Udayin (c. 460-444 BCE) also known as Udayabhadra was a king of

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

ancient India According to consensus in modern genetics, anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. Quote: "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by m ...

. According to the Buddhist and Jain accounts, he was the son and successor of the

Haryanka The Haryanka dynasty was the third ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India, which succeeded the Pradyota dynasty and Barhadratha dynasty. Initially, the capital was Rajagriha. Later, it was shifted to Pataliputra, near the pres ...

king

Ajatashatru Ajatasattu (Pāli ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit ) in Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain histories, (c. 492 to 460 BCE or early 5th century BCE) was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha in East ...

. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliputra at the ...

at the confluence of two rivers, the

Son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

and the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. He shifted his capital from

Rajgriha Rajgir, meaning "The City of Kings," is a historic town in the district of Nalanda in Bihar, India. As the ancient seat and capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty and the Mauryan Empire, as well as the ...

to Patliputra due to the latter's central location in the empire.

Ancestry

According to the Buddhist accounts, the successors of the Magadha ruler

Bimbisara Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi ...

were

, Udayabhadda (Udayin), Anuruddha, Munda and Nagadasaka. The Jain tradition mentions Udayin as the son and successor of Ajatashatru. Kings

(c. 558–491 BCE),

(c. 492–460 BCE), and Udayin (c. 460–440 BCE) of the

Haryanka dynasty The Haryanka dynasty was the third ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India, which succeeded the Pradyota dynasty and Barhadratha dynasty. Initially, the capital was Rajagriha. Later, it was shifted to Pataliputra, near the pres ...

were patrons of Jainism. However, the

Puranas Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

name the successors of Bimbisara as Ajatashatru, Darshaka, Udayin, Nandivardhana and Mahanandin. The ''

Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...

'' names Vamsaka as the successor of Ajatashatru. Since the Puranas were composed at a later date, the Buddhist tradition seems to be more reliable. The Nagadasaka of the Buddhist chronicles is identified with the "Darshaka" of the Puranas. Professor H. C. Seth (1941) identified Udayin with the king Udayana mentioned in the Sanskrit play ''

Svapnavasavadatta ''Svapnavasavadattam'' ( sa, स्वप्नवासवदत्तम्, ) (English: ''The dream of Vasavadatta'') is a Sanskrit play in six acts written by the ancient Indian poet Bhāsa. The plot of the drama is drawn from the romantic n ...

''. The Chinese traveler

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

states that the last descendant of Bimbisara built a

sangharama Sangharama (Sanskrit: संघराम ''Saṃgharāma'') refers to a "temple" or "monastery." It is the place, including its garden or grove, where the Sangha, the Buddhist monastic community dwells. A famous sangharāma was that of Kukkutara ...

(monastery) at Tiladaka. Seth theorized that this last descendant was Darshaka, and Udayin established a new dynasty, as signified by his transfer of the empire's capital from

. Liladhar B. Keny (1943) criticized Seth's theory as incorrect. According to him, the Udayana of ''Svapnavasavadatta'' was a different king, who ruled

Vatsa Vatsa or Vamsa (Pali and Ardhamagadhi: , literally "calf") was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas (great kingdoms) of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Location The territory of Vatsa was located to the south o ...

kingdom with his capital at Kaushambi. R. G. Bhandarkar notes that the name of Darshaka (Dasaka) is prefixed with the word "Naga" in the Buddhist chronicles, which may signify his detachment to his successors and his attachment to the

Nagas of Padmavati The Naga ( IAST: Nāga) dynasty ruled parts of north-central India during the 3rd and the 4th centuries, after the decline of the Kushan Empire and before the rise of the Gupta Empire. Its capital was located at Padmavati, which is identified w ...

. This implies that he may be from a different family and had become the king approximately three generations after

, not immediately succeeding him.

Life and reign

The Buddhist traditions state that Udayin was Ajatashatru's favourite son, and was alive during the reign of his grandfather

. When Ajatashatru met

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

, Udayin was a young prince. Udayin ruled during c. 460-444 BC. he established his capital at

at the confluence of the

and the

rivers. His father had built a fort here to repulse a potential

Pradyota Pradyota dynasty, also called ''Prthivim Bhoksyanti'' (lit. enjoying the earth), is an ancient Indian dynasty, which ruled over Avanti and Magadha, though most of the Puranas ''(except a manuscript of the Brahmanda Purana, preserved in the Uni ...

invasion from Avanti. Udayin moved his capital to Pataliputra, probably because it was at the centre of his growing kingdom. He defeated Palaka of Avanti multiple times but was ultimately killed by him in 444 BC. The Puranas mention Nandivardhana as the successor of Udayin. However, the Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles state that he was succeeded by Anuruddha. These Buddhist chronicles also state that all the kings from Ajatashatru to Nagadasaka, including Udayin, killed their fathers. Jain texts mention that Uadyin was killed by an assassin of rival kingdom. Being childless, he was succeeded by

Nanda Nanda may refer to: Indian history and religion * Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE ** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire ** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...

who was selected by his ministers.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{end Haryanka dynasty 5th-century BC Indian monarchs Kings of Magadha Indian Buddhist monarchs