Sixteen Mahajanapadas

1. Anga

Capital Champa was located at the confluence of the Champa and the Ganga rivers.

It corresponds to the modern-day villages of Champapuri and Champanagar in Bihar.

It is located between the Champa River to the west and the Rajmahal Hills to the east.

The first reference to Anga was found in Atharvaveda.

Anga was annexed by Magadha in the time of Bimbisara, it was the only conquest of Bimbisara.

Its present location is Munger and Bhagalpur.

Potali is identified as present-day Bodhan in Telangana.

Including areas of present-day Andhra-Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharastra.

It was located around the Godavari river.

Initially, Mahismati was the Capital of Southern Avanti and Ujjain was of northern Avanti.

At the time of  Mahavir and Buddha, Ujjaini was the capital of integrated Avanti.

Avanti was an important center of Buddhism.

The most important ruler of the kingdom was Pradyota, who married Vasavdatta, the daughter of Udayana.

Nandivardhan the king of Avanti was defeated by Shishunaga the king of Magadha, Avanti later became part of the Magadha empire.

The Chedis had two distinct settlements of which one was in the mountains of Nepal and the other in Bundelkhand near Kausambi.

According to old authorities, Chedis lay near Yamuna midway between the kingdom of Kurus and Vatsa. In the medieval period, the southern frontiers of Chedi extended to the bank of river Narmada.

The people of Gandhara were well-trained in the art of war.

The water source for this region was the river Indus.

Present day location is modern Peshawar and Rawalpindi in Pakistan and the Kashmir valley.

Famous king-Pushkarasarin.

Persian conquered Gandhara in the 6^th century BCE.

In ancient literature, the Kamboja is variously associated with the Gandhara, Darada, and Bahlika (Bactria)

Kautilya’s Arthashastra attests to Kamboja’s Republican character.

Ashoka’s Edict No. XIII also testifies to the presence of Kamboja along with the Yavanas.

The Northern Border of Kashi was separated from Kosala by the river Sarpika.

Before Buddha Kashi was the most powerful of the sixteen Mahajanapadas.

King Brihadratha of Kashi, conquered Kosala, but Kashi was later incorporated into Kosala by King Kansa during the time of Buddha.

Kushavati – the Capital of the southern side

Kosala’s territory corresponds to the modern Awadh (or Oudh) in Central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

River Ganga on its southern, Gandak (Narayani) in the eastern and Himalayas was situated for its northern boundary.

The longest dynasty was Raghuvansha-Iksavakuvansha. Lord Rama was the king of this dynasty.

Other great kings were Prithu, Harishchandra, and Dilip as mentioned in the Puranas, Ramayana, and Mahabharat. According to these texts, Koshala was the most powerful and biggest kingdom ever in recorded history.

In the era of Buddha and Mahavira, the dynasty was ruled by the famous king Prasenjit.

The position of Prasenjit was further improved by matrimonial alliances with Magadha, his sister was married to Bimbisara, and part of Kashi was given as a dowry.

There was a struggle for supremacy between Presenjit and king Ajatshatru of Magadha which was finally settled once the confederation of Licchivis became conquered by Magadha.

Koshala merged into Magadha in the region of Vidudabha the ruler of Koshala.

Patliputra

Its capital Pataliputra was situated on the confluence of major rivers like Ganga, Son, Punpun, and Gandak.

The modern location is Gaya, Patna in Bihar.

The country of the Matsya or Maccha tribe lays to the south of the Kurus and west of the Yamuna, which separated them from the Panchalas.

Matsya roughly corresponds to the former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur.

Kampilya or Kampil: The capital of southern Panchala

The famous city of Kannauj was situated in Panchala kingdom.

Mathura is located on the bank of the river Yamuna.

It corresponds roughly to the Brij region of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gwalior region of Madhya Pradesh.

Centre of Lord Krishna worship

Located on the Bank of Yamuna.

Its Capital Kausambi was a very prosperous city where a large number of wealthy merchants were raised.

During the 5^th – 6^th century, BCE Udayana was the powerful ruler of Vatsa.

Initially, Udayana opposed Buddhism, but later he became a follower of Buddha and made Buddhism the state religion.

Queen Mrigavati was the mother of Udayana. She is notable for being one of the earliest female rulers in Indian History.