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Ancient History / Pre-Mauryan Era

16 Mahajanapadas and their Capitals


The period between 600 BC to 300 BC can be termed as Pre Mauryan period. It is also called the age of Shodasha or Solasa (16) Mahajanapadas or the age of Buddha. During the beginning of the Pre Mauryan period, sixteen greatest kingdoms have emerged.



List of 16 Mahajanapadas

The following sequence shows the list of 16 Mahajanapadas names and their capitals.


Sl. No. Name of Mahajanapadas Capital
1 Anga Mahajanapada Champa
2 Magadha Mahajanapada Rajagriha later shifted to Pataliputra
3 Vajji Mahajanapada Vaishali
4 Kashi Mahajanapada Varanasi
5 Kosala Mahajanapada Sravasti
6 Malla Mahajanapada Pava and Kusinara
7 Vatsa Mahajanapada Kaushambi
8 Kuru Mahajanapada Hastinapur
9 Surasena Mahajanapada Mathura
10 Panchala Mahajanapada Ahichhatra and Kampilya
11 Matsya Mahajanapada Viratanagara
12 Chedi Mahajanapada Suktimati
13 Avanti Mahajanapada Ujjain
14 Gandhara Mahajanapada Takshasila or Taxila
15 Kamboja Mahajanapada Rajapura
16 Assaka or Asmaka Mahajanapada Podana

At the end, that is around 350 BC, the Magadha empire became very powerful and almost all the 16 Mahajanapadas were annexed to the Magadha kingdom.