Mahajanapadas
The Mahājanapadas (, from maha, "great", and janapada, "foothold of a people") were sixteen kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period. The 6th–5th centuries BCE are often regarded as a major turning point in early Indian history. During this period, India's first large cities since the demise of the Indus Valley civilization arose. It was also the time of the rise of sramana movements (including Buddhism and Jainism), which challenged the religious orthodoxy of the Vedic period. Two of the Mahājanapadas were most probably s (oligarchic republics), and others had forms of monarchy. Ancient Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya make frequent reference to sixteen great kingdoms and republics that had developed and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. They included parts of the trans-Vindhyan region, and all had developed prior to the rise of Buddhism in India. Archaeologically, this period has been identified as corresponding in part to the Northern Black Polished Ware culture. Overview The term "Janapada" literally means the foothold of a people. The fact that Janapada is derived from Jana points to an early stage of land-taking by the Jana people for a settled way of life. This process of settlement on land had completed its final stage prior to the times of the Buddha and Pāṇini. The Pre-Buddhist northern Indian sub-continent was divided into several Janapadas, demarcated from each other by boundaries. In Pāṇini's "Ashtadhyayi", Janapada stands for country and Janapadin for its citizenry. Each of these Janapadas was named after the Kshatriya people (or the Kshatriya Jana) who had settled therein. Buddhist and other texts only incidentally refer to sixteen great nations (Solasa Mahajanapadas) that existed prior to the time of the Buddha. They do not give any connected history except in the case of Magadha. The Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya, at several places, gives a list of sixteen great nations: Anga Assaka (or Asmaka) Avanti Chedi Gandhara Kashi Kamboja Kosala Kuru Magadha Malla Matsya (or Maccha) Panchala Surasena Vajji Vatsa (or Vamsa) Another Buddhist text, the Digha Nikaya, mentions twelve Mahajanapadas from the above list and omits four of them (Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja). Chulla-Niddesa, another ancient text of the Buddhist canon, adds Kalinga to the list and substitutes Yona for Gandhara, thus listing the Kamboja and the Yona as the only Mahajanapadas from Uttarapatha. The Vyākhyāprajñapti (or the Bhagavati Sutra), a sutra of Jainism, gives a different list of sixteen Mahajanapadas: Anga Banga (Vanga) Magadha Malaya Malavaka Accha Vaccha Kochcha Padha Ladha (Radh or Lata) Bajji (Vajji) Moli (Malla) Kasi Kosala Avaha Sambhuttara Ruhma The author of the Bhagavati Sutra (or the Vyākhyāprajñapti) has a focus on the countries of Madhydesa and of the far east and south only. He omits the nations from Uttarapatha like the Kamboja and Gandhara. The more extended horizon of the Bhagvati and the omission of all countries from