Thread by @PrasunNagar

Rise of Magadha

The thread would detail on the 'Rise of Magadha' as an Imperial Power from 6th century BCE to 1st century BCE.

The thread would include the political, cultural advancement of India under the hegemony of Magadha, which made India a superpower in ancient times.

Magadha, in ancient times corrosponded to region of present day Patna, Nālandā, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Navada in present day Bihar.

The region was bounded on the North by Ganges, to the South by Chota Nagpur plateau, in the west Champa river & on the east by Son river.

The earliest reference to Magadha occurs in Atharveda, where it is described along with Gandhara, Anga, Mujawant, etc.

It is also described extensively in Mahabharata and Ramayana.

There is less information on the earliest kings of Magadha.

It was only during Mahabharata that we hear of famous King Jarasandha, who made Magadha as an imperial power.

Image of 'Jarasandh ka Akhara' at Rajgir, Bihar

Son of Brihadartha, Jarasandha was also the son-in-law of Kansa, the king of Mathura, and hence that makes him a relative of Krishna.

Ruling from Girivraja ( Rajgir), he attacked Mathura many times.

He was killed by Bheem in a wrestling bout.

Jarasandha was replaced as a king by his son named Sahdeva, who was killed at the famous battle at Kurukshetra. He was succeeded by Somadhi.

The Vayu Purana mentions that the descendants of Jarasandha ruled for 2600 years.

The Brahmanda Purana states that the last of Jarasandha's descendants named Vipunjayā/Ripunjayā was assassinated by his minister named Punika, who then made his son Pradyota king of Magadha.

Thus started the Pradyota dynasty which ruled for next 138 years, till at least 642 AD.

The last of the Pradyota dynasty king Varttivarddhana, was deposed by Sisunaga, who started the Haryanka dynasty, which made Magadha an imperial power.

One of the most famous and powerful kings of India belonged to Haryanka dynasty.

He was Bimbisara, who gained the throne of Magadha at the young age of 15 and extended the kingdom of Magadha through his military and diplomatic prowess.

After gaining the throne in 544/543 BCE, Bimbisāra's first conquest was the kingdom of Anga, corresponding to the area of Bhagalpur and parts of Bengal.

This conquest gave Magadha the control over the routes to Ganges Delta , & access to east coast of India.

Bimbisāra' used marriage alliances to strengthen the position of Magadha as the most powerful Māhājanapadas of India.

His first wife was Kosala Devi, who was the sister of Prasenjit, King of Kosala.

Kosala Devi gave birth to Ajatshatru, the successor of Bimbisāra'.

As a marriage gift, he received the region of Kāshi ( modern Varanasi).

His second wife was Chellana, the Lichchhavi princess, his third wife was Kshema, who was the daughter of Madra clan of Punjab ( modern Sialkot).

The Mahāvagga states that Bimbisāra had 500 wives.

Bimbisāra also had a relationship with the famous Amrapali of Vaishali, with whom he had a son named as Vimala Kodnana.

Both mother and son later became the disciples of Buddha.

Bimbisāra re-bulit the city of Rājgriha ( abode of the kings).

The architect of the city was Pandit Mahāgovinda.

New cyclopean walls were constructed, along with city gates.

After evening, the gates were closed & not even the king was allowed to enter.

Pukkusati, the king of Gandhara sent Bimbisāra an embassy.

His court is said to have included Sona Kolivisa, Sumana, Koliya , Kumbhaghosaka and Jivaka, who was a great physician.

Bimbisāra is a highly respected figure in Buddhism and Jainism as well.

He is said to have met both Mahavira and Buddha.

He built monasteries as per Buddha's instructions & also sent his physician Jīvaka to attend to Buddha.

As per accounts, Bimbisāra was assassinated by his own son Ajātshatru, who was impatient to rule.

He imprisoned his father and perhaps killed him, or Bimbisāra committed suicide in his jail as per Jain accounts.

The remains of a building at Rajgir was excavated in the 19th century & is called ' Bimbisara Jail'.

While excavating this place in the 19th century, Archeologists found skeleton of a man in fetters inside this compound. Hence called 'Bimbisara Jail', after the legend.

Ajātshatru (491-461 BCE) was the successor of Bimbisāra.

He was the contemporary of Xerxes-I (486-465 BCE) the Persian emperor of Achaemenid dynasty.

Under Ajātshatru, the military might of Magadha truly manifested.

He is generally credited with the inventions of two types of military weapons; 'rathamusala' (scythed chariot) and the 'mahashilakantaka' ( a machine for hurling heavy objects, or a improvised catapult).

Ajātshatru extended the dominion of Magadha, & the petty Republican states were crushed under his might.

His famous war was with the Vajji confederacy led by a branch of Lichcchavis, who inhabited parts of Mithila with their capital at Vaishali.

Image of a stupa at Vaishali

The legends indicate that Ajātshatru sent one of his ministers, Vassakara in disguise to Vaishali in order to create dissension among the Vajjis.

It is also indicated that it took his spies 16 years in order to achieve their task.

Once the task of creating dissension was complete, Ajātshatru unleashed his army and conquered the Vajjians.

He then conquered other parts of 'Aryavrata' and his arms went up towards Satluj river.

Ajātshatru is also credited with laying the foundations of a great city called 'Patāliputra'.

He constructed a fort at the confluence of Ganges & Son river, in order to battle the Vajjis.

In a few decades that small fort grew up to a magnificent city.

The first Buddhist Council, was also held under Ajātshatru, after the death of Buddha in c. 483 BCE.

The story of the first gathering is recorded in the Buddhist text ' Vinaya Pitaka'.

Ajātshatru died in around 461 BCE, after ruling for 30 years.

The Buddhist sources indicate that Ajātshatru was murdered by his son Udayabhadra or Udayan.

Ajātshatru had murdered his own father to gain the throne.

Similarly, his son also murdered him and then ascended the throne of Magadha.

Image of Ajātshatru fort, where his ashes were placed at Rajgir.

Udayabhadra or Udayan succeeded Ajātshatru in 461 BCE.

He is credited for shifting the capital of Magadha from Rajgir to Pātaliputra.

He also defeated the kings of Avanti.

Buddhist sources indicate that he was murdered by his son Anuruddha for the throne.

Image of Udayan

Anuruddha was also murdered by his son Munda, who ruled for few years.

He too, was murdered by his son Nāgādāsākā, who ruled for 25 years from c. 438 BCE.

Nāgādāsākā, was a corrupt ruler & the people of Magadha rose up in revolt against this king.

People, tired of parricide among the Haryanka dynasty rulers, deposed the king & installed one of his ministers, Shishunaga as the new king

Shishunaga started a dynasty after his name.

Shisunaga (413-395 BCE) was an amātya ( minister) of the last Haryanka dynasty ruler, Nāgādāsākā.

He was also a governor at Kāshi ( Varanasi).

He shifted the capital back to Rājagriha, and made his son Viceroy of Kāshi.

He is credited with the final annexation of Avanti, by defeating Avantivardhana, and thus bringing an end to almost hundred years of warfare between these two powers.

Shishunaga was succeeded by his son Kakarvani Kalasoka.

Under him, the second buddhist council took place, 100 years after the death of Buddha, in c. 383 BCE.

Kalarvani Kalasoka was killed by his barber minister, Mahapadma Nanda.

Banabhatta in 'Harscharita' says that Kalasoka was "killed by a dagger thrust into his throat, in the neighborhood of his city, Pātaliputra".

Q. Curtis Rufus states that:

The father of Agrammes ( Dhana-Nanda) was a barber scarcely staving of hunger by his daily earnings, but who, because of his handsome personality had gained the affection of the Queen and got a position at the court.

Afterwards, however, he treacherously murdered his sovereign & then under the pretence of acting as guardian of royal children, usurped the royal throne.

He, afterwards killed the nine sons of Kalasoka & married his queen.

Thus, a Barber-King occupied the throne of Magadha.

The Nandas, under Mahapadma Nanda was the next dynasty of Magadha.

They were rich, avaricious, 'adharmik'( as the Puranas state).

They were perhaps the first empire builders of India.

Mahapadma Nanda, as per Puranas is called a ' Second Parashurama'.

He uprooted the Kshatriya dynasties of Ikshvakus, Surasenas, Haihayas, Panchalas, Kalingas, etc and made Magadha a supreme power.

A vast empire of Magadha was created under Māhāpadma Nanda, who also occupied Kalinga and took away the Royal treasures and the statue of first Jain Tirthankar.

The Nandas also made an aqueduct at Kalinga.

The above info comes from the Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela.

His successor Dhana-Nanda (c. 350-322 BCE), was legendary for his wealth and his anti-people policies, if the Greek, Jain, Buddhist, and South Indian accounts are anything to go by.

A Tamil poem refers to his wealth "which having accumulated first in Pātali hid itself in the floods of the Ganges."

The 'Katha-Saritsagara' speaks of '990 million gold pieces of Nandas'.

He was called 'Dhana -Nanda' by the way of contempt because he was "addicted to hoarding treasure", as per Mahavamsa Tika.

He is stated to have buried his treasures in a rock-bed at the Ganges in Pātaliputra.

Dhana Nanda, was notorious for his avarice, the possessor of "riches to the amount of 80 kotis( 1 koti= 10 million = 1 crore) and given to "levying taxes on skins, gums, trees and stones".

Dhana-Nanda had enough power & pelf, but he lacked popularity.

Chandragupta, himself reported to Alexander that he was "hated by his subjects" and Alexander had this report confirmed by Indian Kings like Porus (Paurava) & Phegelas (Bhagala).

His unpopularity is due as much to the original sin of his father & to his tyrannical rule and exactions.

Thus, his power was tottering to its fall. It was not broad based upon people's will.

In 322 BCE, he was removed by Chanakya, who installed Chandragupta as king.

Power of Nandas

The Nandas ruled a large portion of India, and for the first time we have references of an Indian power in Greek literature.

Q. Curtius Rufus calculates Nanda army to be 2 lakh infantry, 20,000 horse, 2,000 four-horsed chariots and 3,000 war-elephants.

The Greeks called this region as 'Gangaridai' and 'Prassi'.

D. C. Sarkar believes that the word Gangaridai means " Ganga people".

'Prassi'= Prachya in Sanskrit, or Easterners.

Diodorus in 1st century BCE, states that:

"..... upon learning that the Gandaridae had four thousand elephants equipped for war he ( Alexander) gave up his campaign against them."

Diodorus further informs us:

"No Foreign king has ever subdued this country, all alien nations being fearful of the multitude & the strength of the beasts. In fact even Alexander of Macedon, although he had subdued all Asia, refrained from making war upon the Gandaridae.... "

Plutarch informs us:

"For they ( Macedonians) were told that kings of Ganderites & Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants."

Source: Parallel Lives, Life of Alexander

All in all, it was a wise decision by Alexander to retreat. He would have found himself in a 'meat grinder' had he tried taking on the might of Magadha.

His lines of communication was over-extended & rebellions were taking place behind him, most notably at Arachosia ( Kandahar)

The Mauryan dynasty succeeded the Nandas.

The Mauryan empire has been called the ' first empire of India'.

It was under the Mauryas that India was unified politically for the first time in recorded history.

Chandragupta, with his guru Kautilya achieved the political unification of the country for the first time in recorded history.

His empire ranged from Aria ( Herat) to Bengal, and from southern Karnataka to Mysore.

On 305 BCE, when Seleukos Nikator, one of the generals of Alexander tried to invade India, he was defeated and had to cede the areas of Herat, Kabul valley, Baluchistan and Kandahar to Chandragupta.

Afterwards, Seleukos sent Megasthenes as his ambassador to Pātaliputra.

After Chandragupta, his son Bindusara got the throne of Magadha and ruled for 25 years.

He was able to preserve the empire, albeit there were rebellions in his kingship, when Taxila revolted & he had to send one of his sons, Ashoka to quell it.

There was period of four years from 273 BCE, which was a period of civil war between the sons of Bindusara.

Ashoka, one of his sons defeated all his opponents and became the third emperor of Mauryan dynasty in 269 BCE.

The only political event of Ashoka's reign was the Battle of Kalinga fought in the year 261 BCE.

The battle made Ashoka give up conquests and furthermore, he became a zealous follower of Buddha, after his conversion at least 2.5 years before the battle.

Ashoka is also remembered for his Rock and pillar edicts, 35 in number, where he has promoted his works and his affliction to the Buddhist order.

Under Ashoka, the third Buddhist Council was held in c. 250 BCE.

Ashoka also is a builder of cities. The city of 'Shrinagari', modern Srinagar was founded by Ashoka.

He also sent ambassadors to the Greek world and his remembered for his public works & protection of animals.

Ashoka died in 232 BCE, and the empire disintegrated less than 50 years after his death.

The last Mauryan emperor, Brihidartha was assassinated while reviewing his troops by his commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Sunga.

Pushyamitra started a new dynasty in 184 BCE.

The Sunga dynasty started by Pushyamitra maintained its hold over most of North India.

The NW was invaded by the Indo-Greek kings, who ruled the reign till 1st century BCE and made several expeditions on North India, but were pushed back.

As per the Ayodhya inscription of 1st century BCE, Pushyamitra Sunga is credited with holding two Ashvamedha Yajñas.

Pushyamitra was succeeded by his son Aginimitra in 149 BCE, and ruled for 8 years.

This king has been immortalised by Kalidasa in his epic play 'Mālvikagnimitram'.

Other kings followed Agnimitra. One of them was Vasumitra, who defeated the Greeks in a cavalry engagement on the banks of the Indus.

Vasumitra was assassinated while watching a play in his capital city in 124 BCE.

Bhāgabhadra, was the penultimate emperor of Sunga dynasty.

He maintained diplomatic relations with the Indo-Greeks, who sent him an ambassador named Heliodorus in c. 100 BCE

Devābhuti was the last ruler of Sunga dynasty, who was said to overfond of women.

He was assassinated by his minister named Vasudeva who started a new dynasty in 73 BCE.

After ruling for more than 40 years, the last ruler of Kanva dynasty named Susarman was killed by Balipuccha, who founded the Andhra dynasty in 27 BCE.

Thus, more than 500 years of Magadha dominance came to a halt.

Magadha would again revive 350 years later, under the Guptas.

Social Conditions in Magadhan era:

Society was based on orthodox Hindu system which divided it among 4principal castes (varnas) & many lower castes ( avara-varna).

Kautilya in Arthashastra ( Book 3, chpt 1) describes offsprings of various castes, Ambastha, Ugra, Chandala, etc.

Megasthenes divides Indian society in to 7 classes, and gives particular emphasis to sophists or 'sramanas'.

As per Megasthenes, sophists ( Brahmins) are the most respected class of people and even the king takes advice from them.

pic courtsey @thedivinetales

Megasthenes on Kshatriyas:

"Fighting men who are maintained at the King's expense and hence they are always ready, when occasion calls, to take the field; for they carry nothing of their own with them but their own bodies."

As per Megasthenes:

"The Indians neither put out money at usury, nor know how to borrow."

" It is contrary to established usage for an Indian to do or suffer a wrong and therefore they neither make contracts nor require securities. Their houses are usually unguarded."

Architecture of Magadhan Times

We have ample evidence on the architecture of the times.

Emperor Ashoka was the first one who created magnificent pillars and his edicts on rock, and caves to promote his works.

The stupa at Sanchi was also originally made under his kingship.

Pātaliputra Capital

This is a rectangular capital with classical Greek designs, which was found on the ancient site of Pātaliputra.

The capital has a height of 33.5 inches and weighs around 900 kg.

The design of the capital is influenced by Hellenistic art and may have been constructed by craftsmen, who came all the way from the Greek world.

This also proves the strengthening of Indo-Greek intercourse which had started after the invasion of India by Alexander.

The Didarganj Yakshi s one of the finest examples of very early Indian stone statues.

The figure is 6'4" tall, carved out of single piece of stone. The life-size standing image is a tall, free-standing one, made of sandstone with the well-polished surface. An eg of Mauryan art.

The lion capital of Ashoka is a sculpture of four lions standing back to back.

The structure sits on a lotus & is carved of a single block of polished sandstone.

Standing 7 feet high, the structure is the national emblem of India.

The Lomash Rishi Caves are man-made caves, located at Jehanabad district in Bihar.

The cave was bulit during Ashokan times and is dedicated to Ajvikas, a heretical sect.

There are inscriptions found at the cave, including one of Ashoka and of his successors.

Script and Language

The script of the times consisted of Brahmi, as per Ashokan inscriptions.

However, the script in NW was Kharotshi, Greek and Aramic.

The language of the masses was Prakrit. Sanskrit was spoken by Brahmins and higher classes.

Coins

Coins have also been excavated at the site of ancient Pātaliputra. These are taken to be earliest known pre-Mauryan with 'the hare & dog on Hill' symbol.

Image of a punch-marked Kārshapana, 5th-4th century BCE.

Many of these coins were punched by Mauryas to make them 'legal tender' or kosa-pravesya, as Kautilya calls them.

There is a tradition about Nandas inaugurating a Royal measure (Nandoparakrāmani mānani), while their wealth may be due to their coinage & currency system.

These punches on the coins denote Sun, circle with 6 arms, 3 arrow heads, & symbol of peacock, tree, animal, like a bull, rhino & even fishes.

In some cases there are symbol of a sacred tree within a railing, which is perhaps a mark of Buddhist influence in the time of Ashoka.

Educational Centre

Ancient Magadha was also known for its highly evolved education system.

Pātaliputra was the intellectual capital of India in those days. Chanakya, Varsha, Upavarsha, Panini, Patanjali, etc all received everlasting fame by passing their finals at Pātaliputra

Roads:

The general conditions of transportation have been very well described. The Buddhist and Greek sources tell us a lot about the conditions of roads in Magadhan era.

Inland Roads:

The inland trade was carried on by carts and caravans.

According to Jataka, book 1, chpt 92, there were caravans travelling south-east from Sravasthi to Rajgriha and back ( about 300 miles), and also to "borders " probably towards Gandhara.

Another important route was between Sravasti to Pataliputra, with 6 intermediate stops and frequent crossing of rivers. There were no bridges in those days but only fording places and ferries for crossing rivers.

Uttarpatha, was the main road connecting NW with Magadha, was an imp road for transportation.

As a very frequently travelled road, it was free from dangers. One hears of students travelling in numbers to Taxila, unattended and unarmed ( Jataka, Book 2, chpt 277), for education.

Megasthenes talks about the Royal road connecting NW of India with Tampralipti in Bengal.

The road was constructed in eight stages and was well maintained by the Mauryan empire.

Reasons for the hegemony of Magadha:

There are three important reasons as to why Magadha became the greatest power of India.

These reasons are as under:

1) Elephants:

Forests like Andhvana of Kosala, Sitvahana of Maghada, Veluvana at Rajgriha, or the Prachina Vamsadaya of Sakya country, were full of wild elephants , which could be trained and drafted into the army.

These beasts were used in large numbers by the succeeding kings of Magadha.

Nandas had 3,000 war-elephants, The Mauryas had 9,000 and Sungas also had an elephant corps.

These elephants acted like modern tanks and their use continued well into the modern history.

2) Trade

The Uttrapatha, the ancient G. T Road of ancient India, criss-crossed North India and the major routes were Pataliputra, Sravastri, Rajagriha, which made Magadha a hot destination for trade.

Even the inland waterways were a major trade route in those days.

As per the Buddhist sources, these inland waterways were important as far as trade was concerned.

Even Kautilya bats for the these river routes as faster and more profitable route for trade.

3) Iron :

The area of Magadha, particularly the chota-nagpur area, was & still is, rich in many mineral ores.

Iron extracted from these ores were used to make weapons of all kinds along with agricultural tools that made Magadha one step ahead of competition.

4) Fertile Land:

Many important rivers of India like the Ganges, Son, etc criss-crossed Magadha, making the land very fertile and apt for growing variety of crops.

The economic prosperity of the region due to agriculture has been recorded by travelers such as Megasthenes.

So, this concludes the thread on Magadha. It's political, social, economic life... Architecture, education, trade,warfare, which made it a paramount power of ancient India.

It would not be an exaggeration to call Magadha as ' The Rome of Ancient India'.

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