After the age of Vedic Culture, (from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE) with the ‘janapada‘ started making “Mahajanapadaa” by expanding the empire. The land between Himalayas and Narmada was divided into sixteen independent states. These states are known as ‘Mahajanapadas‘.
» Here is a list of all the 16 ‘Mahajanapadas‘ with their capitals and present day location.
| Mahajanapadas | Capital | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Magadha | Girivraj or Rajgriha | District Patna, Gaya and part of Shahabad in Bihar |
| Anga | Champa or Champanagari | Munger and Bhagalpur Dist of Bihar |
| Kashi | Varanashi | Varanashi dist of Uttar Pradesh |
| Kosala | Saravasti | Faizabad, Gonda region or Eastern UP |
| Malla | Kushinagar or Pawa | South of Vaishali dist in UP |
| Kuru | Hastinapur | Haryana and Delhi |
| Chedi | Shaktiman | Eastern part of Bundelkhand |
| Panchal | Ahichharta, Kampilya | Rahilkhand Western Uttar Pradesh |
| Sursena | Mathura | Brajmandal Mathura region |
| Matsya | Viratnagar | Alwar, Jaipur, Bharatput in Rajshtan |
| Avanti | Malwa/Ujjain | Ujjain District |
| Gandhara | Taxila | Western Part of Pakistan and Afghanistan |
| Kamboj | Rajaput/Hataka | Punch area in Kashmir and Hazara dist of Pakistan |
| Ashmika | Potana / Patali | Between river Narmada and Godavari |
| Vatsa | Kaushambi | Dist of Alahabad Mirzapur of Uttar Pradesh |
| Vajji | Vaishali | Vaishali dist. of Bihar |
» Five Mahajanapadas were most powerful than others. They are Magadha, Avanti, Kashi, Kosala and Vajji.
» Buddhist and Jain literature present a list of 16 Mahajanapadas with minor variation of names.
» The Buddhist text ‘Anguttara Nikaya‘ which is a part of the Sutta pitaka gives a list of sixteen Mahajanapadas in time of Buddha. Between these Magadha was the most powerful kingdom.