Magadha in the time of the Buddha

 Magadha in the time of the Buddha

Around the time Gautama Siddhartha became the Buddha, Magadha was a flourishing kingdom under its king Bimbisara. Under Bimbisara, Magadha annexed the neighboring eastern kingdoms and entered into matrimonial alliances with those in the west and north. He befriended another neighbor, Avanti, to whose king he sent his own physician when the king of Avanti was ill. The country was ruled by a king with the help of three classes of officials: the executive, the judiciary and the military. It was during Bimbisara's reign that Gautama Siddhartha, the heir-prince of the land north of Magadha, came to wander there, seeking eternal truth, and attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya to become the Buddha.


Bimbisara was succeeded by his son Ajatashatra who moved the capital of Magadha

 from Girivraj to Pataliputra (modern Patna, Bihar). Since then, Pataliputra has remained the capital of this province until today. Ajatashatru also greatly expanded his father's territory; annexed Kosala, Lichchhavi Republic, Kashi and Avanti. Some of these kingdoms were related to him by blood, but Ajatashatru is generally portrayed as a cruel person who was not given family decencies (he deposed and imprisoned his father to take the throne). The battle with the Lichchhavi Republic was a long drawn out affair and we have accounts of some of the military innovations that Ajatashatru introduced: one was a catapult that could throw heavy stones a long distance (mahashilakantaka) and another was self-propelled. a driving, covered chariot that had rotating spears and blades (rathamushal) attached to the wheels. An interesting outcome of the Magadha-Lichchhavi war was the affair of Ajatashatru with the courtesan of the Lichchhavi state Amrapali. The destruction of the Lichchhavi lands by Magadha pained Amrapali so much that she became a Buddhist nun; her son by Ajatashatra became a Buddhist monk.


Ajatashatru was initially against the Buddha but later became a friend.

 When the Buddha died and his remains were distributed among his disciples, the main share went to Ajatashatra, who was the most powerful king of the time. He deposited the relics inside the stupa at Girivraj. He later held the first ever council of Buddhist monks, when about 500 of them gathered in the capital of Magadha for a Great Council.



There are conflicting accounts of Ajatashatra's successors

but about 50 years after his death, the people of Magadha deposed the hereditary king and elected a minister named Shishunaga to the throne. Shishunaga was succeeded by his son, under whose reign the Second Buddhist Council was held in Magadha. The last king of the Shishunaga dynasty was killed in a palace conspiracy and was succeeded by Mahapadma Nanda.

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