The history of Bihar is one of the most varied in India.

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

consists of three distinct regions, each has its own distinct history and culture. They are

Magadh 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 ...

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal ...

and Bhojpur.

Chirand Chirand is an archaeological site in the Saran district of Bihar, India, situated on the northern bank of the Ganga River. It has a large pre-historic mound which is known for its continuous archaeological record from the Neolithic age (about 25 ...

, on the northern bank of the

Ganga River 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 ...

, in

Saran district Saran district is one of the thirty-eight Districts of Bihar, districts of Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. The district, part of Saran Division, is also known as Chhapra district after the headquarters of the district, Chha ...

, has an archaeological record from the

Neolithic age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

(about 2500–1345BC). Regions of Bihar—such as

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 ...

and

Anga Anga (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts ...

—are mentioned in religious texts and epics of ancient India.

is believed to be the centre of Indian power in the Later

Vedic period The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (ca. 1300–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, betw ...

(c. 1100-500 BCE). Mithila first gained prominence after the establishment of the

Videha Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy but later ...

kingdom. The Kings of the Videha Kingdom were called

Janaka Janaka is a character who appears in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is an ancient Hindu king of Videha, which was located in the Mithila region. His name at birth was Sīradhvaja, and he had a brother named Kushadhvaja. His father's name was Hrasva ...

s. A daughter of one of the Janaks of

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

, is mentioned as consort of

Lord Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

in the

Hindu epic Mahākāvya (lit. great kāvya, court epic), also known as ''sargabandha'', is a genre of Indian epic poetry in Classical Sanskrit. The genre is characterised by ornate and elaborate descriptions of scenery, love, battles and so on — in short, eve ...

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

, written by

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the wikt:harbinger, harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on ...

. The Videha Kingdom later became incorporated into the

Vajjika League The Vajjika (Pāli: ) or Vrijika (Sanskrit: ) League, Confederacy, or Sangha, also called simply Vajji (Pāli: ) or Vriji (Sanskrit: ), was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribal league which existed during the later Iron Age period in north-east South ...

which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.

, another region of

was the centre of Indian power, learning and culture for about a thousand years. One of India's greatest empires, the

Maurya empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

, as well as two major

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

religions,

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

and

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...

, arose from the region that is now Bihar. Magadha empires, most notably the Maurya and

Gupta Gupta () is a common surname or last name of Indian origin. It is based on the Sanskrit word गोप्तृ ''goptṛ'', which means 'guardian' or 'protector'. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, the surname ''Gupta'' was adopted by se ...

empires, unified large parts of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

under their rule. Their capital

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 ...

, adjacent to modern-day

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

, was an important political, military and economic centre of Indian civilisation during the ancient and classical periods of Indian history. Many ancient Indian texts, aside from religious epics, were written in ancient

. The play

Abhijñānaśākuntala ''Abhijnanashakuntalam'' (Devanagari: अभिज्ञानशाकुन्तलम्, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam''), also known as ''Shakuntala'', ''The Recognition of Shakuntala'', ...

was the most prominent. The present-day region of Bihar overlaps with several pre-Mauryan kingdoms and republics, including Magadha,

and the

. The latter was one of the world's earliest known republics and had existed in the region since before the birth of Mahavira (c. 599 BCE)."Licchavi", ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''
"", ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''
The classical Gupta dynasty of Bihar presided over a period of cultural flourishing and learning, known today as the Golden Age of India. The

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire (r. 750-1161 CE) was an imperial power during the post-classical period in the Indian subcontinent, which originated in the region of Bengal. It is named after its ruling dynasty, whose rulers bore names ending with the suffi ...

also made their capital at Pataliputra once during Devapala's rule. After the Pala period, Bihar played a very small role in Indian history until the emergence of the Suri dynasty during the Medieval period in the 1540s. After the fall of the Suri dynasty in 1556, Bihar again became a marginal player in India and was the staging post for the British colonial

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

from the 1750s and up to the war of 1857–58. On 22 March 1912, Bihar was carved out as a separate province in the

British Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himse ...

. Since 1947 independence, Bihar has been an original state of the Indian Union.

Neolithic (10,800–3300 BC)

The earliest proof of human activity in Bihar is

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

habitational remains at

Munger Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...

Prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

rock painting In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

s have been discovered in the hills of Kaimur,

Nawada Nawada is a city and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the headquarters of the Nawada district. It is the headquarters of the subdivision of the same name, lying on both sides of the Khuri River( also known as Sakri river in some part ...

and

Jamui Jamui is a town and a municipality in Jamui district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the district headquarter of Jamui district. Jamui was formed as a district on 21 February 1991 as a result of its separation from Munger. It is part of Mun ...

. It was the first time that a

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

settlement was discovered in the thick of the

alluvium Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

, over the bank of 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 ...

. The rock paintings depict a prehistoric lifestyle and natural environment. They depict the sun, the moon, stars, animals, plants, trees, and rivers, and it is speculated that they represent love for nature. The paintings also highlight the daily life of the early humans in Bihar, including activities like hunting, running, dancing and walking. The rock paintings in Bihar are not only identical to those in central and

southern India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

but are also akin to those in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The rock paintings of Spain's Alta Mira and France's

Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...

are almost identical to those found in Bihar.

Bronze Age (3300–1300 BC)

Parallel to Indus Valley Civilization

In 2017 bricks dated to mature Harappan period were discovered from the outskirts of the ancient city of Vaishali. Any in depth research which may establish definite links between

Indus Valley Civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900&n ...

and Bihar is yet to be conducted. A round seal excavated from Vaishali dated 200 BC-200 AD has three inscribed letters which according to

scholar

Iravatham Mahadevan Iravatham Mahadevan (2 October 1930 – 26 November 2018) was an Indian epigraphist and civil servant, known for his decipherment of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and for his expertise on the epigraphy of the Indus Valley civilisation. Early lif ...

represents formulas inscribed on the Indus seals and dates it to the earliest layers of excavation i-e 1100 BC.

Rigvedic period

Kikata was an ancient kingdom in what is now India, mentioned in the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

. Some scholars have believed that they were the forefathers of

Magadhas 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 ...

because Kikata is used as synonym for Magadha in the later texts. It probably lay to the south of Magadha Kingdom in a hilly landscape. A section in the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

(RV 3.53.14) refers to the s (Hindi:कीकट), a tribe which most scholars have placed in present-day south western Bihar (Magadha) such as Weber and Zimmere.g. McDonell and Keith 1912, Vedic Index; Rahurkar, V.G. 1964. The Seers of the Rgveda. University of Poona. Poona; Talageri, Shrikant. (2000) The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis while some scholars such as Oldenburg and Hillebrandt dispute that. According to Puranic literature Kikata is placed near Gaya. It is described as extending from Caran-adri to Gridharakuta (

vulture peak The Vulture Peak (Pali: गिज्झकूट, Sanskrit: गृद्धकूट), also known as the Holy Eagle Peak or Gridhakūta (or Gādhrakūta), was the Buddha's favorite retreat in Rajagaha (now Rajgir, or Rajagrih). It was the scene ...

Rajgir 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 d ...

. Some scholar such as A. N. Chandra place Kikata in a hilly part of Indus valley based on argument that countries between magadh and indus valley are not mentioned such as kuru, kosala etc. Kikatas were said to be Anarya or non-vedic people who didn't practice vedic rituals like soma, According to Sayana, Kikatas didn't perform worship, were infidels and . The leader of Kikatas has been called Pramaganda, a usurer. It is unclear whether Kikatas were already present in Magadh during rigvedic period or they migrated there later. Like Rigveda attributes of Kikatas, Atharvaveda also speaks about south eastern tribes like Magadhas and Angas as hostile tribe who lived on the borders of Brahmanical India. Bhagvata Purana mentions about the birth of Buddha among Kikatas. Some scholars have placed the Kīkaṭa kingdom, mentioned in the

, in

(

) because Kikata is used as synonym for Magadha in the later texts; however, according to

Michael Witzel Michael Witzel (born July 18, 1943) is a German-American philologist, comparative mythologist and Indologist. Witzel is the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University and the editor of the Harvard Oriental Series (volumes 50–80). Witz ...

, Kīkaṭa was situated south of

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pura ...

in eastern Rajasthan or western Madhya Pradesh.M. Witzel.
Rigvedic history: poets, chieftains, and polities
" in ''The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity.'' ed. G. Erdosy (Walter de Gruyer, 1995), p. 333 The placement in Bihar is also challenged by historical geographers Mithila Sharan Pandey (who argues they must have been near

Western Uttar Pradesh Western Uttar Pradesh is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and those where Khariboli, Braj and Kannauji are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cul ...

), and O.P. Bharadwaj (who places them near the

Sarasvati River The Sarasvati River () is a deified river first mentioned in the Rigveda and later in Vedic and post-Vedic texts. It played an important role in the Vedic religion, appearing in all but the fourth book of the Rigveda. As a physical river, i ...

), and historian

Ram Sharan Sharma Ram Sharan Sharma (26 November 1919 – 20 August 2011) was an Indian historian and Indologist who specialised in the history of Ancient and early Medieval India. He taught at Patna University and Delhi University (1973–85) and was visiting ...

, who believes they were probably in Haryana.

Northern black polished ware

Urbanization in the gangetic plains began with the appearance of

Northern black polished ware The Northern Black Polished Ware culture (abbreviated NBPW or NBP) is an urban Iron Age Indian culture of the Indian Subcontinent, lasting c. 700–200 BCE (proto NBPW between 1200 and 700 BCE), succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture and Blac ...

period and archaeologists trace the origin of this pottery in

region of Bihar. The oldest dated site of NBWP is in Juafardih,

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.

Late Vedic Kingdoms

Anga Kingdom

Anga kingdom is described in the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Kuruk ...

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the ...

, a friend of

Duryodhana Duryodhana ( sa, दुर्योधन, ) also known as Suyodhana, is the primary antagonist in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata.'' He was the eldest of the Kauravas, the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and his queen Gandhari. Being ...

, was the king of Anga.

Videha (Mithila) Kingdom

is mentioned in both the

and the Mahabharata as comprising parts of Bihar and extending into small parts of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. The Hindu goddess

is described as the princess of Videha, daughter of Raja Janak. The capital of Videha is believed to be either

Janakpur Janakpurdham or Janakpur ( ne, जनकपुर, ) is a sub-metropolitan city in Dhanusha District, Province No. 2, Madhesh Province, Nepal. The city is a hub for religious and cultural tourism. A headquarter of Dhanusha District, Dhanusha dist ...

(in Present-day Nepal),Raychaudhuri (1972) or Baliraajgadh (in Present-day

Madhubani district Madhubani district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India, and is a part of Darbhanga division. Its administrative headquarters are located in Madhubani. The district has an area of and has a population of 4,487,379 (as of 2011 ...

, Bihar, India). Magadha Expansion (6th-4th centuries BCE)

Magadha Kingdom

The

was established by semi-mythical king

Jarasandha Jarasandha was a powerful king of Magadha, a minor antagonist in Mahabharata. He was the son of king Brihadratha, the founder of the Barhadratha dynasty of Magadha. According to popular lore, the descendants of Brihadratha ruled Magadha for 260 ...

, who 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 ...

state was a king of the Brihadrathas dynasty and one of the descendants of

King Puru Puru () is a legendary king in Hinduism. He is the youngest son of King Yayati and Sharmishtha, and one of ancestors of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. King Puru marries Kausalya, and is succeeded by his son, Janamajeya. Legend Bhagavata Purana ...

. Jarasandha appears in the

Mahabharatha The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the Ku ...

as the "Magadhan Emperor who rules all India" and meets with an unceremonious ending. Jarasandha was the greatest among them during epic times. His capital,

Rajagriha 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 ...

, is now a modern hill resort in Bihar. Jarasandha's continuous assault on the

Yadava The Yadava (literally, descended from Yadu) were an ancient Indian people who believed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the Abhira, Andhaka, Vrishni, and Sat ...

kingdom of

Surasena Kingdom of Surasena (or Sourasena) (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indian region corresponding to the present-day Braj region in Uttar Pradesh, with Mathura as its capital city. According to the Buddhist text '' Anguttara Nikaya'', Surasena was on ...

resulted in their withdrawal from central India to western India. Jarasandha was a threat not only for the Yadavas but also for the Kurus. Pandava

Bhima In Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhima ( sa, भीम, ) is the second among the five Pandavas. The ''Mahabharata'' relates many events that portray the might of Bhima. Bhima was born when Vayu, the wind god, granted a son to Kunti and Pandu. Af ...

killed him in a mace dual aided by the intelligence of Vasudeva Krishna. Thus,

Yudhishthira ''Yudhishthira'' (Sanskrit: युधिष्ठिर, IAST: ''Yudhiṣṭhira'') is the eldest among the five Pandava brothers. He is mentioned in the ancient epic Mahabharata. He was sired by King Pandu of the Kuru Dynasty and his first w ...

, the Pandava King, could complete his campaign of bringing the whole of India into his empire. Jarasandha had friendly relations with Chedi king

Shishupala Shishupala ( sa, शिशुपाल, lit. ''protector of children'', IAST: ''Śiśupāla''; sometimes spelt Sisupala) was the king of the Chedi kingdom, and an antagonist in the Mahabharata. He was the son of King Damaghosha and Srutashubha, ...

Kuru Kuru may refer to: Anthropology and history * Kuru (disease), a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated with the cannibalistic funeral practices of the Fore people * Kuru (mythology), part of Meithei mythology * Kuru Kingdom, ...

king

and

king

. His descendants, according to the

Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' ( sa, वायुपुराण, ) is a Sanskrit text and one of the eighteen major Puranas of Hinduism. ''Vayu Purana'' is mentioned in the manuscripts of the Mahabharata and other Hindu texts, which has led scholars to pr ...

, ruled Magadha for 1000 years followed by the

Pradyota dynasty 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 Un ...

, which ruled for 138 years from 799 to 684 BCE. However, there is insufficient evidence to prove the historicity of this claim. These rulers are nonetheless mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain texts.

Palaka Palaka is a village in the Doufelgou Prefecture in the Kara Region of north-eastern Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to ...

, the son of the Avanti king Pradyota, conquered Kaushambi, increasing the kingdom's power.

Mahajanapadas

In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or city states, dominated

. Many of these states have been mentioned in Buddhist and

Jaina JAINA is an acronym for the Federation of Jain Associations in North America, an umbrella organizations to preserve, practice, and promote Jainism in USA and Canada. It was founded in 1981 and formalized in 1983. Among Jain organization it is ...

literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE, sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as the ''

Mahajanapadas The Mahājanapadas ( sa, great realm, from ''maha'', "great", and '' janapada'' "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE during the second urban ...

'' —

Kasi KASI (1430 AM, "News Talk 1430") is a radio station licensed to serve Ames, Iowa. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. It airs a News/Talk radio format. The station was assigned the KASI call letters b ...

Kosala The Kingdom of Kosala (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indian kingdom with a rich culture, corresponding to the area within the region of Awadh in present-day Uttar Pradesh to Western Odisha. It emerged as a janapada, small state during the late Ve ...

, Magadha,

Vajji The Vajjika (Pāli: ) or Vrijika (Sanskrit: ) League, Confederacy, or Sangha, also called simply Vajji (Pāli: ) or Vriji (Sanskrit: ), was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribal league which existed during the later Iron Age period in north-east South ...

(or Vriji),

Malla Malla may refer to: Places ;Bolivia *Malla, Bolivia, a locality * Malla Jawira, a river * Malla Jaqhi, a mountain * Malla Municipality * Malla Qullu, a mountain ;India * Mallapuram, Tamil Nadu *Malla (tribe), an ancient republic, one of the s ...

, Chedi,

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 ...

(or Vamsa),

, Panchala,

Matsya Matsya ( sa, मत्स्य, lit. ''fish'') is the fish avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. Often described as the first of Vishnu's ten primary avatars, Matsya is described to have rescued the first man, Manu, from a great deluge. Matsya ...

(or Maccha),

Assaka Ashmaka (Sanskrit: ) or Assaka (Pali: ) was a Mahajanapada in ancient India which existed between 700 BCE and 425 or 345 BCE according to the Buddhist texts '' Anguttara Nikaya'' and ''Puranas''. It was located around and between the Godavar ...

, Avanti,

Gandhara Gandhāra is the name of an ancient region located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, more precisely in present-day north-west Pakistan and parts of south-east Afghanistan. The region centered around the Peshawar Vall ...

and Kamboja— stretched across the

Indo-Gangetic plains The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain encompassing northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, including most of northern and eastern India, around half of Pakistan, virtually all of Bangla ...

from modern-day Afghanistan to Bengal and Maharashtra.

covered the modern

North Bihar North Bihar is a term used for the region of Bihar, India, which lies north of the Ganga river. Towns and cities # Naugachia is a sub division in Bhagalpur district. It is famous for Banana farming; and known as Kelanchal of Bihar. #Purnia i ...

covered South-western Bihar while

covered South-eastern Bihar. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced to four major ones by 500/400 BCE, that is by the time of

Siddhartha Gautama 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 ...

. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala and Magadha. In 537 BCE, Siddhartha Gautama attained the state of " enlightenment" in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Around the same time, Mahavira who was born in a place called Kundalagrama in the ancient kingdom of Lachuar in

Jamui District Jamui is a district among 38 districts of Bihar state, India. The district was formed on 21 February 1991, when it was separated from Munger district. It is located at a longitude of 86° 13'E and the latitude is 24° 55'N. The present coll ...

in modern-day Bihar. He was the 24th

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (Sanskrit: '; English: literally a 'ford-maker') is a saviour and spiritual teacher of the ''dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a '' tirtha'', which is a fordable passag ...

, propagated a similar theology, that was to later become Jainism. However, Jain orthodoxy believes it predates all known time. The

are believed to have documented a few Jain Tirthankaras and an ascetic order similar to the sramana movement. The Buddha's teachings and Jainism had doctrines inclined toward asceticism, and were preached in

Prakrit The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usu ...

, which helped them gain acceptance amongst the masses. They have profoundly influenced practices that Hinduism and Indian spiritual orders are associated with namely,

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

, prohibition of animal slaughter and

ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India � ...

(non-violence). While the geographic impact of Jainism was limited to India, Buddhist nuns and monks eventually spread the teachings of

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, 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 ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and South East Asia. Nalanda University and

Vikramshila University Vikramashila (Sanskrit: विक्रमशिला, IAST: , Bengali:- বিক্রমশিলা, Romanisation:- Bikrômôśilā ) was one of the three most important Buddhist monasteries in India during the Pala Empire, along with ...

one of the oldest residential universities were established in Bihar during this period.

Early Magadha Empire

According to both Buddhist texts and Jain texts, one of Pradyota tradition was that king's son would kill his father to become the successor. During this time, it is reported that there was high crimes in Magadha. The people rose up and elected

Shishunaga Shishunaga ( IAST: Śiśunāga, or Shusunaga) (c. 413 – 395 BCE) was the founder of the Shishunaga dynasty of the Magadha Empire in the present day northern India. Initially, he was an ''amatya'' (official) of the Magadha empire under the Hary ...

to become the new king, who destroyed the power of the Pradyotas and created the

Shishunaga dynasty The Shaishunaga dynasty ( IAST: Śaiśunāga, literally "of Shishunaga") is the fourth ruling dynasty of Magadha, an empire of ancient India. According to the Hindu '' Puranas'', this dynasty was the second ruling dynasty of Magadha, succeeding ...

(also called King Sisunaka) was the founder of a dynasty collectively called the

. He established the Magadha empire (in 684 BCE). Due in part to this bloody dynastic feuding, it is thought that a civil revolt led to the emergence of the Shishunaga dynasty. This empire, with its original capital in

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 ...

, later shifted to

(both currently in the Indian state of Bihar). The Shishunaga dynasty was one of the largest empires of the

. The Hariyanka dynasty king

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 ...

was responsible for expanding the boundaries of his kingdom through matrimonial alliances and conquest. The land of

fell to Magadha in this way. Estimates place the territory ruled by this early dynasty at 300 leagues in diameter, and encompassing 80,000 small settlements.

is contemporary with the Buddha, and is recorded as a lay disciple. Bimbisara (543–493 BCE) was imprisoned and killed by his own son who became his successor,

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 ...

(491–461 BCE), under whose rule, the dynasty reached its largest extent. Licchavi was an ancient—before the birth of Mahavira—

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

in what is now the Bihar state of India. Vaishali was the capital of Licchavi and the

. The Mahavamsa tells that a courtesan in that city,

Ambapali Āmrapālī, also known as "Ambapālika", "Ambapali", or "Amra" was a celebrated ''nagarvadhu'' (royal courtesan) of the republic of Vaishali (located in present-day Bihar) in ancient India around 500 BC. Following the Buddha's teachings, she b ...

, was famous for her beauty, and helped in large measure in making the city prosperous.

went to war with the Licchavi several times. Ajatashatru is thought to have ruled from 551 BCE to 519 BCE and moved the capital of the Magadha kingdom from

. The Mahavamsa tells that Udayabhadra eventually succeeded his father, Ajatashatru, and that under him Pataliputra became the largest city in the world. He is thought to have ruled for sixteen years. The kingdom had a particularly bloody succession. Anuruddha eventually succeeded Udaybhadra through assassination, and his son Munda succeeded him in the same fashion, as did his son Nagadasaka. This dynasty lasted until 424 BCE, when it was overthrown by the

Nanda dynasty The Nanda dynasty ruled in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent during the fourth century BCE, and possibly during the fifth century BCE. The Nandas overthrew the Shaishunaga dynasty in the Magadha region of eastern India, and expanded ...

. This period saw the development in Magadha of two of India's major religions.

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 ...

in the 6th or 5th century BCE was the founder of Buddhism, which later spread to East Asia and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, while Mahavira revived and propagated the ancient sramanic religion of Jainism. The

was established by an illegitimate son of King

Mahanandin Mahanandin was the last king of the Shishunaga dynasty of the Indian subcontinent. The dynasty ruled parts of ancient India around the city of Pataliputra (present day Patna, Bihar). Life ''Puranas'' list Nandivardhana as the ninth Shishunaga ...

from the previous

. The

ruled Magadha during the 5th and 4th centuries BC. At its greatest extent, the Nanda Empire extended from

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

in the east,

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

in the west and probably as far south as

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Mahapadma Nanda Mahapadma Nanda (IAST: ''Mahāpadmānanda''; c. mid 4th century BCE), according to the Puranas, was the first Emperor of the Nanda Empire of ancient India. The Puranas describe him as a son of the last Shaishunaga king Mahanandin and a Shudra ...

of Nanda dynasty, has been described as the destroyer of all the

Kshatriya Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

s. He defeated the

Ikshvaku dynasty The Solar dynasty (IAST: Suryavaṃśa or Ravivaṃśa in Sanskrit) or the Ikshvaku dynasty was founded by the legendary king Ikshvaku.Geography of Rigvedic India, M.L. Bhargava, Lucknow 1964, pp. 15-18, 46-49, 92-98, 100-/1, 136 The dynasty is ...

, as well as the Panchalas, Kasis,

Haihayas The Heheya Kingdom (also known as Haihaya, Haiheya, Heiheya _sa.html" ;"title="nowiki/> sa">हैहय was a kingdom ruled by the Yadava people, who claimed to be descended from Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. One of the mo ...

, Kalingas, Asmakas,

s, Maithilas,

s and the Vitihotras. He expanded his territory to the south of

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

died at the age of 88 and, therefore, he ruled during most of the period of this dynasty, which lasted 100 years. In 321 BC, exiled general

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empi ...

, with the help of

Chanakya Chanakya (Sanskrit: चाणक्य; IAST: ', ; 375–283 BCE) was an ancient Indian polymath who was active as a teacher, author, strategist, philosopher, economist, jurist, and royal advisor. He is traditionally identified as Kauṭilya o ...

, founded the

Maurya dynasty The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

after overthrowing the reigning Nanda king

Dhana Nanda Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), according to the Buddhist text '' Mahabodhivamsa'', was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty of ancient India. He was the youngest son of Mahapadma Nanda. Chandragupta Maurya raised an army that eventually conquer ...

to establish the

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

. The Maurya Empire (322–185 BC), ruled by the

Mauryan dynasty The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

, was geographically extensive, powerful and a political-military empire in

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 ...

. During this time, most of the subcontinent was united under a single government for the first time. The exceptions were present day

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

(which was a Tamil kingdom at that time). The empire had its capital city at

(near modern

). The Mauryan empire under Chandragupta Maurya would not only conquer most of the Indian subcontinent, defeating and conquering the

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

s left by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

, but also push its boundaries into

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and Central Asia, conquering the

region. Chandragupta Maurya then defeated an invasion led by

Seleucus I Seleucus I Nicator (; ; grc-gre, Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ , ) was a Macedonian Greek general who was an officer and successor ( ''diadochus'') of Alexander the Great. Seleucus was the founder of the eponymous Seleucid Empire. In the pow ...

, a Greek general from Alexander's army. Chandragupta Maurya's minister, Kautilya Chanakya, wrote the ''

Arthashastra The ''Arthashastra'' ( sa, अर्थशास्त्रम्, ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, political science, economic policy and military strategy. Kautilya, also identified as Vishnugupta and Chanakya, is ...

'', a treatise on economics, politics, foreign affairs, administration, military arts, war and religion. Chandragupta Maurya was succeeded by his son,

Bindusara Bindusara (), also Amitraghāta or Amitrakhāda (Sanskrit: अमित्रघात, "slayer of enemies" or "devourer of enemies") or Amitrochates (Greek: Ἀμιτροχάτης) (Strabo calls him Allitrochades (Ἀλλιτροχάδης)) ...

, who expanded the kingdom over most of present-day India, other than the extreme south and east. At its greatest extent, the Empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

, and to the east stretching into what is now

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, annexing

and much of what is now

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The Empire was extended into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and

, but it excluded the republic of Kalinga. The Maurya Empire was inherited by

's son,

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Ashoka initially sought to expand his kingdom but in the aftermath of the carnage caused during the invasion of Kalinga, he renounced bloodshed and pursued a policy of non-violence or

after converting to Buddhism. Following the conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka ended the military expansion of the empire, and led the empire through more than 40 years of relative peace, harmony and prosperity. Ashoka's response to the Kalinga War is recorded in the

Edicts of Ashoka The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of more than thirty inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, attributed to Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire who reigned from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Ashoka used the expres ...

, one of the oldest preserved historical documents of the Indian subcontinent. According to Rock Edicts of Ashoka:
The Mauryan Empire under Ashoka was responsible for the proliferation of Buddhist ideals across the whole of East Asia and South-East Asia. Under Ashoka, India was a prosperous and stable empire of great economic and military power whose political influence and trade extended across Asia and into Europe. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka embraced Buddhism. Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. The ''

Lion Capital of Ashoka The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the Capital (architecture), capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, . Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on a drum-shaped abacus (arch ...

'' at

Sarnath Sarnath (Hindustani pronunciation: aːɾnaːtʰ also referred to as Sarangnath, Isipatana, Rishipattana, Migadaya, or Mrigadava) is a place located northeast of Varanasi, near the confluence of the Ganges and the Varuna rivers in Uttar Pr ...

, is the

emblem of India The State Emblem of India is the national emblem of the Republic of India and is used by the union government, many state governments, and other government agencies. The emblem is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, an ancient sculptur ...

. Archaeologically, the period of Mauryan rule in South Asia falls into the era of

Northern Black Polished Ware The Northern Black Polished Ware culture (abbreviated NBPW or NBP) is an urban Iron Age Indian culture of the Indian Subcontinent, lasting c. 700–200 BCE (proto NBPW between 1200 and 700 BCE), succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture and Blac ...

(NBPW). The ''Arthashastra'', the Edicts of Ashoka and

Ashokavadana The Ashokavadana ( sa, अशोकावदान; ; "Narrative of Ashoka") is an Indian Sanskrit-language text that describes the birth and reign of the Third Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. It contains legends as well as historical narratives, and ...

are primary sources of written records of the Mauryan times. Ashoka was followed for 50 years by a succession of weaker kings.

Brihadrata Brihadratha was the last ruler of the Mauryan Empire. He ruled from 187 to 185 BCE, when he was killed by his general, Pushyamitra Shunga, who went on to establish the Shunga Empire. The Mauryan territories, centred on the capital of Patal ...

, the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty, held territories that had shrunk considerably from the time of emperor Ashoka, although he still upheld the Buddhist faith.

Middle Kingdoms (230 BC – 1206 AD)

Shunga Dynasty

The Shunga dynasty was established in 185 BC, about fifty years after Ashoka's death, when the king Brihadratha, the last of the Mauryan rulers, was assassinated by the then commander-in-chief of the

Mauryan The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until ...

armed forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, Pushyamitra Shunga. Pushyamitra Shunga was a Brahmin who then took over the throne and established the Shunga dynasty. Buddhist records such as the Ashokavadana write that the assassination of Brihadrata and the rise of the Shunga empire led to a wave of

persecution of Buddhists Many adherents of Buddhism have experienced religious persecution because of their adherence to the Buddhist practice, including unwarranted arrests, imprisonment, beating, torture, and/or execution. The term also may be used in reference to the ...

, and a resurgence of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. According to

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

, Pushyamitra Shunga may have been the main author of the persecutions, although later Shunga kings seem to have been more supportive of Buddhism. Other historians, such as Etienne Lamotte and

Romila Thapar Romila Thapar (born 30 November 1931) is an Indian historian. Her principal area of study is ancient India, a field in which she is pre-eminent. Quotr: "The pre-eminent interpreter of ancient Indian history today. ... " Thapar is a Professor ...

, partially support this view.

Gupta Dynasty

The Gupta dynasty ruled from around 240 to 550 CE. The origins of the Gupta Dynasty are shrouded in obscurity. The Chinese traveller

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 ...

provides the first evidence of the Gupta kingdom in Magadha. He came to India in 672 CE and heard of '

Maharaja Sri-Gupta Gupta ( Gupta script: ''Gu-pta'', fl. late 3rd century CE) was the founder of the Gupta dynasty of northern India. He is identified with king Che-li-ki-to (believed to be the Chinese transcription of "''Shri''-Gupta"), who, according to the 7 ...

' who built a temple for Chinese pilgrims near ''Mrigasikhavana''. Ghatotkacha (c. 280–319) CE, had a son named Chandra Gupta I (Not to be confused with

(340–293 BC), founder of the Mauryan Empire). In a breakthrough deal, Chandra Gupta I was married to a woman from Lichchhavi—the main power in Magadha.

Samudragupta Samudragupta (Gupta script: ''Sa-mu-dra-gu-pta'', (c. 335–375 CE) was the second emperor of the Gupta Empire of ancient India, and is regarded among the greatest rulers of the dynasty. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Li ...

succeeded Chandra Gupta I in 335, and ruled for about 45 years, until his death in 380. He attacked the kingdoms of Shichchhatra, Padmavati,

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

s, the

Yaudheyas Yaudheya (Brahmi script: 𑀬𑁅𑀥𑁂𑀬) or Yoddheya Gana (Yoddheya Republic) was an ancient militant confederation. The word Yaudheya is a derivative of the word from yodha meaning warriors.“Yaudheyas.” Ancient Communities of the Hima ...

, the

Arjunayanas Arjunayana, Arjunavana, Arjunavayana or Arjunayanaka was an ancient republican people located in Punjab or north-eastern Rajasthan. They emerged as a political power during the Shunga period (). In the Allahabad Pillar Inscription of Samudragupta ...

, the Maduras and the

Abhiras The Abhira tribe is mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata. A historical people of the same name are mentioned in the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea''. They are thought to be people who moved in from eastern Iran in the aftermath of ...

, and merged them in his kingdom. By his death in 380, he had incorporated over twenty kingdoms into his realm, his rule extended from the Himalayas to the river Narmada and from the

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...

to the

Yamuna The Yamuna (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), also spelt Jumna, is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in List of major rivers of India, India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a ...

. He gave himself the titles ''King of Kings'' and ''World Monarch''. He is considered the ''Napoleon of India''. Chandra Gupta I performed '' Ashwamedha Yajna'' to underline the importance of his conquest. Chandra Gupta II, the Sun of Power (''

Vikramaditya Vikramaditya (IAST: ') was a legendary king who has been featured in hundreds of traditional stories including those in ''Baital Pachisi'' and '' Singhasan Battisi''. Many describe him as ruler with his capital at Ujjain (Pataliputra or Prati ...

''), ruled from 380 until 413. Only marginally less successful than his father, Chandra Gupta II expanded his realm westwards, defeating the

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

Western Kshatrapas The Western Satraps, or Western Kshatrapas (Brahmi:, ''Mahakṣatrapa'', "Great Satraps") were Indo-Scythian (Saka) rulers of the western and central part of India ( Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Prades ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

and Saurashtra in a campaign lasting until 409. Chandragupta II was succeeded by his son

Kumaragupta I Kumaragupta I (Gupta script: ''Ku-ma-ra-gu-pta'', r. c. 415–455 CE) was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. A son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II and queen Dhruvadevi, he seems to have maintained control of his inherited te ...

. Known as the ''Mahendraditya'', he ruled until 455. Towards the end of his reign a tribe in the Narmada valley, the

Pushyamitras The Pushyamitras were a tribe who lived in Central India during the 5th century CE. Living on the banks of the river Narmada, they are believed to have posed a serious threat to the Gupta Empire during the late period of Kumaragupta I's reign. ...

, rose in power to threaten the empire.

Skandagupta Skandagupta ( Gupta script: ''Ska-nda-gu-pta'', r. c. 455-467) was a Gupta Emperor of India. His Bhitari pillar inscription suggests that he restored the Gupta power by defeating his enemies, who may have been rebels or foreign invaders. He ...

is generally considered the last of the great rulers. He defeated the Pushyamitra threat, but then was faced with invading Hephthalites or Huna, from the northwest. He repulsed a ''Huna'' attack c. 477.

died in 487 and was succeeded by his son

Narasimhagupta Narasimhagupta (Gupta script: ''Na-ra-si-ṅha-gu-pta'') Baladitya was an emperor of the Gupta Empire of North India. He was son of Purugupta and probably the successor of Budhagupta. Defeat of the Hunas According to the Chinese monk Xuanza ...

''Baladitya''. The Gupta Empire was one of the largest political and military empires in

. The Gupta period is referred to as the Classical age of India by most historians. The time of the Gupta Empire was an "Golden Age of India, Indian Golden Age" in Indian Science and technology in ancient India, science, technology, List of Indian inventions and discoveries, engineering, Indian art, art, Languages of India, dialectic, Indian literature, literature, Indian logic, logic, Indian mathematics, mathematics, Indian astronomy, astronomy, Indian religion, religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy. The Gupta Empire had their capital at Pataliputra. The difference between Gupta Empire's and Mauryan Empire's administration was that in the Mauryan administration power was centralised but in the Gupta administration power was more decentralised. The empire was divided into provinces and the provinces were further divided into districts. Villages were the smallest units. The kingdom covered

, North-East India, south-eastern Pakistan, Odisha, northern Madhya Pradesh and eastern India with capital at

, modern

. All forms of worship were carried out in Sanskrit. Rapid strides were made in astronomy during this period. Aryabhata and Varahamihira were two great astronomers and mathematicians. Aryabhata stated that the earth moved round the sun and rotated on its own axis. Aryabhata, who is believed to be the first to come up with the concept of zero, postulated the theory that heliocentrism, the Earth moves round the Sun, and studied solar and lunar eclipses. Aryabhata's most famous work was ''Aryabhatiya''. Varahamihira's most important contributions are the encyclopaedic Brihat-Samhita and ''Pancha-Siddhantika'' ('). Metallurgy also made rapid strides. The proof can be seen in the Iron Pillar of Vaishali and near Mehrauli on the outskirts of Delhi, which was brought from Bihar. This period is also very rich in Sanskrit literature. The material sources of this age were Kalidasa's works. Raghuvamsa, Malavikagnimitram, Meghadūta,

and Kumārasambhava, Mrichchakatika by Shudraka, Panchatantra by Vishnu Sharma, Kama Sutra (the principles of pleasure) and 13 plays by Bhasa were also written in this period. In medicine, the Guptas were notable for their establishment and patronage of free hospitals. Although progress in physiology and biology was hindered by religious injunctions against contact with dead bodies, which discouraged dissection and anatomy, Indian physicians excelled in pharmacopoeia, caesarean section, bone setting, and skin grafting. Indeed, Hindu medical advances were soon adopted in the Arab and Western worlds. Ayurveda was the main medical system. According to some historian's work,

Later Gupta dynasty

The Later Gupta dynasty ruled the

region in eastern India between the 6th and 7th centuries CE. The Later Guptas succeeded the Gupta Empire, imperial Guptas as the rulers of Magadha, but there is no evidence connecting the two dynasties; these appear to be two distinct families. The Later Guptas are so-called because the names of their rulers ended with the suffix "-gupta", which they might have adopted to portray themselves as the legitimate successors of the imperial Guptas.

Pala Dynasty

The

was a Buddhist dynasty that ruled from the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. The name ''Pala'' (pa language, Modern bn, পাল ''pal'') means ''protector'' and was used as an ending to the names of all Pala monarchs. The Palas were followers of the Mahayana and Tantra, Tantric schools of Buddhism. Gopala (Pala king), Gopala was the first ruler from the dynasty. He came to power (sociology), power in 750 in Gaur, West Bengal, Gaur by a democracy, democratic election. This event is recognised as one of the first democratic elections in South Asia since the time of the Mahajanapadas, Mahā Janapadas. He reigned from 750 to 770 and consolidated his position by extending his control over all of Bengal as well as parts of

. The Buddhist dynasty lasted for four centuries (750-1120 CE). The empire reached its peak under Dharmapala of Bengal, Dharmapala and Devapala. Dharmapala extended the empire into the northern parts of the Indian Subcontinent. This triggered once again the power struggle for the control of the subcontinent. Devapala, successor of Dharmapala, expanded the empire to cover much of South Asia and beyond. His empire stretched from

and Utkala Kingdom, Utkala in the east, Kamboja (modern day

) in the north-west and

in the south. According to Pala copperplate inscription, Devapala exterminated the Utkalas, conquered the Pragjyotisha (Assam), shattered the pride of the Huna, and humbled the lords of Pratiharas, Gurjara and the Dravidian people, Dravidas. The Palas created many temples and works of art as well as supported the Universities of

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Nalanda University and

reached their peak under the Palas. The universities received an influx of students from many parts of the world. Bihar and Bengal were invaded by the south Indian Emperor Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty in the 11th century. The

eventually disintegrated in the 12th century under the attack of the Sena dynasty.

was the last empire of Middle kingdoms of India, middle kingdoms whose capital was once in

(modern

) under Devapala's rule.

Medieval Period (1206–1526)

Bihar was largely in ruins when visited by

, the famous Buddhist monk from China, and suffered further damage at the hands of Mughal (tribe), Muslim raiders in the 12th century. With the advent of the foreign aggression and eventual foreign subjugation of India, Bihar passed through very uncertain times during the medieval period. Muhammad of Ghor attacked this region of the Indian subcontinent many times. Muhammad of Ghor's armies destroyed many Buddhist structures, including the great Nalanda university. The Buddhism of Magadha was finally swept away by the Islamic invasion under Bakhtiyar Khalji, Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, one of Qutb-ud-din Aybak, Qutb-ud-Din's generals destroyed monasteries fortified by the Sena dynasty, Sena armies, during which many of the viharas and the famed universities of

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

. They fell in 1324 following the invasion of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq.

Pithipatis

During the late Pala-period, the area of Magadha was ruled by Buddhist kings with the title of Pīṭhīpati. They were patrons of the Mahabodhi temple and referred to themselves as ''magadhādipati'' (rulers of Magadha). They maintained a presence in the region until at least the 13th century.

Oiniwar dynasty

The Oiniwar dynasty emerged after the fall of the Karnats and ruled North Bihar as vassals of the Delhi Sultanate. Under the king, Shiva Singh, they did attempt to revolt against the throne in Delhi although this was eventually defeated. They were contemporaries of the Jaunpur Sultanate.

Chero dynasty

After fall of Pala empire, the Cheros established a tribal polity that ruled some parts of southern Bihar extending into modern-day Jharkhand from the 12th century to the 16th century until Mughal rule after which they were reduced to chieftains/Zamindars.

Khayaravala dynasty

The Khayaravalas were the ruling dynasty of the Son river valley in South Bihar and Jharkhand during the 11th to 13th centuries. Notable kings of this dynasty include Pratapdhavala and Shri Pratapa. They were also involved in the construction of Rohtas fort, India, Rohtasgarh fort.

Early modern period (1526–1757)

Sur Empire

Medieval Bihar saw a period of glory lasting about six years during the rule of Sher Shah Suri, who hailed from Sasaram. Sher Shah Suri built the longest road of the Indian subcontinent, the Grand Trunk Road, which started at Calcutta (Bengal) and ended at Peshawar, now Pakistan. The economic reforms carried out by Sher Shah, such as the introduction of the Rupee and Custom Duties, are still used in the Republic of India. He revived the city of Patna, where he built his headquarters. Hemu, the Hindu Emperor, the son of a food seller, and himself a vendor of Potassium nitrate, saltpetre at Rewari,Tripathi, R. P. "Rise and Fall of Mughal Empire", Allahabad (1960), p,.158 rose to become Chief of Army and Prime MinisterDe Laet, "The Empire of the Great Mogul", pp.140-41Ahmed, Nizamuddin. "Tahaqat-i-Akbari", Vol.II, p.114 under the command of Muhammad Adil Shah (died 1557), Adil Shah Suri of the Suri Dynasty. He had won 22 battles against the Afghans, from Punjab (India), Punjab to Bengal and had defeated Akbar's forces twice, at Agra and Delhi in 1556, before succeeding to the throne of Delhi and establishing a 'Hindu Raj' in North India, albeit for a short duration, from Purana Quila in Delhi. He was killed in the Second Battle of Panipat.

Zamindars of Bihar and the Mughals

During the period of Islamic rule, much of Bihar was under the sway of local Zamindars of Bihar, Zamindars or chieftains who maintained their own armies and territories. These chieftains retained much of their power until the arrival of the British East India Company. In 1576, after the Battle of Tukaroi, Mughal Emperor Akbar conquered Bengal Sultanate and added it to his empire domain. He divided Bihar and Bengal each into one of his original twelve subahs (imperial top-level provinces; Bihar with seat at

) and the region passed through uneventful provincial rule during much of this period. Bihar was left under Mughal control until the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Bihar passed into the control of Nawab of Bengal, Nawabs of Bengal under British suzerainty. Prince Azim-us-Shan, the grandson of Aurangzeb was appointed as the governor of Bihar in 1703. Azim-us-Shan renamed Pataliputra or Patna as Azimabad, in 1704.
Kunwarsingh

Colonial Period (1757–1947)

British East India Company

After the Battle of Buxar, Battle of Buxar, 1764, which was fought in Buxar, hardly 115 km from Patna, the Mughals as well as the Nawabs of Bengal lost effective control over the territories then constituting the province of Bengal, which currently comprises Bangladesh and the Indian States and territories of India, states of West Bengal,

, Jharkhand, Odisha. The British East India Company was accorded the Diwan (title), diwani rights, that is, the right to administer the collection and management of revenues of the province of Bengal, and parts of Oudh, currently comprising a large part of Uttar Pradesh. The diwani rights were legally granted by Shah Alam II, Shah Alam, who was then the sovereign Mughal emperor of India. During the rule of the British East India Company in Bihar, Patna emerged as one of the most important commercial and trading centres of eastern India, preceded only by Kolkata. The first seeds of resentment against British rule emerged when Maharaja Fateh Bahadur Sahi, the chieftain of Huseypur in

, initiated a struggle against the East India company in 1767. His revolt escalated in 1781 when various other zamindars and chiefs in South Bihar began to join his revolt including Raja Narain Singh and Mayi clan, Akbar Ali. The British were able to successfully put down the revolt. Kunwar Singh, Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and his army, as well as countless other persons from Bihar, contributed to the Indian rebellion of 1857, India's First War of Independence (1857), also called the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. Babu Kunwar Singh (1777–1858) one of the leaders of the Indian uprising of 1857 belonged to a royal Rajput house of Jagdispur, currently a part of Bhojpur District, Bihar, Bhojpur district of Bihar. By that time

had many feudal estates or zamindars. Most notably Tekari Raj, Raj Darbhanga, Bettiah Raj, Hathwa Raj, Kharagpur Raj and Banaili, Banaili Estate. At the age of 80 years, during India's First War of Independence, he actively led a select band of armed soldiers against the troops under the command of the East India Company, and also recorded victories in many battles.

The British Raj

Under the British Raj, Bihar particularly Patna gradually started to attain its lost glory and emerged as an important and strategic centre of learning and trade in India. From this point, Bihar remained a part the

of the British Raj until 1912, when the province of Bihar and Orissa Province, Bihar and Orissa was carved out as a separate province. When the Bengal Presidency was partitioned in 1912 to carve out a separate province, Patna was made the capital of the new province. The city limits were stretched westwards to accommodate the administrative base, and the township of Bankipore took shape along the Bailey Road (originally spelt as Bayley Road, after the first Lt. Governor, Charles Stuart Bayley). This area was called the ''New Capital Area''. The houses of the English residents, were all at the west-end at Bankipore. The greater part of the English residences were on the banks of the river, many of them being on the northern side of an open square, which formed the parade ground, and racecourse (present Gandhi Maidan). There was also the Golghar a wondrous bell-shaped building, one hundred feet high, with a winding outer staircase leading to the top, and a small entrance door at the base, which was intended for a granary, to be filled when there was the expectation of famine. It was initially considered to be both politically and materially impracticable. To this day, locals call the old area as the City whereas the new area is called the New Capital Area. The Patna Secretariat with its imposing clock tower and the Patna High Court are two imposing landmarks of this era of development. Credit for designing the massive and majestic buildings of colonial Patna goes to the architect, I. F. Munnings. By 1916–1917, most of the buildings were ready for occupation. These buildings reflect either Indo-Saracenic influence (like Patna Museum and the state Assembly), or overt Renaissance influence like the Raj Bhawan and the High Court. Some buildings, like the General Post Office (GPO) and the Old Secretariat bear pseudo-Renaissance influence. Some say, the experience gained in building the new capital area of Patna proved very useful in building the imperial capital of New Delhi. The British built several educational institutions in Patna like Patna College, Patna Science College, Bihar College of Engineering, Patna Medical College and Hospital, Prince of Wales Medical College and the Bihar Veterinary College. With government patronage, the Biharis quickly seized the opportunity to make these centres flourish quickly and attain renown. In 1935, certain portions of Bihar were reorganised into the separate province of Odisha, Orissa. Patna continued as the capital of Bihar province under the British Raj.

Independence movement

Bihar played a major role in the Indian independence movement, Indian independence struggle. Most notable were the Champaran movement against the Indigo plantation and the Quit India Movement of 1942. After his return from South Africa, it was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his pioneering civil-disobedience movement, Champaran Satyagraha. Raj Kumar Shukla drew Mahatma Gandhi's attention to the exploitation of the peasants by the European indigo planters. Champaran Satyagraha received the spontaneous support from many Biharis, including Brajkishore Prasad, Rajendra Prasad (who became the first President of India) and Anugrah Narayan Sinha (who became the first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Bihar). In India's struggle for independence, the Champaran Satyagraha marks a very important stage. Raj Kumar Shukla drew the attention of Mahatma Gandhi, who had just returned from South Africa, to the plight of the peasants suffering under an oppressive system established by European indigo planters. Besides other excesses they were forced to cultivate indigo on 3/20 part of their holding and sell it to the planters at prices fixed by the planters. This marked Gandhi's entry into the India's independence movement. On arrival at the district headquarters in Motihari, Gandhi and his team of lawyers—Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Brajkishore Prasad and Ram Navami Prasad, who he had handpicked to participate in the satyagraha—were ordered to leave by the next available train. They refused to do this, and Gandhi was arrested. He was released and the ban order was withdrawn in the face of a "Satyagraha" threat. Gandhi conducted an open inquiry into the peasant's grievances. The Government had to appoint an inquiry committee with Gandhi as a member. This led to the abolition of the system. Raj Kumar Shukla has been described by Gandhi in his ''Atmakatha'', as a man whose suffering gave him the strength to rise against the odds. In his letter to Gandhi he wrote "Respected Mahatma, You hear the stories of others everyday. Today please listen to my story.... I want to draw your attention to the promise made by you in the Lucknow Congress that you would come to Champaran. The time has come for you to fulfill your promise. 1.9 million suffering people of Champaran are waiting to see you." Gandhi reached Patna on 10 April 1917 and on 16 April he reached Motihari accompanied by Raj Kumar Shukla. Under Gandhi's leadership the historic "Champaran Satyagraha" began. The contribution of Raj Kumar Shukla is reflected in the writings of Rajendra Prasad, first President of India, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Acharya Kriplani and Mahatma Gandhi. Raj Kumar Shukla maintained a diary in which he gave an account of struggle against the atrocities of the indigo planters, atrocities so movingly depicted by Dinabandhu Mitra in Nil Darpan, a play that was translated by Michael Madhusudan Dutt. This movement by Mahatma Gandhi received the spontaneous support of a cross section of people, including Rajendra Prasad, Bihar Kesari Sri Krishna Sinha, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Brajkishore Prasad. Shaheed Baikuntha Shukla was another nationalist from Bihar, who was hanged for murdering a government approver named Phanindrananth Ghosh. This led to the hanging of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Shivaram Rajguru, Rajguru. Phanindranath Ghosh hitherto a key member of the Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party, Revolutionary Party had betrayed the cause by turning an approver and giving evidence, which led to his murder. Baikunth was commissioned to plan the murder of Ghosh. He carried out the killing successfully on 9 November 1932. He was arrested, tried, convicted, and, on 14 May 1934, he was hanged in Gaya Central Jail. In North and Central Bihar, a peasant movement was an important side effect of the independence movement. The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati who in 1929 had formed the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights. Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936, with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as its first President. This movement aimed at overthrowing the feudal zamindari system instituted by the United Kingdom, British. It was led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati and his followers Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Rahul Sankrityayan and others. Pandit Yamuna Karjee along with Rahul Sankrityayan and other Hindi literary figures started publishing a Hindi weekly Hunkar (epic poem), Hunkar from Bihar in 1940. Hunkar later became the mouthpiece of the peasant movement and the agrarian movement in Bihar and was instrumental in spreading the movement. The peasant movement later spread to other parts of the country and helped in digging out the British roots in the Indian society by overthrowing the zamindari system. Bihar's contribution in the independence movement has been immense with famous leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Shaheed Baikuntha Shukla, Sri Krishna Sinha, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Mulana Mazharul Haque, ''Loknayak'' Jayaprakash Narayan, Basawon Singh (Sinha), Yogendra Shukla, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi and many others who worked for India's indepdence and worked to lift up the underprivileged masses. Khudiram Bose, Upendra Narayan Jha "Azad" and Prafulla Chaki were also active in revolutionary movement in Bihar. Towards the end of 1946, between 30 October and 7 November, a massacre of Muslims in Bihar made Partition of India, Partition more likely. Begun as a reprisal for the Noakhali riot, it was difficult for authorities to deal with because it was spread out over a large number of scattered villages, and the number of casualties was impossible to establish accurately: "According to a subsequent statement in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, British Parliament, the death-toll amounted to 5,000. ''The Statesman (India), The Statesmans estimate was between 7,500 and 10,000; the Indian National Congress, Congress party admitted to 2,000; Mr. Jinnah claimed about 30,000." The first Cabinet (government), Cabinet of

was formed on 2 April 1946, consisting of two members, Sri Krishna Sinha as the first List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar and Anugrah Narayan Sinha as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Bihar (also in charge of Labour, Health, Agriculture and Irrigation). Other ministers were inducted later. The Cabinet served as the first

Government after independence in 1947. In 1950, Rajendra Prasad from Bihar became the first President of India.

Post Independence (1947–1990)

Shri Krishna Singh & A.N. Sinha (1946-1961 ) Shri Krishna Singh 2016 stamp of India

The first Bihar governments in 1946 were led by Shri Krishna Sinha and Anugrah Narayan Sinha. After the Partition of India, independence of India, power was shared by these Gandhian nationalists: Krishna Sinha became the first Chief Minister and Anugrah Narayan Sinha served as the first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister. Sinha is regarded among the 'Architects of Modern Bihar'. He also led the Dalit entry into the Baidyanath Dham temple (Vaidyanath Temple, Deoghar), which reflected his commitment towards the upliftment and social empowerment of the Dalits. He was the first chief minister in the country to abolish the Zamindar, zamindari system. Almost all the development projects in Bihar during this period involved the leadership pair of Sinha and A.N. Sinha. It includes several river valley projects right from Koshi River, Koshi, Aghaur and Sakri to other such river projects. The first five-year plan period was given to the development in rural development works mainly in the agricultural sector. Bihar became the top state in the country's first five-year plan. From the second five-year plan period, Sinha brought several heavy industries like Barauni Refinery, Heavy Engineering Corporation at Ranchi, Bokaro Steel Plant, Barauni Fertiliser Plant, Barauni Thermal Power Station, Damodar Valley Corporation, Patratu Thermal Power Station, Scooter Factory in Fatuha, Pyrite Phosphate Chemical Limited and Sulphur mines at Amjhaur, Sindri Fertiliser Plant, Kargali Coal Washery, Garhara locomotive shed. He wanted to built an industrial corridor from Begusarai-Bakhtiyarpur-Fatuha, so he looked to construct Rajendra Setu in Mokama-Simaria.Sinha made an immense contribution in the cultural and social development of the state. He established the Rajendra Chatra Niwas at Calcutta for Bihari students, the Anugraha Narayan Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS) at Patna, Netarhat school at Ranchi, Engineering college at Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Jamshedpur, Sindri (Dhanbad), Sindri, Gaya, Motihari, Lok Rangshala of the Bihar Bhartiya Nritya Kala Mandir, Sanskrit College at Patna, Rabindra Parishad at Patna, the statue of Buddha at ''

Venu Van Vihar'', as well as an orphanage at Muzaffarpur were opened by him. The then prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru sent Paul H. Appleby to assess the administration in states and in his famous report, he described Bihar as the best governed state in India due to the under excellent leadership of the pair of Sinha and A.N. Sinha. After 1961 The Indian National Congress dominated the state for much of the decades after independence except for a brief period of time in the 1960s and 70s, when some of the backward caste leaders were successful in forming non-Congress government in the state. Satish Prasad Singh was the first Other Backward Class, OBC chief minister of the state for a very brief period of time, who succeeded Mahamaya Prasad Sinha. In the later period, the upper-caste remained active in politics but the backward caste were gradually becoming vocal in political space. The lead was taken by Upper Backward Castes, who were the biggest beneficiaries of the land reform drive undertaken in the early decades of independence and were now becoming active in politics of the state. A section of these upper-backwards also emulated the practices of erstwhile ''Zamindars'' and committed atrocities against the Dalits. The Naxalism, Naxalite uprising in the state also forced the upper-caste to sell off their most vulnerable holdings, which were most often bought by the peasants of these upper backward communities. The naxal uprising in the state led to foundation of several caste based private armies which perpetrated massacres of lower caste people on the charge of being the supporters of the naxalites. Ranvir Sena, Bhumi Sena and Kuer Sena were some of the most dreaded caste armies. The Bhojpur region remained the hotspot of the naxalite movement in the Bihar, where Jagdish Mahto, Master Jagdish lead the uprising against the landlords. Some of the biggest massacres took place during this time period in which both upper-caste and the Dalits remained the victims. The Upper Backward Castes were in two front confrontation with both the Dalits as well as upper-castes. The caste wars coincided with the rise of backward caste politics against upper-caste domination in Bihar and throughout North India after the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. The most numerous and powerful backward community were the Yadavs, and the 1990s saw the rise of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) led by Lalu Prasad Yadav. This party held the Yadav/Muslim votebank, a combination also held by the Samajwadi party, its UP counterpart. This allowed the RJD to sweep to power throughout the 1990s. His platform was one of social justice, increasing reservations for lower castes. However critics of the era have claimed it was a 'Jungle raj.'

Recent 1990

Lalu–Rabri Yadav (1990–2005)

In 1989, in the 1989 Indian general election, 9th General election to the Lok Sabha, the Janata Dal emerged as a serious challenge to the Indian National Congress party at the Lok Sabha, central level. The rise of Janata Dal also affected the state politics of

which was dominated by the Forward Caste, upper castes for long who were controlling the Congress firmly in the state, a charge disputed by some scholars. The Janata Dal was composed of the three different wings which drew its strength from different classes of society. The first wing was under the leadership of Chandra Shekhar, who had reached out to the other Socialists and also to one splinter group under Morarji Desai. The second faction consisted of some of the old congressmen including Arun Nehru and former Minister of Defence (India), Defence Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh. The third group drew its support from backward castes and middle peasantry, led by Charan Singh. Although Charan Singh was leader of this faction, the actual leadership emerged after his death under the new generation of politicians like Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was a product of student politics of the 1970s. Yadav was appointed as first Other Backward Class, OBC president of Patna University student union in 1967. In 1974, he was appointed as the head of the Bihar student agitation committee which led the protest against Congress led government of state during the Bihar Movement under the mentorship of Jay Prakash Narayan. According to Seyed Hossein Zarhani, throughout his leadership period in Patna University, his image was of a popular backward caste leader who fought against upper-caste dominance. In 1975, as an activist of the campaign against Indira Gandhi, he was arrested and after the end of The Emergency (India), National Emergency, he was elected as Member of Parliament in 1977 from Chapra (Lok Sabha constituency), Chhapra constituency on the ticket of Janata Party. In 1980 and 1989 state assembly elections, Yadav was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly from Sonpur, Bihar, Sonepur. He was the successor of Karpoori Thakur as the leader of opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly who finally assumed the post of Chief Minister in 1990. Yadav's appointment as Chief Minister changed the socio-political profile of the state and in the coming years he emerged as undisputed leader in the Bihar who controlled the politics of the state earlier himself and later through his wife, Rabri Devi. Yadav followed the footsteps of his predecessors and Janta Dal under him indicated that it is the only party which is prepared to keep the backwards at the centre of the administration. Hence after assuming power, Lalu Yadav's government transferred 12 out of 13 Divisional Commissioners and 250 out of 324 Returning Officers in order to keep lower-caste people at the helm of all affairs at the local level. Many Other Backward Class, OBC bureaucrats were brought to the main departments from the sidelines and were given key position such as the strategic posts of District Magistrates and Deputy Divisional Commissioners to the extent that they became at least equivalent to the upper-castes. Three years after Yadav assumed power, many upper-caste officials attained transfer to the centre to avoid the alleged humiliation and ill-treatment they suffered in Bihar. The ''Panchayati Raj Bill'' and the ''Patna University and Bihar University amendment bill'' passed by state legislature in 1993 also paved the way for the entry of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class, OBCs in the state services in bulk. According to Christophe Jaffrelot:

Rise of Nitish Kumar (Post 1997)

The Janata Dal had survived the splits in past when leaders like George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar defected to form Samata Party in 1994, but it remained a baseless party after the decision of Yadav to form Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997. The second split took place prior to the Rabri Devi assuming power which resulted in Janata Dal having only two leader of any consequence in it, namely Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan. Paswan was regarded as the rising leader of Dalits and had the credit of winning his elections with unprecedented margins. His popularity reached to the national level when he was awarded the post of Minister of Railways in the United Front (India), United Front government in 1996 and was subsequently made the leader of Lok Sabha. His outreach was witnessed in the western Uttar Pradesh too, when his followers organised an impressive rally at the behest of a newly floated organisation called ''Dalit Panthers''. Sharad Yadav was also a veteran socialist leader but without any massive support base. In 1998 Parliamentary elections, Samata Party and Janata Dal, which was in a much weaker position after formation of Rashtriya Janata Dal, RJD ended up eating each other's vote base. This made Nitish Kumar merge both the parties to form Janata Dal (United). In 1999, Lok Sabha elections Rashtriya Janata Dal received a setback at the hand of Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP+Janata Dal (United), JD(U) combine. The new coalition emerged leading in 199 out of 324 assembly constituency and it was widely believed that in the forthcoming election to Bihar state assembly elections, the Lalu-Rabri rule will come to an end. The RJD had fought the election in an alliance with the Congress but the coalition didn't work making state leadership of Congress believe that the maligned image of Lalu Prasad after his name was drawn in the Fodder Scam had eroded his support base. Consequently, the Congress decided to fight the 2000 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, 2000 assembly elections alone. The RJD had to be satiated with the communist parties as the coalition partners but the seat sharing conundrum in the camp of National Democratic Alliance, NDA made Nitish Kumar pull his Samta Party out of the Sharad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan faction of the Janata Dal. Differences also arose between the BJP and Nitish Kumar as the later wanted to be projected as the Chief Minister of Bihar but the former was not in favour. Even Paswan also wanted to be a Chief Minister, CM face. The Muslims and OBCs were too divided in their opinion. A section of Muslims, which included the poor communities like Pasmanda were of the view that Lalu only strengthened upper Muslims like Shaikh, Sayyid and Pathans and they were in search of new options. Yadav also alienated other dominant backward castes like Koeri and Kurmi since his projection as the saviour of Muslims. It is argued by Sanjay Kumar that the belief that, "the dominant OBCs like the twin caste of Koeri-Kurmi will ask for share in power if he (Yadav) seeks their support while the Muslims will remain satisfied with the protection during communal riots only" made Yadav neglect them. Moreover, the divisions in both the camps made the political atmosphere in the state a charged one in which many parties were fighting against each other with no visible frontiers. JD(U) and BJP were fighting against each other on some of the seats and so was the Samta Party. The result was a setback for the BJP, which in media campaigns was emerging with massive victory. RJD emerged as the single largest party and with the political maneuvere of Lalu Yadav, Rabri Devi was sworn in as the Chief Minister again. The media largely failed to gauge the ground level polarisation in Bihar. According to Sanjay Kumar: Even after serving imprisonment in connection with the 1997 scam, Lalu seemed to relish his role as lower-caste jester. He argued that corruption charges against him and his family were the conspiracy of the upper-caste bureaucracy and media elites threatened by the rise of peasant cultivator castes. In 2004, Lalu's RJD had outperformed other state based parties by winning 26 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar. He was awarded with the post of Minister of Railways (India), Union Railway minister but the rising aspirations of the extremely backward castes unleashed by him resulted in JD(U) and BJP led coalition to defeat his party in October 2005 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, 2005 Bihar Assembly elections. Consequently, Nitish Kumar a leader of OBC Kurmi caste was sworn in as the chief minister. During Lalu's time backward caste candidates came to dominate Bihar assembly claiming half of the seats in it and it was the aspiration of this powerful social community which led to fricton among the united backwards, leading to the rise of Nitish Kumar who made both social justice and development as his political theme.

Nitish Kumar (2005 onwards)

Thus, the 2005 Bihar assembly elections ended the 15 years of continuous RJD rule in the state, giving way to National Democratic Alliance (India), NDA led by Nitish Kumar. Bihari migrant workers have faced violence and prejudice in many parts of India, like Maharashtra, Punjab (India), Punjab and

. To mark the separation of Bihar from Bengal on 22 March 1912, the completion of 100 years of existence is being celebrated in the name of Bihar Shatabadi Celebration Utsav. There was a 2015 Bihar Political Crisis, political crisis over post of the chief minister during February 2015.

Timeline for Bihar

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