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Mahajanapadas
The Mahājanapadas were sixteen Realm, kingdoms and aristocracy, aristocratic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the History of India#Second urbanisation (c. 600 – 200 BCE), second urbanisation period. History The 6th–5th centuries BCE are often regarded as a major turning point in early History of India, Indian history. During this period, India's first large cities since the demise of the Indus Valley civilization arose. It was also the time of the rise of sramana movements (including Buddhism and Jainism), which challenged the religious orthodoxy of the Vedic period. Two of the Mahājanapadas were most probably Gaṇasaṅgha, s (aristocratic republics), and others had forms of monarchy. Ancient Buddhist texts like the ''Anguttara Nikaya'' make frequent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and republics that had developed and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the east to Asmaka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of India
Anatomically modern humans first arrived on the Indian subcontinent between 73,000 and 55,000 years ago. The earliest known human remains in South Asia date to 30,000 years ago. Sedentism, Sedentariness began in South Asia around 7000 BCE; by 4500 BCE, settled life had spread, and gradually evolved into the Indus Valley Civilisation, one of three early Cradle of civilization, cradles of civilisation in the Old World, which flourished between 2500 BCE and 1900 BCE in present-day Pakistan and north-western India. Early in the second millennium BCE, 4.2 kiloyear event, persistent drought caused the population of the Indus Valley to scatter from large urban centres to villages. Rigvedic tribes, Indo-Aryan tribes moved into the Punjab from Central Asia in several Indo-Aryan migration theory, waves of migration. The Vedic Period of the Vedic people in northern India (1500–500 BCE) was marked by the composition of their extensive collections of hymns (Vedas). The social structure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asmaka
Aśmaka or Assaka was a Mahajanapada in ancient South Asia which existed between 700 BCE and 425 or 345 BCE according to the Buddhist texts and ''Puranas''. It included areas in present-day Telangana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in south-central India. In Gautama Buddha's time, many of the Assakas were located on the banks of the Godavari River (south of the Vindhya mountains).The capital of Aśmaka was the city variously named Podana, Potali, Paudanyapura, and Potana. Most scholars identify it with present-day Bodhan in Telangana, while some correspond it to modern-day Paithan in Maharashtra. In ancient India, during the 6th century BCE, there were sixteen Mahajanapadas. Among them, Ashmaka (or Assaka) was the only Mahajanapada located in South India. Location Aśmaka was located on the Godāvarī river, between Mūlaka and Kaliṅga. The capital of Aśmaka was the city variously named Podana, Potali, Paudanyapura, and Potana, which corresponds to modern-day Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cedī (tribe)
Cedī (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan tribe of central Iron Age India, India whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India, Iron Age. The members of the Cedī tribe were named the Caidyas, and were organised into a kingdom, itself also called Cedī. Location The territory of Cedī was located near the Yamuna, Yamunā river, and its neighbours were Matsya Kingdom, Matsya in the west across the Chambal River, Chambal river, Kingdom of Kashi, Kāsī in the north-east on the Ganges, the Kāruṣas in east in the valley of the Son River, Son river, and the Daśārṇas on the banks of the Dhasan River, Dhasan river. The area of Cedī thus corresponded to the eastern part of the modern-day Bundelkhand, Bundelkhaṇḍ along with nearby tracts. The capital of Cedī was named Suktimati, Sotthivatī in Pali, Pāli and Suktimati, Śuktimatī in Sanskrit, and was located by a river of the same name. The location of the capital Suktimati has not bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Plateau in Punjab, though the cultural influence of Greater Gandhara extended westwards into the Kabul, Kabul valley in Afghanistan, and northwards up to the Karakoram range. The region was a central location for the Silk Road transmission of Buddhism, spread of Buddhism to Central Asia and East Asia with many Chinese Buddhism, Buddhist pilgrims visiting the region. Between the third century BCE and third century CE, Gandhari language, Gāndhārī, a Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language written in the Kharosthi script and linked with the modern Dardic languages, Dardic language family, acted as the lingua franca of the region and through Buddhism, the language spread as far as China based on Gandhār ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avanti (India)
Avanti was an ancient Indian Mahajanapada (''Great Janapada''), roughly corresponding to the present-day Malwa region. According to the Buddhist texts, the ''Anguttara Nikaya'', Avanti was one of the ''solasa mahajanapadas'' (sixteen great realms) of the 6th century BCE. The ''janapada'' was divided into two parts by the Vindhyas, the northern part had its capital at Ujjain, Ujjayini and the southern part had its centre at Mahishmati. The Avantis, the ancient people belonging to this realm, were described as ''mahavala'' (very powerful) in the Udyoga Parva (19.24) of the Mahabharata.Law, B.C. (1973). ''Tribes in Ancient India'', Bhandarkar Oriental Series No.4, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, pp.337-43 According to the Vishnu Purana (II.3), the Bhagavata Purana (XII.I.36) and the Brahma Purana (XIX.17), the Avantis were associated with the Malava, the Saurashtra (region), Saurashtras, the Abhira tribe, Abhiras/Yadavas, the Suras, the Karusha Kingdom, Karushas an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anga
Anga was an ancient Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan tribe of eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India, Iron Age. The members of the Aṅga tribe were called the Āṅgeyas. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Aṅga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti's list of ancient janapadas. Location Aṅga proper was located between the Chandan River, Champā river to the west and the Rajmahal hills to the east. However, at times, its territories did extend to the sea in the south, or included Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha in the west. The capital of Aṅga, named Campā, was located at the confluence of the Campā and Ganges, Gaṅgā rivers, and corresponds to the modern-day area of Champapuri, Campāpurī and Champanagar in Bhagalpur the eastern part of the Indian state of Bihar, Bihār. According to the Jataka tales, s, Campā was also called Kāla-Campā, while Puranas, Puranic texts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaṇasaṅgha
Gana-Sangha (People's Union) or Gana-Rajya (People's Rule) was a type of Gana, tribe and clan structure of aristocratic republics in janapadas, ancient India. Etymology The word (; Sanskrit: गण) in Sanskrit and Pali means group or community. It can also be used to refer to a body of attendants and can refer to any assemblage or association of men formed for the attainment of the same aims, denotes the gathering of a given community. The word ''sangha'' in Sanskrit means association, assembly, company or community. For instance, in Buddhism, ''sangha'' refers to the Buddhist monasticism, monastic community of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns). The phrase ''gana sangha'' can be translated as (rule by) tribal assembly. In ancient Buddhist texts like the ''Anguttara Nikaya'' which make frequent reference to Mahajanapadas, the great states in ancient India, the texts often use the phrase to refer a type of aristocratic rule, contrast to monarchy (साम्राज् ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representative assembly, representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a republic is most often a single sovereign state, subnational state entities that have governments that are republican in nature may be referred to as republics. Representation in a republic may or may not be freely elected by the general citizenry. In many historical republics, representation has been based on personal status and the role of elections has been limited. This remains true today; among the List of countries by system of government, 159 states that use ''republic'' in their official names , and other states formally constituted as republics, are states that narrowly constrain both the right of representation and the process of election. The term developed i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kshatriya
Kshatriya () (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority"; also called Rajanya) is one of the four varnas (social orders) of Hindu society and is associated with the warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the context of later Vedic society wherein members were organised into four classes: ''brahmin'', kshatriya, '' vaishya,'' and '' shudra''. History Early Rigvedic tribal monarchy The administrative machinery in Vedic India was headed by a tribal king called a Rajan whose position may or may not have been hereditary. The king may have been elected in a tribal assembly (called a Samiti), which included women. The Rajan protected the tribe and cattle; was assisted by a priest; and did not maintain a standing army, though in the later period the rulership appears to have risen as a social class. The concept of the fourfold varna system is not yet recorded. Later Vedic period The hymn '' Purusha Sukta'' in the ''Rigveda'' describes the symbolic crea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Age In India
In the prehistory of the Indian subcontinent, the Iron Age succeeded Bronze Age India and partly corresponds with the megalithic cultures of South India. Other Iron Age archaeological cultures of north India were the Painted Grey Ware culture (1300–300 BCE) and the Northern Black Polished Ware (700–200 BCE). This corresponds to the transition of the Janapadas or principalities of the Vedic period to the sixteen Mahajanapadas or region-states of the early historic period, culminating in the emergence of the Maurya Empire towards the end of the period. The earliest evidence of iron smelting predates the emergence of the Iron Age proper by several centuries. Region Northern India R. Tewari (2003) radiocarbon dated iron artefacts in Uttar Pradesh, including furnaces, tuyeres, and slag between c. 1000 BCE to 1800 BCE. Antiquity of iron in India was pushed back from following the excavations at Malhar, Raja Nala ka Tila, Dadupur and Lauhradewa in Uttar Pradesh from 1996-200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Janapadas
The Janapadas () () (c. 1100–600 BCE) were the realms, republics (ganapada) and kingdoms (sāmarājya) of the Vedic period in the Indian subcontinent. The Vedic period reaches from the late Bronze Age into the Iron Age: from about 1500 BCE to the 6th century BCE. With the rise of sixteen ''Mahajanapadas'' ("great janapadas"), most of the states were annexed by more powerful neighbours, although some remained independent. Etymology The Sanskrit term ''janapada'' is a tatpurusha compound term, composed of two words: ''jana'' and ''padna''. ''Jana'' means "person" or "people" (cf. Latin cognate ''genus'', English cognate ''kin''). The word ''pada'' means "foot" (cf. Latin cognate ''pedis''); from its earliest attestation, the word has had a double meaning of "realm, territory" and "subject population" (cf. Hittite ''pedan'', "place"). Linguist George Dunkel compares the Greek ''andrapodon'' "slave", to PIE "fetters" (i.e. "what is attached to the feet"). Sanskrit ''padá ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
