CHAPTER 5

KINGDOMS, KINGS AND

AN EARLY REPUBLIC
Election day
Shankaran woke up to see his grandparents all ready to go
and vote. They wanted to be the first to reach the polling
booth. Why, Shankaran wanted to know, were they so
excited? Somewhat impatiently, his grandfather explained:
“We can choose our own rulers today.”

How some men became rulers

Choosing leaders or rulers by voting is something
that has become common during the last fifty
years or so. How did men become rulers in the
past? Around 3000 years ago, some men became
recognised as rajas by performing big sacrifices.
The ashvamedha or horse sacrifice was one
such ritual. A horse was let loose to wander freely
and it was guarded by the raja’s men. If the horse
wandered into the kingdoms of other rajas and
they stopped it, they had to fight. If they allowed
the horse to pass, it meant that they accepted that
the raja who wanted to perform the sacrifice was
stronger than them. These rajas were then invited
to the sacrifice, which was performed by specially
trained priests, who were rewarded with gifts. The
raja who organised the sacrifice was recognised
as being very powerful, and all those who came
brought gifts for him.
The raja was a central figure in these rituals.
He often had a special seat, a throne or a tiger
skin. His charioteer, who was his companion in
the battlefield and witnessed his exploits, chanted
tales of his glory. His relatives, especially his wives 43 
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 The other rajas were simply spectators who had
to sit and watch the performance of the sacrifice.
Priests performed the rituals including the
sprinkling of sacred water on the king. The ordinary
people, the vish or vaishya, also brought gifts.
However, some people, such as those who were
regarded as shudras by the priests, were excluded
from many rituals.
Make a list of all those who would be present
at the sacrifice. Which are the categories that are
described in terms of their occupation?

Varnas
There were four social categories, namely Brahmins, Kshatriyas,
Vaishyas and Shudras. Brahmins were expected to study (and teach)
the Vedas, perform sacrifices and receive gifts.
Kshatriyas were expected to fight battles and protect people.
Vaishyas were expected to be farmers, herders, and traders.
The Shudras were expected to serve the other three groups.

Painted Grey Ware. Janapadas

Plates and bowls are the
most common vessels made The rajas who performed these big sacrifices
out of Painted Grey Ware. were now recognised as being rajas of janapadas
These are extremely fine to
touch, with a nice, smooth rather than janas. The word janapada literally
surface. Perhaps these were means the land where the jana set its foot, and
used on special occasions, settled down. Some important janapadas are
for important people, and to
serve special food.
shown on Map 4 (page 45).
Archaeologists have excavated a number
of settlements in these janapadas, such
as Purana Qila in Delhi, Hastinapura near
Meerut, and Atranjikhera, near Etah (the
last two are in Uttar Pradesh). They found
that people lived in huts, and kept cattle
as well as other animals. They also grew
a variety of crops — rice, wheat, barley,
pulses, sugarcane, sesame and mustard.
Is there a crop in this list that was not
mentioned in Chapter 3?

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 They made earthen pots. Some of these were
grey in colour, others were red. One special type
of pottery found at these sites is known as Painted
Grey Ware. As is obvious from the name, these grey
pots had painted designs, usually simple lines and
geometric patterns.

Mahajanapadas
About 2500 years ago, some janapadas became
more important than others, and were known as
mahajanapadas. Some of these are shown on Map
4. Most mahajanapadas had a capital city, many
of these were fortified. This means that huge walls
of wood, brick or stone were built around them.
Forts were probably built because people were
afraid of attacks from other kings and needed

Map : 4
Important Janapadas,
Mahajanapadas and Cities

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 protection. It is also likely that some rulers
wanted to show how rich and powerful they were
by building really large, tall and impressive walls
around their cities. Also in this way, the land and
the people living inside the fortified area could
be controlled more easily by the king. Building
such huge walls required a great deal of planning.
Thousands, if not lakhs of bricks or stones had to
be prepared. This in turn meant enormous labour,
provided, possibly, by thousands of men, women
and children. And resources had to be found for
all of this.
The fortification wall at
Kaushambi.
This is a picture of
remains of a wall made
of brick, found near
present-day Allahabad
(Uttar Pradesh). A part
of it was probably built
about 2500 years ago.

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 The new rajas now began maintaining armies.
Soldiers were paid regular salaries and maintained
by the king throughout the year. Some payments
were probably made using punch marked coins
(see the illustration on page 75). You will read more
about these coins in Chapter 8.
List two ways in which the rajas of the
mahajanapadas were different from those
mentioned in the Rigveda.

Taxes
As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were
(a) building huge forts (b) maintaining big armies,
they needed more resources. And they needed
officials to collect these. So, instead of depending
on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case
of the raja of the janapadas, they started collecting
regular taxes.

• Taxes on crops
• Taxes on craftspersons
• Herders paid taxes as animals and animal produce.
• Taxes on goods through trade.
• Hunters and gatherers had to provide forest produce
to the raja.

What do you think would have been provided

by hunters and gatherers?

Changes in agriculture
There were two major changes in agriculture
around this time. One was the growing use of
iron ploughshares. This meant that heavy, clayey
soil could be turned over better than with a
wooden ploughshare, so that more grain could
be produced. Second, people began transplanting
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 paddy. This meant that instead of scattering seed
on the ground, from which plants would sprout,
saplings were grown and then planted in the fields.
This led to increased production, as many more
plants survived.
Can you think why kings would encourage these
changes?

A closer look — (a) Magadha

Find Magadha on Map 4 (page 45). Magadha
became the most important mahajanapada in
about two hundred years. Many rivers such as
the Ganga and Son flowed through Magadha. This
was important for (a) transport, (b) water supplies
(c) making the land fertile. Parts of Magadha were
forested. Elephants, which lived in the forest, could
be captured and trained for the army. Forests
also provided wood for building houses, carts and
chariots. Besides, there were iron ore mines in the
region that could be tapped to make strong tools
and weapons.
Magadha had two very powerful rulers, Bimbisara
and Ajatasattu, who used all possible means to
conquer other janapadas. Mahapadma Nanda was
another important ruler. He extended his control
up to the north-west part of the subcontinent.
Rajagriha (present-day Rajgir) in Bihar was the
capital of Magadha for several years. Later the
capital was shifted to Pataliputra (present-day
Patna).
More than 2300 years ago, a ruler named
Alexander, who lived in Macedonia in Europe,
wanted to become a world conqueror. Of course,
he didn’t conquer the world, but did conquer parts
of Egypt and West Asia, and came to the Indian
subcontinent, reaching up to the banks of the
 48 Beas. When he wanted to march further eastwards,
our pasts–i
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 heard that the rulers of India had vast armies of
foot soldiers, chariots and elephants.
In what ways were these armies different from
those described in the Rigveda?

A closer look — (b) Vajji

While Magadha became a powerful kingdom, Vajji,
with its capital at Vaishali (Bihar), was under a
different form of government, known as gana or
sangha.
In a gana or a sangha there were not one, but
many rulers and each one was known as a raja.
These rajas performed rituals together. They also
met in assemblies, and decided what had to be
done and how, through discussion and debate. For
example, if they were attacked by an enemy, they
met to discuss what should be done to meet the
threat. However, women, dasas and kammakaras
could not participate in these assemblies.

This is an account of the Vajjis from the Digha KEYWORDS

Nikaya, a famous Buddhist book, which contains raja
some of the speeches of the Buddha. These were ashvamedha
written down about 2300 years ago.
varna
Ajatasattu and the Vajjis janapada
Ajatasattu wanted to attack the Vajjis. He sent his mahajanapada
minister named Vassakara to the Buddha to get his fortification
advice on the matter. army
The Buddha asked whether the Vajjis met tax
frequently, in full assemblies. When he heard that
transplantation
they did, he replied that the Vajjis would continue
to prosper as long as: gana or sangha

• They held full and frequent public assemblies.

• They met and acted together.
• They followed established rules.
• They respected, supported and listened to elders. 49 
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 • Vajji women were not held by force or captured.
• Chaityas (local shrines) were maintained in both
towns and villages.
• Wise saints who followed different beliefs were
respected and allowed to enter and leave the
country freely.
In what ways was the Vajji sangha different from
the other mahajanapadas? Try and list at least three
differences.

Rajas of powerful kingdoms tried to conquer the

sanghas. Nevertheless, these lasted for a very long
time, till about 1500 years ago, when the last of the
ganas or sanghas were conquered by the Gupta
rulers, about whom you will read in Chapter 9.

Imagine
You are peeping through a crack in the walls of the
assembly of Vaishali, where a meeting is in progress
to discuss ways to deal with an attack by the king of
Magadha. Describe what you might hear.

Let’s recall

1. State whether true or false:

(a) Rajas who let the ashvamedha horse pass

through their lands were invited to the sacrifice.
(b) The charioteer sprinkled sacred water on the king.
(c) Archaeologists have found palaces in the
settlements of the janapadas.
(d) Pots to store grain were made out of Painted
Grey Ware.
(e) Many cities in mahajanapadas were fortified.

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 2. Fill in the chart given below with the terms: hunter- SOME IMPORTANT
gatherers, farmers, traders, craftspersons, herders.
DATES
THOSE WHO PAID TAXES 
New kinds of rajas
(about 3000 years ago)


Mahajanapadas (about
2500 years ago)
THE RAJA OF THE
MAHAJANAPADA 
Alexander’s invasion,
composition of the
Digha Nikaya (about
2300 years ago)


End of the ganas or
3. Who were the groups who could not participate in the sanghas (about 1500
assemblies of the ganas? years ago)

Let’s discuss

4. Why did the rajas of mahajanapadas build forts?

Let’s do

5. Were there any janapadas in your state? If yes, name

them. If not, name the janapadas that would have been
the closest to your state, and mention whether they
were to the east, west, north or south.

6. Find out whether the groups mentioned in answer 3

have voting rights at present.

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