THE MAHAJANAPADAS

THE MAHAJANAPADAS

Mahajanapada	Capital	Highlights
Kasi	Varanasi	Incorporated into Kosala by King Kansa
Kosala	Sravasti	Important cities Ayodhya, Saketa, Benares Annexed Shakya clan, whose King was Buddha’s father Buddha was born at Kapilavastu
Anga	Champa	Annexed by Bimbisara of Magadha
Magadha	Rajagriha, Pataliputra	First Buddhist Council at Pataliputra Origin of Buddhism and Jainism Origin or Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire
Vajji	Mithila	Confedration Lichchavis, Videhans, Vajjis Mahavira’s mother was a Lichchavi princess Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali
Malla	Kusinara, Pava	Followed republican form of government Buddha fell ill at Pava, died at Kusinara
Chedi	Sukti/Suktimati
Vatsa	Kausambi	Important trade centre
Kuru	Indraprastha
Panchala	Chhatravati (Ramnagar), Kampilya
Machcha	Viratanagara (Bairat)
Surasena	Mathura	King Avantiputra was among the first disciples of the Buddha
Assaka	Potana/Potali	Only Mahajanapada south of the Vindhyas Located on the banks of the Godavari Located on Dakshinapatha, road b/w Rajagriha and Paithan (central Maharashtra)
Avanti	Ujjaini	Important centre of Buddhism Located on Dakshinapatha
Gandhara	Taxila	Famous for wool (mentioned in Rig Veda) Taxila University renowned centre of learning Panini and Kautilya both from Taxila Univ. Located on the Uttarapatha Important trade centre b/w Iran and Central Asia
Kambhoja	Rajapura (Rajori)	Had Iranian and Indian affinities Well known for republican government Conquered and annexed by Persian empire

MAGADHA

• Origin of Buddhism and Jainism
• Origin of Maurya Empire and Gupta Empire
• Expansion started by Bimbisara, continued by son Ajatasatru
• Ajatasatru developed 2 new weapons to defeat Licchavis in 15 year war: catapult, covered chariot with swinging mace (like modern tank)
• Mahapadma Nanda became ruler in 424 BCE. He is considered India’s first Empire builder
• Alexander the Great invaded India during the reign of Dhana Nanda in 326 BCE
• Maurya Empire established by Chandragupta Maurya in 321 BCE

SANGAM AGE

Overview

• Supposed to have been three Sangams, the first two in pre-history
  
• The last Sangam (300 BCE – 300 CE) is usually referred to as the Sangam Age
  
• Consisted of middle Chera, Chola, Pandiya kingdoms
  
• Capital cities
  
  • Cheras: Vanchi
    
  • Cholas: Urayur, Kaveripattinam/Puhar
    
  • Pandiyas: Madurai
    

Sangam Literature

• Sangam literature divided into two groups of 18 books each
  
• Literature dealt with two types of issues
  
  • Agam: dealing with personal or human aspects such as love, relationships etc
    
  • Puram: dealing with other aspects of society such as customs, kingdom, war etc
    
• Oldest Tamil literature currently available is the book on Tamil grammar called Tolkappiyam
• There are five epics of the Sangam period
  
  • Silappathikaram: written by Ilango Adigal in the 1^st century CE
    
  • Manimekalai: sequel to Silappathikaram, written by Seethalai Sathanar
    
  • Civaka Cintamani – written by Tirukkatevar
    
  • Valayaapathi – work lost, details unknown
    
  • Kundalakesi – largely lost, details unknown
    

Classification of geographical regions

Different regions of the ancient Tamil country were classified based on their landscape. Each poem in the literature was associated with a particular landscape

Tamil name	Landscape
Kurinchi	Mountains
Mullai	Forest
Marutham	Plains
Neithal	Coast
Paalai	Desert

Other Highlights

• The Grand Anicut is one of the world’s oldest dams still in active use. It was built across the Kaveri by Karikala Chola in the 2^nd century BCE
  
• There was extensive trade with Rome. Main exports were pearls, gold, ivory, pepper and textiles. Main imports were glass, wine and topaz.
  
• Large amounts of Roman currency have been found in Tamil Nadu, as an indicator of foreign trade
  
• The Tirukkural is the book translated into the most number of languages in the world. It is a book of couplets on ethics written by Tiruvalluvar sometime between the 3^rd century BCE and 5^th century CE