New Beginnings: Cities and States
Janapadas and mahājanapadas
Learn about the janapadas and the mahājanapadas, the early states of India.
Towards the end of the 2nd millennium BCE, people in north India formed clans, groups that probably shared a language and customs. Each clan settled a territory, called a janapada, led by a rājā (ruler).
Janapada is Sanskrit: *jana (people) + pada* (foot): where the people have set foot, that is, where they have settled.
Janapadas grew as trade connected them. By the 8th or 7th century BCE, some had joined together into bigger states called mahājanapadas (mahā = great).
Old texts give different lists, but the most common one has 16 mahājanapadas, from Gāndhāra in the north-west to Anga in the east and Aśhmaka in central India near the Godavari. There may have been a few more, and some small janapadas stayed independent. (Historians don't all agree, and the book says so honestly.)
Some of them, with their capitals:
| Mahājanapada | Capital |
|---|---|
| Magadha | Rājagṛiha |
| Kosala | Śhrāvastī |
| Vatsa | Kauśhāmbī |
| Avanti | Ujjayinī |
| Vṛijji (Vajji) | Vaiśhālī |
| Malla | Kushīnāra |
| Gāndhāra | Takṣhaśhilā |
| Anga | Champā |
Others: Śhūrasena, Pāñchāla, Kuru, Matsya, Chedi, Kamboja, Aśhmaka ...
Notice how many are in the Ganga plains. Possible reasons: farming grew on the fertile plains, iron ore was available in nearby hills, and new trade routes formed.
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