Category Ancient India

        It was Mahavira who gave Jainism the proper form of a religion. He is also considered as the 24th and last ‘Tirthankara’. In Jainism, ‘Tirthankara’ is a great soul who becomes the bridge to enlightenment.

        Mahavira was born in Kundagrama, near Vaishali in Bihar, in 599 BC.

        Mahavira was a prince, and his name was Vardhamana. He was a very brave child who once mounted a charging elephant! At the age of thirty, Mahavira renounced his kingdom, and family.

        It is believed that Mahavira did not consume even water, for two days. He pulled out his hair, and wore only a piece of cloth. Later, he gave half of that garment to a beggar. After a little over a year, he gave up clothes altogether. Mahavira’s teachings are full of universal compassion. He taught about the internal beauty and harmony of the soul. Mahavira preached that right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct together would lead one towards liberation.

        Mahavira himself is also called ‘Jina’, which means conqueror, for he was a spiritual conqueror.

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        The Nandas have a special place in Indian history as the first empire builders of India. They inherited the large kingdom of Magadha, and wished to extend it to even more distant frontiers. The first Nanda ruler was Mahapadma, and the last was Dhana Nanda. At the time of Dhana Nanda, the Nandas had an army consisting of 80,000 cavalry, 2,00,000 infantry, 8,000 armed chariots, and 6,000 war elephants!

          The Nandas were very wealthy, and they got their wealth through the taxes they collected. They also built canals and carried out irrigation projects. They were not popular rulers, but their powerful army was famous. In fact, many historians hold the view that Alexander the Great confined himself to the plains of Punjab for fear of the mighty Nandas!

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          Have you heard the story of how the Greeks won a battle against the kingdom of Troy by building a huge wooden horse? The horse was so big that Greek soldiers could hide inside it. The Greeks left the horse outside the gates of Troy, and pretended to leave. When the Trojans saw the horse, they took it inside their city, for it was so magnificent. At night, while the Trojans slept, the Greek soldiers came out of the horse and destroyed Troy. Did you know that a similar thing happened in India too? Pradyota, king of Avanti, one of the most prosperous states in the north, wanted to capture the king of Vatsa, Udayana. Therefore, he built a huge wooden elephant, hid his soldiers inside it, and left the elephant in the forest. Udayana was very fond of elephants, and when he heard that there was a huge elephant in the forest, he went in search of it. He was then captured by Pradyota’s soldiers, who emerged from the elephant and brought to Avanti. The story has a happy ending though. Pradyota’s daughter fell in love with Udayana, and helped him to escape. They married and she lived happily as his queen!

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          Bimbisara was a king of Magadha. His capital was at Rajgir. Bimbisara became king at the age of fifteen, and reigned for fifty-two years, until his kingdom was taken over by his son Ajatashatru. It is said that he had 500 wives, although we know about only four of them!

          Bimbisara’s expansion of his kingdom, especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to have laid the foundation for the later expansion of the Mauryan Empire. He is also known for his cultural achievements, and was a great friend and protector of the Buddha. The king’s support greatly helped the growth of Buddhism in India.

          Legends tell us that Bimbisara’s son Ajatashatru, who imprisoned the king, is said to have starved him to death.

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          Prehistoric ‘Megalithic’ or large stone graves are found in great numbers in south India, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. As you know, the pyramids are massive monuments built over a tomb that contained all the objects which would be useful for a dead person in his afterlife.

          Similarly, megaliths were large stone constructions built over a tomb. Rectangular chambers made of large stone slabs are very common. They also contained jewellery, axes, arrowheads and household articles for the afterlife. In this respect, they are similar to the pyramids of Egypt. There were also urn burials, in which the bones of the dead person were put in a pot or urn and then buried in a pit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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       The ‘Mahajanapadas’ or great states, were the many new states that existed in the 6th century BC in the northern part of India. They came into being when people started settling in one place, in groups. They usually settled in a fertile area, and wanted to defend their land, crops and houses from other people. So, these states had their own armies, and were ruled by kings, or ruling councils.

       The Mahajanapadas were 16 in number. Anga, Kashi, Kosala, Chedi, Vatsa, Matsya, Surasena, Asmaka, Avanti, Gandhar and Magadha were ruled by kings or monarchs. The kings in these states had supreme authority.

       The Mahajanapadas of Vajji, Malla, Kuru, Panchal and Kamboj were republican states, and so were other smaller states like Lichhavi, Shakya, Koliya, Bhagga, and Moriya. These republican states had a ‘Ganaparishad’ or an assembly of senior and responsible citizens. It had the supreme authority in the state. All the administrative decisions were taken by the assembly. Of all these, Kosala, Vatsa, Avanti and Magadha were the most important ones.

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