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Arranged Mahajanapadas names data according to Buddhist and Jain texts in a beautiful wiki table format.
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(Arranged Mahajanapadas names data according to Buddhist and Jain texts in a beautiful wiki table format.)
 
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{{Main Article|Janapadas}}
{{Main Article|Janapadas}}
[[File:Fragment - Northern Black Polished Ware - 500-100 BCE - Sonkh - Showcase 6-15 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6458.JPG|thumb|Pottery of the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] culture (c. 500-200 BCE)]]
[[File:Fragment - Northern Black Polished Ware - 500-100 BCE - Sonkh - Showcase 6-15 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6458.JPG|thumb|Pottery of the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] culture (c. 500-200 BCE)]]
The term "[[Janapada]]" literally means the ''foothold of a people''. The fact that ''Janapada'' is derived from ''Jana'' points to an early stage of land-taking by the Jana people for a settled way of life. This process of settlement on land had completed its final stage prior to the times of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] and [[Pāṇini]]. The Pre-Buddhist north-west region of the Indian sub-continent was divided into several Janapadas, demarcated from each other by boundaries. In Pāṇini's "Ashtadhyayi", ''Janapada'' stands for country and ''Janapadin'' for its citizenry. Each of these Janapadas was named after the [[Kshatriya]] people (or the Kshatriya Jana) who had settled therein.<ref>''India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī,'' 1963, p 427</ref><ref>Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala - ''India; India in the Time of Patañjali,'' 1968, p 68, Dr B. N. Puri - India;</ref><ref>''Socio-economic and Political History of Eastern India,'' 1977, p 9, Y. K Mishra - Bihar (India)</ref><ref>''Tribes of Ancient India,'' 1977, p 18 Mamata Choudhury - Ethnology</ref><ref>Tribal Coins of Ancient India, 2007, p xxiv Devendra Handa - ''Coins, Indic'' - 2007</ref><ref>''The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India,'' 1972, p 221 Numismatic Society of India - Numismatics</ref><ref>''A History of Pāli Literature,'' 2000 Edition, p 648 B. C. Law</ref><ref>''Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India,'' 1924, pp 230-253, Dr B. C. Law.</ref> Buddhist and other texts only incidentally refer to sixteen great nations (''Solasa Mahajanapadas'') that existed prior to the time of the Buddha. They do not give any connected history except in the case of Magadha. The Buddhist [[Anguttara Nikaya]], at several places,<ref>Anguttara Nikaya: Vol I, p 213, Vol IV, pp 252, 256, 260 etc.</ref> gives a list of sixteen great nations:
The term "[[Janapada]]" literally means the ''foothold of a people''. The fact that ''Janapada'' is derived from ''Jana'' points to an early stage of land-taking by the Jana people for a settled way of life. This process of settlement on land had completed its final stage prior to the times of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] and [[Pāṇini]]. The Pre-Buddhist north-west region of the Indian sub-continent was divided into several Janapadas, demarcated from each other by boundaries. In Pāṇini's "Ashtadhyayi", ''Janapada'' stands for country and ''Janapadin'' for its citizenry. Each of these Janapadas was named after the [[Kshatriya]] people (or the Kshatriya Jana) who had settled therein.<ref>''India as Known to Panini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī,'' 1963, p 427</ref><ref>Vasudeva Sharana Agrawala - ''India; India in the Time of Patañjali,'' 1968, p 68, Dr B. N. Puri - India;</ref><ref>''Socio-economic and Political History of Eastern India,'' 1977, p 9, Y. K Mishra - Bihar (India)</ref><ref>''Tribes of Ancient India,'' 1977, p 18 Mamata Choudhury - Ethnology</ref><ref>Tribal Coins of Ancient India, 2007, p xxiv Devendra Handa - ''Coins, Indic'' - 2007</ref><ref>''The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India,'' 1972, p 221 Numismatic Society of India - Numismatics</ref><ref>''A History of Pāli Literature,'' 2000 Edition, p 648 B. C. Law</ref><ref>''Some Ksatriya Tribes of Ancient India,'' 1924, pp 230-253, Dr B. C. Law.</ref>  
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
# [[Anga]]
# [[Assaka]] (or Asmaka)
# [[Avanti (India)|Avanti]]
# [[Chedi Kingdom|Chedi]]
# [[Gandhara]]
# [[Kingdom of Kashi|Kashi]]
# [[Kambojas|Kamboja]]
# [[Kosala]]
# [[Kuru (India)|Kuru]]
# [[Magadha]]
# [[Malla (India)|Malla]]
# [[Machcha]] (or Matsya)
# [[Panchala]]
# [[Surasena]]
# [[Vajji|Vriji]]
# [[Vatsa]] (or Vamsa)
{{div col end}}
 
Another Buddhist text, the ''[[Digha Nikaya]]'', mentions twelve Mahajanapadas from the above list and omits four of them (Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja).<ref>Digha Nikaya, Vol II, p 200.</ref>
Another Buddhist text, the ''[[Digha Nikaya]]'', mentions twelve Mahajanapadas from the above list and omits four of them (Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja).<ref>Digha Nikaya, Vol II, p 200.</ref>


''[[Niddesa|Chulla-Niddesa]]'', another ancient text of the Buddhist canon, adds [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]] to the list and substitutes [[Yona]] for Gandhara, thus listing the Kamboja and the Yona as the only Mahajanapadas from [[Uttarapatha]].<ref>Chulla-Niddesa (P.T.S.), p 37.</ref><ref>Lord Mahāvīra and his times, 1974, p 197,  Dr Kailash Chand Jain; ''[[The History and Culture of the Indian People]],'' 1968, p lxv, Dr Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bhāratīya Itihāsa Samiti; ''Problems of Ancient India,'' 2000, p 7, K. D. Sethna.</ref>
''[[Niddesa|Chulla-Niddesa]]'', another ancient text of the Buddhist canon, adds [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]] to the list and substitutes [[Yona]] for Gandhara, thus listing the Kamboja and the Yona as the only Mahajanapadas from [[Uttarapatha]].<ref>Chulla-Niddesa (P.T.S.), p 37.</ref><ref>Lord Mahāvīra and his times, 1974, p 197,  Dr Kailash Chand Jain; ''[[The History and Culture of the Indian People]],'' 1968, p lxv, Dr Ramesh Chandra Majumdar, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bhāratīya Itihāsa Samiti; ''Problems of Ancient India,'' 2000, p 7, K. D. Sethna.</ref>
The ''[[Vyākhyāprajñapti]]'' (or the ''[[Bhagavati Sutra]]''), a sutra of [[Jainism]], gives a different list of sixteen Mahajanapadas.Buddhist and other texts only incidentally refer to sixteen great nations (''Solasa Mahajanapadas'') that existed prior to the time of the Buddha. They do not give any connected history except in the case of Magadha. The Buddhist [[Anguttara Nikaya]], at several places,<ref>Anguttara Nikaya: Vol I, p 213, Vol IV, pp 252, 256, 260 etc.</ref> gives a list of sixteen great nations:
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%; text-align: center; font-size: 90%;"
|-
! style="background-color:#FFD700; color:#000; width:5%;" | #
! style="background-color:#FFD700; color:#000; width:20%;" | Buddhist Mahajanapadas
! style="background-color:#90EE90; color:#000; width:20%;" | Jain Mahajanapadas
|-
| 1 || [[Anga]] || Anga
|-
| 2 || [[Assaka]] (or Asmaka) ||  Banga (Vanga)
|-
| 3 || [[Avanti (India)|Avanti]] ||  Magadha
|-
| 4 || [[Chedi Kingdom|Chedi]] ||  Malaya
|-
| 5 || [[Gandhara]] || Malavaka
|-
| 6 || [[Kingdom of Kashi|Kashi]] ||  Accha
|-
| 7 || [[Kambojas|Kamboja]] ||  Vaccha
|-
| 8 || [[Kosala]] || Kochcha
|-
| 9 || [[Kuru (India)|Kuru]] || Padha
|-
| 10 || [[Magadha]] || Ladha ([[Rarh region|Radh]] or [[Lata (region)|Lata]])
|-
| 11 || [[Malla (India)|Malla]] ||  Bajji (Vajji)
|-
| 12 || [[Machcha]] (or Matsya) ||  Moli (Malla)
|-
| 13 || [[Panchala]] ||  Kasi
|-
| 14 || [[Surasena]] ||  [[Kosala]]
|-
| 15 || [[Vajji|Vriji]] || Avaha
|-
| 16 || [[Vatsa]] (or Vamsa) || Sambhuttara
|-
| 17 ||  ||Ruhma
|}


The ''[[Vyākhyāprajñapti]]'' (or the ''[[Bhagavati Sutra]]''), a sutra of [[Jainism]], gives a different list of sixteen Mahajanapadas:
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
# Anga
# Banga (Vanga)
# Magadha
# Malaya
# Malavaka
# Accha
# Vaccha
# Kochcha
# Padha
# Ladha ([[Rarh region|Radh]] or [[Lata (region)|Lata]])
# Bajji (Vajji)
# Moli (Malla)
# Kasi
# [[Kosala]]
# Avaha
# Sambhuttara
# Ruhma
{{div col end}}


The author of the ''[[Bhagavati Sutra]]'' (or the ''[[Vyākhyāprajñapti]]'') has a focus on the countries of Madhydesa and of the far east and south only. He omits the nations from Uttarapatha like the Kamboja and Gandhara. The more extended horizon of the ''Bhagvati'' and the omission of all countries from Uttarapatha "clearly shows that the Bhagvati list is of later origin and therefore less reliable."<ref>Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p. 86; History & Culture of Indian People, Age of Imperial Unity, pp. 15–16</ref>
The author of the ''[[Bhagavati Sutra]]'' (or the ''[[Vyākhyāprajñapti]]'') has a focus on the countries of Madhydesa and of the far east and south only. He omits the nations from Uttarapatha like the Kamboja and Gandhara. The more extended horizon of the ''Bhagvati'' and the omission of all countries from Uttarapatha "clearly shows that the Bhagvati list is of later origin and therefore less reliable."<ref>Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p. 86; History & Culture of Indian People, Age of Imperial Unity, pp. 15–16</ref>
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