Mahajanapadas: Towards State Formation

INTRODUCTION

To begin with, there existed political units like jana which later became janapada – mahajanapada. A jana was a region where there lived the people of the tribe. These tribes were named after a particular chieftain. Later, with the extension of territory, there was a change in the nature of political organization.

MAHAJANAPADAS
In the texts we find references to the emergence of sixteen mahajanapadas. Important among them were Magadha, Kosala, Kasi, Avanti, Vaishali, Licchavi, etc. Mahajanapadas were of two kinds, as discussed below.

MONARCHICAL MAHAJANAPADAS

First, there existed monarchical types, where the king or chieftain was the head of the territory. In this type, the vedic ceremonies and brahmanas were given much importance.The kings performed vedic sacrifices in these regions. For instance, Kosala belonged to the category of monarchical mahajanapada. Prasenajit, the king of Kosala was known to have performed several sacrifices.

REPUBLICAN MAHAJANAPADAS

The second type among mahajanapadas was republican or oligarchic which differed from the monarchical states. In this second category, the king was selected from the group of people called rajas. There is reference to assemblies called sabha where the members used to have discussions regarding a particular matter, then the item was put to vote.

In one such assembly there is reference to the existence of 7707 rajas who represented the class of rajanyas who owned land that was cultivated by dasa karmakaras or labourers. The rajas were known for their ability to fight. In this category, Vedic sacrifices were not given much importance and the brahmanas were given number two social status after the ksatriyas. The main source for the study of these mahajanapadas are the Buddhist texts.

CONFLICT BETWEEN MOANARCHICAL AND REPUBLICAN MAHAJANAPADAS

The Vrijji confederacy near the foot of Himalayas was a powerful oligarchy, which challenged the supremacy of some monarchical states. Monarchical states like Magadha and Licchavi were in a great predicament as they were not able to extend their territories. Among the mahajanapadas there emerged conflict for power and supremacy. Magadha had an ambitious king called Ajatasatru, who decided to conquer the neighbouring regions. Due to warfare and marriage alliances he was able to conquer Kosala and Kasi.

RISE OF MAGADHA

Thus among monarchical states Magadha emerged as an important power. However, he had to fight for many years against Licchavi. Ajatasatru sent his minister to sow dissension among the tribes of Vrijji confederacy. Due to this effort ultimately Ajatasatru obtained success against Licchavi which became part of Magadha empire.

This region controlled the northern trade route called uttarapatha, while the southerly route called dakshinapatha was under the control of Magadha. Due to these conquests, Magadha was able to manage economic resources like fertile river valleys and iron ore mines which provided the necessary supply of materials for the production of different goods. As a result it was in Magadha that we find the beginning of signs of state formation.

Reference:
  1. R. S. Sharma, Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, Macmillan, Delhi, 1983.