Bharatwiki Socrates: this imperial extent belongs to Dhanananda not Mahapadmananda

2026-03-12T02:53:00Z

this imperial extent belongs to Dhanananda not Mahapadmananda

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:23, 12 March 2026
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Short description\|4th century BCE Nanda emperor}}		{{Short description\|4th century BCE Nanda emperor}}
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=January 2016}}~~
	~~{{Use Indian English\|date=January 2016}}~~
	{{Infobox royalty		{{Infobox royalty
	\| image = I12 1karshapana Maghada 1ar (8482307176).jpg		\| image = I12 1karshapana Maghada 1ar (8482307176).jpg
Line 20:		Line 18:

	== Reign ==		== Reign ==
	~~[[File:Nanda Empire, c.325 BCE.png\|thumb\|Estimate of the Nanda Empire's extent, c. 325 CE]]~~
	According to the Puranas, Mahapadma or Mahapadma-pati (literally, "lord of the great lotus") was the first Nanda king. He was the son of the last [[Shaishunaga dynasty\|Shaishunaga]] king [[Mahanandin]] and a [[Shudra]] woman.{{sfn\|H. C. Raychaudhuri\|1988\|p=13}}{{sfn\|Upinder Singh\|2016\|p=273}}		According to the Puranas, Mahapadma or Mahapadma-pati (literally, "lord of the great lotus") was the first Nanda king. He was the son of the last [[Shaishunaga dynasty\|Shaishunaga]] king [[Mahanandin]] and a [[Shudra]] woman.{{sfn\|H. C. Raychaudhuri\|1988\|p=13}}{{sfn\|Upinder Singh\|2016\|p=273}}

Bharatwiki Socrates at 02:51, 12 March 2026

2026-03-12T02:51:08Z

Show changes

imported>ChandlerMinh at 14:57, 22 July 2021

2021-07-22T14:57:42Z

New page

{{Short description|Legendary and historic king of Indian subcontinent}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image = I12 1karshapana Maghada 1ar (8482307176).jpg
| alt = Coin of Mahapadma Nanda
| caption = A silver coin of 1 [[karshapana]] of King Mahapadma Nanda or his sons 4th century BC
| succession = First [[Emperor]] of [[Nanda Empire]]
| reign = c. 4th century BCE
| predecessor = [[Mahanandin]]
| successor = [[Dhana Nanda]]
| dynasty = [[Nanda dynasty|Nanda]]
| issue = [[Dhana Nanda]]<br/>

| father = [[Mahanandin]]
|title=Ekarat}}
'''Mahapadma Nanda''' ([[IAST]]: ''Mahāpadmānanda''; c. 4th century BCE), according to the [[Puranas]], was the first Emperor of the [[Nanda Empire]] of ancient India. The Puranas describe him as a son of the last [[Shaishunaga dynasty|Shaishunaga]] king [[Mahanandin]] and a [[Shudra]] woman, and credit him with extensive conquests. The different Puranas variously give the length of his reign as 28 or 88 years, and state that his eight sons ruled in succession after him.

The Buddhist texts don't mention him, and instead name the first Nanda ruler as robber-turned-king Ugrasena, who was succeeded by his eight brothers, the last of whom was [[Dhana Nanda]].

== Life ==

According to the Puranas, the first Nanda king was called Mahapadma or Mahapadma-pati (literally, "lord of the great lotus"). He was the son of the last [[Shaishunaga dynasty|Shaishunaga]] king [[Mahanandin]] and a [[Shudra]] woman.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}

The ''Puranas'' describe him as ''ekarat'' (sole sovereign) and ''sarva-kshatrantaka'' (destroyer of all the ''[[Kshatriya]]s'').{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=8}} The Kshastriyas (warriors and rulers) said to have been exterminated by Mahapadma include [[Mithila (region)|Maithalas]], [[Kingdom of Kashi|Kasheyas]], [[Pasenadi|Ikshvakus]], [[Panchala]]s, [[Shurasena]]s, [[Kuru Kingdom|Kurus]], [[Heheya Kingdom|Haihayas]], [[Vitihotras]], [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]]s, and [[Ashmaka]]s.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=17}}

The ''[[Matsya Purana]]'' assigns Mahapadma an incredibly long reign of 88 years, while the ''[[Vayu Purana]]'' mentions the length of his reign as only 28 years.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1984|p=23}} The Puranas further state that Mahapadma's eight sons ruled in succession after him for a total of 12 years, but name only one of these sons: Sukalpa.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1984|p=20}}

Indologist [[F. E. Pargiter]] dated Nanda's [[coronation]] to 382 BCE, and historian R. K. Mookerji dated it to 364 BCE.{{sfn|K. D. Sethna|2000|p=}}{{pn|date=November 2016}} Historian [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|H. C. Raychaudhuri]] places the event at c. 345 BCE.{{sfn|Harihar Panda|2007|p=28}} Beginning of Nanda reign is also assigned as early as 5th century BC.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Barua|first=Benimadhab|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.103481|title=Old Brahmi Inscriptions In The Udayagiri And Khandagiri Caves|date=1929}}</ref>

== Other descriptions of the first Nanda king ==

* According to the Buddhist texts, the first Nanda king was Ugrasena, not Mahapadma.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}}
** Unlike the Puranas, which assign mixed royal-Shudra ancestry to Mahapadma, the Buddhist texts describe Ugrasena as of "unknown lineage". According to the ''Mahavamsa-tika'', Ugrasena was a native of the frontier region: he was captured by a gang of robbers, and later became their leader.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}
** The Greco-Roman sources call the Nanda king ruling at the time of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s invasion "Agrammes", which is possibly a corruption of the Sanskrit term "Augraseniya" (literally, "son or descendant of Ugrasena").{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}}
** Unlike the Puranas, the Buddhist texts describe the next eight kings as brothers - not sons - of the first Nanda king.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}} Also, according to the Buddhist tradition, the Nandas ruled for a total of 22 years. The last of these kings was [[Dhana Nanda]].{{sfn|Irfan Habib|Vivekanand Jha|2004|p=13}}
* According to the Jain texts such as ''[[Parishishtaparvan]]'' and ''Avashyaka sutra'', which do not mention the name "Mahapadma" either, the Nanda king was the son of a courtesan by a barber.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=14}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=272}} They state that Nanda succeeded [[Udayin]] after his death from a rival king.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=42}} They further state Kalpaka, a non-violent Jain, as his chief-minister, who is believed to have sacrificed his life for peace.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=42}}
* The Greco-Roman sources suggest that the founder of the Nanda dynasty was a barber, who usurped the throne from the last king of the preceding dynasty.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}} Roman historian [[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius]] (1st century CE) states that according to [[Porus]], this barber became the former queen's paramour thanks to his attractive looks, treacherously assassinated the then king, usurped the supreme authority by pretending to act as a guardian for the then princes, and later killed the princes.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=5}} The Nanda king who was the contemporary of Porus and Alexander was the son of this barber.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book |author=Dilip Kumar Ganguly |title=History and Historians in Ancient India |url=https://archive.org/details/historyhistorian00gang |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyhistorian00gang/page/23 23] |year=1984 |publisher=Abhinav |isbn=978-0-391-03250-7 }}
* {{cite book |author=H. C. Raychaudhuri |author-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |chapter=India in the Age of the Nandas / Chandragupta and Bindusara |editor=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |editor-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |title=Age of the Nandas and Mauryas |edition=Second |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoAwor58utYC&pg=PA11 |year=1988 |orig-year=1967 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |isbn=978-81-208-0466-1 }}
* {{cite book |author1=H. C. Raychaudhuri |author1-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |author2=B. N. Mukherjee |author-link2=B. N. Mukherjee |year=1996 |title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] }}
* {{cite book |author=Harihar Panda |title=Prof. H.C. Raychaudhuri, as a Historian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1XMtc2Q97IC |publisher=Northern Book Centre |date=2007 |isbn=81-7211-210-6 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |author2=Vivekanand Jha |title=Mauryan India |series=A People's History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUvGQgAACAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Aligarh Historians Society / [[Tulika Books]] |isbn=978-81-85229-92-8 }}
* {{cite book |author=K. D. Sethna |author-link=K. D. Sethna |title=Problems of Ancient India |date=2000 |location=[[New Delhi]] |publisher=[[Aditya Prakashan]] |ISBN=81-7742-026-7 }}
* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |year=1988 |orig-year=first published in 1966 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-0433-3 }}
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Natubhai |title=Jainism: The World of Conquerors |url={{Google books|qLNQKGcDIhsC|plainurl=yes}} |volume=I |date=2004 |orig-year=First published in 1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1938-2 |ref={{sfnref|Natubhai Shah|2004}} }}
* {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanda, Mahapadma}}
[[Category:Nanda Empire]]
[[Category:4th-century BC Indian monarchs]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]

Mahapadma Nanda - Revision history

Bharatwiki Socrates: this imperial extent belongs to Dhanananda not Mahapadmananda

Bharatwiki Socrates at 02:51, 12 March 2026

imported>ChandlerMinh at 14:57, 22 July 2021