UPSC Prelims 2025 Q17: Mahajanapadas and Their Rivers — Explained
With reference to ancient India (600-322 BC), consider the following pairs:
(Territorial region : River flowing in the region)
I. Asmaka : Godavari
II. Kamboja : Vipas
III. Avanti : Mahanadi
IV. Kosala : Sarayu
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
- Only one
- Only two
- Only three
- All the four
Answer: (b) Only two
Statement-wise explanation
- I: correct — Asmaka (Assaka) was the only mahajanapada south of the Vindhyas. It lay on the Godavari, in the Deccan. Its capital, Potana or Paudanya, is identified with modern Bodhan in Telangana. Britannica describes the sixteen states as reaching 'to Ashmaka in central India, close to the Godavari River'.
- II: incorrect — Vipas is the Rigvedic name of the Beas, one of the five rivers of the Punjab. The Greeks called it the Hyphasis. Kamboja lay further north-west. It bordered Gandhara, beyond the Indus, in present-day Afghanistan and north Pakistan, and was known for horses brought in from Central Asia. The Beas flows through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, not through Kamboja.
- III: incorrect — Avanti was in western Malwa, in today's Madhya Pradesh. Its two centres were Ujjayini (Ujjain) on the Shipra, a tributary of the Chambal, and Mahishmati on the Narmada. The Mahanadi rises in Chhattisgarh and flows east through Odisha into the Bay of Bengal. That was the land of Kalinga and Dakshina Kosala, far from Avanti.
- IV: correct — Kosala lay on both banks of the Sarayu, the modern Ghaghara, in present-day Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya stood on the Sarayu. Shravasti was Kosala's capital in the Buddha's time, under King Prasenajit (Pasenadi).
How to eliminate
Rough geography solves most of this. Two pairs are easy to confirm. Kosala and the Sarayu are linked through Ayodhya and the Ramayana. Asmaka is well known as the only mahajanapada in the Deccan, on the Godavari. Avanti and the Mahanadi can be ruled out quickly. Avanti means Ujjain in Malwa, and the Mahanadi is an eastern river of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. So at least two pairs are right and at least one is wrong, which leaves only two or only three. The deciding pair is Kamboja–Vipas. You need two facts: Vipas is the Beas, a Punjab river, and Kamboja was on the far north-western frontier beyond Gandhara. Without them, ask whether a frontier state beyond the Indus would be paired with a river east of the Indus. That doubt points to the pair being wrong. Facts to remember: Rigvedic river names (Vitasta = Jhelum, Asikni = Chenab, Parushni = Ravi, Vipas = Beas, Shutudri = Sutlej) and the capital and river of each mahajanapada.
Know more
The sixteen mahajanapadas (c. 600–322 BC)
Buddhist texts (the Anguttara Nikaya) and Jaina texts (the Bhagavati Sutra) list sixteen 'great janapadas' across north India. Most were monarchies. Vajji and Malla were gana-sanghas, which were ruled by assemblies. Iron tools, farming surplus and punch-marked coins supported the 'second urbanisation'. Within two centuries, four powers stood out: Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and Avanti. Magadha absorbed the rest. The end date of 322 BC is when Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nandas.
| Mahajanapada | Capital | River / region |
|---|---|---|
| Gandhara | Taxila | West of the Indus (Peshawar–Rawalpindi) |
| Kamboja | Rajapura | North-west frontier, beyond Gandhara |
| Kuru | Indraprastha | Upper Ganga–Yamuna doab |
| Panchala | Ahichchhatra, Kampilya | Ganga (Rohilkhand) |
| Matsya | Viratanagara | Jaipur–Alwar region |
| Surasena | Mathura | Yamuna |
| Vatsa | Kaushambi | Yamuna, near Prayagraj |
| Kosala | Shravasti (also Ayodhya) | Sarayu (Ghaghara) |
| Kashi | Varanasi | Ganga, Varuna–Asi |
| Malla | Kushinagara, Pava | Gorakhpur region |
| Vajji | Vaishali | North of the Ganga, Gandak |
| Magadha | Rajagriha, then Pataliputra | Ganga–Son, south Bihar |
| Anga | Champa | Champa–Ganga confluence |
| Chedi | Shuktimati | Ken river, Bundelkhand |
| Avanti | Ujjayini, Mahishmati | Shipra, Narmada |
| Asmaka | Potana (Bodhan) | Godavari |
Patterns worth fixing: Asmaka is the only one south of the Vindhyas. Gandhara and Kamboja were the north-western frontier states, and the Achaemenids took over this region in the late 6th century BC. Vajji and Malla were the main republics. Kosala and Magadha fought over Kashi.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Mahajanapada: The whole question tests where the great janapadas of 600–322 BC lay and which river ran through each.
- Avanti: Pair III turns on where Avanti lay and which rivers ran past its capitals.