Mahajanapadas
16 Mahajanapadas Angutara Nikaya, a Buddhist scripture mentions 16 great kingdoms or Mahajanapadas at the beginning of the 6 th century BC in India. They emerged during the Vedic Age. The history of the emergence of mahajanapadas can be linked to the development of eastern Uttar Pardesh(Bihar) during the 6th to 4th century BCE where agriculture flourished due to the availability of fertile lands and iron production increased due to availability of iron ore in large quantities. This resulted in the expansion of the territories of the Janapadas and later addressed as 16 highly developed regions or the Mahajanapadas. Emergence of Mahajanapads from Janapadas The Janapadas were the major kingdoms of Vedic India. During that period, Aryans were the most powerful tribes and were called as ‘Janas’. This gave rise to the term Janapada where Jana means ‘people’ and Pada means ‘foot’. By the 6th century B.C., there were approximately 22 different Janapadas. Socio-economic developments chiefl...