Empires of India I
Blog#16
Magadha Empire
Abstracts:
The Magadha Empire is an era in the history of the
Indian Subcontinent when several Magadha based Dynasties rose up and built its
great dominance in the region. Since the previous authentic history is not
available the Magadha Empire is supposed to be first of all established by
Bimbisara, who found the Haryanka Dynasty in 544 BCE which was the first
dynasty to rule the Magadha Empire. The
Magadha Empire lasted till 1230 CE during this period at least ten dynasties
ruled this Empire. Some important dynasties are Brihadratha Dynasty 1700-682
BCE, the Pradyot Dynasty 682-544 BCE, the Haryanka dynasty 544-413 BCE, the Shishunaga
dynasty 413-345 BCE, the Nanda dynasty 345-322 BCE, the Mauryan dynasty 322-184
BCE, the Shung dynasty 184-73 BCE and Kanva dynasty 73-28 BCE.
Introduction:
The Ancient Indian subcontinent was divided into two
categories: the Janapada or the small kingdoms and the Mahajanapada or the big
kingdoms. Out of the 16 Mahajanapadas, one of these was the Magadha. There were
many dynasties in this kingdom, Brihadratha Dynasry being the first royal dynasty
to rule over Magadha, which was established by Brihadrath; but unfortunately,
there is no sufficient evidence that provides details of this dynasty and its aftermath.
This is why, the dynasty which is considered as the first royal family to rule
over Magadha is the Haryanka Dynasty, which was established by Bimbisara at the
age of fifteen in 544 BCE. King Bimbisara raised the reputation and prestige of
Magadha which made it the most powerful kingdom in the whole Indian
Subcontinent.
The Haryanka Dynasty
(544
BCE to 412 BCE)
The Haryanka Dynasty was the
first ruling dynasty of Magadha, and empire of ancient India, found by the king
Bimbisara. Initially, the capital of the dynasty was Rajgriha, but later it was
shifted to Patliputra, near present day Patna during the reign of Udayin. Some
common languages spoken in the dynasty were Sanskrit, Magadhi Prakrit and other
forms of Prakrit language. The religions practiced in the in this dynasty were
Jainism, Buddhism and Vedic religions. The kings who ruled the dynasty were
King Bimbisara, who found the Haryanka Dynasty in 544 BCE. He was succeeded by
his son Ajatshatru, then Udayin, Anuruddha, Munda and at last Nagadasaka. The
dynasty was succeeding the Pradyota Dynasty of Kosala of the Vedic Period. The
most common fact about the Haryanka Dynasty was that all the succeeding kings
of this dynasty became the king by killing their father, who was king of that
time. According to the Buddhist texts, the Mahavamsa,
Bimbisara was appointed as a king by his father Bhattiya at the age of fifteen.
The Haryanka Dynasty was succeeded by the Shishunaga Dynsaty.
Bimbisara
Bimbisara was a capable military general since his
childhood. he was just fifteen years old, when he took over as a king and ruled
for about next fifty two years. He ruled his empire from 544 BCE to 492 BCE.
After becoming the king of the Haryanka Dynasty, he defeated Brahmadutta, the
king of Anga kingdom situated next to his kingdom toward east (todays Bangal),
who was an old rival of his father Bhattiya. He incorporated the Anga region in
Magadha kingdom which made easy for the Magadha to trade via sea route because
Anga region was close to sea shore. This gave the Magadha kingdom a chance to
grow more prosperous and powerful.
Bimbisara was a person with strong strategy and
future vision, and he refused to fight battles against bigger kingdoms of those
days, such as Kousala and Vrijji (Vaishali), so he decided to make relationship
with them. Bimbisara married to the princess of Kosala kingdom, Kousala Devi and
in the form of dowry, he received the city of Kashi which was also annexed by
Koushal kingdom earlier). Then, he married to princess Chellana of Lichhavi
from the Vrriji kingdom and princess Kshema from the Central Punjab based Madra
Clan. He also maintained the friendly relation with the great kingdom of Avanti.
Once the king of Avanti fell sick, then Bimbisar sent his Rajvaidya Jeevak in
his service and soon the king of Avanti became healthy. In this way, by all
means he was able to maintain the political, economic and deplomatic relations
with other kingdoms to ensure the prosperity and development of his kingdom and
its people. Unfortunately, the great king Bimbisara was imprisioned by his own
son Ajatashatru, due to his immense desire to become a Monarch. Thus,
Ajatashatru starved his father to death.
Life of Bimbisara:
The life of Bimbisara is
described in some of the sacred books of Buddhism. ‘Pabbaja Sutta’ states that Bimbisara had seen Gautam Buddha for
the first time from his palace window, while Buddha was meditating as an
ascetic, before he attained enlightenment. Bimbisara followed Buddha and
invited him to visit his palace, but Buddha took down the invitation. Bimbisara
wished him best of his luck to attain enlightenment and also asked him to visit
Rajgir after he attained his enlightenment. Gautam Buddha not only agreed to
visit his palace but also visited Rajgir after he attained enlightenment to
fulfill the promise he made to King Bimbisara.
That time, Gautam Buddha
and his followers were the royal guests in the court of Bimbisara. After the
completion of their meal, Bimbisara poured water in Buddha’s hand from a golden
jar to express his gratitude. King Bimbisara also donated Veluvana Park to Gautam
Buddha. After that, Bimbisara was converted to Buddhism religion and hence, he
patronized the growth of Buddhism for the rest of his 37 years of ruling era,
and thus he attained ‘Solapannahood’ which is a degree of enlightenment
in Buddhist teachings.
Expansion of Bimbisara’s empire:
King Bimbisara reigned
from 544 BCE to 492 BCE and was known for his expansion of the kingdom,
especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to
have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Mauryan Dynasty. He
was given the name ‘Seniya’. He is
also known for his cultural achievements and was a great friend, protector and
follower of Gautam Buddha. The first campaign of Bimbisara was against Anga. He
defeated and killed the king Brahamadatta and incorporated Anga in the Magadh
Empire. Kushagrapjur was the capital of Magadh. Due to the danger of Vajjis,
Bimbisara shifted the capital from Kushagrapjur to Rajgriha which was situated
at the north of Kushagrapura.
Diplomacy of Bimbisara:
The greatest achievement
of Bimbisara was the administration system establishment by him. It is believed
that the kingdom had almost eighty thousand villages in the Magadha kingdom,
with each village consisting of its own assembly, which is preceded over by the
village headman, also known as the ‘Gramak’.
Bimbisara created a created a system for the efficient work of the
administrative affairs. He created a chain of command for officials who
collected taxes. He also appointed high ranking officials for the administrative
services such as the judicial, military and the financial affairs. Bimbisara
created army as well as Navy in the Anga region, near the sea shore part of
Magadha for the safety of the people of Magadha. He provided many facilities to
the monks of Buddhism as well as Jainism. That is the reason why he was
considered worth to be called a great king.
Despite of all those
luxuries that he earned in his lifetime, the fate of Bimbisara turned black. He
considered his son Ajatshatru as an ideal heir, so he gave the responsibilities
of Anga region to him, but the greed to become the ruler of the whole kingdom
made Ajatshatru kill his own father.
Conspiracy against Bimbisara:
The end of Bimbisara’s
life was full of tragic. The fortune tellers (or the forecasters) told him that
the birth of Ajatshatru was inauspicious for him, yet he brought up Ajatshatru
with very love, care and affection. When Ajatshatru grew up, he planned to
conspire against his father. Bimbisara came to know about Ajatshatru’s
conspiracy against him and Ajatshatru’s solemn urge to become a monarch. He
abdicated the throne to his son Ajatshatru, but he imprisoned his father
Bimbisara, under the influence of Devdutta.
Bimbisara was kept in a
very dark and heated prison room and compelled to starve till death. Except
Queen Kshema, no visitor was allowed to enter in the prison room. During the
early days of his imprisonment, she carried food in a golden bowl concealed in
her dress. When this plan was revealed, the queen started to bring food in her
footgear. Unfortunately, this plan also didn’t last for many days and then again she started to bring food for
the king in her headdress, but this plan even didn’t helped them for a long
period of time. Now she was not allowed to take food for the king by using any
means in the prison house. But yet, the queen smeared herself in honey so that
the king can survive by licking the honey on the queen’s body. But, this plan
was too detected and the entry of queen in the prison house was abolished.
After that, the king
survived by meditating while he walked; and when Ajatshatru saw this, he
thought that the king would not die easily, so he sent some barbers in the
prison house. Bimbisara thought that his son Ajatshatru has learnt his lesson
and realized his fault, so he must have sent the barbers so that his beards may
be shaved and he could lead his rest of the life as a monk. But the cruel
barbers cut his legs, filled his wounds with salt and burnt his legs in coal so
that he could walk no more. Thus Bimbisara met the end of his life in very
tragic way.
Ajatshatru
After Bimbisara died, due
to the grief of his death, queen Kosala also died. On hearing this news,
Kosala’s brother Prasenjeet snatched Kashi from Ajatshatru what he had gifted
to Bimbisara as dowry on the occasion of his marriage with Kosala Devi. This
made Ajatshatru very angry and he attached on Koshal kingdom, there was a
battle fought between Ajatshatru and Prasenjeet. Prasenjeet won the battle and
imprisioned Ajatshatru.
Eventually, Prasenjeet
compromised with Ajatshatru and promised to maintain peace for a healthy
relationship. Prasenjeet gave the hands of his daughter Vajira to Ajatshtru. On
the occasion of their marriage, Prasenjeet gifted the city of Kashi again to
Ajatshatru as dowry. After death of Prasenjeet, Ajatshatru captured Kosala and
incorporated it in Magadha kingdom. After some time, he also captured Vrijji kingdom
and incorporated it in Magadha kingdom.
Instead of being cruel to
his own father, Ajatshatru was a king dedicated to overall development of his
kingdom along with he was a scholar and provided patronage to literature,
knowledge and arts. Maharshi Panini was one of the most important scholars in
his court and “Ashtadhyayi” the best grammar ever had written by Panini in his
era.
Ajatshatru reigned from
493 BCE to 462 BCE. He was killed by his son Udayin, as he killed his own
father Bimbisara. Udayin is referred as the successor of Ajatshatru. Then,
Anuruddha, Munda and Nagadasaka were the successors of Udayin.
The Haryanka dynasty, also
called patricide dynasty in some texts, was overthrown by their minister,
Shishunaga, thus Shishunaga Dynasty emerged up as a successor of the Haryanka
Dynasty.
Shishunaga Dynasty
(413 BCE to 395 BCE)
The Shishunaga Dynasty was the second ruling dynasty
of Magadha, an empire in the Ancient India, which succeeded Nagadasaka of the
Haryanka Dynasty. The name of the dynasty was derived after the name of its
founder, Shishunaga. Some common languages spoken in the dynasty
were the Sanskrit, Magadhi Prakrit and other forms of the Prakrit language. The
religions practiced in the in this dynasty were Jainism, Buddhism and
Historical Vedic religions. The dynasty followed a monarchy system of
governance. The kings who ruled this dynasty were the king Shishunaga, who
founded the it in the year 413 BCE, who was succeeded by Kalashoka, the Mahapadmanand
the founder of Nand dynasty. The dynasty succeeded the Haryanka Dynasty and was
suceeded by the Nanda Dynasty.
Shishunaga
was the son of a Lichhavi king. He was the Prime Minister of the Magadha
kingdom during the reign of Nagadasaka. He was also the governor of Varanasi. He
established the dynasty in 413 BCE with its Capital as Rajgir and later it was
shifted to Patliputra, near present day Patna. Nagadasaka was removed from the
throne by the townspeople of Magadha, but it is also believed that Shishunaga
planned this conspiracy against Nagadasaka and also led to this expulsion.
Despite
of getting a big kingdom, Shishunaga set Avanti kingdom as his target to be
captured, and he also succeeded in capturing it, which once was a tough work for
great kings such as Bimbisara and Ajatshatru. By this way, Shishunaga ended the
great conflict between Magadha kingdom and Avanti kingdom. Shishunaga also
captured Vatsa and Kosala kingdom under Magadha kingdom.
Emergence
of Nanda Dynasty
Shishunaga was succeeded by his
son, Kalashoka. He was the governor of Varanasi in 347 BCE. When the responsibility
of Magadha kingdom was given to the ten sons of Kalashoka, they divided the
kingdom into ten parts, which weakened the Magadha kingdom. In 345 BCE, Mahapadma
Nanda killed the last ruler of Shishunaga dynasty, Mahanandin. According to the
Hindu texts, Mahapadma was the illegal son of Mahanandin from one of his maids,
but according to Buddhist texts, Mahapadma Nanda was son of the royal barber,
who worked as a body guard of one of the queens ‘Anandi’. After assassinating
the king Kalaashok, Mahapadmanand plays tactfully and did not captured the
throne but he further killed the eight sons of the former king Kalashok. When
all the heirs were killed and no claimers were there to claim the throne, the
powerful general of military i.e. Mahapadmanand came ahead and established
himself as the next ruler of the kingdom with name ‘Nanda Dynasty’.
The
Shishunaga Dynasty ruled one of the largest empires in the Indian Subcontinent.
The Shishunaga Dynasty was succeeded by the Nanda Dynasty, which was
established by Mahapadma Nanda.
Nanda Dynasty
(343 BCE to 321 BCE)
The Nanda dynasty was the third ruling dynasty of
Magadha as per available records. This dynasty was the ruling family which was
not of the kshatriya origin. The Nanda Dynasty Succeeded the Haryanka Dynasty
as well as the Shishunaga Dynasty. The Nandas overthrew the Shishunaga Dynasty
and expanded their empire to include a larger part of Northern India. The
Buddhist, Jain and Pauranic texts, all states that there were nine Nanda kings,
but the names of these kings differ considerably. The nine kings, according to
the Buddhist texts were Uggasena, Panduka, Pandugati, Bhuta Pala, Rashtra Pala,
Govishanaka, Dasha Siddhika, Kaivarta and Dhana Nanda.
Mahapadmananda
The Nanda kings ruled from
about 345 BCE to 322 BCE. Mahapadma Nanda, also called the second ‘Parshuram’,
established the dynasty and ruled from 345 BCE till 330 BCE. He was succeeded
by Dhana Nanda, who ruled from 329 BCE to 322 BCE. Mahapadmanand was a great
soldier and a brave person, this is why being from a service class family he
reached to the top of the administration of that time. But this was not enough
about him. After taking up the kingdom he emerged as a great ruler too. He
worked a lot to expand the projects for the betterment of the common people
like constriction of communication medium, irrigation facilities etc. even he
sanctioned many infrastructural projects in kalinga region which was under
their rule at that time. He restructured the tax collection procedures in
favour of the common people. Due to all his public welfare projects and strong
administration he was loved by his people.
Dhananada
The successor of Mahapadmananda
and second line of ruler from Nanda dynasty ruled from 329 to 322 BCE. Dhananand
was a feeble king unable to understand the responsibility of the throne. He was
also a greedy person who imposed so many unnecessary and impractical taxes to
the common people which was unbearable for them. This is why the people started
to dislike him strongly. On the other hand, he wanted the scholars to praise
him instead of telling him the truth about the situation and the ethics. On
refusing to praise or follow his words he insulted Chanakya in his court very
badly which eventually became the reason behind his demise as well as his
dynasty. Thus, The Nanda Dynasty was further succeeded by the Mauryan Dynasty.
Conclusion:
The supremacy of Magadha continued right from
Haryanka Dynasty, whereas under the Mauryan Dynasty, the empire included the
whole Indian Subcontinent. The early centuries CE saw the decline of Magadha,
but also the rise of the Gupta Empire in the fourth century brought it once
again to a position of prominence. Not just these imperial dynasties had begun
by establishing their power in Magadha but also in entire north India and we
can say that the Magadha Empire had always hailed the prestige of Magadha.
Total no of words: 2850+
Sources of Data:
Wikipedia
Google and
other websites
ICSE Ages and
Events IX- Pearson
Rajvansh
Series from Epic Channel
Other course
materials
Comments
Post a Comment