Magadha Janapada

The Magadha janapada was located roughly in the area of the modern state of Bihar, with its capital originally at Rajagriha (modern Rajgir) and then at Pataliputra (modern Patna). It was to become the largest of the original 16 janapadas, eventually spawning India’s first empire, the Mauryan empire.

Prior to the Mauryas, the accepted chronology of Magadha’s kings is as follows:
Haryanaka dynasty
Bimbisara (545-493 BCE)
Ajatashatru (493-461 BCE)
Udayabhadra (461-445 BCE)
Aniriddha & Munda (445-437 BCE)
Nagadaska (437-413 BCE)
Shishunaga dynasty
Shishunaga (413-395 BCE)
Kalashoka (395-367 BCE)
Sons of Kalashoka (367-345 BCE)
Nanda dynasty
Mahapadma Nanda (345- ? BCE)
Sons of Mahapadma Nanda ( ? – 323 BCE)

Magadha’s earliest coins were dumpy silver 35-mashaka pieces of roughly 7.6 gm. that featured a single “6-arm symbol” punch. They seem to have been soon superceded by 25-mashaka pieces of roughly 5.5 gm. on thinner, more spread flans, but with the same 6-arm symbol punch. The next stage retained the same flan type and the same 6-arm punch in the center, but three additional punches were added around the central punch. These are the first coins shown in the table below. Perhaps this group was issued by the Haryankas. This period included the time during which the Buddha came to Magadha, where he attained enlightenment in the Magadhan city of Gaya, and where he preached for most of the remainder of his lifetime. The Magadhan king Bimbisara offered his throne to the Buddha, but was turned down.

Around 420 BCE, perhaps with the ascension of Shishunaga, the 25-mashaka denomination was abandoned and replaced by a karshapana standard of roughly 3.5 gm. At first, the karshpanas continued to feature four punches, but quite soon this was changed to a five punch design. Two of the punches were consistently a solar disc and a variety of the 6-arm symbol. The three remaining punches varied. Over time, the size of the flans shrank and the coins became thicker, probably to make it more difficult for merchants to add “banker’s marks” that tended to obliterate the original designs of the coins. At some stage, the Mauryans came to power, and they continued the 5-punch karshapana series.