Hinglish

The Second Urbanisation: Janapadas and Mahājanapadas

Class 7 Social Science · Chapter 4: New Beginnings: Cities and States · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 4.1

Learn

Neel's family visits Rajgir in Bihar and walks along the remains of huge stone walls. "These walls are about 2,500 years old," says the guide. "Rājagṛiha was once the capital of Magadha." Neel remembers the Harappan cities from last year. "But I thought Indian cities ended when Harappa declined?"

After the Harappan (Sindhu–Sarasvatī) civilisation, India's First Urbanisation, declined in the early 2nd millennium BCE, its planned streets, specialised crafts, writing and administration faded, and for about a thousand years urban life was largely absent. Then, in the 1st millennium BCE, cities rose again in the Ganga plains and spread across the subcontinent: the Second Urbanisation, which in a sense continues today. We know this from archaeological excavations and from late Vedic, Buddhist and Jain texts.

Groups of people sharing a language and customs settled in territories called janapadas, "where the people have set foot", each led by a rājā. As trade linked them, some merged into bigger states, the mahājanapadas, by the 8th–7th centuries BCE. The best-known list names 16, from Gandhāra in the northwest to Anga in the east and Aśhmaka near the Godavari. The strongest were Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and Avanti. Many lay in the Ganga plains, with fertile land, iron ore in nearby hills and new trade routes.

Most capitals were large fortified cities, with a water-filled moat outside the walls and narrow gateways so guards could control who and what came in. Amazingly, many of them, like Ujjayinī (Ujjain), Mathurā and Vārāṇasī, are still living cities, "modern" cities that are 2,500 years old!

Explore: place it on the timeline.

  1. Harappan cities were at their height around 2500 BCE. Put the marker there.
  2. The 16 mahājanapadas flourished around 600 BCE. Put the marker there.

Remember

  • After the Harappan decline, cities rose again in the 1st millennium BCE: the Second Urbanisation.
  • Janapadas merged into 16 mahājanapadas with fortified capitals, many in the Ganga plains.

Quick check

Which were the most powerful mahājanapadas?

  1. Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and Avanti
  2. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
  3. Chola, Chera and Pāṇḍya
  4. Delhi and Mumbai
Answer

Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and Avanti. Magadha would later become the heart of an empire.

Think about it

Why do you think many mahājanapada capitals are still cities today?

One answer

They were built where water, fertile land and trade routes met, and those advantages never went away, so people kept living there.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.