Ujjain was the capital of which mahajanapada?

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 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.