Question

Which one of the following statements about Mahajanpadas is correct?
1. Not all Mahajanpadas had a capital city.
2. All the Rajas of a Mahajanpada met together in assemblies called sanghas to decide upon issues.
3. The army in Mahajanpada was maintained largely from the gifts made by the locals.
4. Each Mahajanpada was ruled not by one, but thousands of rulers together, each known as Raja.

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Not all Mahajanpadas had a capital city.

The age of Mahajanapadas

• The sixth-century B.C was a period of intense and new political development besides socio-political and religious upheavals that brought two religions to the fore-Buddhism and Jainism. In the later Vedic age, agriculture and iron tools helped people to settle down at one particular place.
• The permanent settlement led to the foundation of the janapadas or small territorial states under the control of a king. The main area of political activity gradually shifted from Western UP to eastern UP and Bihar. This region was not only fertile due to the rainfall and river systems but also closer to iron production centers.
• About 2500 years ago, some janapadas became more important than others and were known as mahajanapadas. Most mahajanapadas had a capital city, many of these were fortified. Hence, Not all Mahajanpadas had a capital city is correct statement.
• The use of better iron tools and weapons along with sound economic growth resulted in the transformation of some territorial states into Bigger and more powerful states, which came to be known as Mahajanapdas.
• All the Rajas of a Mahajanpada met together in assemblies called sanghas to decide upon issues, this statement is incorrect, as there were no such sanghas.
• The important Republics of this period were the Sakyas of Kapilavastu and the Licchavis of Vaishali. But not each Mahajanpada was ruled not by one, but thousands of rulers together, each known as Raja. 
• As the rulers of the mahajanapadas were (a) building huge forts (b) maintaining big armies, they needed more resources. And they needed officials to collect these. So, instead of depending on occasional gifts brought by people, as in the case of the raja of the janapadas, they started collecting regular taxes. 

There were 16 Mahajanapadas in ancient India. They were:

• Anga
• Magadha
• Kasi
• Vatsa
• Kosala
• Saurasena
• Kuru
• Matsya
• Chedi
• Avanti
• Gandhara
• Kamboja
• Ashmaka
• Vajji
• Malla