Indian Antiquary Vol 45

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 32

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[FEBRUARY, 1916
THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF MAGADHA. KY S. 1. VENKATESWARA AIYAR, M.A., L. T.; KUMBAKONAM.
IL.
(Continued from p. 16.)
7. The First Emperors of Hindustan. Mahapadma was the first emperor of Hindustan. He was the son of Mahanandin by a Sûdra concubine. Dr. Bhau Daji and Mr. V. A. Smith have said that he was the son of the queen by a barber paramour, but there is no evidence to this effect. The Purinas say that himself of servile origin, "he caused the destruction of Kshatriyas like a second Parasurama," that "urged on by prospective fortune he uprooted all Kshatriya families " and that he brought the whole of Hindustan under his umbrella and reigned sole emperor there.55 This is no mere boast, as the several dynasties of North India come to an end about this period. Taking only the most important dynasties we get the synchronistic tablete from the Puraus Mugadha
Avanti Kosambi
Kosala. Ajátasatru = Chanla
Kshudraka Pradyota Udayana =
(Virudhaka) Udaya
Palaka Ahinara
Kundaka Darsaka Visa khayâpa Khandapani
Suratha Nandivardhana Janaka
Niramitra
Sumitra
NandiMahậnandlin
Kshemaka
Vardhana Consistently with their statement that Mahapadma was the sole ruler of Hindustan, all the Purdyas agree in winding up the dynastic lists of all other kingdoms-Kurus. Pânchalâs, Aiksh vakavas, Kalakas, Haihayas, Kalingas, Sakas, Maithilas, Vitihôtras and Sûrasenas. Perhaps, most of these kingdoms had lost their independence even before and had become tributary to the rising power of Magadha. Mahapadma probably made them integral parts of the Magadha empire.
The Arthasastra of Kautilya furnishes us with complete information as to the polity of Hindustan under the first of its emperors. That it describes a condition of things prior to the formation of the Maurya empire is clear from the fact that it assumes the existence throughout of small kingdoms independent of each other and makes no reference to an empire. Most of these arrangements and institutions were adopted by the Mauryas, as the Indike of Megasthenes confirms in many respects the data of the Arthasastra. A few points of importance may be noted in which pre-Mauryan conditions, as revealed in the Arthasastra differ from Mauryan conditions as observed by Megasthenes and preserved in the well known fragments of his work. The admiralty and commissariat departments
55 The expression is significant :
एकराट् स महापयः एकच्छचो भविष्यति । 56 There are, of course, variant readings of the proper names. But the number of generations given is sufficient for our purpose, as is clear from the extracts given from the Vishnu-Purana Book IV.