Shaishunaga dynasty | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 413 BCE–345 BCE | |||||||||||||
![Approximate extent of the Shaishunaga dynasty.[1]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMagadha_Expansion_(6th-4th_centuries_BCE).png) Approximate extent of the Shaishunaga dynasty.[1] | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Rajgir (primary) Vaishali (secondary) laterPataliputra | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | Sanskrit Magadhi Prakrit Other Prakrits | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Brahmanism[2] Buddhism Jainism | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||
• 413–395 BCE | Shishunaga | ||||||||||||
• 395–367 BCE | Kalashoka | ||||||||||||
• 367–355 BCE | Nandivardhana | ||||||||||||
• 355–345 BCE | Mahanandin | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 413 BCE | ||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 345 BCE | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Part of a series on the |
| History of Bihar |
|---|
 |
| Ancient regions |
| Empires & dynasties |
|
| Religion |
| Culture & language |
| Indian independence movement |
| Colonial & modern era |
| See also:Timeline of Bihar ·History of India |
TheShaishunaga dynasty (IAST:Śaiśunāga, literally "of Shishunaga") was possibly the second ruling dynasty ofMagadha. According to theBuddhist textMahavamsa, this dynasty was the second ruling dynasty of Magadha, succeedingNagadashaka of theHaryanka dynasty. TheHinduPuranas have given a different list with different chronology of the Shaishunaga dynasty kings,[3] whereasJain texts do not mention this dynasty.
Shishunaga was the founder of the dynasty.[4] He was initially anamatya or "minister" of the last Haryanka dynasty ruler Nāgadāsaka and ascended to the throne after a popular rebellion inc. 413 BCE.[5][failed verification]
The capital of this dynasty initially wasVaishali; but later shifted toPataliputra, near the present dayPatna, during the reign of Kalashoka.
According to tradition, Kalashoka was succeeded by his ten sons.[6] This dynasty was succeeded by theNanda dynasty inc. 345 BCE.[7]
Jain texts have skipped over the Shaishunaga dynasty. They mention instead thatUdayin (of the preceding Haryanka dynasty) was killed by an assassin of rival kingdom. Being childless, he was succeeded byNanda who was selected by his ministers.[8]
HistorianK. T. S. Sarao — who favors the Buddhist "short chronology" — has dated Udayin's reign to c. 373-357 BCE, i.e., only a short time before theNanda dynasty which precededChandragupta Maurya. Sarao has suggested that the kingdom of Magadha became divided after Udayin's death: with the "suspicious" lists of different successors listed in various texts possibly having ruled in different locations simultaneously instead of one after another, until the kingdom was re-unified.[9] Similarly, Keay — another proponent of the Short Chronology — states that there is great uncertainty about the royal succession for this period, probably because there was a period of "court intrigues and murders," during which "evidently the throne changed hands frequently, perhaps with more than one incumbent claiming to occupy it at the same time" untilMahapadma Nanda was able to secure the throne.[10]
Shishunaga founded his dynasty in 413 BCE with its capital in Rajgir and later Pataliputra (both in what is nowBihar). Buddhist sources indicate that he had a secondary capital atVaishali,[11] formerly the capital ofVajji, until it was conquered by Magadha. The Shaishunaga dynasty ruled one of the largest empires in theIndian subcontinent. Shishunaga ended thePradyota dynasty of Avanti, ending the centuries old rivalry between their kingdoms and annexing Avanti into Magadha.
According to thePuranas, Shishunaga was succeeded by his son Kakavarna and according to theSinhala chronicles by his son Kalashoka.[11] On the basis of the evidence of theAshokavadana,Hermann Jacobi,Wilhelm Geiger andRamakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar concluded that both are the same.[citation needed] During Shishunaga's reign, he was the governor ofVaranasi. The two most significant events of his reign are theSecond Buddhist council atVaishali in 383 BC and the final transfer of the capital toPataliputra.[11][12] According to theHarshacharita, he was killed by a dagger thrust into his throat in the vicinity of his capital.[13] According to Buddhist tradition, he had nine or ten sons, who were ousted byUgrasena Nanda.[14]
According to Buddhist tradition,[which?] ten sons ofKalashoka ruled simultaneously. TheMahabodhivamsa states their names asBhadrasena,Korandavarna,Mangura,Sarvanjaha,Jalika,Ubhaka,Sanjaya,Koravya,Nandivardhana andPanchamaka. Only one of them is mentioned in the Puranic lists, Nandivardhana.[6]
According to theBhagavata Purana, Kākavarṇa was succeeded by seven kings and lists them as following; Kṣemadharmā, Kṣetrajña, Vidhisāra, Ajātaśatru, Darbhaka, Ajaya, Nandivardhana, andMahanandin.
OtherPuranas list Nandivardhana as the ninth Shaishunaga king and his sonMahanandin as the tenth and the last Shaishunaga king. Mahanandin was killed byMahapadma, his illegitimate son .[15]
According toPuranas, Shaishunagas were followed by theNanda dynasty, which was founded byMahanandin's sonMahapadma Nanda.[11]
...the people of Magadha drove out the ruling family and elected an amatya (a high-ranking official) named Shishunaga as king. Shishunaga seems to have had a second capital at Vaishali (according to the Mahavamsatika, he was the son of a Lichchhavi raja of Vaishali). He succeeded in destroying the power of the Pradyota dynasty of Avanti.
| Preceded by Haryanka dynasty (Magadha)Pradyota dynasty (Avanti) | Shaishunaga Dynasty 413–345 BCE | Succeeded by |
