https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Mahapadma_NandaMahapadma Nanda - Revision history2026-07-30T19:40:17ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Mahapadma_Nanda&diff=444891&oldid=prevBharatwiki Socrates at 02:53, 12 March 20262026-03-12T02:53:00Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|4th century BCE Nanda emperor}}<br />
{{Infobox royalty<br />
| image = I12 1karshapana Maghada 1ar (8482307176).jpg<br />
| alt = Coin of Mahapadma Nanda<br />
| caption = A silver coin of 1 [[karshapana]] of King Mahapadma Nanda or his sons 4th century BCE<br />
| succession = [[List of monarchs of Magadha#House of Nanda|King of Magadha]]<br />
| reign = c. mid 4th century BCE<br />
| predecessor = [[Mahanandin]]<br />
| successor = [[Dhana Nanda]] (or Panduka)<br />
| dynasty = [[Nanda dynasty|Nanda]]<br />
| father = [[Mahanandin]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Mahapadma Nanda''' ([[IAST]]: ''Mahāpadmānanda''; {{circa}} mid 4th century BCE), according to the [[Puranas]], was the first [[Nanda Empire|Nanda]] king of [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]]. <br />
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The Puranas describe him as a son of the last [[Shaishunaga dynasty|Shaishunaga]] king [[Mahanandin]] and a [[Shudra]] woman. These texts credit him with extensive conquests that expanded the Empire far beyond the [[Magadha (Mahajanapada)|Magadha]] region. The different Puranas give the length of his reign as 27 or 88 years, and state that his eight sons ruled in succession after him.<br />
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Buddhist texts don't mention him, and instead name the first Nanda ruler as robber-turned king '''Ugrasena''', who was succeeded by his eight brothers, the last of whom was [[Dhana Nanda]].<br />
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== Reign ==<br />
According to the Puranas, Mahapadma or Mahapadma-pati (literally, "lord of the great lotus") was the first Nanda king. He was the son of the last [[Shaishunaga dynasty|Shaishunaga]] king [[Mahanandin]] and a [[Shudra]] woman.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}<br />
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The [[Puranas]] describe him as ''ekarat'' (sole sovereign) and ''sarva-kshatrantaka'' (destroyer of all the ''[[Kshatriya]]s'').{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=8}} The Kshastriyas (warriors and rulers) said to have been exterminated by Mahapadma include [[Mithila (region)|Maithalas]], [[Kingdom of Kashi|Kasheyas]], [[Pasenadi|Ikshvakus]], [[Panchala]]s, [[Shurasena]]s, [[Kuru Kingdom|Kurus]], [[Heheya Kingdom|Haihayas]], [[Vitihotras]], [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]]s, and [[Ashmaka]]s.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=17}}<br />
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== Period ==<br />
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''[[Matsya Purana]]'' assigns Mahapadma an incredibly long reign of 88 years, while the contemporary text ''[[Vayu Purana]]'' mentions the length of his reign as only 28 years.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1984|p=23}} The Puranas further state that Mahapadma's eight sons ruled in succession after him for a total of 12 years, but name only one of these sons: Sukalpa.{{sfn|Dilip Kumar Ganguly|1984|p=20}}<br />
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Various estimates of the first Nanda emperor's coronation:<br />
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* Indologist [[F. E. Pargiter]]: 382 BCE{{sfn|K. D. Sethna|2000|p=58}}<br />
* Historian [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee|R. K. Mukherjee]]: 364 BCE{{sfn|K. D. Sethna|2000|p=58}}<br />
* Historian [[Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|H. C. Raychaudhuri]]: c. 345 BCE{{sfn|Harihar Panda|2007|p=28}}<br />
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The beginning of Nanda reign is also assigned as early as 5th century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |author=R. C. Majumdar |title=Readings in political history of India: Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvggAAAAMAAJ |year=1976 |publisher=B.R. / Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies |isbn=9788176467841 |pages=59–60 }}</ref><br />
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== Other descriptions of the first Nanda king ==<br />
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According to the Buddhist texts, the first Nanda king was Ugrasena, not Mahapadma.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}} According to one theory, Ugrasena was probably another name of Mahapadma.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jack Finegan |title=An Archaeological History of Religions of Indian Asia |year=1989 |publisher=Paragon House |isbn=9780913729434 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BrDXAAAAMAAJ }}</ref> Unlike the Puranas, which assign mixed royal-Shudra ancestry to Mahapadma, the Buddhist texts describe Ugrasena as of "unknown lineage". According to the ''Mahavamsa-tika'', Ugrasena was a native of the frontier region: he was captured by a gang of robbers, and later became their leader.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}} Unlike the Puranas, the Buddhist texts describe the next eight kings as brothers - not sons - of the first Nanda king.{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}} Also, according to the Buddhist tradition, the Nandas ruled for a total of 22 years. The last of these kings was [[Dhana Nanda]].{{sfn|Irfan Habib|Vivekanand Jha|2004|p=13}}<br />
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The Greco-Roman sources call the Nanda king ruling at the time of [[Alexander's invasion of India|Alexander's invasion]] "Agrammes", which is possibly a corruption of the Sanskrit term "Augraseniya" (literally, "son or descendant of Ugrasena").{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}}<br />
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According to the Jain texts such as ''[[Parishishtaparvan]]'' and ''Avashyaka sutra'', which do not mention the name "Mahapadma" either, the Nanda king was the son of a courtesan by a barber.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=14}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=272}} They state that Nanda succeeded [[Udayin]] after his death from a rival king.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=42}} They further state Kalpaka, a non-violent Jain, as his chief-minister, who is believed to have sacrificed his life for peace.{{sfn|Natubhai Shah|2004|p=42}}<br />
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The Greco-Roman sources suggest that the founder of the Nanda dynasty was a barber, who usurped the throne from the last king of the preceding dynasty.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}} Roman historian [[Quintus Curtius Rufus|Curtius]] (1st century CE) states that according to [[Porus]], this barber became the former queen's paramour thanks to his attractive looks, treacherously assassinated the then king, usurped the supreme authority by pretending to act as a guardian for the then princes, and later killed the princes.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=5}} The Nanda king who was the contemporary of Porus and Alexander was the son of this barber.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=14}}<br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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=== Bibliography ===<br />
* {{cite book |author=Dilip Kumar Ganguly |title=History and Historians in Ancient India |url=https://archive.org/details/historyhistorian00gang |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyhistorian00gang/page/23 23] |year=1984 |publisher=Abhinav |isbn=978-0-391-03250-7 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=H. C. Raychaudhuri |author-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |chapter=India in the Age of the Nandas / Chandragupta and Bindusara |editor=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |editor-link=K. A. Nilakanta Sastri |title=Age of the Nandas and Mauryas |edition=Second |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YoAwor58utYC&pg=PA11 |year=1988 |orig-year=1967 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=Delhi |isbn=978-81-208-0466-1 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author1=H. C. Raychaudhuri |author1-link=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri |author2=B. N. Mukherjee |author-link2=B. N. Mukherjee |year=1996 |title=Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Harihar Panda |title=Prof. H.C. Raychaudhuri, as a Historian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f1XMtc2Q97IC |publisher=Northern Book Centre |date=2007 |isbn=978-81-7211-210-3 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |author2=Vivekanand Jha |title=Mauryan India |series=A People's History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUvGQgAACAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Aligarh Historians Society / [[Tulika Books]] |isbn=978-81-85229-92-8 }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=K. D. Sethna |author-link=K. D. Sethna |title=Problems of Ancient India |date=2000 |location=[[New Delhi]] |publisher=[[Aditya Prakashan]] |isbn=81-7742-026-7 }}<br />
* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |year=1988 |orig-year=first published in 1966 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-0433-3 }}<br />
* {{citation |last=Shah |first=Natubhai |title=Jainism: The World of Conquerors |url={{Google books|qLNQKGcDIhsC|plainurl=yes}} |volume=I |date=2004 |orig-year=First published in 1998 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-1938-2 |ref={{sfnref|Natubhai Shah|2004}} }}<br />
* {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |author-link=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-93-325-6996-6 }}<br />
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[[Category:Kings of Magadha]]<br />
[[Category:4th-century BC Indian monarchs]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]<br />
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]<br />
[[Category:Founding monarchs in Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Nanda dynasty]]</div>Bharatwiki Socrates