The great janapadas
In an early Buddhist text we have a list of sixteen great nations that occupied the territory from the Kabul valley to the banks of the Godavari shortly before the rise of Buddhism. The names of these states are—Anga (East Bihar), Magadha (South Bihar), Kasi (Benares), Kosala (Oudh), Vriji (North Bihar), Malla (Gorakhpur district), Chedi (between the Jamuna and the Narmada), Vatsa (Allahabad region), Kuru (Thanesar, Delhi and Meerut districts), Panchala (Bareilly, Badaun and Farrukhabad districts), and Kamboja (South-West Kashmir and parts of Kafiristan).
Four great kingdoms
The republics had soon to contend with formidable enemies in the persons of the ambitious potentates of the neighbouring monarchies. Four of the kingdoms had grown more powerful than the rest and were following a policy of expansion and aggression at the expense of their neighbours. These were Avanti, Vatsa, Kosala and Magadha.
In the sixth and fifth centuries B.C. the throne of Magadha was occupied by a line of kings.
Bimbisara
The most remarkable king was Bimbisara, who was anointed king by his father while yet a boy of fifteen.
Bimbisara pursued a policy of expansion. He possessed certain advantages denied to many of his contemporaries. He was the ruler of a compact kingdom protected on all sides by mountains and rivers. His capital, Girivraja, was enclosed by five hills.
Both Vardhamana Mahavira, the last apostle of the Jainas, and Gautama Buddha, the great Master of the Buddhists, preached their doctrines during the reign of Bimbisara. Tradition affirms that in his old age the king was murdered by his son Ajatasatru.
Ajatasatru
Thanks to his own tenacity and the policy of his ministers, Ajatasatru succeeded in defeating all his adversaries. In religious tradition Ajatasatru is remembered as a patron of Devadatta, the schismatic cousin of the Buddha, and also as a friend of both the Jainas and the Buddhists. Both Mahavira and the Buddha are said to have died early in his reign.
Successors of Ajatasatru
The immediate successor of Ajatasatru was Darsaka, after whom came his son Udayi.
Udayi had probably to fight with the king of Avanti, but the most notable events of his reign was the foundation of the city of Kusumapura or Pataliputra nestling under the shelter of the fortress erected by the ministers of Ajatasatru.
The Nandas
The new king belonged to a family called Nanda. His personal name was Mahapadma. After him his eight sons rules in succession, and then the crown went to Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of a new and more illustrious dynasty.
The last Nanda was named Dhana-Nanda. To amass the treasure and maintain the huge force, the king had to resort to heavy taxation. His conduct towards the people bespoke his low origin. It is therefore no wonder that he was “destested and held cheap by his subjects”. The disaffected element found a leader in Chandragupta who overthrew the Nanda dynasty, and laid the foundation of the illustrious family of the Mauryas. A Taxilian Brahmana named Kautilya or Chanakya played a leading part in the dynastic revolution.
The Macedonian invasions
In 336 B.C. the throne of Macedonia, a powerful military State in the land of the Yavanas in south-east Europe, was occupied by Alexander, a prince of remarkable energy and ability. He was a great conqueror.
The conqueror forced his way through dense jungles to Ohind and crossed the Indus. He received valuable help from Ambhi, king of Taxila, who now received the invader in his own capital. After a brief respite, Alexander resumed his march to the town of Jhelum. On his arrival, he found a huge army drawn up on the other bank of the river to oppose his further progress. The formidable host was led by the elder Paurava king defend his hearth and home against the audacious invader from the west.
The Indian charioteer and horseman could not withstand the onslaught of the mounted archers in the Macedonian ranks. The Paurava force suffered most and was soon scattered by the veterans of Alexander. The Indian king, however, did not flee, but went on fighting. He was brought to the presence of the conqueror, who asked him how he would like to be treated. “Act like a king,” answered the valiant Paurava. The Macedonian treated his gallant adversary generously and gave him back his kingdom.
Alexander wished to press forward to the Ganges valley, but his war-worn troops would not allow him to go farther.
The conqueror himself received a dangerous wound while storming one of the citadels of the powerful tribe of the Malavas. A division, led by the king himself, trudged through the deserts of Baluchistan and, after terrible sufferings, reached Babylon. Alexander did not long survive his return to Babylon, where he died in 323 B.C.
Effect of the invasions
The Macedonian prefectures and garrisons were soon swept away by Chandragupta Maurya, and within a few years all vestige of foreign domination disappeared from the Punjab and Sind. But the invasions of Darius and Alexander had not been in vain. The Persian conquest had unveiled India probably for the first time to the Westerworld. The colonies that the conqueror planted in the Indian borderland do not appear to have been altogether wiped out by the Mauryas. Yavana officials continued to serve the great king of Magadha.
Mahavira
The parents of Mahavira were Siddhartha and Trisala, related to the ruling families of Vaisali and Magadha. The early life of Mahavira is vailed in obscurity. According to the tradition of the Svetambara Jainas, he married a princess named Yasoda. He lived for some time the life of a pious householder, but forsook the world at the age of thirty. He roamed as a naked ascetic in several countries of eastern India and practised severe penance for twelve years. For thirty years he wandered about as a religious teacher and died at Pava in South Bihar at the age of seventy-two.
Gautama Buddha
Among the notable contemporaries of Mahavira was a wandering teacher who belonged to the Sakya clan of Kapilavastu. His name was Siddhartha and he belonged to the Gautama gotra or family. He was born in the village of Lumbini near Kapilavastu about the year 566 B.C. He was the son of Suddhodana, a Raja of Kapilavastu, and Maya, a princess. After his marriage, Siddhartha grew up amidst the luxurious surrounding of the palace till at last the vision of old age, disease and death made him realise the hollowness of worldly pleasure. He felt powerfully attracted by the calm serenity of the passionless recluse, and the birth of a son, Rahul, made him decide to leave his home and family at once. The Great Renunciation took place when Siddhartha reached the age of twenty-nine. For six years he lived as a homeless ascetic. Under a pipal tree at modern Bodh-Gaya he attained unto supreme knowledge and insight and became known as the Buddha or the Enlightened.
For forty-five years he roamed about as a wandering teacher and proclaimed his gospel. Buddha is said to have died at the age of eighty at Kushinagar.
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