Magadha Empire: Rise, Growth And Rulers In Magadha Are Here

During the 6th - 4th BC centuries, the four empires, Vatsa, Magadha, Kosala, and Avanti have struggled for maintaining supremacy in India. Later, Magadha emerged as the most powerful empire and occupied most of North India. On average, they ruled major parts of India from 684 BCE to 320 BCE. Rulers from the Magadha empire belonged to three dynasties. They are the Haryanka Dynasty, Shishunaga Dynasty, and Nanda Dynasty. This entire article gives details about the rise of Magadha empire, rulers of Magadha Mahajanapada, founder of Magadha empire and the causes for the rise of Magadha are in brief.

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Who Was The Founder Of Magadha Empire? 

Brihadratha and his son Jarasandha are the great leaders of the Magadha empire and they belong to the Barhadratha dynasty. So, Brihadratha and his son Jarasandha are considered the founders of Magadha. But, during the Haryankas dynasty, the Magadha empire became a supreme power of the nation. At that time, the Haryankas dynasty made expansion of territories under the Sisungas and Nandas and reached up to zenith point under the Maurya.

Magadha Empire In Haryanka Dynasty

Under the Haryanka Dynasty, there were three important rulers in the Magadha Empire. They are Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and Udayin. The earliest capital of the Haryanka Dynasty was Giriviraja. Later, they shifted the capital to Rajagriha for administrative convenience. 

Bimbisara

Bimbisara was the first king of the Magadha empire, who had a standing army and was contemporary to the Buddha and the follower of Mahavir. He ruled the nation for about 52 years from 558 BC – 491 BC. He established his rule with the capital of Girivraja/Rajagriha, which was surrounded by 5 hills. All the entry points of Girivraja/Rajagriha were closed by stone walls. So, the Rajagriha remains protected.

In order to strengthen his position, he defeated Brahamadutta an Anga king and later started matrimonial alliances from princely states for expanding his territories. So, he married Mahakosaladeve, who was the princess of Koshala and sister of Prasenjit. Lichchhavi princess Chellana and Khema, who are the princes of the Madra clan of Punjab. Through the Marriage relationship with different princely families, Bimbisara expanded his territory over the western and northern parts of the country. He mainly expanded his territory by a policy of conquest and expansion. Once, Pukkusati came into the court of Bimbisara, who was the ambassador of the Gandhara ruler of Taxila. During his rule, he also sent Jivak to the rival Chandapradyota Mahasena of Ujjain to cure jaundice. Jivak was the personal physician of Bimbisara and the son of Salavati. Bimbisara was also known as Sreniya. 

Ajatshatru (Kunika)

Ajatshatru was the son of Bimbisara and his wife Cellana. After Bimbisara, Ajatshatru occupied the throne of his father by killing him. He embraced Buddhism and contemporary of both Gautama Buddha and Mahavira. He ruled the nation from 492 BC to 460 BC. After the death of Buddha, Ajatshatru created the first Buddhist council at Rajagriha. He also waged war and added Kosala and Vaishali to his territory. He took 16 years to add Vaishali to his territory. During his period, he used war engines to throw stones at enemy troops like catapults. Also, he had a chariot, which was attached by weapons for mass killing the enemy troops. 

Udayabhadra/Udayin

Udayabhadra was the son of Ajatshatru. Udayin has occupied the throne after his father Ajatshatru and ruled the nation for about 16 years from 460 BCE to 444 BCE. Udayabhadra built a fort at Patliputra, where the two rivers, Ganga and Son, meet. Udayabhadra mainly concentrated on Patna to build a fort, because it was the centre of the Magadha Kingdom and facilitated his to extend his territory from the Himalayas in the north to the hills of the Chotanagpur in the south. Later, he was murdered by Palak, who was the king of Avanti. The king of Avanti was succeeded by Aniruddha, Manda and Nagadasaka.

Sisunaga Dynasty

After the death of Udayabhadra, the power was taken over by the Sisunaga dynasty.  Sisunaga and Kalasoka are the two rules under the Sisunaga dynasty. They ruled the nation from 413 BCE to 345 BCE.

Sisunaga

Before becoming the King of Magadha, Sisunaga was the viceroy of Kasi. He also served as the elected minister of the Naga-Dasak. He ruled the country with the capital city of Girivaraja and later he shifted his capital to Vaishali. While he was in power, he destroyed and found the end for the Prayota Dynasty of Avanti, which was a 100 years old conflict between the Magadha and Avanti. Through that Sisunga found the end of Mauryan rule in India. 

Kalasoka

Sisunaga’s son Kakasoka succeeded him and captured the throne. For the administration convenience, Kalasoka again transferred the capital from Vaishali to Patliputra. Kalasoka has also enhanced the support for conducting the second Buddhist council at Vaishali. The Nanda dynasty killed Kalasoka during the palace revolution and captured the throne. 

Nanda Dynasty

Nanda Dynasty was the first non-Kshatriya dynasty for the Magadha empire. The Nanda Dynasty ruled the nation from 345 BCE to 321 BCE. 

Mahapadma nanda

Mahapandma Nanda was the founder of the Nanda dynasty and was also called the  “first historical emperor of India”. He held the throne after killing the Kalasoka. Mahapandmanand was the sovereign ruler and known as Ekaarat, Eka-Chchhatra. He has a huge army to protect his territory. During his period he conquered Koshala and Kalinga and brought the image of jina as a victory trophy. He ruled the empire for twenty-eight years. During his period, he destroyed all the Kshatriyas so he is called “Sarva Kashtriyantaka”. He extends his territory from Kuru country in the north to Godavari Valley in the south and from Magadha in the east to Narmada in the west. He had a huge army with 60,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, and 6000 war elephants with an effective taxation system. 

Dhanananda

Dhanananda was the last ruler of the Nanda Dynasty. He was one of the eight to nine sons of Mahapadma nanda. According to the Greek texts, Dhanananda means Agrammes or Xandrames.  Alexander tried to invade Northwestern India, but he could not proceed through the Gangetic plains because of the huge army of the Nanda dynasty. During his period, he made the invention of Nandopakramani. Dhanananda did not become such a popular king because of extorting taxes. Finally, Chandragupta Maurya along with Chanakya defeated the Dhananda and established the Mauryan Empire in Magadha.

Causes for the rise of Magadha

Geographical Factors 

Magadha is the most fertile land because it was located near the upper and lower part of the Gangetic valley. Also, these areas receive enough rainfall. This was situated in the mainland route to travel from west India to east India. The rivers like Ganga, Son and Champa have encircled the Magadha region and protected the region from enemies. The capital of Magadha, Rajgir and Pataliputra is located in strategic positions. 

Economic Factors

Magadha region was a rich source of copper and iron. Its location also facilitates easy trading. The Magadha empire has a huge population, so they are rich sources for building cities, agriculture, mining, and the army. As Magadha was located in the Gangetic region, it became an important means of transport to increase the economy of the empire. As Bimbisara acquired the Anga region, facilitated trade with South-East Asia, Sri Lanka and South India.

Cultural Factors

People from Magandhan society have an unorthodox character, Aryan and non-Aryan peoples are living in this area. The Magadha empire made a huge revolution for spreading Jainism and Buddhism and enhancing liberal traditions. 

Political Factors

Most powerful and ambitious rulers have conquered the Magadha region and they have strong standing armies. As the Magadha region is a rich source of iron, kings who ruled this region utilized the iron for making advanced weapons. This was the first empire to use elephants in the army. Also, they had a good administrative system. 

Among sixteen Mahajanapada, Magadha was one of the important empires in ancient India. This region covered the current Bihar to West Bengal. This article gave the founder of the Magadha empire, the cause for the rise of the Magadha empire and many more details.