📄 Revision sheet · YugMap
Mahajanapadas, Buddhism and Jainism
600–322 BCE
Key events
| c. 600 BCE · Gangetic plain | Rise of the sixteen Mahajanapadas |
| c. 599 BCE · Kundagrama, Vaishali | Birth of Vardhamana Mahavira |
| c. 540 BCE · Champa | Bimbisara annexes Anga |
| c. 528 BCE · Bodh Gaya | The Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya |
| c. 527 BCE · Pavapuri | Mahavira's nirvana at Pavapuri |
| c. 518 BCE · Takshashila | Achaemenid Persia annexes Gandhara |
| c. 492 BCE · Rajagriha | Ajatashatru becomes king of Magadha |
| c. 483 BCE · Kushinagar | Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha |
| c. 483 BCE · Rajgir | First Buddhist Council at Rajagriha |
| c. 468 BCE · Vaishali | Ajatashatru defeats the Vajji confederacy |
| c. 460 BCE · Pataliputra | Pataliputra becomes Magadha's capital |
| c. 413 BCE · Magadha | Shishunaga dynasty replaces the Haryankas |
| c. 400 BCE · Shalatula, Gandhara | Panini composes the Ashtadhyayi |
| c. 383 BCE · Vaishali | Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali |
| c. 345 BCE · Pataliputra | Mahapadma Nanda founds the Nanda dynasty |
| 326 BCE · Jhelum river | Battle of the Hydaspes |
| 326 BCE · Beas (Hyphasis) river | Alexander's army mutinies at the Beas |
| 325 BCE · Patala | Alexander's army sails down the Indus |
Key terms
- Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras
- Sanskrit texts, from c. 500 BCE, setting out social norms; the most important is the Manusmriti. (NCERT Class 12, Kinship, Caste and Class)
- Jati
- Another term for social categories: while there were four varnas, the number of jatis was not fixed and kept growing. (NCERT Class 12, Kinship, Caste and Class)
- Mahajanapadas
- The sixteen early states of the sixth century BCE, an age of early states, cities, iron and the first coins. (NCERT Class 12, Kings, Farmers and Towns)
- Sangha
- The Buddhist monastic order; its rules are in the Vinaya Pitaka. (NCERT Class 12, Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings)
- Shreni
- A guild of craft producers and merchants, which probably procured raw materials, regulated production and sold the finished goods. (NCERT Class 12, Kings, Farmers and Towns)
- Tipitaka
- The ‘three baskets’ of Buddhist texts, first passed on orally and later written down. (NCERT Class 12, Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings)
- Varna
- The four categories of society named in the Dharmasutras and Dharmashastras, each with prescribed occupations. (NCERT Class 12, Kinship, Caste and Class)
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Years are from YugMap’s records; dates marked c. are approximate. Printed from yugmap.com.