Magadha

Magadha, also called the Kingdom of Magadha or the Magadha Empire, was an ancient Indian kingdom and empire, and one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas of the Second Urbanization, based in southern Bihar in the eastern Ganges Plain, in Ancient India. Magadha was ruled by the Brihadratha dynasty, the Haryanka dynasty (544–413 BCE), the Shaishunaga dynasty (413–345 BCE), the Nanda dynasty (345–322 BCE), the Mauryan dynasty (322–184 BCE), the Shunga dynasty (184–73 BCE) and the Kanva dynasty (73–28 BCE) after which it broke up into multiple small states after being defeated by the Satavahana Empire of the Deccan. Under the Mauryas, Magadha became a pan-Indian empire, covering large swaths of the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan. Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism. It was the core of four of northern India's greatest empires, the Nanda Empire (345-322 BCE), Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), Shunga Empire (185–78 BCE) and Gupta Empire (319–550 CE). The Pala Empire also ruled over Magadha and maintained a royal camp in Pataliputra. The Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya referred to themselves as Magadhādipati and ruled in parts of Magadha until the 13th century. The territory of the Magadha kingdom proper before its expansion was bounded to the north, west, and east respectively by the Gaṅgā, Son, and Campā rivers, and the eastern spurs of the Vindhya mountains formed its southern border. The territory of the initial Magadha kingdom thus corresponded to the modern-day Patna and Gaya districts of the Indian state of Bihar. The region of Greater Magadha also included neighbouring regions in the eastern Gangetic plains and had a distinct culture and belief. Much of the Second Urbanisation took place here from (c. 500 BCE) onwards and it was here that Jainism and Buddhism arose. Some scholars have identified the Kīkaṭa tribe—mentioned in the Rigveda (3.53.