Which of the following statement is not true about mahajanapadas of the sixth-century BCE:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention twenty states known as mahajanapadas.
Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention sixteen states known as mahajanapadas, not twenty; Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti are among the names that occur often.
Option (1) Mahajanapadas were mostly ruled by kings. — Correct statement. Most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings; some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies where power was shared by a number of men.
Option (2) Each mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified. — Correct statement. The capital cities were often fortified, and maintaining them required resources.
Option (3) Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention twenty states known as mahajanapadas. — Incorrect statement. Early Buddhist and Jaina texts mention sixteen mahajanapadas, and Magadha became the most powerful of the sixteen. NTA changed one number, sixteen to twenty, and the line turned false. Numbers in a statement deserve a second look.
Option (4) Mahajanapadas maintained armies and bureaucracies. — Correct statement. The fortified cities had to provide for armies and bureaucracies, and gradually some states acquired standing armies and maintained regular bureaucracies.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.2 First amongst the sixteen: Magadha … Early Buddhist and Jaina texts (see also Chapter 4) mention, amongst other things, sixteen states known as mahajanapadas. Although the lists vary, some names such as Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti occur frequently. Clearly, these were amongst the most important mahajanapadas. While most mahajanapadas were ruled by kings, some, known as ganas or sanghas, were oligarchies (p. 30), where power was shared by a number of men, often collectively called rajas. Both Mahavira and the Buddha (Chapter 4) belonged to such ganas. In some instances, as in the case of the Vajji sangha, the rajas probably controlled resources such as land collectively. Although their histories are often difficult to reconstruct due to the lack of sources, some of these states lasted for nearly a thousand years. Each mahajanapada had a capital city, which was often fortified. Maintaining these fortified cities as well as providing for incipient armies and bureaucracies required resources.… …Gradually, some states acquired standing armies and maintained regular bureaucracies.…” |