Mahajanapadas

Mahajanapadas, meaning “great realms,” were the major political units of ancient India during the second urbanization, roughly from the 6th to the 4th centuries BCE. They comprised both monarchies and republican oligarchies and were centered in the Indo-Gangetic plain and its foothills. The term is used in Buddhist and Jain literature, which provides a canonical list of sixteen major mahajanapadas. These polities varied in size and power, but all exercised authority over their hinterlands and engaged in diplomatic and military relations with neighbors. The period is notable for urban growth, rising trade, and the emergence of state institutions such as revenue administration and standing forces. Magadha eventually became the most influential, expanding at the expense of rivals and laying the groundwork for the Maurya Empire.

Among the mahajanapadas were Anga in the eastern Ganges plain, Magadha in the south-central plains, Kosala around present-day Awadh, Kasi in the Varanasi region, Avanti in the Malwa region, Chedi in central India, Matsya in the Jaipur-Alwar area, Surasena around Mathura, Vatsa near Kannauj, and the Vajji confederacy of republics in the north-eastern plains. The sixteen represented a mix of monarchies and republican states; their relations and rivalries are described in Buddhist and Jain sources. Over time, some mahajanapadas, especially Magadha, absorbed others, contributing to political consolidation that culminated in the Mauryan Empire. Archaeological evidence is limited, with much of the knowledge derived from literary and later historical traditions.