Mahjanapada (Sanskrit: , Mahjanapada, literally "great realm" from maha, "great",

and janapada "foothold of a tribe", "country") refers to ancient Indian kingdoms that existed
between the sixth and third centuries BC! "ncient Buddhist texts like "nguttara #ikaya
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make
fre'uent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and re(ublics (Solas Mahajanapadas) which had
e)ol)ed and flourished in a belt stretching from *andhara in the northwest to "nga in the eastern
(art of the Indian subcontinent and included (arts of the trans+,indhyan region,
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(rior to the
rise of Buddhism in India!
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/he sixth century BC is often regarded as a ma0or turning (oint in
early Indian history!
Contents
% 1)er)iew
- 2ashi
. 2osala
3 /rigarta 2ingdom
4 "nga
5 6agadha
7 ,a00i or ,ri0i
8 6alla
9 Chedi or Cheti
%: ,amsa or ,atsa
%% 2uru
%- ;anchala
%. 6achcha or 6atsya
%3 Surasena
%4 "ssaka or "shmaka
%5 ")anti
%7 *andhara
%8 2ambo0a
%9 See also
-: <eferences
Overview
/he (olitical structure of the ancient Indians a((ears to ha)e started with semi+nomadic tribal
units called Jana (meaning "(eo(le" or by extension "ethnic grou(" or "tribe")! arly ,edic texts
attest se)eral =anas or tribes of the Indo+"ryans, li)ing in a semi+nomadic tribal state and
fighting among themsel)es and with other #on+"ryan tribes for cows, shee( and green (astures!
/hese early ,edic =anas later coalesced into the =ana(adas of the (ic "ge!
/he term "=ana(ada" literally means the foothold of a tribe! /he fact that Janapada is deri)ed
from Jana (oints to an early stage of land+taking by the =ana tribe for a settled way of life! /his
(rocess of first settlement on land had com(leted its final stage (rior to the times of the Buddha
and ;> ini ! /he ;re+Buddhist north+west region of the Indian sub+continent was di)ided into
se)eral =ana(adas demarcated from each other by boundaries! In ;> ini, Janapada stands for
country and Janapadin for its citi?enry! ach of these =ana(adas was named after the 2shatriya
tribe (or the 2shatriya =ana) who had settled therein!
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/he Buddhist and other texts only
incidentally refer to sixteen great nations (Solasa Mahajanapadas) which were in existence
before the time of Buddha! /hey do not gi)e any connected history exce(t in the case of
6agadha! /he Buddhist "nguttara #ikaya, at se)eral (laces,
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gi)es a list of sixteen great
nations: