The sixteen great states (mahajanapadas) that emerged in northern and central India around the 6th century BCE, listed in Buddhist (the Anguttara Nikaya) and Jain texts, marking the rise of large territorial polities before the Mauryan unification.
- The sixteen included Magadha, Kosala, Kashi, Anga, Vajji (Vrijji), Malla, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Chedi, Vatsa, Avanti, Gandhara, Kamboja, Surasena, and Assaka.
- They were of two kinds: monarchies (most, such as Magadha and Kosala) and republics or oligarchies called gana-sanghas (notably the Vajji confederacy with Vaishali as its centre, and the Mallas).
- Magadha (capitals Rajagriha then Pataliputra) eventually absorbed the others; its rise was led by the Haryanka dynasty (Bimbisara, Ajatashatru), then the Shishunaga and Nanda dynasties.
- This phase coincides with the Second Urbanisation, the use of punch-marked coins, and the rise of Buddhism and Jainism in the eastern Gangetic plain.
- Avanti (capital Ujjain) and Vatsa (capital Kaushambi) were among Magadha's chief rivals before its dominance.
State-to-capital matching, the monarchy versus republic (gana-sangha) distinction, the Vajji confederacy at Vaishali, and Magadha's rise are recurring 6th-century-BCE facts.
A janapada (a tribal or territorial settlement) is smaller than a mahajanapada (a large state); the Vajji was a republican confederacy, not a single monarchy.
Sixteen great states of about the 6th century BCE; Magadha rose above the rest, and the Vajji confederacy at Vaishali was the leading republic.