The Brihadratha dynasty (;

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Bṛhadratha) was the legendary first dynasty of the Magadha Empire, according to the

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

, and was founded by Brihadratha.

History

Brihadratha

According to the Puranas, Brihadratha (also Maharatha) was the king of Magadha and the founder of the Brihadratha dynasty. According to the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' and the Purana, he was the eldest of the five sons of

Uparichara Vasu Uparichara Vasu ( IAST: ''UparicaraVasu'' pəɾɪt͡ʃəɾəʋəs̪u is a king featured in Hindu literature, a member of the Chandravamsha (Lunar dynasty). The son of Kṛti, he rules over the kingdom of Chedi. He is described to be a friend ...

, the Kuru king of Chedi, and his queen was Girika. The name 'Brihadratha' is found twice in the ''

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

'' (I.36.18, X.49.6); however, it is not indicated whether this refers to the father of Jarasandha.

Jarasandha

The Puranas mention that

Jarasandha Jarasandha () is a king featured in the Hindu Mythology. He is the powerful monarch of Magadha, and a minor antagonist in Mahabharata. He is the son of the king Brihadratha, the founder of the Barhadratha dynasty of Magadha. According to popu ...

was the son of Sambhava. The ''Mahabharatha'' states that Jarasandha was the son of Brihadratha and the greatest ruler of the dynasty. According to ancient texts, 24 Brihadratha kings ruled for many years. However, 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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''

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 ...

'' disagree regarding the Brihadratha period of rule. The astronomical works based on the ''Vishnu Purana'' state that the Brihadratha dynasty lasted for 1,000 years. The name of Jarasandha appears in the Puranas many times. Jarasandha was inimical to the

Yadava The Yadava (), not to be confused with Yadav, were an ancient Indian people who believed to have descended from Yadu (legendary king), Yadu, a legendary king of Chandravamsha lineage. The community was formed of various clans, being the #T ...

and is mentioned as a villain in the ''Mahabharata''.

Bhima Bhima (, ), also known as Bhimasena (, ), is a hero and one of the most prominent characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. As the second of the five Pandava brothers, Bhima was born to Kunti—the wife of King Pandu—fathered by Vayu, the ...

, with the help of

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

, killed Jarasandha.

Sahadeva

According to scripture,

Sahadeva Sahadeva () was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers in the ancient Indian epic, the '' Mahabharata''. He and his twin brother Nakula were the sons of Madri, one of the wives of the Pandava patriarch Pandu, and Ashvini Kumaras, the ...

was the son of Jarasandha placed on the throne of Magadha by the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

after the assassination of Jarasandha. Sahadeva has fought the

Kurukshetra War The Kurukshetra War (), also called the Mahabharata War, is a war described in the Hindu Indian epic poetry, epic poem ''Mahabharata'', arising from a dynastic struggle between two groups of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, for the thr ...

on the side of the Pandavas. According to the Puranas, he was killed in the Kurukshetra War by

Shakuni Shakuni (, , ) is one of the antagonists of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king after the death of his father, Subala. He was the brother of Gandhari (Mahabharata), ...

, along with his cousin Jayadeva. He was succeeded by Somadhi.

Later rulers

Somadhi (or Somphi) was the son of Sahadeva and was placed on the throne of Magadha by the Pandavas after he agreed to be their

subordinate A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...

End of dynasty

The last of the Brihadratha dynasty was

Ripunjaya Ripunjaya was the last Puranic Brihadratha king of Magadha. His minister killed him, following which, the throne went to Bimbisara of the Haryanka clan. See also * Brihadratha * Magadha * Pradyota * Pradyota dynasty Pradyota dynasty wa ...

, who was killed by a minister named Punika (Pulika). After the death of Ripunjaya, Punika placed his son Pradyota on the throne and founded 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 682 BCE.

List of rulers

References

{{Authority control Dynasties of Magadha Rajgir