Overview of Mahajanpads

16 MAHAJANAPADAS
The 16 mahajanapadas of that period as listed in Buddhist Pali Canon were:

1. Magadha kingdom (South Bihar) – The first capital was Rajagriha and the later capital was Pataliputra. Brihadrata is claimed to be the founder of the Magadha kingdom.

2. Anga and Vanga kingdoms (East Bihar) – The capital was Champa. It was a prosperous business centre. The kingdoms were later merged by Bindusara into Magadha.

3. Malla kingdom (Gorakhpur region) – The capital was Kushinagar. It was the seat of many other smaller kingdoms. Their main religion was Buddhism. The Malla kingdom was later merged into the Magadha kingdom.

4. Chedi kingdom (Yamuna and Narmada belt) – The capital was Tisvathirati. One of the families from this kingdom later merged into the Kalinga kingdom from this royal family.

5. Vatsa kingdom (Allahabad) – The capital was Kausambi. The most important ruler of this kingdom was King Udayan.

6. Kashi kingdom (Benaras) – The capital was Varanasi. Though many battles were fought against the Kosala kingdom, eventually Kashi was merged with the Kosala kingdom. Dhritarashtra once ruled over the Kashi and Anga kingdoms.

7. Kos kingdom (Ayodhya) – Though its capital was Sravtsti which is identical with Sahet-Mahet but Ayodhya was an important town in Kosala. It was merged in the Magadha by the Magadha ruler, Ajatashatru. Kosala also included the tribal republican territory of Sakyas of Kapilvastu.

8 Vajji kingdom (North Bihar) – Vajji was the seat of a united republic of eight smaller kingdom of which Lichchavis, Janatriks and Videhas were also members. The Lichchavis kingdom had its capital at Vaishali. It was a prosperous kingdom north of Bihar, but was later merged with the Magadha kingdom. The Videhas kingdom had its capital at Mithila. Its most important ruler was King Janaka. This kingdom too was merged with the Magadh a kingdom.

9. Kuru (Thaneswar, Meerut and present day Delhi) – The capital city was Indraprastha. It was an important kingdom during the Vedic era and was friendly with the kingdoms of the Bhoja and Panchala.

10. Panchala kingdom (Uttar Pradesh) – Its capital was at Kampila. Earlier a monarch state, it later became an independent republic. Kanauj was an important town in this kingdom.

11. Matsya kingdom (Jaipur) – Its capital was Viratanagar. The Matsya kingdom got its independence from the Chedi kingdom (ruled by King Sahaja) under the leadership of Virat Raja.

12. Surasena kingdom (Mathura) – Its capital was at Mathura and its most famous ruler was Avantiputra.

13. Assaka kingdom (Godavari) – Its capital was at Pertaii and Brahamdatta was its most important ruler.

14. Gandharva kingdom (Peshawar and Rawalpindi) – Its capital Taxila was important as a trade and education centre (Ancient Taxila university) during the later Vedic age. Its ruler King Pukkusati was defeated by the Magadha ruler Bindusara.

15. Kamboj kingdom (North-east Kashmir) – Its capital was Rajapure. Hajara was an important trade and commerce centre of this kingdom.

16. Avanti kingdom.(Malwa) – Avanti was divided into two parts north and south. The northern part had its capital at Ujjain and the southern part had its capital at Mahismati. It was the most vulnerable of all the mahajanapadas and was ruled by many kingdoms before being finally merged into the Magadha kingdom.