The Early Historic Period In Ancient India

The Early Historic Period was a period of change. It began in the 6th century BCE, a time often considered to be a turning point in early Indian history. This is so, because, for the very first time in Ancient India, we witness the emergence of several known political entities known as the mahajanapadas. The mahajanapadas were kingdom states that covered greater parts of Northern India and through them, social, political and cultural complexities began to tangibly take shape. The period under question also marks the second urbanization in Indian history. In the following paragraphs, I will elaborate under separate sub-sections different aspects of the socio-political changes witnessed during this time. This period also bore witness to the rise
Kasi was the first of the sixteen to attain political distinction and the Mahavagga, a volume of the second book of the Theravadin Vinaya Pitaka (a Buddhist text), gives us the impression that its rise to power was at the cost of its neighbour Kosala. However, with the accession of a ruler named Prasenjit in Kosala, Kasi was defeated and Kosala gained what it had lost earlier on. At the same time, to the west was the state of Vatsa under King Udayana who had an intense rivalry with king Pradyota of Avanti. Both these states were also very powerful. Magadha arose in this context and it is believed that it only became important in the 6th century BCE. Bimbisara, the founder of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha who took it to heights of power. Before that, a Jataka story implies that Magadha may have been in fact inferior to Anga. The conquest of Anga by Bimbisara marked the beginning of the rise of the most powerful
His dynasty, Saisunaga dynasty was supplanted by Mahapadma who began the formidable Nanda dynasty. There is unanimity among scholars that the Nanda rulers were of non-Kshatriya and humble origin. To the Nanda rulers, especially Mahapadma, belong the credit of expanding the authority of Magadha over the entire Ganga valley and possibly, Kalinga too. Because of Magadha’s access to considerable resources from the agrarian sector, its rulers were able to keep a huge standing army and they were undoubtedly the most formidable power in north India at the time of the Macedonian invasion in Punjab (327 BCE). By 324 BCE, the Nanda rule came to an end when Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the last Nanda king. Under the Mauryas, Magadha would grow to become an