History of Asia

History of the Nanda Dynasty (344-321 BC)

Today in this article we are going to tell you about the history of Nanda dynasty (344-321 BC).

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Mahapadmananda ended the Shishunaga dynasty and took control of the Magadha Empire in 344 AD. He is called Mahapadma in the Puranas and Ugrasen in the Mahabodhivansh. According to the Puranas, the first king of the Nanda dynasty was Mahapadmananda.

According to Pali texts, the name of Mahapadam was Ugrasen. According to the Puranas, Ugrasen got the name Mahapadmananda because he had 10 padam sena or similar assets. In almost all the texts, he has been described as a barber caste. The Greek writer Curtius has written about the Nanda emperor Dhanananda, a contemporary of Alexander, that the father of Ghanananda was of Mahapadmanand Nai caste.

Due to his beauty, he became the favorite character of the queen and due to his influence became the trust of the king, then by deceit he killed the king. After that, working under the pretext of patronage of the princes, he took over the throne. In the end he even killed the princes. Thus Mahapadmananda became the emperor of Magadha.

In the Mahabodhi dynasty, there is a mention of 10 sons in the song of Kalashok, he is a minor and Mahapadmananda was his patron. He expanded the Magadha Empire the most before the rise of the Mauryas. Mahapadmananda proved to be the most powerful king among all the kings who sat on the throne of Magadha. Defeated all his then major dynasties and established an umbrella kingdom.

According to the Puranas, in these states one Ikshavuk ruled for 24 years, Shurasen ruled for 23 years and Maithili for 28 years. For the first time in Indian history, Mahapadmananda established a vast empire in the country of Magadha, whose boundaries encroached on the plains of the Ganges valley. There were a total of 9 kings in the Nanda dynasty, probably because of this also the dynasty is called Nanda dynasty.

Nine rulers of Nanda dynasty according to Mahabodhi dynasty

  1. Ugrasen Mahapadmananda,
  2. Panduk
  3. Pandugati
  4. past
  5. President
  6. Govishank
  7. decade
  8. Cavart,
  9. Ghanananda.

The last ruler of the Nanda dynasty was Dhanananda who was a contemporary of Sikandar. The empire of Ghanananda was vast, which extended from the Himalayas in the north to the Godavari in the south and the Indus river in the west to Mangadha in the east.

The Nanda Empire was in a powerful state at that time. It is said that due to the military force of the Nanda dynasty, especially Hastisena, Alexander's soldiers refused to cross the banks of the river Vyas and Alexander's Indian campaign remained incomplete. Alexander's invasion of India took place (327 BC) during the reign of Ghanananda, the son of Mahapadmananda, the founder of the Nanda dynasty.

Ghanananda was a greedy ruler who according to Turner was addicted to amassing wealth. He had hidden the amount of 80 crores in a mountain cave inside the Ganges. In addition to goods, he accumulated more and more wealth by taxing animal leather, tree gum and minable stones. Despite his immense power and wealth, Ghananand could not win the trust of the general public of the state. Rather the subjects of the state hated him.

During his reign, Ghanananda grossly disregarded public opinion and humiliated the Brahmin Chanakya, a great scholar of that period. He used to extort money from the public by imposing huge taxes on small things. As a result, the people turned against the rule of Nando. There was an atmosphere of hatred and discontent all around.

Taking advantage of this situation, Chanakya, with the help of Chandragupta Maurya, killed the people of Magadha and liberated the people of Magadha from the rule of the tyrannical Nanda dynasty. The rule of the Nanda dynasty ended in 321 BC. Magadha was very prosperous financially during the rule of the Nanda dynasty. Which was discussed far and wide.

The 7th century Chinese traveler Hensang also heard the interesting story of Nando's Atul property. According to Hensang there were five stupas in Pataliputra, which represented the treasuries accumulated by the seven valuables of the Nanda king. A great scholar of grammar and Acharya Panini was a friend of Mahapadmananda.

Panini also got education in Pataliputra. The Nanda rulers believed in Jainism and had appointed many Jain ministers during their rule. Kalpak was the first of these ministers. During the reign of the Nanda ruler, the Magadha Empire progressed on the path of progress in both political and cultural terms.

There were many reasons for the rise of Magadha Empire. There were many iron mines in this area which were helpful in making good weapons. Where new weapons were also developing, in which Mahashilakantak and Rathmusal were very useful. Magadha region had abundance of minerals like cast iron and copper.

The kingdom of Magadha was situated in the center of the Magadha Gangetic Valley. This picture is very fertile and prosperous. was. Due to the level of agriculture, it was also easy for the ruling class to obtain economic resources, which were essential for the expansion of the empire. Trade in this area was also in a prosperous state and due to this additional economic resources are also available.

Both the capitals of Magadha, Rajagriha and Pataliputra were protected from the natural and geographical point of view. It is evident from the coins recovered from Taxila. That coinage in the time of Alexander is quite prevalent in the northwestern region. By the end of the 5th century BC, the Magadha Empire became the controller of the trade of the entire Uttarapatha. The economic prosperity of Magadha paved the way for the development of imperialism.