Magadha
Magadha (T ma ga d+ha མ་ག་དྷ་; C. mojietuo [guo] 摩掲佗[國]) was the largest of the sixteen states (Mahajanapadas) that flourished in northern India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE.[1] Magadha was located in the southern part of the Indian state of Bihar. The Ganges River was the border between Magadha and the powerful republican state of Licchavi.[2] During the lifetime of the Buddha, its capital was Rajagriha, and was ruled by King Bimbisara and his son Ajatashatru, both of whom became patrons of Buddhism.[2]
Sometime after the reign of Ajātasattu, the capital of Magadha was moved from Rājagaha to Pāṭaliputta and subsequently became the seat of government for the Mauryan Empire.[2] "The height of Magadha’s influence was reached in the third century BCE during the reign of the emperor Ashoka, when the authority of Pāṭaliputta extended across the north of the Indian subcontinent from Bengal in the east, to Afghanistan in the west and south to the borders of Tamil Nadu."[2]
Notes
- ↑
Mahajanapadas, Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Magadha.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
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