This next part of our series on Ancient India will focus on the Religious and political developments that occurred in the period following the Achaemenid conquests in the west that resulted in the Nanda Empire and the rise of Buddhism.
The conquest of the Indus valley by Darius in 518 BC, decisively impacted the balance of power on the subcontinent. The Persians now controlled the east/west trade routes by both land (Taxila/Kapisa) and sea (Pattala), and accrued great wealth as a result (according to Herodotus, more than a third of the entire Empires revenue came from the Indian provinces). This invasion also took over the university at Taxila, where the powerful of the Mahajanapada were still educated, further spreading Iranian influences into India. Similarly, the introduction of Iranian religions to India, Mazdaism and probably Zoroastrianism among others had a distinct impact on the Indian religions of the time.
Among many of the Mahajanapada, early Vedic religions, particularly Brahminism, were still prominent. To the east, however, other, non-Vedic, religions such as Jainism, and schools of philosophical thought, were increasingly taking over; these were patronised by the Magadh Kings. One of these new religious schools was the newly emergent Buddhism. Buddha (likely 560’s-480’s BC) was one of a number of Sramana philosophers (schools of thought relating to enlightenment through ritualised exertion) at the time. His discipline, from which Buddhism ultimately derived, further developed through debate with other Sranama, and was likely, in part, a rejection of the central absolutist aspects of the new Iranic religions (the practice of asceticism, central to the Sramana religions, was rejected by Zoroaster for example). It is certain, at least, that many of Buddha’s disciples and associates were educated in Taxila and would have been exposed to Mazdaism, which became prominent in the city.
Politically, the rise of Magadha continued throughout this period under the Haryanka and Shishunaga dynasties. The Haryanka rulers, particularly Bimbisara and Ajatashatru, expanded north, conquering first Anga then the Vrijji confederacy. The Haryanka were overthrown by the Shishunaga dynasty in 413 BC, who went on to conquer the Kingdoms of Kosala and Avanti. By this time much of north-east India, and all the most powerful of the Mahajanapada, had been conquered by Magadha. The final conquest however would be accomplished by the Nanda dynasty. Mahapadma Nanda assassinated the last Shishunaga king, Mahanandin (possibly his illegitimate son according to the Purana texts). Mahapadma subsequently conquered the remaining Mahajanapada of the Ganges plain. The Nanda Empire, rising to prominence in India as Philip II rose in Europe, and like Macedon, was militarily and economically powerful but politically unstable. The Nanda’s were unpopular and had little support due to their alleged low birth and menial origins.
Join us next time for the collapse of these imperial dynasties, the Indian campaigns of Alexander and Seleucus, and the rise of Chandragupta Maurya.
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