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Rise of the Mahajanapadas

Type Event Region India Time c. -650–-550

Around 600 BCE, sixteen competing city-state polities (Mahajanapadas) formed on the Gangetic Plain of northern India, based on agriculture, trade, an…

Timeline

  1. c. -650–-600Gangetic Plain · IndiaThe spread of iron tools drove agricultural expansion; local chieftains became hereditary monarchs, building administrative and military systems centered on capital cities, as tribal confederations gradually dissolved into territorial states.
  2. c. -600–-550Northern India · IndiaBuddhist, Jain, and Sanskrit texts record sixteen great powers existing side by side, including Kosala, Magadha, Vajji, and Kuru, each pursuing territorial rivalry and diplomatic maneuvering with its capital as the hub.

Sources