The Rise of MAGADHA

In about 600 BCE, we find many kingdoms and some republics in India, mostly situated to the north of the Vindhyas and extended from the north-west frontiers to Bihar and Bengal. There were collectively called the sixteen Mahajanapadas meaning the sixteen great kingdoms. Of all the kingdoms, the most powerful were Kosala, Magadha and Vatsa in the Ganga valley and Avanti in the central India. In their war against one another for the control of the rivers and for acquiring more and more territory, the king of Magadha ultimately emerged as the most powerful one. Both Buddha and Mahavira preached in Magadha and the holy books of both these religion mentions the name of the Magadhan kingdom.

The Magadhan kingdom occupies the Indian history for the period 600 BCE – 321 BCE. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges. Its first capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) and then Pataliputra (modern Patna). With the invasion of Bengal by the Lichavi and the Angas, the Magadhan kingdom contained Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

Two of the India’s religion Jainism and Buddhism emerged from Magadha, so were the two greatest Indian empires, the Mauryan Empire and the Gupta Empire. The period of these two empires are considered as the Golden Age of the ancient Indian history.

The Rise of the Magadhan Empire

In about 542 BCE, King Bimbisara of Magadha increased his power and influence by a series of annexation and marriage alliances. With the conquest of Anga (present West Bengal), Bimbisara got hold of the Ganga, the great artery of trade and communication, making Magadha rich and prosperous. Bimbisara was the first true king of Magadha who founded an empirical dynasty, Haryanka Dynasty. He ruled until 492 BCE with the help of his advisers from his capital Rajagriha.

Bimbisara was succeeded by Ajatashatru , his son in about 492 BCE, who further made Magadhan empire powerful. He adopted a policy of expansion and in the next sixteen years he conquered Kosala, Vaishali and a host of small republics making him the most powerful king in north India. The Haryankas were overthrown by the Shishunaga dynasty in about 460 BCE.

In 424 BCE the small line of Shishunaga dynasty was overthrown by Mahapadma Nanda, who founded Nanda dynasty, that ruled the Magadhan empire for the next 100 years.

The Nandas

In 424 BCE the last ruler of the Shishunaga dynasty Kalasoka was assassinated by Mahapadma Nanda, who founded the Nanda dynasty, the first of the so-called nine Nandas (Mahapadma Nanda and his eight sons). With the Nanda king ascending the throne, Magadha once again became the most powerful and wealthy kingdom in India. So great was their power that the Greek conqueror, Alexander, did not dare to move towards the east.

At its greatest extent, the Nanda dynasty extended from Bengal in the east to Punjab in the west and as far south as the Vindhya ranges. The Nandas are sometimes described as the first empire builders in the recorded history of India. They inherited the large kingdom of Magadha and extended to yet more distant frontiers. They built up a vast army, consisting of 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2000 war chariots and 3000 war elephants. The Nanda empire was later conquered by Chandragupta Maurya, who founded the Mauryan empire.

The Mauryan Empire

The Mauryan Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 322 BCE to 185 BCE. The empire was founded in 322 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya who had overthrown the Nanda dynasty and rapidly expanded westward across central and western India. At its greatest strength the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, and to the east stretching into the present day Assam. To the west it conquered beyond modern Pakistan, annexing Khorasan, Baluchistan, south east Iran, parts of Afghanistan like Herat and Kandahar. The empire was expanded into India’s central and southern regions by Chandragupta and Bindusara. Its decline began 60 years after Ashoka’s rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BCE with the foundation of the Sunga dynasty.

Under Chandragupta, the Mauryan Empire conquered the trans-Indus region which was under Mecedonian rule by crushing Selucus I, a Greek general from Alexander’s army. Under Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India, thanks to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration and security.

After the Kalinga war, the empire experienced half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. It was an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of scientific knowledge. Ashoka’s embracing of Buddhism has been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non violence across all of India.

Ashoka the Great

Asoka succeeded to the throne in 273 BCE after a bitter war of succession. His coronation was performed in 269 BCE. The first important event of his reign was the ruthless conquest of Kalinga (present day Orissa), which took a toll of 100,000 dead and another 150,000 injured or captured. The sight of this terrible carnage and suffering made such a deep impression on Ashoka that he vowed never to make war again. He decided to devote his entire life to Dharma. Dharmavijaya became his new goal.

His empire extended from the Hindu Kush and the Himalayas in the north to Chennai and Mangalore in south. Almost the whole of India was under his rule. His contact with the southern kingdoms seems to have been of a friendly nature. The states probably gave pledges of friendship.

Two and a half years after the Kalinga war, Ashoka became a faithful and devoted Buddhist and spent the rest of his life in attending to the welfare of his people and teaching them how to lead good lives. He loved his people immensely and was keenly interested in their welfare. He wanted his message to be known all over his dominions. He wanted his people to know the interest he took in their welfare. For this purpose he issued edicts or rules of good conduct. These consisted of inscriptions engraved on rock faces and on pillars. These pillars were decorated with carved figures. Lion and lotus stood for power; the wheel symbolized Buddha’s Law of Dharma. In these edicts, written in Pali, Ashoka explained the principles that were meant to guide his governors in administrating and his subjects in leading daily lives. These were set up throughout the length and breadth of his empire. Ashoka’s inscriptions form a valuable historical source today.

Ashoka’s administration was a continuation of that of Chandragupta. It was a welfare state divided into four provinces, each with a council of ministers under a Viceroy directly reporting to the king. Each of the provinces was divided into districts made up of a number of villages. Ashoka placed the welfare of his people as the goal of his administration. He built good roads, hospitals and rest houses. Although he was a Buddhist, he was tolerant to all religion and treated Hindus, Buddhist and Jains alike.

After the death of Ashoka, his vast empire began to break up as his successors were weak and incompetent. One by one the provinces broke away to become independent kingdoms and at last in 185 BCE, Brihadratha, the last Mauryan king was overthrown by Pushyamitra Shunga who started Shunga dynasty.