HISTORY. Subject : History (For under graduate student) Topic No. & Title : Topic-7 Janapadas and Mahajanapadas

Transcription

1 HISTORY Subject : History (For under graduate student) Paper No. : Paper-I History of India Topic No. & Title : Topic-7 Janapadas and Mahajanapadas Lecture No. & Title : Lecture-2 Sixteen Mahajanapadas Janapadas and Mahajanapadas: 16 Mahajanapadas At the beginning of the sixth century BCE, there was no paramount political power in north India. We have references to mahajanapadas instead of multiple janapadas. The literal meaning of the term janapada is a well populated definite territory. The prefix maha added to the term janapadas clearly shows that it was a larger kind of political entity than the original janapadas, and that the ruler of these mahajanapadas definitely exercised a huge amount of power. The Buddhist text, Anguttara Nikaya gives us a list of these janapadas. There are references to

2 sixteen Mahajanapadas which are termed as solasa mahajanapadas. The janapadas were located mainly in the Ganga valley; while some of them were in the north-western part of India, in the Deccan, and in the region to the east of the Ganga valley. The major janapadas like Magadha, Anga, Malla and the Vrijji Confederacy were located, according to the Buddhist canonical texts, in the middle Ganga plains. To its west were the Kashi, Kosala and Vatsa janapadas. To its further west were Kuru, Panchala, Shurasena and Matsya. And in the north-western part of the sub continent were the Gandhara and Kamboja janapadas. To the south, Assaka was located in the Godavari area, while Avanti and Chetiya were in western and central India. Out of these janapadas, it was Magadha which grew important and finally ruled the entire northern part of the Indian sub continent. There is another text in the form of the Jain Bhagawati Sutra, which gives us a different list of

3 the Janapadas. Kashi, Kosala, Vatsa, Magadha, and Anga were in common with Buddhist sources, but there are references to certain others, which were located more to the eastern part of the Indian sub continent. This shows that the Bhagawati Sutra list was of a much later date than the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya. Structure of polity The janapadas mainly had a monarchical structure of polity, except in the case of the Vrijjis and the Mallas who had taken chosen the ganasangha type of polity. The aim of the monarch was to maintain a society based on the varnashrama dharma, so that order would prevail among different social groups. This required an astute and militarily strong monarch. Among the janapadas, the first to come into prominence in the sixth century BCE was the Kashi janapada. According to the Pali Canonical texts, the rulers of Kashi were always eager to become the paramount power. Aggarajanum is the term used in this text, along with Sakala Jambudwipa which translates as the ruler of the entire sub continent. There

4 was a protracted struggle between the Kashi janapada and the Kosala janapada, as a result of which Kashi was subdued, when Prasenajit, the ruler of Kosala came into power. Kashi with its capital at Varanasi was a janapada that attracted other rulers. It was bounded by the river Varuna to the north and the river Asi to the south. The importance of Kashi lay in the fact that it was an important trading centre, and one of the leading ports of the Ganga valley. The flourishing trade and enormous economic resources of Kashi have been mentioned by the Jatakas and other Buddhist literature. There were wealthy merchants moving around Kashi all the time. This motivated the other janapadas to conquer Kashi. Later on even Magadha was much eager to bring Kashi within its fold. As long as Bimbisara was ruling Magadha, there existed friendly relations between him and Prasenajit, the king of Kosala. But with the demise of Bimbisara, when Ajatasatru came to power, he tried to curb the power of the Kosalans. Thus there were struggles between the

5 mahajanapadas, with one attempting to control the other, and thereby extending its power and territory. Next to Kashi and Kosala was the Anga janapada. Anga was an important territory located in eastern Bihar, and is presently identified with the Bhagalpur region. The capital of Anga was Champa or Champapura. Control over Champa would give any monarch the added advantage of possessing the rights over the resources of the riverine trade network. Champa was connected with distant lands. Ships from Champa sailed to Suvarnabhumi, a region in south-east Asia, which had maritime links with eastern India from very early times, now corroborated by archaeological evidence. Geographically speaking the sixteen mahajanapadas stretched from the north-western frontier, to eastern Bihar, from the Godavari (the Deccan region), to the region of the Mallas in north Bihar. In the western part was located Kosambi (Allahabad), while the eastern limit was marked by Anga. Among the more important janapadas, Avanti was only one outside the middle Ganga plains.

6 The control of Champa was important as it would give that power the revenue which was required for organizing a strong state foundation. Next to Champa was Magadha. Magadha was initially a weaker power. But with the coming of the Mauryas, it was Magadha which actually controlled the entire Indian subcontinent. Magadha became a pan- Indian power. Just prior to the sixth century BCE the Magadhan ruler belonged to the family of Brihadratha. But from the sixth century BCE it was the Haryanka family that was ruling Magadha. The first ruler of the Haryanka family, Bimbisara was a strong military leader and astute politician. On ascending the throne, Bimbisara realized that embarking on a policy of aggrandizement or waging wars, would not suit his purpose, because he knew that in comparison to other powers Magadha was weak. So the first step he took was to contract dynastic marriages with Madra in west Punjab, and getting the Kosalan princess as his wife. This changed the economics and politics of Magadha as the Kosalan princess brought the Kashi village, as dowry for Bimbisara.

7 Bimbisara could thereby control a part of the Kashi region which was of considerable importance at that time. With the control of Kashi, and western Punjab, and having the major powers as allies, Bimbisara embarked upon the conquest of Anga, which constituted the first step in his policy of expansion towards the east. The control of Champa and the possession of Kashi gave him a strong footing, and enabled him to continue with expansion. Bimbisara thus prepared the grounds for his son, Ajatasatru who was more aggressive and dynamic and wanted to get hold of Avanti. Avanti was located in the western part of the Indian subcontinent with its capital at Ujjaini, a very important trade centre located on an important trade route that ran from Pratisthana to the northern parts. It was also linked to the coastal parts of Gujarat. Ajatasatru had to defeat the ruler of Avanti, Pradyota, who was also a strong ruler. In the mean time, there was trouble between, Pradyota of Avanti and the ruler of Kosala. (We have a story where Vasavadatta, the daughter of the Avanti ruler fell in love

8 with the ruler of Kosala leading to problems between the two states). Gradually Ajatasatru did defeat Avanti, and thereby taking an important step in Magadhan expansion. His next attempt was to get hold of the northern principalities. A dispute regarding the control of Kashi, between Ajatasatru and the Vrijjian Confederacy led to war. Ajatasatru fought the Vrijjian Confederacy with his policy of dissension, which is known in Indian history as his Machiavellian policy, whereby he sowed the seeds of discontentment among the ganarajyas, thus enabling him to defeat the Vrijjis. Thus Magadha now emerged as a formidable power having control of Vrijji, Kosala and Anga. Udayana succeeded Ajatasatru. He shifted his capital from Rajagriha to Pataliputra. This shift is significant because with the expansion of the Magadhan territory it was imperative that Udayana had a capital located in a central position rather than where Rajagriha was located. From Pataliputra he could have access to north, south, east and west. Pataliputra was located at the confluence of the river Son and the Ganga and it was also linked with the

9 Uttarapatha,- the trans-regional northern route that passed through Pataliputra. Pataliputra remained as the Magadhan capital for a pretty long time and it was only in the early medieval period that it was shifted from Patiliputra to Kanyakubja or present day Kanauj. The Haryanka Dynasty was supplanted by the Shishunaga Dynasty which was named after its first ruler, Shishunaga. The most important achievement of this dynasty was that it completely destroyed Avanti and brought it into the Magadhan fold. The Shishunaga dynasty was succeeded by a dynasty which is represented also in the Greco-Roman literature as the house of the Nandas. There are references to Mahapadmananda the founder of the Nanda dynasty, and his nine successors in the Puranas. These other rulers could have been his sons or brothers. Historically, apart from Mahapadmananda, we have reference only to Dhanananda, as the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty, who was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya, who then became the ruler of Magadha.

10 With the coming of the Mauryas began another chapter in Magadhan history, which would witness how it entirely subdued the powers and become a pan-indian power. The reasons for Magadhan supremacy were its proximity to the Ganga valley plain, its astute and strong rulers, the religious freedom that prevailed, the possession of a strong army that included elephants, and its access to mines. The combination of all these factors enabled the Magadhan monarchs to exalt themselves to a pre-eminent position among the other contemporary rulers. The growth of urban centres was an outstanding feature of this period. These urban centres were important as places of craft specialization. Magadha with its vast resources, both mineral and agrarian, could provide the platform for such kinds of craft specializations, and this too helped Magadha to emerge victorious in the long struggle between Magadha and the sixteen eminent powers or mahajanapadas. While Magadha was attaining glory and power, northwestern India was facing a different kind of scenario in the

11 fifth century BCE. Around this time north-western India experienced the Persian invasion from the west. But the brunt of the Persian invasion did not reach the middle Ganga plains and thus the development of Magadha continued unhindered. Being in possession of a strong military force, and having a firm foundation so far as revenue, taxation, and a strong agricultural base, were concerned, Magadha was able to move ahead from the other rulers. Two important janapadas were Gandhara and Kamboja which were located in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. Gandhara ruled by Pukkasati and Kamboja are always mentioned together in the sources of the period, including the inscriptions of Asoka. The north western Indian janapadas were important because they had an independent monarchial setup. They were a part of the larger trade route. But there was no effort on their part to extend themselves towards the east, and neither was any attempt made to control them (Gandhara and Kamboja) till the time of the Nandas.

12 Regarding the powers that were nearer to the Magadhan area we have reference to another power called Shurasena referred to as Sourasenoi in Greek and Latin sources. Sourasenoi denotes present day Mathura region, which is identified as the birthplace of Lord Krishna and was an area where the Krishna legend grew. In the writings of Megasthenes during the time of Chandragupta Maurya we find references to the Sourasenoi. Mathura was always an important centre of attraction, because it was well connected to the trade routes, and was also a region where different kinds of sculptural and craft activities flourished. The Sourasenois as well as Madurs and Clesubera find reference in classical literature. Till the date of Megasthenes the Sourasenoi were important, and it was also mentioned as a place where Heracles (Krishna) was worshipped. Magasthenes confused Heracles with Krishna because both of them had certain common features. Further northwards from Sourasenoi in Mathura, was another janapada known as the Matsya janapada, with its capital at Biratanagara. Matsya was located in present day Jaipur-Alwar region, and the name of the capital Virata was

13 derived from the name of its king, Virata Raja. During the time of the Mauryas, we find that many of Asokan inscriptions were located in this region like the Bairat edicts. One of the more important janapadas was the Panchala. The Panchala janapada was divided into two portions,-the northern Panchala which was located in present day Ahicchatra region in the Bellary district, and southern Panchala, identified with the Kampila region. The famous city of Kanyakubja was located in this region. The Panchalas were efficient warriors and we have reference to the Panchalas in the epic, Mahabharata. They are always considered together with the Kurus. The Panchalas as a group of people thus continued to exist even in later times. What is interesting is that even the later Puranas mention the sixteen janapadas most of most of which were located in the heartland of the Ganga valley. References in the later Puranas indicate that the political geography remained more or less similar in later times. In the south there was only one janapada, the Assaka or Ashmaka located in the Godavari region. It is significant as

14 the only janapada that has been mentioned as located in the southern part of the subcontinent. It is clear from the location of these janapadas, that they were concentrated in the middle Ganga plains. The sixth century BCE was therefore a significant period in early Indian history, marked by the presence of janapadas and mahajanapadas, which had different systems of governance and political structure. There were two types of political structures, the monarchical polity, and the non-monarchical polity. The presence of urban centres, gave rise to monetization and the growth of craft centres. One of the famous janapadas of this period was Kaushambi, situated near Allahabad to which the Buddhist texts refer to as the mahanagara. Archaeological evidence has shown that all the elements of a mahanagara were present in Kaushambi. The sixth century BCE thus witnessed a transition to a new historical scene in northern India, with the establishment of kingdoms, oligarchies, and chiefdoms along with the emergence of towns.