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The sixteen kingdoms, the Buddha and Mahavira, the rise of Magadha and Alexander's invasion.

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Mahajanapadas · c. 600–321 BC
The Sixteen Great States

The Age of the Mahajanapadas

From the sixteen great kingdoms and republics of the Ganges plain, through the lives of Mahavira and the Buddha and the new religions of renunciation they founded, to the rise of mighty Magadha, the wealth of the Nandas and the sudden arrival of Alexander at the Indus. Slide across two turning centuries in which cities and coins, philosophy and empire transformed India, and the ideas of the age spread across Asia and the world.

600 BC
The Sixteen Kingdoms
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600 BC

The Sixteen Kingdoms
  • Political

    The sixteen great kingdoms

    The Mahajanapadas of ancient India
    Via Wikimedia Commons

    Across northern India sixteen great states, the Mahajanapadas, contend for power, some kingdoms and some republics.

6 milestones

Meanwhile

Around 600 BC

Full Chronicle

The Age of the Mahajanapadas

From the sixteen great kingdoms and republics of the Ganges plain, through the lives of Mahavira and the Buddha and the new religions of renunciation they founded, to the rise of mighty Magadha, the wealth of the Nandas and the sudden arrival of Alexander at the Indus. Slide across two turning centuries in which cities and coins, philosophy and empire transformed India, and the ideas of the age spread across Asia and the world.

  1. The Sixteen Kingdoms

    • The sixteen great kingdoms

      Across northern India sixteen great states, the Mahajanapadas, contend for power, some kingdoms and some republics.

  2. The Teachers

    • Mahavira and the Jains

      Mahavira teaches a path of radical non-violence and renunciation, giving shape to the Jain religion.

  3. The Teachers

    • The awakening of the Buddha

      Siddhartha Gautama attains enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree and begins to teach the path to end suffering.

  4. The Rise of Magadha

    • Magadha grows mighty

      Under Bimbisara and Ajatashatru, the kingdom of Magadha overpowers its rivals to dominate the Ganges.

  5. The Nanda Empire

    • The wealth of the Nandas

      The Nanda dynasty forges a vast, wealthy empire across northern India, feared for its enormous army.

  6. Alexander at the Indus

    • Alexander and the battle of the Hydaspes

      Alexander the Great defeats King Porus at the Hydaspes but, at the edge of the Ganges plain, his army turns back.