Mahajanapadas: Encyclopedia II - Mahajanapadas - Magadha

Mahajanapadas - Magadha

The first reference to the Magadhas occurs in the Atharva-Veda where they are found listed along with the Angas, Gandharis and the Mujavats as a despised people. The bards of Magadha are, however, referred to in early Vedic literature and are spoken of in terms of contempt. The Vedic dislike of the Magadhas in early times was due to the fact that the Magadhas were not yet wholly Brahmanised.

Rigveda mentions a king Pramaganda as a ruler of Kikata. Yasaka declares that Kikata was a non-Aryan country. Later Vedic literature refers to Kikata as synonym of Magadha.

With the exception of Rigvedic Pramaganda, no other king of Magadha appears to be mentioned in Vedic literature. According to Mahabharata and the Puranas, the earliest ruling dynasty of Magadha was founded by king Brihadratha, but Magadha came into prominence only under king Bimbisara and his son Ajatasatru. In the war of supremacy which went on for long between the nations of Majjhimadesa, kingdom of Magadha finally emerged victorious and became a predominant empire in Mid India.

The kingdom of the Magadhas roughly corresponded to the modern districts of Patna and Gaya in southern parts of Bihar. It was bounded on the north by river Ganga, on the east by the river Champa, on the south by Vindhya mountains and on the west by river Sona. During Buddha’s time, its boundaries included Anga. Its earliest capital was Girivraja or Rajagriha modern Rajgir in Patna district of Bihar. The other names for the city were Magadhapura, Brihadrathapura, Vasumati, Kushagrapura and Bimbisarapuri. It was an active center of Jainism in ancient times. The first Buddhist council was held in Rajagriha in the Vaibhara Hills. Later on, Pataliputra became the capital of Magadha.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Magadha", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki