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Quick recap: The Mahajanapadas, Buddhism and Jainism on one page
All three parts condensed for quick revision: the second urbanisation, the sixteen Mahajanapadas, the rise of Magadha and the invasions of the northwest; the Buddha's life, teaching, sangha, texts, councils and schools; and Jainism, the other new schools and the two faiths compared, with one table and eight mixed questions.
Between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE the Ganga plain went through a second urbanisation. Iron tools, a rice surplus, punch-marked coins, Northern Black Polished Ware and long routes such as the Uttarapatha brought back towns, guilds and rich householders. Buddhist texts, above all the Anguttara Nikaya, give a list of sixteen mahajanapada states stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the east; only one of them, Ashmaka on the Godavari, lay on the far side of the Vindhya range. Most were monarchies, but some were gana-sangha states governed by clan assemblies, the Vajji league of Vaishali led by the Lichchhavis being the best known, along with the Mallas and the Shakyas. Four powers stood out: Kosala, Vatsa, Avanti and Magadha.
Magadha won that contest. It had fertile rice land, iron ore close by, rivers for trade and defence, elephants from its forests, a capital ringed by hills at Rajagriha and later a river fortress at Pataliputra, and kings who stopped at little. Under the Haryankas, Bimbisara annexed Anga and used marriage alliances, Ajatashatru fought Kosala and broke the Vajjis, and Udayin made Pataliputra the capital. Shishunaga then crushed Avanti, his successor Kalashoka is linked with the second Buddhist council, and the Nandas, starting with Mahapadma, built the richest and largest army in the north. Meanwhile the northwest fell first to Darius I of Persia, who made Gandhara and Hindush provinces of his empire, and then, in 326 BCE, to Alexander, whose march halted at the Beas after his victory over Porus at the Hydaspes (Jhelum).
The same towns bred doubt about costly sacrifice and Brahmana privilege, and wandering shramana teachers offered new paths. Siddhartha of the Shakyas, born at Lumbini, left home at twenty-nine, was enlightened at Bodh Gaya, preached first at Sarnath and died at Kushinagar. In his Four Noble Truths, craving is named as the root of suffering and the Eightfold Path as the way out of it, a middle way between luxury and self-torture; he denied a lasting self, kept karma and rebirth, and named the goal nirvana. The sangha admitted all varnas and, later, nuns. The Pali Tripitaka holds the Vinaya, the Sutta (with the Jatakas) and the Abhidhamma. Four councils met at Rajagriha, Vaishali (where the order first split), Pataliputra and Kashmir. Theravada kept the Pali canon; Mahayana raised the bodhisattva and Buddha images; Vajrayana added tantric rites. The faith crossed Asia but waned at home as bhakti grew, patrons left and monasteries were sacked.
Jainism counts Mahavira as the last of twenty-four tirthankara teachers, after Rishabhanatha and Parshvanatha, whose four vows Mahavira extended with celibacy. Born at Kundagrama near Vaishali to a Jnatrika chief and a Lichchhavi mother, he reached kaivalya after twelve years of austerity and died at Pava. Jains see souls in every thing, karma as matter that clings to them, and severe austerity as the way to shed it; the five vows begin with ahimsa, kept far more strictly than in Buddhism, and right faith (samyak darshana), right knowledge and right conduct together form the triratna (three jewels). anekantavada teaches that truth has many sides. Councils at Pataliputra and Vallabhi fixed the Agamas in Ardhamagadhi, and the Shvetambara and Digambara sects parted ways. Beside them the Ajivikas of Gosala preached fate and the Charvakas denied any life after death. Buddhism and Jainism shared roots but differ on the self, austerity, non-violence and their fate in India.
| Topic | Key points to hold |
|---|---|
| Sixteen states | Anguttara Nikaya list; Ashmaka alone south of the Vindhyas; Vajjis the leading gana-sangha |
| Rise of Magadha | Haryanka (Bimbisara, Ajatashatru, Udayin) → Shishunaga → Nanda |
| Invasions | Darius I: Gandhara and Hindush; Alexander, 326 BCE: Hydaspes, halt at the Beas |
| Buddha's places | Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar |
| Buddhist councils | Rajagriha, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashmir (Ajatashatru, Kalashoka, Ashoka, Kanishka) |
| Buddhist schools | Theravada (Pali, arhat); Mahayana (Sanskrit, bodhisattva); Vajrayana (tantra) |
| Jain teachers | Rishabhanatha 1st; Parshvanatha 23rd (four vows); Mahavira 24th (added celibacy) |
| Jain sects and texts | Shvetambara and Digambara; Agamas in Ardhamagadhi; councils at Pataliputra and Vallabhi |
| Other schools | Ajivikas (Gosala, niyati, Barabar caves); Charvaka or Lokayata (materialism) |
Exam traps
- Only Ashmaka, on the Godavari, lay south of the Vindhyas; every other Mahajanapada was north of them.
- Udayin, not Bimbisara, made Pataliputra the capital of Magadha.
- Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, first sermon at Sarnath, death at Kushinagar: three different places.
- The first split of the sangha came at the second council (Vaishali); the fourth council (Kashmir, Kanishka) is linked with Mahayana.
- Mahavira is the 24th tirthankara, not the founder of Jainism; he added the fifth vow to Parshvanatha's four.
- Three jewels: Buddhist = Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha; Jain = right faith, knowledge, conduct.
- Niyati belongs to the Ajivikas, anekantavada to the Jains, anatta to the Buddhists.
Recap
- Iron, rice, coins and trade drove a second urbanisation in the Ganga plain.
- Sixteen Mahajanapadas, monarchies and gana-sanghas; Kosala, Vatsa, Avanti and Magadha the big four.
- Magadha rose under the Haryankas, Shishunagas and Nandas; the northwest fell to Persia and then Alexander.
- The Buddha's message: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, anatta, nirvana; the sangha and the Pali Tripitaka.
- Four Buddhist councils; Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana; spread across Asia and decline in India.
- Jainism: 24 tirthankaras, Mahavira's five vows and three jewels, strict ahimsa, anekantavada.
- Agamas in Ardhamagadhi; Shvetambara and Digambara; Ajivikas and Charvakas as other voices.
- Both faiths rejected Vedic ritual and birth-based worth; they differ on the soul, austerity and spread.
Practice questions
Q1. Which Mahajanapada lay to the south of the Vindhyas?
- Avanti
- Chedi
- Ashmaka
- Vatsa
Show answer
Answer: C. Ashmaka
Answer (c). Ashmaka, on the Godavari, was the only one beyond the Vindhyas. Avanti (a), with Ujjayini, Chedi (b) and Vatsa (d), with Kaushambi, all lay to the north of the range.
Q2. Consider the following statements:
1. Bimbisara annexed Anga to Magadha.
2. Shishunaga is credited with ending the power of Avanti.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: C. Both 1 and 2
Answer (c). Both statements are correct: Bimbisara took Anga in the east, and Shishunaga later destroyed Avanti, Magadha's old rival. Options (a) and (b) leave out a true statement, and (d) rejects both.
Q3. The Buddha's 'middle way' refers to
- a balance between Vedic ritual and Upanishadic knowledge
- a path between a life of pleasure and severe self-mortification
- a compromise between monarchy and gana-sangha rule
- the region between the Ganga and the Yamuna
Show answer
Answer: B. a path between a life of pleasure and severe self-mortification
Answer (b). Having tried both a prince's comforts and extreme fasting, the Buddha taught a path avoiding both. He rejected ritual rather than balancing it with knowledge (a); the middle way is about personal practice, not forms of government (c); and it has nothing to do with geography (d).
Q4. Match the Buddhist council with its patron:
A. First B. Second C. Third D. Fourth
1. Kanishka 2. Ashoka 3. Kalashoka 4. Ajatashatru
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1
- A-3, B-4, C-2, D-1
- A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1
- A-1, B-3, C-2, D-4
Show answer
Answer: A. A-4, B-3, C-2, D-1
Answer (a). Ajatashatru supported the first council at Rajagriha, Kalashoka the second at Vaishali, Ashoka the third at Pataliputra and Kanishka the fourth in Kashmir. Option (b) swaps the first two patrons, (c) swaps Kalashoka and Ashoka, and (d) swaps Ajatashatru and Kanishka.
Q5. Consider the following statements:
1. Theravada keeps its scriptures in Pali, and its highest goal is to become an arhat.
2. The bodhisattva ideal is central to Theravada.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: A. 1 only
Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: the bodhisattva ideal is the mark of Mahayana. So (b) and (c) are wrong, and (d) is wrong because statement 1 is true.
Q6. Who among the following is regarded as the twenty-third tirthankara of Jainism?
- Rishabhanatha
- Parshvanatha
- Mahavira
- Makkhali Gosala
Show answer
Answer: B. Parshvanatha
Answer (b). Parshvanatha, remembered as a prince of Varanasi who taught four vows, is the 23rd. Rishabhanatha (a) is the first, Mahavira (c) the 24th, and Makkhali Gosala (d) led the Ajivikas and was not a tirthankara.
Q7. Consider the following statements about Jainism:
1. Its canonical Agamas are written in Ardhamagadhi Prakrit.
2. Its doctrine of anekantavada holds that every event is fixed by fate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: A. 1 only
Answer (a). Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: anekantavada says reality is many-sided; the belief that fate fixes everything is niyati, taught by the Ajivika Makkhali Gosala. So (b) and (c) are wrong, and (d) is wrong because statement 1 is true.
Q8. Which one of the following is a point of difference between Buddhism and Jainism?
- Acceptance of karma and rebirth
- Rejection of the authority of the Vedas
- Belief in a permanent soul
- Use of the people's languages for teaching
Show answer
Answer: C. Belief in a permanent soul
Answer (c). Jainism sees eternal souls in all things, while the Buddha denied a permanent self (anatta). Karma and rebirth (a), rejection of Vedic authority (b) and teaching in the people's languages (d) are shared by both faiths.
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- Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (Ministry of Culture): material on ancient Indian history, the Mahajanapadas, Buddhism and Jainism — https://ccrtindia.gov.in
- Archaeological Survey of India: excavation reports and site notes on Rajgir, Vaishali, Kumrahar (Pataliputra), Sarnath, Kushinagar and the Barabar caves — https://asi.nic.in
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya (2002); Archaeological Site of Nalanda Mahavihara (2016) — https://whc.unesco.org