In Rigvedic period, the tribes ruling
over the Magadha region were known as Kikatas [1]. They were of Dravidian race and followers of Shiva and tantra
culture. The tribe was hated by the Aryans of Kuru-Panchala so much so that
Yajur Veda listed the residents of Magadha in the list of items to be
sacrificed during yajnas (Purushmedha). When the Aryans started penetrating
towards the eastern side, some related with Kuru Mahajanpada made big
advancement and finally took control of Magadha region. From epic descriptions,
it can be said that these Aryans came into the region after Kosala, Videha and
Malla lots belonging to the Ramayana period were already settled. The Puranas,
composed 3rd century AD onwards from the smriti tales, traces the establishment
of Magadha Empire with Brihadratha, who was sixth in line from Emperor Kuru of
Bharata clan through his eldest son Sudhanush. Brihadratha’s son Jarasandha is
mentioned frequently in the epic Mahabharata due to his rivalry against Krishna
of Yadva clan. Till 600 BC, the territories of Magadha Mahajanpada included
roughly the present districts of Patna, Jehanabad, Nalanda, Aurangabad, Nawadah
and Gaya of southern Bihar and parts of West Bengal. It was bounded by the
River Ganges in the north, by the River Champa in the east, by the Vindhya
Mountains in the south and by the River Sone in the west. The territory of
Magadha expanded further on the east side when King Bimbisara, who was
contemporary of the Buddha, conquered the Anga Mahajanpada.
4.1 Brihadratha Dynasty
The first king of this dynasty was Bharata who according to Adi Parva of
Mahabharata was son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. The dynasty descended from the
Chandravanshi sect of Kshatriya Varna or moon worshipping warrior lot of
Indo-Aryans. The mythical story says that Bharata conquered all Aryan and
aboriginal ruling races of India and therefore uniting the territory into a
single entity, known as Bharatavarsha. The capital of King Bharata was later
known as Hastinapura, named after King Hastin of the same clan. In the
succession line of Bharata was King Kuru after whom the entire region around
Hastinapura was known as ‘Kuru-kshetra’. The 7th generation from Kuru’s one
branch was King Shantanu. He married to Ganga and had a son named as Devavrata.
Shantanu also married to fisherwoman Satyavati. From her, he had two sons
Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Vichitravirya was married to the daughters of
Kasi King, Ambika and Ambalika. Due to his early death, Satyavati made the
widows and a woman servant to enter into union with her other son, sage Vyasa,
who was born in her maidenhood from sage Parasara. Thus Dhirtarashtra from
Ambika, Pandu from Ambalika and Vidura from the servant woman were born. The
10th generation of Kuru was five Pandava brothers and Duryodhana around whom
the central story of epic Mahabharata revolves. By the end of late Vedic
period, the territory ruled by the descendants of Kuru was flourished as Kuru
Mahajanpada.
In the second branch of Kuru through his son Sudhanush, the 6th generation was
Brihadratha who according to Puranas had ruled over Magadha. The son of
Brihadratha was Jarasandha who married his daughters Asti and Prapti to Kansa
of Mathura. When Krishna killed Kansa, Jarasandha become enraged and attacked
Mathura nearly 17 times to take revenge. As a result, Krishna and his brother
Balrama shifted towards Dwaraka. Due to the rivalry against Krishna, Jarasandha
has been portrayed as a negative character in the epic Mahabharata. Jarasandha
was fond of malla-yuddha and remains of his akhara are still present at Rajgir
(Rajgriha) near Patna, Bihar. At the age of 80 years, he was killed in
malla-yuddha by kin Pandav Bhima. The son of Jarasandha was Sahdeva. He
participated in Mahabharata war and got killed in that. The family, however,
continued to rule over Magadha with total 22 rulers in succession after
Brihadratha when the throne was finally shifted to Pradyota dynasty.
(4.2 The period of central stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata - click here to
read. As the period of Pradyota dynasty is well established by historians
around 799 (775) BC, it is easy to outline the periods of Mahabharata yuddha
(meaning the great war between clans of King Bharata) and Ramayana.)
4.3 Pradyota Dynasty
Historians have different views on who immediately succeeded the
Brihadratha dynasty. According to the Puranas, King Pradyota succeeded the
Brihadratha dynasty to the throne of Magadha. He also ruled over the region of
Avanti (in present day Madhya Pradesh). The kingdom of Magadha expanded further
when Palaka, the son of Pradyota, conquered Kaushambi (in present day Uttar
Pradesh). There were total five rulers from this dynasty named as Pradyota,
Palaka, Vishakayupa, Janaka and Nandivardhana. According to the Vayu Purana,
the dysnasty ruled over Magadha for nearly 138 years. Historians put the period
of this dynasty from 799 (or 775) BC to 684 BC.
4.4 Haryanka Dynasty
After Pradyotas, the Haryanka dynasty succeeded to the throne of Magadha.
Bimbisara and Ajatshatru were the great rulers of this dynasty. They were
contemporary of Mahavira and Buddha. The capital of the dynasty was initially
Rajgriha but later shifted to Patliputra.
4.4.1 King Bimbisara
Bimbisara became king at the age of 15 years (543 BC) and ruled for next 52
years. He used marital alliances to strengthen his position. His first wife was
Kosala Devi, the sister of King Pasenadi of Kosala. From the alliance, he got
the area of Kashi in the gift. His second wife was princess Chellana. She
belonged to the powerful Lichchhavi tribe of Vaishali. His third wife was
Kshema. She was a princess of Madra janpada (present day Punjab). He is also
known for his love towards beautiful Ambapali or Amrapali of Vaishali with whom
he had son Vimala Kodanna. Bimbisara was a religious person and both Buddhism
and Jainism claim him as its follower. He was five years younger than the
Buddha and met him at the age of 30 years. For the next 37 years till his
death, he helped the new religion to grow. The death of Bimbisara is highly
debatable. Buddhist texts show that he was starved to death in prison by his
son Ajatshatru while Jain literature say that he did suicide in prison.
4.4.2 King Ajatshatru
Ajatshatru ruled from 491 - 461 BC
and considered as the most powerful ruler of the Haryanka dynasty. He started
his first campaign against his own maternal uncle, King Pasenadi of Kosala, but
got badly defeated in it. Pasenadi as a pacifist Buddhist, however, ended the
conflict. He restored to Ajatshatru the liberty, army and also married his
daughter Vajira with him. As per the Jaina text of Bhagawati sutra,
Ajatshatru continued with his aggression and conquered most of the eastern
parts of India around Ganges that covered 2 kingdoms of Kasi and Kosala along
with 36 republican states that included nine Mallas states, nine Lichchhavi
states and 18 other republican states. On the spiritual front, Ajatshatru was a
great follower of Mahavira. His relation with Buddha started with enmity. Just
8 years before the death of Buddha, Prince Ajatshatru was approached by
Devadatta, the brother-in-law of Buddha. Both made a plan to kill the Buddha
and King Bimbisara. Though the death of Bimbisara is debatable, but it is known
that he was imprisoned by his son Ajatshatru. Pali sources reveal that Ajatshatru
gave 16 adept archers to Devadatta so as he can kill the Buddha. All archers
tried but failed and ultimately fell at the Buddha’s feet and got converted by
his teachings. One of the archers approached Devadatta and expressed his
inability to kill the Buddha due to him possessing some magical power.
Frustrated with this, Devadatta decided to kill the Buddha himself. He first
tried by hurling a big rock when Buddha was walking on Gijjihakut hill, but
failed. Next he caused the elephant keepers to lose a fierce elephant on the
road by which Buddha was coming. As the elephant came nearby, Buddha pervaded
it with love and it became quite subdued. This way Devdutta tried many times
but failed. Buddhist texts show that after killing his father, Ajatshatru approached
Buddha to express his remorse for patricide and in the process became his
follower. After nirvana of the Buddha in Kusinara, he claimed the relics and
built stupa over it in his capital Rajgriha. He also arranged The First
Buddhist Council at the entrance of Sattapanni (Saptaparni) cave
situated on the hills of Rajgriha. Historically it is recorded that after the
death of Bimbisara, he entered into relationship with Amrapali of Vaishali.
According to the Buddhist texts, Ajatshatru was killed by his own son. The
remains of Ajatshatru’s fort and stupa are still present in Rajgir, Bihar.
4.4.3 Later rulers of Haryanaka dynasty
According to the Mahavamsa, Udayabhadra succeeded his father
Ajatshatru and moved the capital of Magadha from Rajgriha to Patliputra. He is
believed to have ruled for sixteen years. According to Buddhist texts Deepvamsa
and Mahavamsa, the family of Haryanka had a bloody succession.
Aniruddha eventually succeeded Udaybhadra through assassination, and his son
Munda succeeded him in the same fashion, as did his son Nagadasaka.
4.5 Shishunaga Dynasty
Buddhist sources report that the Haryanaka dynasty was overthrown by the
people of Magadha as they were frustrated with the political state of the
country, especially the patricide of Haryanaka clans. The minister Shishunaga
was declared as head of the state. The dynasty successfully expanded the
territory of Magadha by conquering Vatsa, Avanti and Kosala. In the reign of
Kalashoka, also known as Kakavarna due to his crow like black color, The Second
Buddhist Council was held at Vaishali. Till the time of Kalashoka, Buddhism was
spread till Mathura with Mahakatyayana preaching in that area. The last king of
the dynasty was Mahanandin.
4.6 Nanda Dynasty
The first king of this dynasty was Mahapadma Nanda. The Puranas show him as
son of Mahanandin with a shudra woman while Jaina works show him as the son of
a courtesan by a barber. Mahapadma Nanda captured the throne of Magadha by
killing the Shishunagas. His family ruled only for two generations i.e.
Mahapadma Nanda and his son Dhana Nanda. He has been referred in Brahmanical
literatures as sarvakshairaniakah (exterminator of the entire
Kshatriya race), sarvakshatraanuddhrity (the one who uprooted all
Kshatriyas) and kshatravinasakrit (the destroyer of Kshatriyas) and
therefore as second Parashurama [2]. The titles were given to him as the dynasty overthrew many
Kshatriya dynasties like the Ikshavakus, Kurus, Panchalas, Kashis, Haihayas,
Kalingas, Ashmakas, Maithilas, Shurasenas and Vitihotras. They also conquered
parts of the Godavari Valley, Kalinga and Mysore. As a result, the dynasty is
also known as the first empire builders in the recorded history of India.
According to the Greek historian Plutarch, the size of the Nanda army was very
large, numbering 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 war chariots, and
6,000 war elephants. As Nandas destroyed most of the Kshatriya Kingdoms and had
their origin from the shudra Varna, many Brahmanical texts co-related the
dynasty with ‘start of the Kaliyuga’. The Tibetan historians and Buddhist text Arya
Manjusri Mulakalpa add that Mahapadma Nanda was a devout follower of
Buddhism and the new religion prospered under him reaching towards southern
India. The dynasty built 24 Viharas. On the other side, the Jain texts claim
that they were followers of Jainism. The Buddhist text also suggests that they
had great respect for Brahmins and thus the dynasty was basically of secular
spirit.
4.7 Maurya dynasty - click here to read
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References:
[1] Roy, S. (1999). The Bengalees: Glimpses of History and
Culture, p. 10. Mumbai: Allied Publishers.
[2] Mookerji, R. (1966). Chandragupta Maurya and His Times,
p. 8. (4th ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
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Index Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10
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