Buddhism: Institution of Sangha

The Sangha was the religious order of the Buddhists. It was a well-organised and powerful institution, which popularised Buddhism. Membership was open to all persons irrespective of caste. There was age criterion for eligibility. The inductee must have completed the age of 15 at the time of becoming a member of the Buddhist Sangha. Interestingly, many millennia later, legislators thought 15 is the right age for giving consent.

Besides, the Buddhist Sangha would not accord membership to criminals unless reformed, lepers (controlling infection through medication was not known or common back then), slaves (their status in those times in India remains a subject of discussion among historians), persons suffering from an infectious disease, and an indebted person (who needed to pay off her debt before earning eligibility).

The Buddha was not initially inclined to admit women into the Sangha fearing that a gender-mix might make it difficult for the Sangha to maintain the requisite discipline. His chief disciple, Ananda, and foster mother, Mahaprajapati Gautami, argued for their entry into the Sangha.

The Buddha agreed but it is said in some stories that he warned Ananda that the decision would weaken the institution of the Sangha and cut short its life by 500 years which would have served society for a thousand years otherwise. The Sangha weakened over the following centuries particularly in the post-Ashoka era but picked up strength during the Kanishka times.

The members of the Sangha were monks and followed a bureaucratic hierarchy to manage the affairs of the institution. The monks had to ceremonially shave their head and wear yellow or saffron robes upon admission into the Sangha. 

Monks were expected to go on a daily round in order to preach Buddhism and seek alms to feed themselves. During the four months of rainy season, they stayed at one place, usually fixed, and meditated on the questions of the contemporary society and find answers from the tenets of Buddhism. This was called the retreat or Vasa.

The Sangha also promoted education among people. Unlike Brahmanism, people of different orders of society got access to education under the Buddhist Sangha. Naturally, the non-Brahmins got educated and the formal education reached wider sections of society, a departure from the history of past few centuries.

The Sangha was governed on democratic principles. It was empowered to enforce discipline among its members. There was a code of conduct for the monks and nuns. But differences were cropping up in the Sangha even during the time of the Buddha.

Paul Carus, the celebrated author of the “Gospel of Buddha”, says the Buddha, on the advice of Magadh king Bimbisar who was planning retirement, marked two days in every fortnight for community preaching by a monk ordained in Buddhism. He fixed the eighth and 14-15th day of every fortnight – a model Bimbisar had suggested on the lines of the practice of some Brahmanical sect of Rajgriha, his capital.

People started flocking to such community preaching events. But soon they complained that the monks who were supposed to elucidate Buddhism. A dispute arose. To settle the dispute, the Buddha provided for Pratimoksha (pardon by the Sangha after self-confession of indiscipline or violation of the Sangha rules by a monk). This was to be done on the same two days of the fortnight. This meeting and the process was called Uposatha and was to be held in public.

The monk who violated the Buddhist code had to confess upon being asked by the senior monk at the Uposatha. Others were to remain silent. The question was to be asked three times. If a violator remained silent three times, she/he would be considered guilty of perjury, which was an obstacle in attaining nirvana – freedom from the cycle of suffering.

At another place, Carus has shown that the Buddha walked out of a Sangha event as the rival monks would not listen to reason. After some time when his disciples insisted upon finding a solution, the Buddha addressed both the sides, first separately and then jointly. He had asked his disciples not to discriminate against one group or the other for their preference for one or abhorrence of the other. 

In the joint session, the Buddha told them the story of a Koshal king Deerghiti, his rival Kashi king Brahmadutta, and Deerghiti’s son Deerghayu who ended the bitterness between the two royal families. Here, the Buddha enunciated that hate could only be conquered by hatelessness – something that became popular after the Bible’s narration of ‘an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind’.

Thus, the members of Sangha – both monks and nuns – had to follow their respective codes of conduct. They were bound to obey the code if they were to stay within the Sangha. The Sangha had the power to punish any of the erring members.

Buddhism: Teachings of the Buddha

 

The basic teachings of the Buddha are contained in:

-        Four Satyas (noble truths)

-        Eight paths (Ashtangika Marga)

The four noble truths are:

1.    The world is full of sufferings.

2.    All sufferings have a cause. Desire, ignorance and attachment are the causes of these sufferings.

3.    A suffering could be removed by destroying its cause.

4.    One must know the right path to end the sufferings. This path is eight-fold or the Ashtangika Marg.

The eight-fold path is enunciated as follows:

1.    Right View/Observation: Finding the right view through observation is the first of the paths. This is required to understand that the world is filled with sorrow emerging from desires. Ending the desire will lead to liberation of the self.

2.    Right Aim/Determination: It refers to having the determination for the right aim, which is to seek to avoid enjoyment of the senses and luxury. It aims to love the humanity and augment the happiness of others.

3.    Right Speech: It emphasises the endeavour to speak truth always.

4.    Right Action: This is interpreted as unselfish deeds or action.

5.    Right Livelihood: This path instructs a follower to live his or her life by honest means. This does not take an extreme position. For example, it allows profit-making by business people but without subjecting somebody to sufferings.

6.    Right Exercise: This means making the right efforts, interpreted as the proper way to control one’s senses so as to prevent bad or detrimental thoughts. It elucidates that one can destroy desires and attachments through right mental exercises.

7.    Right Memory/Mindfulness: It recognises that there are evil worldly affairs which trigger desires and attachments. This path calls for understanding the idea that the body is impermanent, and that meditation is the means for removal of the worldly evils.

8.    Right Meditation/Concentration: Observation of the right meditation will lead to inner peace. The right meditation will unravel the real truth.

Buddhism puts great emphasis on the law of karma (action). This means that the present is determined by one’s past actions. Everyone is the maker of one’s own destiny. The condition of a person in this life or the next life depends on one’s own actions. Humans are born again and again to reap the fruits of their karma. If an individual has no sins or desires, she or he is not born again.

The doctrine of karma is an essential part of the Buddhist tenet. The Buddha preached nirvana, described as the ultimate goal of a human life. One can attain nirvana by the process of elimination of desires. The Buddha laid emphasis the moral life of an individual to complete this process.

Buddhism is what could be termed a secular religion for the Buddha neither accepted nor rejected the existence of god. He did not consider the god question as significant enough to discuss. He was more concerned about the individual and one’s action than deliberating the question of god. The Buddha did not believe in the existence of soul either. It is unique in being a soul-less religion. This means there is no heaven in Buddhism.

The Buddha emphasised on the spirit of love, which he said could be harboured for all living beings by following the path of ahimsa, non-violence. The principle of ahimsa was underscored and emphasised in Buddhism but not as much as in Jainism. The Buddha prescribed that an individual should pursue the middle-path shunning the extremes of severe asceticism and luxurious life.

The teachings of the Buddha posed a serious challenge to the existing Brahmanical ideas in the following ways:

1.    The Buddha’s liberal and democratic approach towards life quickly attracted people from all sections of society. His disregard for the caste system and the supremacy of the Brahmins through the law of karma was welcomed by the people who were given lower social strata in the pecking order. People were admitted to the Buddhist order without the consideration of caste and, later, gender.

2.    Salvation of an individual, Buddhism declared, depended on one’s good deeds not the birth in a particular community. This meant that there was no need for a priest or spiritual middle-man to achieve nirvana.

3.    The Buddha also rejected the supreme authority of the Vedas by condemning the practice of animal sacrifice. The Buddha said neither a sacrifice to gods could wash away a sin nor could any prayer of any priest do any good to a sinner.

With these influences, Buddhism in a very short period emerged as an organised religion and the Buddha’s teachings were codified forming the Buddhist cannon, the collection of his teachings. The Buddhist cannon can be divided into three sections:

1.    Sutta Pitaka: It consists of five Nikayas (bodies) of religious discourses and sayings of the Buddha. The fifth of the Nikayas contains the Jatakakathas (the tales of the births).

2.    Vinaya Pitaka: It contains the rules for monastic discipline.

3.    Abhidhamma Pitaka: It contains the philosophical ideas of the teachings of the Buddha. It is written in the form of questions and answers.

Buddhism: Discovery of a new path

Buddhism was founded by Gautam Buddha. His father was Shuddhodana, the chief of the Shakya clan and his mother was Maya, a princess of the Koliya clan. He was born in the Lumbini grove in Nepal. This is mentioned in an inscribed pillar installed on the orders of Maurya emperor Ashoka. His year of birth has been a matter of dispute, generally taken as 563 BC.

Though Gautam spent his life in royal splendour, the pomp and luxury failed to attract his mind. As the story goes, Gautam was deeply affected by the sight of an old man, a sick person, a dead body and an ascetic while on one of his capital tours. The misery of the human life cast a deep shadow like a magic spell on Gautam.

In his quest to find a solution to the misery of the humankind, Gautam left his home in the most unceremonious way at the age of 29. After a night of regale at the royal palace, Buddha left his wife, Yashodhara, and infant/toddler son, Rahul, asleep as he took the first step to his greatness. This is called Mahabhinishkraman (the great departure) in the Buddhist literature.

Gautam spent next six years of his life as a wandering ascetic. He tried all available techniques of penance to find the answer he was seeking. He learnt the technique of meditation from a sage named, Alara Kalama. He also learnt from him the teachings of Upanishads, the spiritual elucidations and commentaries on the Vedas.

During initial years of his spiritual quest, Gautam practised rigid and austere form of meditation. He resorted to different kinds of self-torture hoping to find the truth he was seeking. Self-torture and fasting made him so week that he lost his body weight to resemble a human skeleton.

There is a beautiful story of his turnaround in the Buddhist literature. It says that while Gautam was punishing himself to attune his mind and body to the elusive supreme truth, he heard a woman singing. The song went like this: if you keep the strings of veena (an Indian musical instrument) loose, it would not produce music; if you tighten the strings to its extreme, they will get snapped and there will be no music; to make a veena musical, its strings must have the accurate balance.

In some texts, Gautam is said to be in conversation with a woman over his methods of penance. During this conversation, the woman told him about the musical relation of the strings with veena. The woman offered him kheer. 

Kheer is a sweet dish prepared by boiling rice in milk till it is cooked and until it gives out a specific aroma. Gautam broke his fast and began what evolved into his own techniques of meditation. But breaking his fast made his meditation companions angry and they deserted him.

Gautam now shifted to a place called Uruvela in South Bihar’s Gaya, and sat under a peepal tree near the Rijupalika river. On the 49th day of his meditation, Gautam attained what is called enlightenment or knowledge or Bodhi (derived from Bodh, the Sanskrit word for sense, perception and intelligence). 

That tree became reverential for his followers until it was cut down by a fanatic Bengal ruler named, Shashank in the seventh century. A branch of that tree had already been taken by Maurya emperor Ashoka's daughter Sanghamitra to Anuradhapuram, the capital of pre-modern Sri Lanka, where it was cultured into a tree.

Upon attaining knowledge, Gautam was called the Buddha, the one who knows the answer. The peepal tree became famous as the Bodhi Vriksha (the tree of enlightenment) and the place as Bodh Gaya – a global tourist spot now in the Gaya district of Bihar for which it is a major source of revenue more than 2500 years after Gautam was born.

Gautam as Buddha did not, however, gave his first sermon at Bodh Gaya. He travelled to Sarnath, where his deserter companions were meditating. It is amazing that Gautam Buddha found out where his former companions were – at a distance of about 250 km – in an age when information and communication technologies were what we describe as primitive. Gautam Buddha’s resolve to give his first sermon to this band of deserters also indicates that he made it a point to win over his first or original doubters.

At a place, now called the Deer Park at Sarnath near Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon to the deserters. This is called the Dharmachakra Pravartan (the setting off the change in the cycle of Dharma). Now, Gautam Buddha began taking disciples.

Ashvojit, Upali, Mogallana, Sariputra and Ananda were his first five disciples. Some of them like Ananda were older to Gautam Buddha. To educate people about the new-found ways of life or Dharma, Gautam Buddha founded the Sangha, the Buddhist monastery system or the Buddhist church. For rest of his life, Gautam Buddha preached his sermons, maximum number of sessions were held at Shravasti in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Gautam Buddha visited various places to propagate his ideas. Many a time, he had to encounter other sect-founders and followers and engage in shastratha, the ancient Indian tradition of intellectual debate. Besides, Sarnath and Shravasti, Gautam Buddha preached at Mathura, Rajgir, Gaya and Patliputra.

Some of the powerful kings of the time, such as Bimbisara, Ajatshatru and Udayana of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadh, and Prasenajit of Koshala accepted his doctrine and became his disciples. Gautam Buddha also visited Kapilavastu, his father’s capital and accepted his father, mother and son to his the Buddhist fold.

At the age of 80, Gautam Buddha died at Kushinagar. He is said to have eaten his last supper at the home of Chunda Kammaaraputra, a goldsmith. In some texts, Chunda is mentioned as a blacksmith. Probably, he was a smith who dealt in different metals including gold and iron.

Gautam Buddha’s last supper is one of the controversies among the historians. Some claim that Gautam Buddha ate pork for his last meal. Some others describe the words, “shookaramaddava” as some kind of pig or boar milk product served in his supper.

Whatever Gautam Buddha ate at Chunda’s home at Pava in Kushinagar (then in the republic kingdom of the Mallas) that led to food poisoning. Gautam Buddha developed acute dysentery which proved fatal. Despite his worsening health, Gautam Buddha insisted that he travelled to Kushinagara town. 

By the time, he reached the outskirts of the town, Gautam Buddha had become too weak. He asked his favourite disciple, Ananda, to spread out the clothes under a tree for him to take rest. A make-shift bed was prepared between the two Sal trees. The place was near River Kakuttha (now called Ghaghi, a small river). He died of the illness.

There is another story about his last supper. Gautam Buddha is said to have asked Chunda not to feed that meal to anybody else. He asked Chunda, as the story goes, to bury the leftover meal. Chunda heeded the advice. 

Before he breathed his last, Gautam Buddha asked Ananda to bring water from the river. He drank it. He also warned Ananda about his followers holding Chunda responsible for his death. 

Gautam asked Ananda to tell such people that he heard directly from the Buddha that he valued two meals the most – the one offered to him when he shed the austere technique of meditation and adopted the moderate one before attaining Bodhi, and the second offered by Chunda before his Nirvana.

How India’s history has been written: Approaches to ancient Indian history

 

History-writing is most of the times like having an eagle's eye view. The writer is always looking to catch her or his prey. (Photo: Prabhash K Dutta)

History is what happened in the past. But it is not fully recorded. It is often reconstructed like an investigator recreates a scene of crime. And, it is often open to interpretation. The most dominant interpretation comes as a textbook of history. It is held as the accepted true version of the past. It may or not exclude certain facts of the past. This is why scholars agree to have different schools of thought interpreting history during its reconstruction. The distant the subject in the past more difficult it is to get it accurate. There have been certain accepted views that reconstructed ancient Indian history. Here’s a look at those approaches to reconstruction of ancient India.

COLONIAL VIEW

Modern research on ancient Indian history began in the second half of the eighteenth century because of the needs of the colonial administration set up by the British, who ruled over India. When Bengal and Bihar came under the rule of the East India Company in 1765, they found it difficult to administer, particularly the Hindu law of inheritance.. Hence, in 1776, the law book of Manu, Manusmriti was translated into English as A Code of Gentoo Laws.

Pundits were associated with the British judges to administer the Hindu civil laws and the manuals to govern the civil laws, and Maulavis to govern the civil laws of the Muslims.

[This was possibly the first instance in India when a uniform civil code was shredded to pieces. Earlier, the king would roll out a uniform code of law although that code, as Manusmriti shows, were prescribed harsher punishment to people belonging to the lower rungs of the highly stratified society and milder for upper class. 

However, Mahabharata presented another account where the upper class offenders were given harsher punishment and lower rung holders lesser on the basis that people with more social power had greater responsibility to behave as a civilian. 

During the phases of Islamic rule in India, the sultans and badshahs imposed Islamic civil as interpreted by Maulavis. The Islamic law-prescribed punishments were given to both Hindus and Muslims. Hindus paid additional taxes, according to Islamic laws, under the Sultanate and Mughal rules. 

The East India Company officials sensed the fragile sentiments of Hindus and Muslims for their religious beliefs and tried not to attract unwarranted hostility and cause unity among the two powerful social groups.]

Initial efforts by the East India Company officials to understand the ancient laws and customs culminated in the establishment of the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784 in Kolkata, then called Calcutta, by Sir William Jones.

Jones translated great Sanskrit dramatist Kalidasa’s Abhijnanshakuntalama into English in 1789. Thje Bhagavadgita had already been rendered into English in 1785. The Bombay Asiatic Society was set up in 1804, and the Asiatic Society of Great Britain was set up in 1823 in London.

William Jones emphasised the point that originally European languages were very much similar to Sanskrit and Iranian languages. This finally resulted in the establishment of chairs in England and other European countries.

The greatest push to Indological studies was given by F Max Mueller, who spent most of his time in England. The Revolt of 1857 was an eye-opener to the British. It was strongly realised in Britain that it badly needed to understand the manners and social systems of an alien people over whom it had to rule. Similarly, the Christian missionaries wanted to find out the vulnerable points in the Hindu religion to win converts and strengthen the British empire.

To meet these needs, the ancient scriptures were translated on a massive scale under the editorship of Max Mueller. Altogether, fifty volumes were published under the title of “The Sacred Books of the East” series. Although a few Chinese and Iranian texts were included, the ancient Indian texts dominated the series.

In the introduction to these volumes, Max Mueller and other western scholars made some generalisations about the nature of ancient Indian history and society. They said that the ancient Indians lacked the sense of history especially of time factor in historiography and chronology. They said that the Indians were accustomed to despotic rule. 

Further, the natives were engrossed in the problems of spiritualism or of the next world, and least bothered about the problems of this world. The caste system was considered as the most vicious form of social discrimination. They stressed that the Indians had experienced neither a feeling of nationhood nor any kind of self-government.

Many of these generalisations appeared in “Early History of India” by WA Smith, who prepared the first systematic history of ancient India in 1904. It served as a textbook for nearly fifty years and is still used by scholars.

Smith’s approach to history was pro-colonialist. He emphasised the role of foreigners in India. Macedonian warrior emperor Alexander’s invasion accounted for almost-one-third of his book. India was presented as the land of despotism which did not experience political unity until the establishment of the British rule.

In sum, British interpretation of Indian served to denigrate Indian character and achievements and justify the colonial rule. A few of these observations appeared to be somewhat valid. Thus, compared to the Chinese, the Indians did not show any strong sense of chronology although in the earlier stage, important events were dated with reference to the death of Gautam Buddha.

However, generalisations made by historians were either false or grossly exaggerated. They could serve as good propaganda material for the penetration of the despotic British rule. Their emphasis on the Indian tradition of one-man rule could justify the system which vested all powers in the hands of the viceroy.

Similarly, if the Indians wee obsessed with the problems of the other world, the British colonial masters had no option but to look after their lives in this world. Truly, at the heart of such generalisations lay the need to demonstrate that the Indian were incapable of governing themselves.

NAITONALIST APPROACH

The colonialist view came as a great challenge to the western-educated Indian scholars. They were irked by the colonialist distortions of their past and at the same time distressed by the contrast between the decaying feudal society of India and the progressive capitalist society of England. They took upon themselves not only the mission to reform Indian society but also to reconstruct ancient Indian history in such a manner as to make a case for social reforms and more importantly for self-government.

In doing so, most historians were guided by the nationalist ideas of Hindu revivalism but there was no dearth of scholars who adopted a rationalist and objective approach of historiography. To the second category belonged Rajendra Lal Mitra. He wrote a book entitled Indo-Aryans.

Rajendra Lal Mitra took a rational view of ancient society and produced a forceful tract to show that in ancient times, people consumed beef. Others tried to prove that in spite of its peculiarities, the caste system was not basically different from the class system based on division of labour found in pre-industrial and ancient societies of Europe.

In Maharashtra, RG Bhandarkar and VK Rajwade emerged as two great dedicated scholars who pieced together varied sources to reconstruct the social and political history of the country. RG Bhandarkar reconstructed the political history of the Satavahanas and the history of Vaishnavism and other sects. Through his researches, Bhandarkar advocated widow marriages and the evils of the caste system and child marriage.

VK Rajwade laboured hard in search of Sanskrit manuscripts and sources of Maratha history. He produced the history of the institution of marriage that he wrote in Marathi in 1926. It is considered a classic text because of its solid base in Vedic and other texts and also because of the author’s insight into the stages in the evolution of marriage in India.

Pandurang Vaman Kave continued the earlier tradition of scholarship. His “History of the Dharmashastra” is an encyclopaedia of ancient social laws and customs.

The Indian scholars diligently studied polity and political history to demonstrate that India did have its political history and that the Indians possessed expertise in administration. DR Bhandarkar published books on Ashoka and on ancient Indian political institutions.

HC Roychaudhury reconstructed the history of ancient India from the time of Bharat war (tenth century BC) to the end of the Gupta period. His writings are marked by impeccable scholarship but show a streak of militant Brahmanism when he criticised Ashoka’s policy of peace. A stronger element of Hindu revivalism appeared in the writings of RC Majumdar, who edited “History and Culture of the Indian People”.

Most writers on early Indian history did not give adequate attention to South India. Even KA Nilakanta Shastri followed the same approach in his “A History of Ancient India”. This was more than rectified in his “History of South India”. His style is terse but his writing is lucid. However, his general observations on the nature of polity and society in South India are questioned by several historians.

Shastri emphasised the cultural supremacy of Brahmins and also highlighted the harmony that prevailed in early Indian society. Until 1960, political history attracted the largest number of Indian scholars who also glorified the histories of their respective regions on dynastic lines. Those who wrote history books at a pan-India level were inspired by the ideas of nationalism.

Some scholars such as KP Jayasawal and AS Altekar overplayed the role of indigenous ruling dynasties in liberating the country from the rule of the Shakas and Kushanas, little realising that central Asian and some other people became part and parcel of India’s life and did not exploit its resources for their original homeland.

However, the greatest merit of KP Jayasawal lay in exploding the myth of Indian despotism. He showed that the republics existed in ancient times and Indians enjoyed a measure of self-government. His findings finally appeared in his “Hindu Polity” in 1924. Although Jayasawal is charged with projecting nationalist ideas into ancient institutions, and the nature of the republican government presented by him is attacked by many writers including VN Ghoshal, his basic thesis regarding the practice of republic experiment is widely accepted.

SHIFT TO NON-POLITICAL HISTORY

AL Basham questioned the wisdom of looking India from the modern point of political view. His book, “Wonder That Was India” is a sympathetic survey of various facets of ancient Indian culture and civilisation free from the prejudices that plague the writings of VA Smith and other British writers.

Basham’s book marks a great shift from political to non-political history. The same shift is evident in DD Koshambi’s “An Introduction to the Study of Indian History” published in 1959, later popularised in “The Civilisation of Ancient Indian in Historical Outline”.

Koshambi blazed a new trail in the Indian history. His treatment followed the materialist interpretation of history, which is derived from the writings of Karl Marx. He presented the history of ancient Indian society, economy and culture as an integral part of the development of the forces and relations of production. His was the first survey book to show the stages of social and economic development in terms of tribal and class processes.

MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH

In the last few decades, there has been a sea change in the methods and orientation of those who work on ancient India. They lay greater emphasis on social, economic and cultural processes, and try to relate them to political developments. They take account of the stratification of the texts and compare their conventional nature with archaeological and anthropological evidence. All this bodes well for the future of historical studies.

Unfortunately, a few Indian writers magnify the role of religion, and believe that everything good and great originated in their country.

Western writers no longer insist that all such things came to India from outside. But some of them hold that religious ideas, rituals, caste, kinship and tradition are the main forces in Indian history. They also underscore various divisive features which made for stagnation. They are more concerned about the problem of stability and continuity. They seem to be fascinated by old, exotic elements and want to preserve them forever.

Such an approach implies that Indian society has not changed and cannot be changed. It means that underdevelopment is an integral part of the Indian character. Thus, the chauvinists and sophisticated colonialists use the study of India’s past to prevent its progress. It is therefore essential to take a balanced and objective view of ancient India.

(Note was prepared during preparation for civil services exam. I don’t really remember the source.)

PS: If  you read and like it, please do tell me in the comment box below.

History: North India before Gautam Buddha

Remains at Kapilvastu: Brick structure dating back to 6th century BC at Ganwaria near Piprahwa, Balrampur, UP. Twenty-five rooms were found during excavation leading to identification of the lost city of Kapilvastu, the capital of King Shuddhodhan, the father of Mahatma Buddha. (Photo: Twitter/Indianhistorypics)

This period is also known as the era of Mahajanapadas. There were 16. This is also the phase of socio-religious movements that saw emergence or consolidation of Jainism, Buddhism, Bhagavat belief system and Brahmanism.

Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya provides details of the 16 Mahajanapadas, also in Pali literature. Another text Janavasabhasutta talks about 12 Mahajanapadas while Chullaniddesha has a slightly different list of Mahajanapadas. It counts 17 by adding Kalinga to the list and replacing Gandhara by Yona. Mahavastu’s list is also a little modified with Shivi and Dasharna coming in place of Gandhara and Kamboja.

The commonly held 16 Mahajanapadas were:

1.    Kashi in Varanasi

2.    Koshal in Ayodhya-Shravasti region or the Awadh region

3.    Anga in East Bihar around Champa, Bhagalpur-Munger

4.    Magadha in South Bihar around Girivraj, Rajgriha

5.    Vajji in North Bihar, around Vaishali, a congregation of tribes

6.    Malla in Pava in East UP, around Gorakhpur-Deoria, a congregation of tribes

7.    Chedi, in Bundelkhand region

8.    Vatsa in Kaushambi, near Allahabad/Prayagraj in UP

9.    Kuru in Indraprastha, in Delhi-Haryana region

10. Panchal in Kampilya, around Ruhelkhand region

11. Matsya in Viratnagar in Rajasthan

12. Shurasena in Mathura, in West UP and around Delhi

13. Asmaka or Asika, in Potana or Paithan in the source region of the Narmada

14. Avanti in Ujjaini and Mahishmati in Malwa region, Central India

15. Gandhara in Takshashila, NW Pakistan

16. Kamboja in Rajpur, west of Gandhara

Jain text Bhagavatisuttra provides the list with slightly different names for some of the Mahajanapadas. They are:

1.    Kashi

2.    Koshal

3.    Anga

4.    Vajji

5.    Magadh

6.    Banga

7.    Malaya

8.    Malaw

9.    Achchha

10. Vachchha

11. Kochchha

12. Padhya or Pundra

13. Ladha or Radh

14. Moli

15. Awadha

16. Sambhuttara

The Bhagavatisuttra mentions new Mahajanapadas not mentioned in Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya, such as Banga and Radh. The geographical location of Sambhuttara Mahajanapada is not clearly known. It is speculated that it might have been somewhere in the northwest region of ancient India. Achchha and Vachchha Mahajanapadas might have been located in Gujarat. Pundra was possibly located near Banga.

It is clear that two literary sources give two different sets of 16 Mahajanapadas. Some of the names are different. Historians have given more credibility to the list mentioned by the Anguttara Nikaya. What is significant is that the lists emphasise that big state-like units emerged in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal and Pakistan. All these Mahajanapadas were located north of the Vindhyas.

The thing is that Anguttara Nikaya mentions the names of Mahajanapadas that existed before Buddha. During Buddha’s period, Kashi was annexed by Koshal and Anga by Magadh, and thus ceased to exist. Asmaka was also probably annexed by Avanti during this period. The listing of Vajji indicates that the statehood of Videha had collapsed by this time.

Based on Anguttara Nikaya, the Mahajanapadas could be grouped into two: monarchy and republic.

1.    Monarchy: Anga, Magadha, Kashi, Koshal, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchal, Shurasena, Asmaka, Matsya, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboj

2.    Republic: Vajji and Malla

KASHI

Varanasi was the capital of Kashi Mahajanapada. Varanasi was situated in the doab of the Varuna in the north and Asi in the south. Brahmadatta was its most notable and powerful king. He vanquished Koshal. Later, the equation changed and Kansa annexed Kashi to Koshal.

KOSHAL

Koshal was in the Awadh region. Shravasti was the capital of Koshal. During the Ramayana period, Ayodhya was the capital of Koshal. During Buddha’s time, Koshal split into two with Saket becoming the capital of the northern part and Shravasti of the southern part. Koshal was marked by Panchal on the west, the Gandak river in the east, Nepal in the north and River Sai in the south.

ANGA

Anga was situated in Bihar’s Bhagalpur and Munger districts. Champa was the capital of Anga. Champa has a unique contribution to the human history of personal hygiene. Shampoo owes its origin to Champa. Back then it was some kind of mixed oil that was used to clean and lubricate hair. The mixture was called Champu. The word ‘champi’ for head massage has its origin in Champa. Champu travelled to the west but it lost its presence and knowledge in India. Many centuries later, champu made its way back as shampoo.

Champa’s old name was Malini during the age of Mahabharata and Puranas. Dighanikaya tells that Mahagovinda was the architect of Champa. Its ruler Brahmadatta defeated Bhattiya of Magadha.

Champa has been mentioned as one of the six metropolises of the time in Mahaprinrvanasutra. Other metropolitan towns were Rajagriha, Shravasti, Saket, Kaushambi and Varanasi.

MAGADHA

Magadha was in South Bihar spread over Patna and Gaya. River Champa separated Magadha from Anga. Rajgriha, also known as Girivraja, was the capital of Magadh. Rajgriha was guarded by stone fortresses. It was marked by River Son in the west, Ganga in the north, Vindhyas in the south and Champa in the east.

VAJJI

Vajji was a federation of eight states. It has been considered as a republic by historians – an early form of republic. Four of the eight constituents were Vajji, Lichchhavi of Vaishali, Videha in Mithila and Jnatrika of Kundagram. The four others were Ugra, Bhoga, Ikshvaku and Kaurava.

Vaishali has been identified with Basadh in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, Videha in Nepal’s Janakpur district and Kundagram in North Vaishali.

MALLA

Malla was situated in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district. It was a federation that included the Mallas of Pava in Padrauna district and Kushinara in Kushinagar district. According to Kusa Jatak, Okkaka was the chief of Malla federation.

CHEDI/CHETI

Chedi was situated in the region now known as Bundelkhand. Sotthivati was its capital. Sottivati has been recognised as Shuktimati of Mahabharata. Shishupala was its ruler back then. Chetiya Jataka names Upachara as one of its kings.

VATSA

Vats was located in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj (Allahabad) and Banda districts. Its capital was Kaushambi on the bank of River Yamuna. Vishnu Purana traces the origin of Kaushambi to Mahabharata’s Hastinapur.

Vishnu Purana says that after Hastinapur was swept away by River Ganga, its king Nichakshu (man without eyes) founded the city of Kaushambi. During Buddha’s time, its ruler was Udayan of Paurava dynasty.

Puranas identify Udayan’s father as Prantapa, who had conquered Champa. Remains of Udayan’s royal palace and a vihara (monastery) built by Shresthi Ghoshita (also known as Ghoshitaram) have been found at Kaushambi.

KURU

Kuru was located in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut, Delhi and Thanesar. Its capital was Indraprastha. Hastinapur was within the Kuru Mahajanapada. Koravya was its ruler during Buddha’s time. Later, a republic was established here.

PANCHAL

Panchal was situated in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, Badaun and Farrukhabad districts. Northern Panchal had its capital in Ahichhatra in Ramnagar in Bareilly. Southern Panchal had its capital in Kampilya in Kampil in Farrukhabad.

Famous city of Kanyakubja was situated in Panchal. In 600 BC, Kuru and Panchal constituted a republic.

MASTYA

Matsya Mahajanapada was in Rajasthan’s Jaipur, Alwar and Bharatpur. Its capital was Viratnagar, a city founded by a king named Virat.

SHURASENA

In Brajmandal, its capital was Mathura. Ancient Greeks termed this state as Saurasanoi and its Methora. According to Mahabharata and Purana, Shurasena was ruled by Yadu dynasty and Krishna was its ruler.

In Buddha’s time, Avantiputra was its ruler. He was a disciple of Buddha. His mother was an Avanti princess, daughter of Pradyot. Avantiputra facilitated propagation of Buddhism in Mathura.

AVANTI

Avanti was located in western and central Malwa region. Puranas attribute the foundation of Avanti to one of the Yadus called Haihaya. Avanti was ruled in two parts with River Vetravati dividing the northern Avanti from southern part.

North Avanti had its capital in Ujjayini and South Avanti in Mahishmati. North Avanti had iron mines and Ujjayini had blacksmiths who manufactured very high quality iron-weapons.

ASMAKA

Asmaka was situated on the bank of River Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. Its capital was Polti, also known by the names of Paithan, Pratishthan and Potan. Asmaka was the only Mahajanapada of the 16 such states to have been situated in South India. Puranas say Asmaka was founded by Ikshvaku rulers who established a monarchy here. According to Chullakalinga Jataka, its ruler Arun had conquered Kalinga.

GANDHARA

It is commonly held that Afghanistan’s Kandahar has its origin in Gandhara Mahajanapada, whose principal territories were around Peshawar and Rawalpindi in Pakistan. Takshashila was its capital. According to Ramayana, Takshashila was founded by Taksha, the son of Bharat.

Its second capital was Pushkaravati. Around 600 BC, Pukkusati or Pushkarsarin was its ruler. He established diplomatic ties with Bimbisar. He defeated Prodyot of Avanti.

KAMBOJ

Its principal region was South-West Kashmir including the territories of Poonch and Kapisha that corresponds to what is known as Kafiristan extending from Hindukush to Kabul. Its capital was Rajpur or Hataka. Later, a federal state was established here. Kautilya has described agriculture, animal husbandry, commerce and weapon-making as economic activities of Kambojians. Kamboj was noted for breeding high-quality horses.

EMERGENCE OF FOUR POWERFUL MONARCHIES

The 16 Mahajanapadas in the course of time gave rise to four powerful monarchical states. All the Mahajanapadas assimilated into one or the other monarchies. Mutual rivalry was the force behind the annihilation of these Mahajanapadas – a natural evolution of political power and ambition. The four resultant monarchies were:

1.    Koshal

2.    Vatsa

3.    Avanti

4.    Magadh

KOSHAL

Koshal continued to have its capital in Shravastri, identified with Setamohata village near Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. Before the advent of Buddha, Kansa was the king of Koshal and had annexed Kashi to expand his state. Mahakoshal, the son and successor of Kansa, expanded Koshal’s territories and economic might. Gain of Kashi made Koshal a very influential state. Kashi was an important centre of trade and hosiery. Its trade contact with Takshashila, Sauvira and other distant places were strong. The growing economic power of Koshal was the main reason behind its rivalry with Magadh.

During the time of Buddha, Prasenjit was the king of Koshal. He had established friendly relationship with Magadh by marrying his sister Mahakoshala, also known as Koshaladevi to Bimbisar. He had given Kashi or at least a portion of it to Bimbisar in marriage as gift.

However, during the reign of Bimbisar’s son Ajatshatru, relationship between Magadh and Koshal embittered. Samyukta Nikaya provides details of revival of rivalry. The reason for bitterness was Kashi, which Prasenjit had taken back after the death of Bimbisar. Prasenjit made another move to make peace with Ajatshatru by marrying his daughter Wajira to him. He also returned Kashi to Magadh.

During the reign of Prasenjit, Koshal was at the pinnacle of its glory. It ruled over Shakyas of Kapilvastu, Kalam of Ksaputta, Malla of Pava and Kushinara, Koliya of Ramagama, Moriya of Pippalivana et al. Prasenjit was a follower of Buddha and preaching.

Prasenjit was succeeded by Vidudabh, who had usurped the throne with the help of Dighacharan, a minister of Prasenjit. It was said that Vidudabh was the son of a Shakya maid-servant (daasi). This became a cause of strife between the Shakyas and Vidudabh. The maid-servant was known by the name of Vasabhakhattiya and was married to Prasenjit.

Nothing is known about the successors of Vidudabh. Koshal was perhaps soon annexed by Magadh.

River Rapti was an important river in Koshal. Its name back then was Achiravati.

VATSA

Udayan was the most famous king of Vatsa. Once on hunting, Udayan was captured by Pradyot, the king of Avanti. During his captivity, Udayan fell in love with Pradyot’s daughter Vasavdatta and fled Avanti with her. Later, they married and consequently, friendship between Vats and Avanti was established.

According to Sumsumargiri (?, Bhagga republic accepted the suzerainty of Udayan and Udayan’s son Bodhikumar resided there.

According to Bhash, Udayan had married Pdmavati, the daughter of Darshaka, the king of Magadha – thus befriending Magadha as well.

Udayan turned to Buddhism and was initiated into it by famous monk Pindol. This time, Kaushambi had several Buddhist mathas, the most famous of them was Ghoshitaram’s.

AVANTI

Pradyot was its famous king. He owed his crowning to his father Ripunjaya’s minister Pulik, who was the last Amatya or a high-ranking minister of Magadha’s Brihadatta or Brihadrath dynasty. Pulik dethroned Ripunjaya and installed Pradyot as the king. Buddhist text Mahavagg calls him Chand-Pradyot signaling a strong and stubborn military policy adopted by him.

Avanti was a powerful and prosperous state due to its richness in resources that included iron mines and blacksmith skills of its workers. Pradyot was once treated by Magadh king Bimbisar’s physician Jeevak for jaundice.

Pradyot was initiated into Buddhism by Mahakachchayan, a famous monk of the time. Pradyot was succeeded by Palak, Vishakhayupa, Ajak, Nandivardhan in sequence. They were eliminated by Shishunag of Magadh.

MAGADH

The real founder of Magadh monarchy was Bimbisar. Magadh emerged as the most powerful empire of ancient India. Patliputra became its imperial capital. Bimbisar’s son Ajatshatru founded Patliputra, which was built under the supervision of his ministers Sumidha and Vassakara.

REPUBLICS IN INDIA DURING BUDDHA’S TIME

Initially, it was believed that only monarchies existed in India. Ridge Davids was the first scholar to rediscover the existence of republics in ancient India. Both Buddhist and Jain texts mention about the existence of republics in various parts of india. Panini also wrote about republics. Kautilya classifies republics into two groups:

1.    Vartashastropajivi: Those living or thriving on agriculture, animal husbandry, commerce and weapon-making as economic activities. Kamboja and Saurashtra were listed as examples.

2.    Rajashabdopjivi:  Those republics which used the tile of Raja for their chiefs. Lichchhavi, Vrijji, Malla, Madra, Kukar, Panchal etc were listed as examples.

The coins of Malwa, Yaudheya and Arjunayan talk about republics and not kings.

The republics of the past were not the same in character that we see today. They could be called aristocracy. The administration or statehood sought its authority not from the masses directly but from an elite class of electors.

SHAKYAS OF KAPILVASTU

Kapilvastu identified with Tilaurakot in Nipal was its capital. Other important towns of the republic were Chatuma, Samagama, Khomadussa, Shilavati, Nagarak, Devadaha, Sakkar etc.

Shakyas did not marry outside their own blood. Buddha was from the Shakya clan. His mother was from Devadaha. This republic was destroyed by Vidudabh, the son of Koshal king Prasenjit by his marriage with a Shakya maid-servant.

Kapilvastu was bordered in the north by the Himalayas, in the west and south by River Rapti, and in the east by River Rohini.

BHAGGA OF SUMSUMAR OR SUSHMAGIRI

Sumsumar or Sushmagiri mountain is now identified with Chunar in Mirzapur district in Uttar Pradesh. Bhaggas accepted the suzerainty of the Vatsas. Bodhikumar resided here.

BULI OF ALAKAPPA

Alakappa is identified with Shahabad-Ara-Muzaffarpur axis of Bihar. Probably, Vethadwipa (Betia) was its capital. Bulis or Buliyas were Buddhists. Accordring to Mahaparinirvanasutta, they acquired ashes of Buddha after his death and built a stupa there.

KALAM OF KESAPUTTA

Kesaputta was situated west of Koshal. Alar Kalam, one of Buddha’s early teachers who taught him yoga and meditation, was from this state. He lived near Uruvela. Kalama accepted suzerainty of Koshal.

KOLIYA OF RAMAGRAMA

Ramagrama was situated east of Shakyas. In the south, it was bordered by River Sarayu. River Rohini separated Koliyas from Shakyas. Its capital Ramagrama has been identified with modern Ramgarh in Gorakhpur district in Uttar Pradesh. Koliyas were famous for their police force.

MALLA OF KUSHINARA

Kushinara is identified with present-day Kasiya. According to Balmiki Ramayana, Mallas of Kushinara were descendents of Chandraketu, the son of Lakshamana.

MALLA OF PAVA

Pava is identified with Padrauna in eastern Uttar Pradesh. They were militant in nature. They fought against Ajatshatru of Patliputra by forming a federation with Lichchhavis of Vaishali. They were defeated by Ajatshatru.

MORIYA OF PIPPALIVANA

They were a branch of Shakyas. According to Mahavamsatika, Moriyas fled towards the Himalayas to escape the wrath of Vidudabh, the Koshal king and the son of Prasenjit by a Shakya maid-servant.

The fleeing Moriyas developed Pippalivana. Here, they organised and developed peacock rearing. Peacock, called Mayur in Sanskrit, possibly led to them being called Moriyas, and probably developed into mighty Mauryas of Magadh empire.

Pippalivana is identified with a village, Rajadhani near Kusumhi in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh.

LICHCHHAVIS OF VAISHALI

Its capital was at Basad. Lichchhavis built the famous Kuttagarshala in Mahavana, where Buddha delivered his sermon. Lichchhavis were powerful and prosperous. In Buddha’s time, Chetak was its ruler. His daughter Chellana was married to Bimbisara. His sister Trishala was the mother of Mahavir Jain.

VIDEHA OF MITHILA

Videha spread from Nepal to Bhagalpur in Bihar with Darbhanga falling in centre. Its capital was Janakpur, in Nepal. Mithila was a famous trading centre where traders from Shravasti would come to trade with the locals.

LAW AND ADMINISTRAION IN REPUBLICS

Not much information is available about enactment of law and working of administration in these republic states.

Head or president of the executive of the republic was an elected person or official, called Raja. The position was held by men. His prime concern was to maintain peace and internal coordination.

Other top officials were Uparaja, Senapati, and Bhandagarik or treasurer. But the real power was vested in a central committee of large membership. These members were also sometimes called Rajas. It appears that Raja could have been the title or address for the chief of units of administration.

According to Ekapanna Jataka, there were 7,707 Rajas in the central committee of Lichchhavis. In Shakyas’, the number of Rajas stood at 500.

Ekapanna Jataka gives maximum information about Lichchhavis.

Whenever a dispute or crisis arose, the rajas of the central committee met and decided the course of action by voting. For example, when a dispute arose between the Shakyas and Koshal over the Rohini river water, the Shakya’s central committee voted in favour of war. But later when Koshal king Vidudabh laid a seize of Shakya capital, the central committee decided to surrender to Vidudabh’s forces to end the war accepting his lordship.

The central committee decided the appointment of Senapati in the Lichchhavi republic. In one instance, after the death of military commander called Khanda, the central committee of the Lichchhavis elected Singh to be the new military commander.

Mallas of Kushinara held a discussion in their central committee regarding Buddha’s cremation and articles belonging to him. Buddha breathed his last in the Kushinara.

The general working of these republics was probably similar to modern democratic parliaments. The working of the committee was looked after by an official called Asannapannapaka. Literature confirms that the concept of quorum was there. Secret ballot system for voting was prevalent. Official conducting voting was called Shlaka-grahaka. A vote was called Chhand.

REMARKS

It is often said that the sword that Bimbisar drew from its case was put back in the case by Ashoka in the eleventh year of his rule. By then, the Magadh empire had reached its territorial climax.

Progression of society in history: Rig Vedic age was of the age of tribes. There were tribal communities. Later Vedic age was of Janpadas formed by consolidation of tribal communities. It was followed by the age of Mahajanapadas that was characterized by bigger and massive Janapadas which were controlled by one or more tribal communities. This was the age of the beginning of state in India.

Mahajanapada was the highest unit of state. Information about this age is available in literature. But literature places these Mahajanapadas north of the Vindhyas. Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya gives the list of 16 Mahajanapadas, all north of the Vindhyas.

Buddhist text, Diggha Nikaya’s Janavasabh Sukta gives a list of 10 Mahajanapadas of the time. It mentions them in the pair of five. Besides Mahajanapadas, it also talks about Janpadas, smaller units.

Other sources say that there were other Janas and “half-civilised” tribes. Since the Mahajanapadas were in lead role, the period is called the Age of Mahajanapadas. This was also the age of advent of Magadh imperialism. The Mahajanapadas and Janapadas of the period did not have same administrative system. Same administrative systems were not there even during the Later Vedic Age. Like that, all three forms of administration continued to be in vogue – monarchy, republican and federal. Of these, republican and federal administrative systems were closer in nature.

These three forms of governance found practical expression in two forms – monarchical and republican-federal mixed. Republican-federal system were primarily found in Bihar and the terai of Nepal, and also in the northwestern region of India.

Government in Surasena and Chedi were essentially federal in nature. Vajji and Mala had republican form of government. Bihar and Nepal’s terai were important regions for republican governments. Such states were:

•         Shakya of Kapilvastu
•         Buliya of Alakappa
•         Koliya of Ramagrama
•         Malla of Pava
•         Malla of Kushinara
•         Moriya of Pippalivana
•         Lichchhavi of Vaishali
•         Nay/Nath of Vaishali
•         Kalam of Kelaputra (New Vaishali)
•         Magga of Sushmagiri

Videh of Mithila is also spoken in the same vein of republican government. All these republics were in North Bihar and the terai of Nepal. They were numerous and some of them had formed a federation. One such federation was Vajji Federation, which comprised of most republics of the region. The federation was formed for security or protection and facilitation of civic works.

They felt threatened from monarchical governments or states. There were several Janapadas that followed monarchical form of government but four were more influential. They were:

-        Magadh Mahajanapada of Girivraj or Rajgriha

-        Vatsa Mahajanapada of Kaushambi

-        Koshal Mahajanapada of Ayodhya-Shravasti

-        Avanti Mahajanapada of Ujjaini or Mahishmati

These four Mahajanapadas were special in military power. They were efficient in the use of iron. They believed in the principle of centralization of power. They followed the principle of expansion in foreign policy.

During this period, these four Mahajanapadas expanded their territories at the cost of the Janapadas, Mahajanapadas and Janas irrespective of their form of government, monarchical or republican.

Of these, the position of Magadh Mahajanapada was different from other three due to specific reasons:

• Geographic
• Economic
• Military
• Technological
• Degree of propensity of centralization of power

Magadha Mahajanapada saw continued expansion of its territories due to these factors. Its size continued to increase. The expansion process that began in sixth century BC continued till fourth century BC almost without a break. The expansion happened at the cost of others.

Propensity of expansion remained a constant with the Magadh Mahajanapada even though the ruling dynasty kept changing. Magadh was ruled by Haryanka dynasty, followed by Shishunag and Nanda ruling families. But change of dynasties did not bring a change in expansion policy.

The Maurya dynasty took the Magadh dynasty’s expansion to its climax. Due to the dominance of Magadh Mahajanapada during this period, it is also known as the age of the rise and growth of Magadh imperialism.