinapur and settled down at Kausambi near Allahabad.

• The most powerful king of Vatsa was Udayana.

• Around the same time, king Pradyota was ruling Avanti.

Kuru-

• The Kurus were settled in the modern day Ganga-Yamuna Doab region According to Buddhist tradition, the Kuru kingdom was ruled by kings belonging to the Yuddhitthila gotra, i.e., the family of Yudhisthira.

• Its capital was Hastinapur / Indraprastha.

• The Jaina text, Uttaradhyayana Sutra refers to a Kuru king named Isukara who ruled from the town of Isukara

Panchala-

• Its capital was Ahichchatra and Kampilaya for its noerthern and southern regions respectively.

• It was located in present day western Uttar Pradesh. And it shifted from monarchy to being a republic later.

• The mahajanapada had important urban centres, such as Kanyakubja or Kanauj

Matsya-

• It was located to south of the Kurus and west of the Panchalas.

• Its capital was at Viratanagar, which lays around present day Jaipur

Surasena-

• The Surasena was a republican Mahajanapada.

• Its Capital was Mathura on the bank of river Yamuna.

• According to the Buddhist tradition, one Surasena king, Avantiputra was a Buddhist disciple

Kamboja-

• Its capital was Rajpur.

• It is located in present day Kashmir and Hindukush.

• Various literary sources menton that Kamboja was a republic

Gandhara-

• The kingdom of Gandhara comprised modern day Peshawar and Rawalpindi districts in Pakistan.

• Its capital, Takshasila or Taxila was a major centre of trade and learning.  

• Around the sixth century BCE, Gandhara was being ruled by king Pukkusati or Pushkarasarin, who successfully waged a war against Avanti.

• He also maintained cordial relations with Magadha

Avanti-

• The Malwa region of Central India and the adjoining parts lay the state of the Avantis.

• It was divided into northern and Southern part by the Vindhyas.

• Avanti had two capitals, one at Ujjayini (near modern Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh) and the other at Mahishmati (identified with modern day Mandhata in the western part of Madhya Pradesh).

• Chanda Pradyato was the most powerful king of Avanti.

• During his period Avanti was involved in conflicts with Vatsa, Magadha and Kosala.

Assaka-

• The texts like Ashtadhyayi of Panini and Brihatsamhita suggest that the Assaka Mahajanapada was situated on the bank of river Godavari near Paithan in Maharastra.

• Pithan has been identified with ancient Pratisthana (Potna), the capital of Assaka.

• Ikshavaku was the ruler of this kingdom.

• Finally it was annexed by the kingdom of Avanti.

Among them Magadha, Vatsa, Avanti and Kosala were the most prominent ones.

Republican states-

• In this type of states the king was selected from the group of people called rajas.

• There is reference to assemblies called sabha where the members used to have discussions regarding a particular matter, then the item was put to vote

Some of them were-

• Sakyas of Kapilavastu.

• Moriyas of Pippalivana.

• Koliyas of Ramagrama.

• Bulis of Allakappa.

• Kalams of Kesaputta.

• Lichhavis of Vaishali.

• Mallas of Kushinagar.

• The Nayas (Jantrikas) of Vaisali.

• Videha of Mithila etc.

Socio-Economic and other features of Mahajanpadas-

1.Economy-

A.Agriculture-

• Agriculture prospered in most of the Mahajanapadas as they were located in fertile areas.

• Use of iron Plough increased the grammarian mentions that a wellploughed land was called suhali.

• A vraiheya type of plot was the most suitable for cultivation of paddy (vrihi), yavya for growing wheat (yava), and tilya for sesame (tila)

Increase in Agricultural production led to -

• Increase in Urban Population.

• Increase in Taxes etc.

• The site of urbanization shifted from the Indus Valley  to the Ganga valley

For better understanding Economy can be divided into two parts-

Rural Economy-

• Whereas agriculture was the main occupation cattle rearing and certain small crafts connected with land, forest and animals catering to local requirements, were the other features of the rural economy.

• The rural economy developed through the establishment of new settlements by shifting surplus population from The overpopulated areas, and also by rehabilitating the decaying villages

Urban Economy-

• The urban economy was dominated by traders and craftsmen who produced goods for a wider market on a larger scale

B.Coins-

• Coins were medium of Exchange at that time and some of theme were-kahapana, nikkha, kamsa, pada, masaka, and kakanika

Kahapana (Karsapana)-

• It was of copper and silver and marks were punched on it by merchants or ruler's guilds, guaranteeing its standard.

• A new system called money lending was developed at that time

C.Urban Economy-

Due to these economic activities there was development of Urban Towns and they were divided into different categories-

Pura-

• the term pura is mentioned even in the early vedic literature. Where it referred to fortified settlements or temporary places of refuge or cattle pens.

• Later on it is often used for f the residence of the king

Durga-

• This is the other term used for denoting the fortified capital of a king.

• Fortifications protected the urban centres and separated them from the surrounding rural areas.

Nigama-

• It probably meant a merchant town where the sale and purchase of goods used to take place

Nagara-

• This word is used for the first time in the Taittiriya Aranyaka.

• These centres combined the political functions of the Pura and the commercial functions of the Nigama.

D.Taxes-

• The ‘rajas’ needed resources to build forts and to maintain armies.

• Officials were supposed to collect taxes from people.

• Taxes were in the form of crops, labour, animals and their produce, etc.

2.Society-

• In this period there was divison of caste on the basis of birth and not on the basis of occupation and the number of different social groups increased during this period

A.Social Division-

Brahmanas-

• The Brahmanas mentioned in the contemporary texts seem more like a caste group.

• Brahman is one who is born a Brahman.

• He may change his profession, still he remains a Brahman.

• This group was imbued with a consciousness of being the highest caste

Kshatriyas

• The Kshamyas appear to be the most visible and powerful section of society in the contemporary literature.

• Buddha and Mahavira belonged to this group.

• In the Brahmanical texts the Kshatriyas have'been equated with the warrior caste.

• This is the second highest caste in the varna order

Vaishyas and the Gahapati-

• In the Brahmanical varna system Vaishya was the third caste in the ritual order.

• The Buddhist literature on the other. hand uses the term Gahapati more frequently.

Gahapati-

• It literally means the master of the household.

• This community of landholders, cultivated its land with the family labour or the labour of slaves and servants.

• The Gahapatis got their land cultivated by slaves (dasa), hired labourers (karmakara) and Shudras

The Setthi-Gahapati

• The Setthi-Gahapati referred to very rich merchants and bankers having close contacts with the king.

Shudras-

• The Shudras were the lowest caste in the Brahmanical order.

• Their duty was service to the other three castes.

• The Pali literature frequently mentions dasas (slaves) and karmakaras (wage labourers).

• The dasas, karmakaras and kassakas were the sources of labour supply in rural areas.

• The Chandalas, often called the fifth varna, were reduced to a status lower than the shudras.

• The Chandalas, who came to be treated as untouchable, appear to have been people on the edges of settlements, either forced there by encroaching settlers or requiring a habitat where they lived by hunting and food-gathering.

The difference between varna and jati-

• While the number of varnas was fixed at four, the number of jatis was numerous and kept growing with occupations and new regions.

• Although both groups were ideally supposed to be endogamous (i.e., marriage was supposed to take place within the group), certain inter-varna marriages were acceptable.

• The varnas were associated with a range of occupations, whereas the jatis were associated with specific occupations.

• Hiearchy of Varna was fixed starting from Brahman at top while in jati there was no such thing

B.Condition of Women-

• Women were looked down in comparison to men.

• Thev were described as incapable of sitting in a public assembly.

• They were permanently in the charge of men-father, brother or son.

• Even if they join the Sangha they were treated as inferior to men.