Wishesh Magazine August 2016

INDIAN HISTORY
70
He moved his capital to
the bank of Ganges which
was known as Pataliputra.
The succession was
followed by Udayabhadra’s
son Anuruddha and his
son Munda in the same
family tradition by slaying
the father. Munda’s son
Nagadasaka slew his father
and continued reigning
through this dynasty of
parricides’. The citizens
angered by the rule of
Haryankas, revolted against
Nagadasaka and anointed
Shishunaga as the king.
Shishunaga, the founder of
the dynasty, was initially an
amatya or “minister” of the
last Haryanka dynasty ruler
Nagadasaka and ascended
to the throne after a popular
rebellion in c. 413 BCE.
Buddhist sources indicate
that he had a secondary
capital at Vaishali, formerly
the capital of Vajji, until it
was conquered by Magadha.
The Shishunaga dynasty
ruled one of the largest
empires in the Indian
subcontinent. Shishunaga
was succeeded by his son
Kakavarna and according to
the Sinhala chronicles by his
son Kalashoka.
Ten sons of Kalashoka
ruled simultaneously.
The Mahabodhivamsa
states their names as
Bhadrasena, Korandavarna,
Mangura, Sarvanjaha,
Jalika, Ubhaka, Sanjaya,
Koravya, Nandivardhana
and Panchamaka.
Only one of them is
mentioned in the Puranic
lists, Nandivardhana.
[3] Nandivardhana or
Mahanandin was probably
the last ruler of this dynasty,
his empire was inherited
by his illegitimate son
Mahapadma Nanda.
The political process in
India started with seminomadic
tribal units called
janas which coalesced
into janapadas. The first
Vedic realm mentioned in
the Vedas is Videha, but
its existence mostly falls
into the category of the
religious-legendary. During
the 6th century BCE, the
janapadas had formed larger
political entities, possibly
through a process not unlike
the Greek synoecism, in
which smaller settlements
combined to form citystates
with their hinterlands
(mahajanapadas). Among
the mahajanapadas five
cities gained special
importance: Rajagriha or
Rajgir in Magadha (modern
Bihar), Varanasi (formerly
called Benares) in Kasi,
Kausambi in Vatsa, Sravasti
in Kosala, and Champa in
Anga. All of these states
were in the Gangetic plain
of northern India. Other
important centers were Ujjain
in Avanti and Takshashila in
Gandhara.
Magadha was mentioned
in both the Ramayana and
the Mahabharata. The four
strongest states - Kasi,
Kosala, Magadha and
Vrjji - were all along the
Ganges River. Of those
four, Magadha had several
advantages that would help
it to prevail in the struggle
for supremacy. It has risen
to power during the reigns of
Bimbisara (544 - 491 BCE)
and his son Ajatasatru (491 -
460 BCE). Bimbisara whose
city of Rajagriha (modern
Rajgir, near Gaya, Bihar)
controlled nearby iron-mines.
Bimbisara established
dynastic relations by
intermarriage with the
nobility of neighbouring
Kosala and Vrijji, and easily
dominated the territory of
Vanga to the southeast. He
was, however, murdered by
his son Ajatashatru in 493
BC, who established a fort
at Pataliputra (Patna), by
the Ganga and near to her
confluence with the Gandaki,
Sona, and Ganghara
Rivers. Ajatashatru was also
murdered (461 BC) by his
impatient heir and so too, the
next five generations.
WWW.WISHESH.COM | AUGUST 2016