Udayin (reigned -444 BCE or 373-357 BCE) also known as Udayabhadra was a king of
Magadha in
ancient 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; ...
. According to the Buddhist and Jain accounts, he was the son and successor of the
Haryanka king
Ajatashatru. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of
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 ...
at the confluence of two rivers, the
Son and the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
. He shifted his capital from
Rajagriha
Rajgir, old name Rajagriha, meaning "The City of Kings," is an ancient city and university town in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India. It was the capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty, the Mauryan Em ...
to Pataliputra due to the latter's central location in the empire.
Ancestry
According to the Buddhist accounts, the successors of the Magadha ruler
Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories ( or ) was
the King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or ) and belonged to the Haryanka d ...
were
Ajatashatru, Udayabhadra (Udayin), Anuruddha, Munda and
Nagadasaka. The Jain tradition mentions Udayin as the son and successor of Ajatashatru.
Kings
Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories ( or ) was
the King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or ) and belonged to the Haryanka d ...
(),
Ajatashatru (–460 BCE), and Udayin (–440 BCE) of the
Haryanka dynasty
The Haryanka dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Magadha, according to the Buddhist text Mahavamsa between 544 BC and 413 BC though some scholars favour a later chronology (5th century BCE to first half of 4th century BCE). Initially, the capi ...
were patrons of Jainism. However, the
name the successors of Bimbisara as Ajatashatru, Darshaka, Udayin, Nandivardhana and Mahanandin. The ''
Matsya Purana'' names Vamsaka as the successor of Ajatashatru. Since the Puranas were composed at a later date, the Buddhist traditions seems to be more reliable. The Nagadasaka of the Buddhist chronicles is identified with the "Darshaka" of the Puranas.
Professor H. C. Seth (1941) identified Udayin with the king Udayana mentioned in the Sanskrit play ''
Svapnavasavadatta''. The Chinese traveler
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 ...
states that the last descendant of Bimbisara built a
sangharama (monastery) at Tiladaka. Seth theorized that this last descendant was Darshaka and Udayin established a new dynasty, as signified by his transfer of the empire's capital from
Rajgriha 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 ...
. Liladhar B. Keny (1943) criticized Seth's theory as incorrect. According to him, the Udayana of ''Svapnavasavadatta'' was a different king, who ruled
Vatsa kingdom with his capital at
Kaushambi.
R. G. Bhandarkar notes that the name of Darshaka (Dasaka) is prefixed with the word "Naga" in the Buddhist chronicles, which may signify his detachment to his successors and his attachment to the
Nagas of Padmavati. This implies that he may be from a different family and had become the king approximately three generations after
Ajatashatru, not immediately succeeding him.
Life and reign
The Buddhist traditions state that Udayin was Ajatashatru's favourite son, and was alive during the reign of his grandfather
Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories ( or ) was
the King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or ) and belonged to the Haryanka d ...
. When Ajatashatru met
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 ...
, Udayin was a young prince. Udayin ruled during -444 BC.
he established his capital 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 ...
at the confluence of the
Son and the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
rivers. His father had built a fort here to repulse a potential
Pradyota invasion from
Avanti. Udayin moved his capital to Pataliputra, probably because it was at the centre of his growing kingdom.
He defeated Palaka of Avanti multiple times but was ultimately killed by him in 444 BC. The Puranas mention Nandivardhana as the successor of Udayin. However, the Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles state that he was succeeded by Anuruddha. These Buddhist chronicles also state that all the kings from Ajatashatru to Nagadasaka, including Udayin,
killed their fathers.
Jain texts mention that Udayin was killed by an assassin of rival kingdom. Being childless, he was succeeded by
Nanda who was selected by his ministers.
Chronology
Historian
K. T. S. Sarao — who favors the Buddhist "
short chronology
The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
" — has dated Udayin's reign to circa 373 to 357 BCE, i.e., only a short time before the
Nanda dynasty which preceded
. Sarao has suggested that the kingdom of Magadha became divided after Udayin's death: with the "suspicious" lists of different successors listed in various texts possibly having ruled in different locations simultaneously instead of one after another, until the kingdom was re-unified.
Similarly, Keay — another proponent of the Short Chronology — states that there is great uncertainty about the royal succession for this period, probably because there was a period of "court intrigues and murders," during which "evidently the throne changed hands frequently, perhaps with more than one incumbent claiming to occupy it at the same time" until
Mahapadma Nanda was able to secure the throne.
References
Citations
Sources
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{{end
Haryanka dynasty
5th-century BC Indian monarchs
Kings of Magadha
Indian Buddhist monarchs
444 BC deaths