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Mahapadma Nanda

{{Short description|4th century BCE emperor of the Indian Nanda Empire}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}

{{Use Indian English|date=January 2016}}

{{Infobox royalty

| image = I12 1karshapana Maghada 1ar (8482307176).jpg

| alt = Coin of Mahapadma Nanda

| caption = A silver coin of 1 karshapana of King Mahapadma Nanda or his sons 4th century BCE

| succession = King of Magadha

| birth_date =

| death_date = 337 BCE

| reign = {{circa|364 BC}} – 337 BC

| predecessor = Mahanandin

| successor = Dhana Nanda (or Panduka)

| dynasty = Nanda

| issue = 8 sons (including Dhana)

| father = Mahanandin

}}

Mahapadma Nanda (IAST: Mahāpadmānanda; r. c. 364 - 337 BCE), (died 337 BCE) according to the Puranas, was the first Nanda king of Magadha.

The Puranas describe him as a son of the last Shaishunaga king Mahanandin and a Shudra woman. These texts credit him with extensive conquests that expanded the Empire far beyond the 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.

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.

Reign

File:Nanda Empire, c.325 BCE.png

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 king Mahanandin and a Shudra woman.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}

Puranas describe him as ekarat (sole sovereign) and sarva-kshatrantaka (destroyer of all the Kshatriyas).{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2016|p=273}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=8}} The Kshastriyas (warriors and rulers) said to have been exterminated by Mahapadma include Maithalas, Kasheyas, Ikshvakus, Panchalas, Shurasenas, Kurus, Haihayas, Vitihotras, Kalingas, and Ashmakas.{{sfn|H. C. Raychaudhuri|1988|p=17}}

Matsya Purana assigns Mahapadma an incredibly long reign of 88 years, while the contemporary source 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}}

Various estimates of the first Nanda emperor's coronation

The beginning of Nanda reign is also assigned as early as 5th century BCE.{{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 }}

Descriptions of first Nanda king

  • 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.{{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 }}
  • 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}}
  • The Greco-Roman sources call the Nanda king ruling at the time of 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}}
  • 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}}
  • 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}}
  • 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 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}}

References

{{reflist}}

= Bibliography =

  • {{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 }}
  • {{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 }}
  • {{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 }}
  • {{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 }}
  • {{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 }}
  • {{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 }}
  • {{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 }}
  • {{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}} }}
  • {{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 }}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nanda, Mahapadma}}

Category:Kings of Magadha

Category:4th-century BC Indian monarchs

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:Year of death unknown

Category:Founding monarchs

Category:Nanda dynasty