The rise of Magadha

Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, Magadha (in present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada. Why?

Modern historians point to its resources:

• productive agriculture in the fertile plains;
• iron mines (in present-day Jharkhand), for tools and weapons;
• elephants from the forests, an important part of the army;
• the Ganga and its tributaries, for cheap and easy communication.

Early Buddhist and Jaina writers gave a different reason: ambitious kings, such as Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda, and their ministers.

Magadha's first capital was Rajagaha (present-day Rajgir), a fortified settlement among the hills. Later, in the fourth century BCE, the capital moved to Pataliputra (present-day Patna), which controlled the routes along the Ganga.

Resources and rulers together made Magadha strong.