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The Nanda Empire was a vast empire that governed in
Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
and
Gangetic plains The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses northern and eastern India, eastern Pakist ...
with an enormous geographical reach in 4th-century BCE northeastern India, with some accounts suggesting existence as far back as the 5th century BCE. The Nandas built on the successes of their Haryanka and Shaishunaga predecessors and instituted a more centralised administration. Ancient sources credit them with amassing great wealth, which was probably a result of the introduction of a new currency and taxation system. Ancient texts also suggest that the Nandas were unpopular among their subjects because of their low-status birth, excessive taxation, and general misconduct. The last Nanda king
Dhana Nanda Dhana Nanda (died ), according to the Buddhist text '' Mahabodhivamsa'', was the last Nanda king of Magadha. Chandragupta Maurya raised an army that eventually conquered the Nanda capital Pataliputra and defeated him. This defeat marked the ...
was overthrown by
Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: elp:IPA/Sanskrit, t̪͡ɕɐn̪d̪ɾɐgupt̪ɐ mɐʊɾjɐ (reigned 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian ...
, founder of the
Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
. Modern historians generally identify the ruler of the
Gangaridai Gangaridai (, ) is a term used by the ancient Greco-Roman writers (1st century BCE–2nd century AD) to describe people or a geographical region of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Some of these writers state that Alexander the Great withdrew f ...
and the Prasii mentioned in ancient Greco-Roman accounts as a Nanda king. While describing
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
's
invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...
of
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
(327–325 BCE), Greco-Roman writers depict this kingdom as a great military power. The prospect of a war against this kingdom, coupled with the exhaustion resulting from almost a decade of campaigning, led to a mutiny among Alexander's homesick soldiers, putting an end to his Indian campaign.


Origins


Homeland

The Nanda Empire became a significant ruling authority in
Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
, prior to the creation of the
Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
who established a large empire in the
Ganga 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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...
valley. In the
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
accounts, the Nandas ascended the throne by open conquest in the field and not through secret intrigues or assassinations.
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
authors refer to a great kingdom to the east of the kingdom of King
Porus Porus or Poros ( ; 326–321 BC) was an ancient Indian king whose territory spanned the region between the Jhelum River (Hydaspes) and Chenab River (Acesines), in the Punjab region of what is now India and Pakistan. He is only mentioned in Gr ...
, beyond the
Jhelum River The Jhelum River is a major river in South Asia, flowing through India and Pakistan, and is the westernmost of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It originates at Verinag and flows through the Indian-administered territory of Jammu ...
. The kingdom is referred to as belonging to the
Gangaridae Gangaridai (, ) is a term used by the ancient Greco-Roman writers (1st century BCE–2nd century AD) to describe people or a geographical region of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Some of these writers state that Alexander the Great withdrew fr ...
and Prasioi, and the capital at ''Palibothra'', which is generally accepted as referring to
Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, 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 Pataliput ...
. Prasioi is derived from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
term Prachya, meaning "eastern," and Gangaridae is traced to the
Gangetic plain The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses northern and eastern India, eastern Pakist ...
. These references suggest that the kingdom of
Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
extended dominion over the country to the east of the Jhelum, and its capital was at Pataliputra.


Ancestry

Both Indian and Greco-Roman traditions characterise the dynasty's founder as of low birth. According to Greek historian
Diodorus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (;  1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...
(1st century BCE), Porus told Alexander that the contemporary Nanda king was thought to be the son of a barber. Roman historian Curtius (1st century CE) adds that according to Porus, this barber became the former queen's paramour thanks to his attractive looks, treacherously assassinated the then king, usurped the supreme authority by pretending to act as a guardian for the then princes, and later killed the princes. The Jain tradition, as recorded in the ''Avashyaka Sutra'' and the 12th-century text '' Parishishta-parvan'', corroborates the Greco-Roman accounts, stating that the first Nanda king was the son of a barber. According to the 12th century text ''Parishishta-parvan'', the mother of the first Nanda king was a courtesan. However, the text also states that the daughter of the last Nanda king married Chandragupta, because it was customary for
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 con ...
girls to choose their husbands; thus, it implies that the Nanda king claimed to be a Kshatriya, that is, a member of the warrior class. The
Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...
name the dynasty's founder as Mahapadma, and claim that he was the son of the Shaishunaga king Mahanandin. However, even these texts hint at the low birth of the Nandas, when they state that Mahapadma's mother belonged to the
Shudra Shudra or ''Shoodra'' (Sanskrit: ') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu class and social system in ancient India. Some sources translate it into English as a caste, or as a social class. Theoretically, Shudras constituted a class like work ...
class, the lowest of the varnas. Since the claim of the barber ancestry of the dynasty's founder is attested by two different traditions—Greco-Roman and Jain, it appears to be more reliable than the Puranic claim of Shaishunaga ancestry. The Buddhist tradition calls the Nandas "of unknown lineage" (''annata-kula''). According to '' Mahavamsa'', the dynasty's founder was Ugrasena, who was originally "a man of the frontier": he fell into the hands of a gang of robbers, and later became their leader. He later ousted the sons of the Shaishunaga king Kalashoka (or Kakavarna). K. N. Panikkar suggested that the Nandas were the sole Kshatriyas in India "at the time of the Mauryas" and
M. N. Srinivas Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas (16 November 1916 – 30 November 1999) was an Indian sociologist and social anthropologist. He is mostly known for his work on caste and caste systems, social stratification, Sanskritisation and Westernisation i ...
suggested that the "other Kshatriya castes have come into existence through a process of caste mobility from among the lower castes".


Regnal period

There is little unanimity among the ancient sources regarding the total duration of the Nanda reign or their regnal period. For example, the ''
Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...
'' assigns 88 years to the rule of the first Nanda king alone, while some manuscripts of the ''
Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' (, ) 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 propose that the text is among the ...
'' state the total duration of the Nanda rule as 40 years. The 16th century Buddhist scholar
Taranatha Tāranātha (1575–1634) was a Lama of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is widely considered its most remarkable scholar and exponent. Taranatha was born in Tibet, supposedly on the birthday of Padmasambhava. His original name was Ku ...
assigns 29 years to the Nandas. It is difficult to assign precise date for the Nanda and other early dynasties of Magadha. Historians
Irfan Habib Irfan Habib (born 10 August 1931) is an Indian historian of ancient and medieval India, following the methodology of Marxist historiography in his contributions to economic history. He is known for his strong stance against Hindutva. He has au ...
and Vivekanand Jha date the Nanda rule from –322 BCE, relying on the Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition which states that the Nandas ruled for 22 years. Historian
Upinder Singh Upinder Singh (born 22 June 1959) is an Indian historian who is a professor of History and Dean of Faculty at Ashoka University. She is the former head of the History Department at the University of Delhi. She is also the recipient of the ina ...
dates the Nanda rule from 364/345 BCE to 324 BCE, based on the assumption that
Gautama 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 lege ...
died in . According to another theory, based on astronomical calculations, the first Nanda king ascended the throne in 424 BCE. Proponents of this theory also interpret the
Hathigumpha inscription The Hathigumpha Inscription (pronounced: ɦɑːt̪ʰiːgumpʰɑː) is a seventeen line inscription in a Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Dated betwe ...
to mean that "Nandaraja" (the Nanda king) flourished in year 103 of the Mahavira Era, that is, in 424 BCE. The 14th century Jain writer
Merutunga Merutuṅga was a medieval scholar from present-day Gujarat in India and was a Śvētāmbara Jain monk of the Achal Gaccha. He is presently most well-known for his Sanskrit text, the '' Prabandhacintāmaṇi'', composed in 1306 CE. He also ...
, in his ''Vichara-shreni'', states that king Chandra
Pradyota Pradyota dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Avanti, founded by Pradyota, after his father Punika, a minister in the court of the king of Ujjaini, the northern part of the former Avanti kingdom, and placed his own son on the throne in 546 BCE. 'P ...
of
Avanti Avanti (in Italian, meaning 'ahead', 'forward', or 'before', and also an unrelated Sanskrit name) may refer to: Vehicles * Studebaker Avanti, a model of automobile built by Studebaker * Avanti II, a successor model made by Avanti Motor Corporati ...
died on the same night as the Jain leader
Mahavira Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...
. He was succeeded by his son Palaka, who ruled for 60 years. After that, the Nandas rose to power at
Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, 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 Pataliput ...
and captured the Avanti capital
Ujjayini Ujjain (, , old name Avantika, ) or Ujjayinī is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative as well as religious centre of Ujjain ...
. The Nanda rule, spanning the reigns of nine kings, lasted for 155 years, after which the Mauryas came to power. According to the
Śvetāmbara The Śvetāmbara (; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. ''Śvetāmbara'' in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practi ...
Jain tradition, Mahavira died in 527 BCE, which would mean that the Nanda rule—according to Merutunga's writings—lasted from 467 BCE to 312 BCE. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, while all the chronological details provided by Merutunga cannot be accepted without corroborative evidence, they cannot be dismissed as entirely unreliable unless contradicted by more reliable sources.


Nanda kings

The Buddhist, Jain, and Puranic traditions all state that there were 9 Nanda kings, but the sources differ considerably on the names of these kings. According to the Greco-Roman accounts, the Nanda rule spanned two generations. For example, the Roman historian Curtius (1st century CE) suggests that the dynasty's founder was a barber-turned-king, and that his son was the dynasty's last king, who was overthrown by Chandragupta. The Greek accounts name only one Nanda king—Agrammes or Xandrames—who was a contemporary of Alexander. "Agrammes" may be a Greek transcription of the Sanskrit word "Augrasainya" (literally "son or descendant of Ugrasena", Ugrasena being the name of the dynasty's founder according to the Buddhist tradition). The
Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...
, compiled in India in (but based on earlier sources), also state that the Nandas ruled for two generations. According to the Puranic tradition, the dynasty's founder was Mahapadma: the ''
Matsya Purana The ''Matsya Purana'' (IAST: Matsya Purāṇa) is one of the eighteen major Puranas (Mahapurana), and among the oldest and better preserved in the Puranic genre of Sanskrit literature in Hinduism. The text is a Vaishnavism text named after the h ...
'' assigns him an incredibly long reign of 88 years, while the ''
Vayu Purana The ''Vayu Purana'' (, ) 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 propose that the text is among the ...
'' mentions the length of his reign as only 28 years. The Puranas further state that Mahapadma's 8 sons ruled in succession after him for a total of 12 years, but name only one of these sons: Sukalpa. A ''Vayu Purana'' script names him as "Sahalya", which apparently corresponds to the "Sahalin" mentioned in the Buddhist text ''
Divyavadana The ''Divyāvadāna'' or Divine narratives is a Sanskrit anthology of Buddhist avadana tales, many originating in Mūlasarvāstivādin vinaya texts. It may be dated to 2nd century CE. The stories themselves are therefore quite ancient and may be a ...
''. Dhundhi-raja, an 18th-century
Puranic Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...
commentator, names one of the Nanda kings as Sarvatha-siddhi, and states that his son was Maurya, whose son was Chandragupta Maurya. However, the Puranas themselves do not talk of any relation between the Nanda and the Maurya dynasties. According to the Sri Lankan Buddhist text ''Mahavamsa'', written in
Pali language Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravād ...
, there were 9 Nanda kings – they were brothers who ruled in succession, for a total of 22 years. These nine kings were:


Imperial extent

The Nanda capital was located at
Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, 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 Pataliput ...
(near present-day
Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
) in the
Magadha Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshadowed, conquered, and ...
region of eastern India. This is confirmed by the Buddhist and Jain traditions, as well as the Sanskrit play ''
Mudrarakshasa The Mudrārākshasa (मुद्राराक्षस, IAST: ''Mudrārākṣasa'', ) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya ( BCE) to power in India. The play is an exampl ...
''. The Puranas also connect the Nandas to the
Shaishunaga dynasty The Shaishunaga dynasty (IAST: Śaiśunāga, literally "of Shishunaga") was possibly the second ruling dynasty of Magadha. According to the Buddhist text Mahavamsa, this dynasty was the second ruling dynasty of Magadha, succeeding Nagadashaka ...
, which ruled in the Magadha region. The Greek accounts state that Agrammes (identified as a Nanda king) was the ruler of the
Gangaridai Gangaridai (, ) is a term used by the ancient Greco-Roman writers (1st century BCE–2nd century AD) to describe people or a geographical region of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Some of these writers state that Alexander the Great withdrew f ...
(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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
valley) and the Prasii (probably a transcription of the Sanskrit word ''prachya''s, literally "easterners"). According to the later writer
Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; , died 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat, ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructe ...
(), Pataliputra (Greek: Palibothra) was located in the country of the Prasii, which further confirms that Pataliputra was the Nanda capital. The Nanda empire appears to have stretched from present-day
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
in the west to
Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
in the east. An analysis of various historical sources – including the ancient Greek accounts, the
Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...
, and the
Hathigumpha inscription The Hathigumpha Inscription (pronounced: ɦɑːt̪ʰiːgumpʰɑː) is a seventeen line inscription in a Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Dated betwe ...
– suggests that the Nandas controlled eastern India, 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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
valley, and at least a part of Kalinga. It is also highly probable that they controlled the
Avanti Avanti (in Italian, meaning 'ahead', 'forward', or 'before', and also an unrelated Sanskrit name) may refer to: Vehicles * Studebaker Avanti, a model of automobile built by Studebaker * Avanti II, a successor model made by Avanti Motor Corporati ...
region in Central India, which made it possible for their successor
Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: elp:IPA/Sanskrit, t̪͡ɕɐn̪d̪ɾɐgupt̪ɐ mɐʊɾjɐ (reigned 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian ...
to conquer present-day
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, 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 List of states and union territories ...
western India. According to the Jain tradition, the Nanda minister subjugated the entire country up to the coastal areas. The Puranas state that the Nanda king Mahapadma destroyed the
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 con ...
s, and attained undisputed sovereignty. The
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 con ...
s said to have been exterminated by him include Maithalas, Kasheyas, Ikshvakus,
Panchala Panchala () was an ancient kingdom of northern India, located in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab of the Upper Gangetic plain which is identified as Kanyakubja or region around Kannauj. During Late Vedic times (c. 1100–500 BCE), it was one of the ...
s, Shurasenas, Kurus,
Haihayas In the Mahabharata epic, the Haihaya kingdom (also spelled Heheya, Haihaya, Haiheya, Heiheya, etc.) is one of the kingdoms ruled by Chandravanshi (Yadava) kings in central and western India. It was ruled by Kartavirya Arjuna, who defeated Rav ...
, Vitihotras, Kalingas, and Ashmakas. * The Maithala (literally, "of Mithilā") territory was located to the north of Magadha, on the border of present-day Nepal and northern
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
. This region had come under the control of Magadha during the reign of the 5th century BCE king
Ajatashatru Ajatasattu (Pāli: ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit: ) in the Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain tradition (reigned c. 492 to 460 BCE, or c. 405 to 373 BCE), was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Mag ...
. The Nandas probably subjugated the local chieftains, who may have retained some degree of independence from Magadha. * The Kasheyas were the residents of the area around Kashi, that is, present-day
Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...
. According to the Puranas, a Shaishunaga prince was appointed to govern Kashi, which suggests that this region was under Shaishunaga control. The Nandas may have captured it from a successor of the Shaishunaga prince. * The Ikshvakus ruled the historical Kosala region of present-day
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
, and had come into conflict with the Magadha kingdom during the reign of Ajatashatru. Their history after the reign of Virudhaka is obscure. A passage of the 11th century story-collection ''
Kathasaritsagara The ''Kathāsaritsāgara'' ("Ocean of the Streams of Stories") (Devanagari: कथासरित्सागर) is a famous 11th-century collection of Indian legends and folk tales as retold in Sanskrit by the Shaivite Somadeva from Kashmir. ' ...
'' refers to the Nanda camp (''kataka'') in the
Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...
town of the Kosala region. This suggests that the Nanda king went on a military campaign to Kosala. * The Panchalas occupied the Ganges valley to the north-west of the Kosala region, and there are no records of their conflict with the Magadha monarchs before the Nanda period. Therefore, it appears that the Nandas subjugated them. According to the Greek accounts, Alexander expected to face king Agrammes (identified as a Nanda king) if he advanced eastwards from the
Punjab region Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
. This suggests that the Nanda territory extended up to the Ganges river in the present-day western
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
. * The Shurasenas ruled the area around
Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
. The Greek accounts suggest that they were subordinates to the king of the Prasii, that is, the Nanda king. * The Kuru territory, which included the sacred site of
Kurukshetra Kurukshetra () is a city and administrative headquarters 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 Puranas ...
, was located to the west of the Panchala territory. The Greek records suggest that the king of Gangaridai and Prasii controlled this region, which may be taken as corrorobrative evidence for the Nanda conquest of the Kuru territory. * The Haihayas ruled the
Narmada The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...
valley in central India, with their capital at
Mahishmati Mahishmati () was an ancient city and the capital of Haihayas in the present-day central India on the banks of Narmada River (in Madhya Pradesh), although its exact location is uncertain. The city may have flourished as late as until 13th centu ...
. The Nanda control over this territory does not seem improbable, given that their predecessors – the Shaishunagas – are said to have subjugated the rulers of Avanti in central India (according to the Puranas), and their successors – the Mauryas – are known to have ruled over Central India. * The Vitihotras, according to the Puranas, were closely associated with the Haihayas. Their sovereignty is said to have ended before the rise of the
Pradyota dynasty Pradyota dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Avanti, founded by Pradyota, after his father Punika, a minister in the court of the king of Ujjaini, the northern part of the former Avanti kingdom, and placed his own son on the throne in 546 BCE. 'P ...
in Avanti, far earlier than the Nandas and the Shaishunagas came to power. However, a passage in the ''Bhavishyanukirtana'' of the Puranas suggests that the Vitihotras were contemporaries of the Shaishunagas. It is possible that the Shaishunagas restored a Pradyota prince as a subordinate ruler, after defeating the Pradyotas. The Nandas may have defeated this Vitihotra ruler. The Jain writers describe the Nandas as the successors of Palaka, the son of king
Pradyota Pradyota dynasty was a ruling dynasty of Avanti, founded by Pradyota, after his father Punika, a minister in the court of the king of Ujjaini, the northern part of the former Avanti kingdom, and placed his own son on the throne in 546 BCE. 'P ...
. * The Kalingas occupied the coastal territory in present-day
Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...
and
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
. The Nanda control of this region is corroborated by the
Hathigumpha inscription The Hathigumpha Inscription (pronounced: ɦɑːt̪ʰiːgumpʰɑː) is a seventeen line inscription in a Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Dated betwe ...
of the later king
Kharavela Kharavela was the emperor of Kalinga (present-day eastern coast of India) in the 2nd or 1st century BC. The primary source for Kharavela is his rock-cut Hathigumpha inscription. The inscription is undated, only four of its 17 lines are complet ...
(). The inscription states that "Nanda-raja" (the Nanda king) had excavated a canal in Kalinga, and had taken a Jain idol from Kalinga. According to the inscription, this canal had been dug "''ti-vasa-sata''" years ago: the term is variously interpreted as "three hundred" or "one hundred and three". * The Ashmakas occupied the
Godavari The Godavari (, od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganga River and drains the third largest basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. Its source is in Trimbakeshwar, Nashik, Maharash ...
valley in the
Deccan The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound by the mount ...
region. According to one theory,
Nanded Nanded is a city in Maharashtra state, India. It is the List of cities in Maharashtra, tenth largest city in the state and the List of cities in India by population, seventy-ninth most populated city in India. It is the second largest city in ...
in this region was originally called "Nau Nand Dehra" (abode of the nine Nandas), which may be considered as evidence of the Nanda control of this area. However, there is no concrete evidence that the Nanda rule extended to the south of the
Vindhya range The Vindhya Range (also known as Vindhyachal) () is a complex, discontinuous chain of mountain ridges, hill ranges, highlands and plateau escarpments in west-central India. Technically, the Vindhyas do not form a single mountain range in the ...
. The
Amaravathi Amaravati ( , Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby historic site of ...
hoard of Punch marked coins have revealed imperial standard coins dating back to the Nandas besides other dynasties of Magadha, including the Mauryas; but it is not certain when this region was annexed by the Magadhan rulers. Some
Kuntala country The Kuntala country is an ancient Indian political region which included the north-western parts of Mysore and the southern parts of the Bombay Presidency. Kuntala coins are available since estimated 600-450 BCE.> Kuntala formed one of the di ...
(North Mysore) inscriptions suggest that the Nandas also ruled it, which included a part of present-day
Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
in southern India. However, these inscriptions are relatively late (), and therefore, cannot be considered as reliable in this context. The Magadha empire included parts of southern India during the reign of the Mauryas – the successors of the Nandas – but there is no satisfactory account of how they came to control this area. For example, an inscription discovered at Bandanikke states:


Military strength

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
invaded north-western India at the time of Agrammes or Xandrames, whom modern historians generally identify as the last Nanda king –
Dhana Nanda Dhana Nanda (died ), according to the Buddhist text '' Mahabodhivamsa'', was the last Nanda king of Magadha. Chandragupta Maurya raised an army that eventually conquered the Nanda capital Pataliputra and defeated him. This defeat marked the ...
. In the summer of 326 BCE, Alexander's army reached the Beas River (Greek: Hyphasis), beyond which the Nanda territory was located. According to Curtius, Alexander learned that Agrammes had 200,000 infantry; 20,000 cavalry; 3,000
elephants Elephants are the Largest and heaviest animals, largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant (''Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian ele ...
; and 2,000 four-horse chariots. Diodorus gives the number of elephants as 4,000.
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
inflates these numbers significantly, except the infantry: according to him, the Nanda force included 200,000 infantry; 80,000 cavalry; 6,000 elephants; and 8,000 chariots. It is possible that the numbers reported to Alexander had been exaggerated by the local Indian population, who had the incentive to mislead the invaders. The Nanda army did not have the opportunity to face Alexander, whose soldiers mutinied at the Beas River, refusing to go any further in the east. Alexander's soldiers had first started to agitate to return to their homeland at
Hecatompylos Qumis (; Middle Persian ''𐭪𐭥𐭬𐭩𐭮 Kōmis''), also known as Hecatompylos (, in , ''Saddarvazeh'') was an ancient city which was the capital of the Arsacid dynasty by 200 BCE. The Greek name ''Hekatompylos'' means "one hundred gates" ...
in 330 BCE, and the stiff resistance that they had met in north-western India in the subsequent years had demoralised them. They mutinied, when faced with the prospect of facing the Nanda army, forcing Alexander to withdraw from India.
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
authors also refer to the
Gangaridae Gangaridai (, ) is a term used by the ancient Greco-Roman writers (1st century BCE–2nd century AD) to describe people or a geographical region of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Some of these writers state that Alexander the Great withdrew fr ...
and Prasioi as having a fine military tradition, suggesting the fact that during
Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...
the Great's invasion of India in the late 4th century BCE, the country was under the rule of two factions. The two factions may have been a confederacy, or one may have overshadowed the other. The king referred to by
Diodorus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (;  1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...
as Xandrames or Agrammes is thought to have been a Nanda king, and this would suggest that the Nandas were in control of this vast country to the east, including the land of the Gangaridae.


Administration

Little information survives on the Nanda administration today. The Puranas describe the Nanda king as ''ekarat'' ("single ruler"), which suggests that the Nanda empire was an integrated monarchy rather than a group of virtually independent feudal states. However, the Greek accounts suggest the presence of a more federated system of governance. For example,
Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of ...
mentions that the land beyond the Beas River was governed by "the aristocracy, who exercised their authority with justice and moderation." The Greek accounts mention the
Gangaridai Gangaridai (, ) is a term used by the ancient Greco-Roman writers (1st century BCE–2nd century AD) to describe people or a geographical region of the ancient Indian subcontinent. Some of these writers state that Alexander the Great withdrew f ...
and the Prasii separately, although suggesting that these two were ruled by a common sovereign. Historian H. C. Raychaudhuri theorises that the Nandas held centralised control over their core territories in present-day Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, but allowed considerable autonomy in the frontier parts of their empire. This is suggested by Buddhist legends, which state Chandragupta was unable to defeat the Nandas when he attacked their capital but was successful against them when he gradually conquered the frontier regions of their empire. The Nanda kings appear to have strengthened the Magadha kingdom ruled by their Haryanka and Shaishunaga predecessors, creating the first great empire of northern India in the process. Historians have put forward various theories to explain the political success of these dynasties of Magadha. Pataliputra, the capital of Magadha, was naturally protected because of its location at the junction of the Ganges and the Son rivers. The Ganges and its tributaries connected the kingdom with important trade routes. It had fertile soil and access to
lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
and elephants of the adjacent areas. Some historians have suggested that Magadha was relatively free from the
Brahmanical The historical Vedic religion, also called Vedism or Brahmanism, and sometimes ancient Hinduism or Vedic Hinduism, constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontin ...
orthodoxy, which may have played a role in its political success; however, it is difficult to assess the veracity of this claim. D. D. Kosambi theorised that Magadha's monopoly over iron ore mines played a major role in its imperial expansion, but historian
Upinder Singh Upinder Singh (born 22 June 1959) is an Indian historian who is a professor of History and Dean of Faculty at Ashoka University. She is the former head of the History Department at the University of Delhi. She is also the recipient of the ina ...
has disputed this theory, pointing out that Magadha did not have a monopoly over these mines, and the iron mining in the historical Magadha region started much later. Singh, however, notes that the adjoining
Chota Nagpur Plateau The Chota Nagpur Plateau () is a plateau in eastern India, which covers much of Jharkhand state as well as adjacent parts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar. The Indo-Gangetic plain lies to the north and east of the plateau, and th ...
was rich in many minerals and other raw materials, and access to these would have been an asset for Magadha.


Ministers and scholars

According to the Jain tradition, Kalpaka was the minister of the first Nanda king. He became a minister reluctantly, but after assuming the office, he encouraged the king to adopt an aggressive expansionist policy. The Jain texts suggest that the ministerial offices of the Nanda Empire were hereditary. For example, after the death of Shakatala, a minister of the last Nanda king, his position was offered to his son Sthulabhadra; when Sthulabhadra refused the offer, Shakatala's second son Shriyaka was appointed as the minister. The ''
Brihatkatha ''Bṛhatkathā'' (बृहत्कथा) (Sanskrit, "the Great Narrative") is an ancient Indian epic, said to have been written by Guṇāḍhya (गुणाढ्य) in a poorly-understood language known as Paiśācī. The work no long ...
'' tradition claims that under the Nanda rule, the city of Pataliputra not only became the abode of the goddess of material prosperity (
Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...
), but also of the goddess of learning (
Sarasvati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...
). According to this tradition, notable grammarians such as Varsha, Upavarsha, Panini, Katyayana,
Vararuchi Vararuci (also transliterated as Vararuchi) () is a name associated with several literary and scientific texts in Sanskrit and also with various legends in several parts of India. This Vararuci is often identified with Kātyāyana. Kātyāyana is ...
, and Vyadi lived during the Nanda period. While much of this account is unreliable folklore, it is probable that some of the grammarians who preceded
Patanjali Patanjali (, , ; also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the name of one or more author(s), mystic(s) and philosopher(s) in ancient India. His name is recorded as an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these a ...
lived during the Nanda period.


Wealth

Several historical sources refer to the great wealth of the Nandas. According to the '' Mahavamsa'', the last Nanda king was a treasure- hoarder, and amassed wealth worth 80 '' kotis'' (800 million). He buried these treasures in the bed of the Ganges river. He acquired further wealth by levying taxes on all sorts of objects, including skins, gums, trees, and stones. A verse by the
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
poet
Mamulanar Mamulanar (Tamil: மாமூலனார்) was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 31 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 8 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. Biography Manulanar belonged to the Brahmin caste. Ma ...
refers to "the untold wealth of the Nandas", which was "swept away and submerged later on by the floods of the Ganges". Another interpretation of this verse states this wealth was hidden in the waters of the Ganges. The 7th-century Chinese traveller
Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
mentions the "five treasures of king Nanda's seven precious substances". Greek writer
Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
, in his ''
Cyropaedia The ''Cyropaedia'', sometimes spelled ''Cyropedia'', is a partly fictional biography of Cyrus the Great, the founder of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. It was written around 370 BC by Xenophon, the Athens, Athenian-born soldier, historian, and studen ...
'' (4th century BCE), mentions that the king of India was very wealthy, and aspired to arbitrate in the disputes between the kingdoms of West Asia. Although Xenophon's book describes the events of the 6th century BCE (the period of
Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...
), historian H. C. Raychaudhuri speculates that the writer's image of the Indian king may be based on the contemporary Nanda king. The ''Kashika'', a commentary on Panini's grammar, mentions ''Nandopakramani manani'' – a measuring standard introduced by the Nandas. This may be a reference to their introduction of a new currency system and
punch-marked coins Punch-marked coins were a type of karshapana or Ancient Indian coinage, also known as ''Aahat'' (''stamped'') ''coins'', dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. It was of irregular shape. These coins are found over most parts of ...
, which may have been responsible for much of their wealth. A hoard of coins found at the site of ancient
Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, 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 Pataliput ...
probably belongs to the Nanda period.


Religion

According to Bronkhorst, the Nandas and the Mauryas appear to have patronised the religions originating in the
Greater Magadha Greater Magadha is a theory in the studies of the ancient history of India, introduced by Johannes Bronkhorst. It refers to the non-Vedic political and cultural sphere that developed in the lower Gangetic plains (modern day Bihar, Eastern ...
region, namely Jainism and Ajivikism. However, the rulers of the empire never engaged in conversion of their subjects to other religions and there is no evidence that these rulers discriminated against any contemporary religion.
Greater Magadha Greater Magadha is a theory in the studies of the ancient history of India, introduced by Johannes Bronkhorst. It refers to the non-Vedic political and cultural sphere that developed in the lower Gangetic plains (modern day Bihar, Eastern ...
, east of the confluence of the Ganges and the Yamuna, was the area where the second urbanisation took place, and where Jainism and Buddhism originated. According to Bronkhorst, it was outside Aryavarta, the heartland of
Vedic Brahmanism The historical Vedic religion, also called Vedism or Brahmanism, and sometimes ancient Hinduism or Vedic Hinduism, constituted the religious ideas and practices prevalent amongst some of the Indo-Aryan peoples of the northwest Indian subcontin ...
west of the this confuence, primarily associated with a single state, the Kuru kingdom. According to Bronkhorst, the Nanda emperors, and later the Mauryan emperors, had little interest in Brahmanism, and the conquest of the Vedic heartland by the Nanda and Maurya rule deprived the Brahmins of their patrons, threatening the survival of the Vedic ritual tradition, and creating opportunities for Buddhists and Jains to spread their religion outside the convines of Magadha. The much later Jain legends suggests that several Nanda ministers were inclined towards Jainism. When Shakatala, a minister of the last Nanda king, died, his son Sthulabhadra refused to inherit his father's office, and instead became a
Jain monk Jain monasticism refers to the order of monks and nuns in the Jain community and can be divided into two major denominations: the ''Digambara'' and the '' Śvētāmbara''. The monastic practices of the two major sects vary greatly, but the ...
. Sthulabhadra's brother Shriyaka accepted the post. However, several other Indologists and scholars have questioned Johannes Bronkhorst's claim of a sharp cultural divide between east and west, the supposed lesser influence of Brahmanisation in early Magadha, and his proposed revision of textual chronology, while also criticizing him for overlooking the role of socioeconomic and political developments in shaping new ideological trends. According to
Patrick Olivelle Patrick Olivelle is an Indologist. A philologist and scholar of Sanskrit Literature whose work has focused on asceticism, renunciation and the dharma, Olivelle has been Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Religions in the Department of Asian Stu ...
, those who see Sramana seers of Magadha as non-Brahmanical, anti-Brahmanical, or even non-Aryan precursors of later sectarian ascetics are drawing conclusions that far outstrip the available evidence.


Architecture

Pataliputra Voussoir Arch A granite stone fragment of an arch discovered by K. P. Jayaswal from
Kumhrar Kumhrar or Kumrahar is the area of Patna where remains of the ancient city of Pataliputra were excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India starting from 1913. It is located 5 km east of Patna Railway Station. Archaeological remains ...
, Pataliputra has been analysed as a pre Maurya-Nanda period keystone fragment of a trefoil arch of gateway with mason's marks of three archaic Brahmi letters inscribed on it which probably decorated a
Torana A ''torana'' (; '' awr-uh-nuh') is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu architecture, Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in Southeast Asi ...
. The wedge-shaped stone with indentation has
Mauryan polish Mauryan polish describes one of the frequent characteristics of architecture and sculptures of the Maurya Empire in India (325 to 185 BCE), which gives a very smooth and shiny surface to the stone material, generally of sandstone or granite.The roo ...
on two sides and was suspended vertically.


Nanda era

According to K. P Jayaswal, Nanda era is mentioned in three sources. Kharavela's
Hathigumpha inscription The Hathigumpha Inscription (pronounced: ɦɑːt̪ʰiːgumpʰɑː) is a seventeen line inscription in a Prakrit language incised in Brahmi script in a cavern called Hathigumpha in Udayagiri hills, near Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India. Dated betwe ...
mentions Nandaraja constructing canal 103rd year of the Nanda period., According to
Al-Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (; ; 973after 1050), known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern ...
, the Sri-Harsha era was being used in areas of
Kannauj Kannauj (Hindustani language, Hindustani pronunciation: ) is an ancient city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar palika, Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Ut ...
and
Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
and there was a difference of 400 years between Sri-Harsha era and Vikrama era which would make it fall in 458 BCE, the attributes of which matched with the Nanda kings. According to 12th century Yedarava inscription of Chalukya king
Vikramaditya VI Vikramaditya VI (r. 1076 – 1126 CE) became the Western Chalukya King after deposing his elder brother Someshvara II, a political move he made by gaining the support of Chalukya vassals during the Chola invasion of Chalukya territory.Sen ...
, Nanda era along with Vikram era and
Shaka era The Shaka era (IAST: Śaka, Śāka) is a historical Hindu calendar era (year numbering), the epoch (its year zero) of which corresponds to Julian year (calendar), Julian year 78. The era has been widely used in different regions of the Indian ...
were extant which were abolished in favour of a new Chalukyan era, but other scholars have opined that evidences are too meager to make anything conclusive.


Unpopularity and overthrow

All historical accounts agree that the last Nanda king was unpopular among his subjects. According to Diodorus,
Porus Porus or Poros ( ; 326–321 BC) was an ancient Indian king whose territory spanned the region between the Jhelum River (Hydaspes) and Chenab River (Acesines), in the Punjab region of what is now India and Pakistan. He is only mentioned in Gr ...
told Alexander that the contemporary Nanda king was a man of "worthless character", and was not respected by his subjects as he was thought to be of low origin. Curtius also states that according to Porus, the Nanda king was despised by his subjects. According to
Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
, who claims that Androkottos (identified as Chandragupta) met Alexander, Androkottos later declared that Alexander could have easily conquered the Nanda territory (Gangaridai and Prasii) because the Nanda king was hated and despised by his subjects, as he was wicked and of low origin. The Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition blames the Nandas for being greedy and for imposing oppressive taxation. The Puranas of India label the Nandas as ''adharmika'', indicating that they did not follow the norms of ''
dharma Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
'' or righteous conduct. The Nanda dynasty was overthrown by
Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: elp:IPA/Sanskrit, t̪͡ɕɐn̪d̪ɾɐgupt̪ɐ mɐʊɾjɐ (reigned 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian ...
, who was supported by his mentor (and later minister)
Chanakya Chanakya (ISO 15919, ISO: ', चाणक्य, ), according to legendary narratives preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragup ...
. Some accounts mention Chandragupta as a member of the Nanda family. For example, the 11th century writers
Kshemendra Kshemendra (; ) was an 11th-century Sanskrit polymath-poet, satirist, philosopher, historian, dramatist, translator and art-critic from Kashmir. Biography Kshemendra was born into an old, cultured, and affluent family. His father was Prakashen ...
and
Somadeva Somadeva, also known as Somadeva Bhatta, was an 11th century writer from Kashmir. He is best known for his work '' Kathasaritsagara''. Somadeva is believed to have lived in Kashmir, a region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, ...
describe Chandragupta as a "son of the genuine Nanda" (''purva-Nanda-suta''). Dhundiraja, in his commentary on the ''
Vishnu Purana The Vishnu Purana () is one of the eighteen Mahapuranas, a genre of ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism. It is an important Pancharatra text in the Vaishnavism literature corpus. The manuscripts of ''Vishnu Purana'' have survived into ...
'', names Chandragupta's father as Maurya; he describes Maurya as a son of the Nanda king Sarvatha-siddhi and a hunter's daughter named Mura. The Buddhist text ''
Milinda Panha The ''Milindapañha'' () is a Buddhist text which dates from sometime between 100 BC and 200 AD. It purports to record a dialogue between the Indian Buddhist sage Nāgasena, and the 2nd century BC Indo-Greek king Menander I (Pali: ''Milinda'') ...
'' mentions a war between the Nanda general Bhaddasala (Sanskrit:Bhadrashala) and Chandragupta. According to the text, this war led to the slaughter of 10,000 elephants; 100,000 horses; 5,000 charioteers; and a billion foot soldiers. While this is obviously an exaggeration, it suggests that the overthrow of the Nanda dynasty was a violent affair.


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Magadha Kingdoms of Bihar Dynasties of Bengal 4th-century BC establishments in India 4th-century BC disestablishments in India History of Uttar Pradesh Former empires States and territories disestablished in the 4th century BC