The Mahajanapadas, Buddhism, and Jainism

By around 600 BCE, tribal Vedic society had evolved into larger territorial polities that later Buddhist and Jain texts call the sixteen mahajanapadas, "great janapadas," ranging from centralized monarchies such as Magadha and Kosala to oligarchic confederations such as the Vajji, governed collectively by an assembly of clan chiefs rather than a single king. Among these, the kingdom of Magadha, favored by rich iron deposits and control of Ganges trade routes, progressively absorbed its rivals: the Haryanka dynasty, under Bimbisara and his son Ajatashatru, expanded through conquest and marriage alliance, the Shishunaga dynasty later moved the capital to Pataliputra, and the Nanda dynasty, though militarily formidable, grew notoriously unpopular for its heavy taxation.