Indian History Quiz: Mahajanapadas and the Rise of Magadha

The correct answer is B, Anguttara Nikaya. It is a text of the Sutta Pitaka of the Buddhist canon and it names the sixteen great states of the age of the Buddha, from Magadha and Kosala in the east to Gandhara and Kamboja in the north-west. This is the list every standard textbook reproduces, and the Jain Bhagavati Sutra gives a rival list in which several names are replaced.

Option A, the Arthashastra, is Kautilya's manual of statecraft from the Mauryan age or later; it discusses how a state should be run but does not list the sixteen mahajanapadas. Option C, the Mahabhashya, is Patanjali's commentary on Sanskrit grammar of about the second century BCE and is used as a source for the Sunga period, not for this list. Option D, the Ashtadhyayi, is Panini's grammar and again a source for place names rather than the canonical list. Tie the number sixteen to the Anguttara Nikaya while revising.

The correct answer is A, Assaka. Of the sixteen mahajanapadas only Assaka lay in the Deccan, on the banks of the Godavari, with its capital at Potana, also written Potali. Every other state of the list belonged to the northern plains, the Malwa plateau or the north-west, which is why this single exception is asked so often.

Option B, Chedi, lay in the Bundelkhand region of central India with its capital at Suktimati, north of the Vindhyas. Option C, Matsya, covered the Jaipur area of Rajasthan with its capital at Viratnagar, and is remembered as the land where the Pandavas spent their year of concealment. Option D, Surasena, had Mathura as its capital in the Yamuna valley of western Uttar Pradesh, and its ruler Avantiputra is described in Buddhist texts as a follower of the Buddha. Fix the pair Assaka and Godavari firmly, because the distractors are always northern states.

The correct answer is C, Avanti. Avanti covered the Malwa region and had two capitals: Ujjain in its northern half and Mahishmati on the Narmada in its southern half. Under Pradyota it was one of the four powers that fought for supremacy, and it was finally annexed by Shishunaga of Magadha. Ujjain later became the seat of the Mauryan viceroy and a famous centre of learning.

Option A, Vatsa, had its capital at Kaushambi near modern Prayagraj and was ruled by Udayana, the hero of later Sanskrit plays. Option B, Kosala, had Shravasti as its capital and Ayodhya and Saketa as its other great towns; its king Prasenajit was a contemporary of the Buddha. Option D, Panchala, was divided into a northern half with its capital at Ahichhatra and a southern half with its capital at Kampilya. Papers commonly swap Ujjain with Kaushambi, so keep Ujjain tied to Avanti and Kaushambi to Vatsa.

The correct answer is D, Haryanka dynasty. Bimbisara was the first great ruler of the Haryanka line of Magadha, traditionally dated from about 544 BCE, with his capital at Girivraja, also called Rajgriha. He annexed Anga with its river port of Champa and strengthened Magadha through marriage alliances with Kosala, the Licchavis of Vaishali and Madra in the Punjab. He was a contemporary and patron of both the Buddha and Mahavira.

Option A, the Shishunaga dynasty, came later and is remembered for annexing Avanti. Option B, the Nanda dynasty, ruled immediately before the Mauryas and was founded by Mahapadma Nanda. Option C, the Maurya dynasty, was founded by Chandragupta Maurya about 321 BCE after he overthrew the last Nanda, so it is two dynasties removed from Bimbisara. The correct order to memorise for Magadha is Haryanka, Shishunaga, Nanda, Maurya.

The correct answer is A, Ajatashatru. The First Buddhist Council met at Rajgriha soon after the death of the Buddha, with Ajatashatru of the Haryanka dynasty as its patron and Mahakassapa presiding, and it settled the Vinaya Pitaka and the Sutta Pitaka as recited by Upali and Ananda.

Option B, Kalashoka of the Shishunaga dynasty, patronised the Second Council at Vaishali, which split the order into the Sthaviravadins and the Mahasanghikas. Option C, Ashoka the Maurya, patronised the Third Council at Pataliputra under Moggaliputta Tissa, after which missionaries were sent abroad. Option D, Kanishka the Kushana, patronised the Fourth Council in Kashmir under Vasumitra and Ashvaghosha, where the Mahayana school took shape. Learn the four councils as a chain of place, king and president, because a question may give any one of the three and ask for another.

The correct answer is B, Vajji. The Vajji confederacy had its centre at Vaishali in north Bihar and was the best known gana-sangha, a state governed not by a single king but by an assembly of the heads of ruling families. The Licchavis, the Videhas and the Jnatrikas were its leading clans, and Mahavira was born into the Jnatrika clan of this confederacy.

Option A, Anga, was a monarchy with its capital at Champa and was annexed by Bimbisara of Magadha. Option C, Kasi, was a monarchy centred on Varanasi and was absorbed by Kosala before Magadha took it. Option D, Kuru, was the old monarchy of the Delhi and Haryana region with Indraprastha as its capital, famous from the Mahabharata. The Mallas of Kushinagar, the Shakyas of Kapilavastu and the Koliyas were other republics, but Vaishali is the name always paired with the Vajjis.

The correct answer is C, Mahapadma Nanda. He founded the Nanda dynasty and the Puranas describe him as a ruler of humble birth who destroyed all the Kshatriya houses, calling him Ekarat, the sole sovereign. He raised an enormous army, taxed heavily and carried Magadhan power into Kalinga, where the later Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela recalls a canal dug by a Nanda king.

Option A, Dhana Nanda, was the last ruler of the same dynasty, not its founder; he was on the throne when Alexander reached the Beas and was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya. Option B, Udayin, belonged to the earlier Haryanka dynasty and is remembered for founding Pataliputra. Option D, Shishunaga, founded the dynasty that came between the Haryankas and the Nandas and is remembered for annexing Avanti. Keep the founder and the last ruler of the Nandas clearly apart, since both names appear together in option sets.

The correct answer is B, Ajatashatru. Buddhist and Jain traditions credit him with two engines used in the long war against the Vajji confederacy: the rathamusala, a chariot fitted with a swinging mace that cut down men as it was driven through them, and the mahashilakantaka, a catapult that hurled heavy stones. He also sent his minister Vassakara to Vaishali to divide the Licchavis before the attack.

Option A, Bimbisara, his father, expanded Magadha mainly by annexing Anga and by marriage alliances, not by these engines. Option C, Prasenajit, was the king of Kosala and a contemporary rival whose sister was married to Bimbisara; he fought Ajatashatru but is not linked with the engines. Option D, Pradyota, ruled Avanti from Ujjain and was known for his temper rather than for siege machines. Attach both unusual weapon names to Ajatashatru and the Vajji war.

The correct answer is A, Kosala. Shravasti was the capital of Kosala in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Ayodhya and Saketa were its other important towns. Its king Prasenajit was a contemporary of the Buddha, who spent many rainy seasons at the Jetavana monastery in Shravasti, which is why the town appears so often in Buddhist literature.

Option B, Malla, was a republic with two centres, Kushinagar, where the Buddha died, and Pava, where Mahavira died. Option C, Chedi, lay in Bundelkhand with its capital at Suktimati. Option D, Magadha, had Girivraja or Rajgriha as its first capital and Pataliputra later. A common trap pairs Shravasti with Magadha or with the Mallas, so remember the chain Kosala, Shravasti, Prasenajit, Jetavana. Kosala also absorbed the neighbouring state of Kasi before it was itself taken by Magadha, and the long struggle between Prasenajit and Ajatashatru over the Kashi village given in dowry to Bimbisara is a favourite statement question in the same set.

The correct answer is C, Dhana Nanda. He was the last of the Nanda kings of Magadha and ruled when Alexander invaded the Punjab; Greek writers describe the vast army of the Gangaridai and Prasii that waited beyond the Beas. His heavy taxation and unpopularity gave Chandragupta Maurya, guided by Chanakya, the opening to overthrow him and found the Mauryan empire at Pataliputra.

Option A, Kalashoka, belonged to the earlier Shishunaga dynasty and is remembered for the Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali. Option B, Udayin, belonged to the Haryanka dynasty and founded Pataliputra. Option D, Bindusara, came after the change of dynasty altogether: he was the son of Chandragupta Maurya and the father of Ashoka, so he cannot be a Nanda. Fix the sequence Haryanka, Shishunaga, Nanda, Maurya and the last name in each line. Note also that Dhana Nanda is remembered chiefly through the accounts of Alexander's companions and through later Sanskrit drama, so the same name may be asked as the contemporary of Alexander rather than as the last Nanda.