•   Mahajanapadas were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in Northern ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE.

•   Two of the Mahajanapadas were most probably ganatantras (oligarchic republics) and others had forms of monarchy.

•   Ancient Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya make frequent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and republics.

•   They had developed and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.
• Asmaka was only southern Mahajanapada.

16 Mahajanapadas

•   The first reference to the Angas is found in the Atharva-Veda.

•   The Jaina Prajnapana ranks Angas and Vangas in the first group of Aryan people.

•   Anga was annexed by Magadha in the time of Bimbisara. This was the one and only conquest of Bimbisara.

•   The country of the Avantis was an important kingdom of western India.

•   It was one of the four great monarchies in India in the post era of Mahavira and Buddha, the other three being Kosala, Vatsa and Magadha.

•   Avanti was divided into north and south by the river Narmada.

•   The country of Avanti roughly corresponded to modern Malwa, Nimar and adjoining parts of today's Madhya Pradesh.

•   Avanti was an important centre of Buddhism and some of the leading theras and theris were born and resided there.

•   King Nandivardhana of Avanti was defeated by king Shishunaga of Magadha.

•   Avanti later became part of the Magadhan empire.

•   The Chedis, Chetis or Chetyas had two distinct settlements of which one was in the mountains of Nepal and the other in Bundelkhand near Kausambi.

•   Chedis lay near Yamuna midway between the kingdom of Kurus and Vatsas.

•   In the mediaeval period, the southern frontiers of Chedi extended to the banks of the river Narmada.

•   The Chedis are mentioned in the Rigveda, with their king Kashu Chaidya.

•   The Magadha was one of the most prominent and prosperous of mahajanapadas.

•   Its capital city Pataliputra (Patna) was situated on the confluence of major rivers like the Ganga, Son, Punpun and Gandak.

•   The kingdom of the Magadhas roughly corresponded to the modern districts of Patna and Gaya in southern Bihar and parts of Bengal in the east.

•   Pataliputra was bound in the north by the river Ganges, in the east by the river Champa, in the south by the Vindhya mountains and in the west by the river Sona.

•   Its earliest capital was Girivraja or Rajagaha (modern Rajgir in the Nalanda district of Bihar).

•   It was an active center of Jainism in ancient times.

•   The first Buddhist Council was held in Rajagaha in the Vaibhara Hills.

•   The wool of the Gandharis is referred to in the Rigveda.

•   The Gandharas and their king figure prominently as strong allies of the Kurus against the Pandavas in the Mahabharata war.

•   The Gandharas were furious people, well-trained in the art of war.

•   This Janapada was founded by Gandhara, son of Aruddha, a descendant of Yayati.

•   The river Indus watered the lands of Gandhara.

•   Taksashila and Pushkalavati, were the two major cities of this Mahajanapada.

•   Paṇini mentioned both the Vedic form Gandhari as well as the later form Gandhara in his Ashtadhyayi.

•   Gandhara Mahajanapada according to Buddhist traditions included territories of east Afghanistan, and north-west of the Panjab (modern districts of Peshawar (Purushapura) and Rawalpindi).

•   Its later capital was Taksashila.

•   The Taksashila University was a renowned centre of learning in ancient times.

•   Paṇini, the Indian genius of grammar and Kautiliya are the world-renowned products of Taxila University.

•   Kosala was located to the north-west of Magadha, with its capital at Ayodhya.

•   Its territory corresponded to the modern Awadh in Central and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

•   It had the river Ganges for its southern, the river Gandak (Narayani) for its eastern, and the Himalaya mountains for its northern boundary.

•   Koshala and Ayodhya hold a central place in the Hindu scriptures and Purana.

•   Raghuvansha-Ikshvakuvansha was the longest continuous dynasty.

•   Lord Rama was a king in this dynasty.

•   Later, the kingdom was ruled by the famous king Prasenajit during the era of Mahavira and Buddha.

•   King Prasenajit was highly educated.

•   His position was further improved by a matrimonial alliance with Magadha: his sister was married to Bimbisara and part of Kasi was given as dowry.

•   Matsya lay to the south of the Kurus and west of the Yamuna, which separated them from the Panchalas.

•   It roughly corresponded to the former state of Jaipur in Rajasthan, and included the whole of Alwar with portions of Bharatpur.

•   The capital of Matsya was at Viratanagara.

•   A branch of Matsya is also found in later days in the Vizagapatam region.

•   The Matsyas had not much political importance of their own during the time of Buddha.

•   King Sujata ruled over both the Chedis and Matsyas, thus showing that Matsya once formed a part of the Chedi kingdom.

•   Surasenas lay to the east of Matsya and west of Yamuna.

•   This corresponds roughly to the Brij region of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan and Gwalior region of Madhya Pradesh.

•   It had its capital at Madhura or Mathura.

•   Avantiputra, the king of Surasena, was the first among the chief disciples of Buddha

o  through his help Buddhism gained ground in Mathura.

•   The Andhakas and Vrishnis of Mathura/Surasena are referred to in the Ashtadhyayi of Paṇini.

•   In Kautiliya's Arthashastra, the Vrishnis are described as sangha or republic.

•   The Vrishnis, Andhakas and other allied tribes of the Yadavas formed a sangha.

•   Vasudeva (Krishna) is described as the sangha-mukhya.

•   Mathura, the capital of Surasena, was also known at the time of Megasthenes as the centre of Krishna worship.

•   The Surasena kingdom had lost its independence on annexation by the Magadhan empire.