Haryanka dynasty

Topic: Janapadas, Mahajanapadas and the Second Urbanisation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Haryanka dynasty was the first major ruling family of Magadha (present-day Bihar). Its best-known kings were Bimbisara, his son Ajatashatru and Ajatashatru's son Udayin (Udaya). They ruled first from Rajagriha (Rajgir), and the capital later moved to Pataliputra (Patna).

It matters because the Haryankas began Magadha's rise to become the strongest of the sixteen mahajanapadas. That rise ended, through the Shaishunagas and the Nandas, in India's first empire, the Mauryas.

Explanation

Background: why Magadha could rise

• Two explanations exist. Keep both in your answer.
• Modern historians point to resources. Magadha had rich farmland, iron ore close by in present-day Jharkhand, elephants from its forests for the army, and the Ganga and its tributaries for cheap transport.

• Early Buddhist and Jaina writers point to people. They say Magadha rose because of "ruthlessly ambitious kings" and their ministers. Two of the three kings they name, Bimbisara and Ajatasattu (Ajatashatru), were Haryankas. The third, Mahapadma Nanda, was not.

• The Haryankas were the first rulers to use these resources to build power.

Bimbisara: the builder (c. 543–491 BCE)

• He is often called the founder of the Haryanka dynasty. He ruled c. 543–491 BCE. [2]
• He conquered Anga, the kingdom east of Magadha. [2]
• Anga opened the way to the Ganga delta.

• The delta gave Magadha a route to early sea trade.

• He used marriage alliances. Textbooks say he married princesses of neighbouring ruling families, such as those of Kosala and of the Licchavis. Marriage brought him friends, prestige and, in the case of Kosala, territory. Fighting every neighbour would have been costlier.

• He is credited with building up the city of Rajagriha, which is famous in Buddhist texts. [2]
• Settled tradition makes him a contemporary of the Buddha.

Ajatashatru: the conqueror

• He was Bimbisara's son. He took the throne by killing his father (patricide). [1][3]
• In about 30 years he carried out the plans his father had made. [1]
• He fought the Vajji confederacy (a union of clans), led by the Licchavis of Vaishali. Textbook history records his long war against them and its result: Magadha's power spread north of the Ganga.
• He strengthened Rajagriha's defences. [3]
• He built a small fort on the Ganga at Pataligrama, a village, in the 5th century BCE. [1][3]

• This fort was the seed of the later city of Pataliputra.

• Settled tradition says the First Buddhist Council met at Rajagriha during his reign, soon after the Buddha's death.

Udayin and the end of the line

• Udayin (Udaya), Ajatashatru's son, is said to have made Pataliputra the capital. [6]
• Why move from the hills to the river?
• Rajagriha was a defensive capital. It was fortified and protected by a ring of hills.

• Pataliputra controlled the routes of communication along the Ganga, so it suited a kingdom that wanted to reach outward for trade and war.

• The dates for the move differ:

• NCERT dates the shift of capital to the fourth century BCE.
• Britannica places the capital at Pataliputra by about 475 BCE. [5][6]

• For the exam, follow NCERT. Remember that the site was already in use as a fort earlier.

• The Haryankas were followed by the Shaishunaga dynasty and then the Nanda dynasty. All three ruled from Magadha. [1][5]

Time, place and evidence

• Period: about the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, in the age of the mahajanapadas and the Second Urbanisation (the rise of new cities in the Ganga valley).
• Region: Magadha, in present-day west-central Bihar. [1]
• Key people: Bimbisara (c. 543–491 BCE) [2], Ajatashatru [3], and Udayin (Udaya) [6].
• Sites:
• Rajagriha / Rajagaha (Rajgir): Rajagaha is the Prakrit (an old popular language) name. It means "house of the king". Rajgir lies about 110 km south-east of Patna and 27 km south-west of Biharsharif. [7]
• Heritage status: the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protects the walls of old and new Rajgriha, which were two ancient walled cities, and all remains within half a mile of them. [4][7]

• Pataligrama / Pataliputra (Patna): it began as Ajatashatru's fort and grew into the capital. It stayed a capital till about the 1st century BCE and was later the seat of Ashoka and of the Guptas. [5]

• How we know: mainly from early Buddhist and Jaina texts, which describe these kings and their ministers, and from the remains of the fortified cities at Rajgir.

Don't confuse with

• Shaishunaga dynasty: it came after the Haryankas. Bimbisara, Ajatashatru and Udayin are all Haryankas, not Shaishunagas.
• Nanda dynasty / Mahapadma Nanda: Buddhist and Jaina writers name Mahapadma Nanda alongside Bimbisara and Ajatasattu, but he was a Nanda, the last great pre-Mauryan line. He was not a Haryanka.
• Ajatashatru vs Udayin at Pataliputra: Ajatashatru built the fort at Pataligrama. Udayin is credited with making it the capital.
• Old Rajgriha vs new Rajgriha: there were two walled cities at Rajgir, not one. ASI protects the walls of both.

Prelims Hooks

• Correct order of Magadhan dynasties: Haryanka → Shaishunaga → Nanda → Maurya.
• Bimbisara (c. 543–491 BCE) conquered Anga, which gave Magadha access to the Ganga delta. [2]
• Ajatashatru came to the throne by killing his father and built a fort at Pataligrama on the Ganga in the 5th century BCE. [1][3]
• Udayin (Udaya), son of Ajatashatru, is credited with making Pataliputra the capital. [6]
• Rajagaha is the Prakrit name of Rajgir and means "house of the king". ASI protects the walls of old and new Rajgriha. [7]
• Trap: of the three kings named by Buddhist and Jaina writers (Bimbisara, Ajatasattu, Mahapadma Nanda), Mahapadma Nanda is not a Haryanka.

Mains Points

• Resources plus leadership. Magadha's farm surplus, iron, elephants and the Ganga gave it an opportunity. The Haryanka kings turned that opportunity into power through conquest (Anga, the Vajji lands), marriage alliances and fortified cities. A good answer uses both the modern "structural" view and the Buddhist–Jaina "ambitious kings" view.
• The move of the capital shows a new strategy. Rajagriha, ringed by hills, was a capital for defence. Pataliputra on the Ganga was a capital for trade and expansion. The move shows Magadha changing from a kingdom that protects itself into one that projects power outward.
• Groundwork for empire. The Haryankas started a single Magadhan power base, with land revenue, armies and river routes, that the Shaishunagas and Nandas expanded and the Mauryas inherited. So India's first empire grew out of about two centuries of Magadhan growth. [1][5]

Related concepts

• Rise of Magadha
• Magadha
• Bimbisara
• Ajatashatru
• Udayin
• Rajagaha
• Cyclopean wall of Rajgir
• Pataliputra
• Shishunaga dynasty
• Mahapadma Nanda

Read more

• First amongst the sixteen: the rise of Magadha