List of 16 Mahajanapadas, their Capitals and Modern Location

Here’s a list of the 16 Mahajanapadas, their capitals, and their modern locations:

• Kashi (Varanasi) – Modern Location: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Kosala (Sravasti) – Modern Location: Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Anga (Champa) – Modern Location: Bhagalpur, Bihar, India
• Magadha (Rajagriha) – Modern Location: Patna, Bihar, India
• Vajji (Vaishali) – Modern Location: Vaishali, Bihar, India
• Malla (Kusinara) – Modern Location: Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Chedi (Shuktimati) – Modern Location: Bundelkhand region, Madhya Pradesh, India
• Vatsa (Kaushambi) – Modern Location: Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Kuru (Indraprastha) – Modern Location: Delhi, India
• Panchala (Kampilya) – Modern Location: Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Matsya (Viratanagara) – Modern Location: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
• Avanti (Ujjain) – Modern Location: Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India
• Gandhara (Pushkalavati) – Modern Location: Peshawar, Pakistan
• Kamboja (Kapisa) – Modern Location: Kabul, Afghanistan
• Surasena (Mathura) – Modern Location: Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India
• Assaka (Potana) – Modern Location: Paithan, Maharashtra, India

The 16 Mahajanapadas and their capitals hold immense importance for Indian ancient history, particularly in understanding the social systems of that era. After the decline of the Harappan or Indus valley civilization, during the 6th BC and 4th BC centuries, Mahajanapadas existed in the time of the second civilization. Most of the Mahajanapadas were situated north of Vindhya between Bihar in the east to the northwest frontier of the subcontinent. From 600 BCE, the political history of India is the history of the interstate struggle for supremacy.

According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, in North India, the land between the Himalayas and Narmada was divided into 16 independent states known as the Mahajanapadas. Among them, Avanti, Vatsa, Kosala, and Magadha were very powerful. The 16 states were Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Magadha, Kasi, Kosala, Vajji, Matsya, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja.