Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c12.s9.19

c12.s9.19

It therefore appears that the two religious orders, the Ājīvika and Nirgrantha, were still small local communities of Magadha, not powerful enough to demand that protection from the state which Buddhism enjoyed. The Nirgrantha order was even less important than the Ājīvika but it managed to survive the latter up to later times and to rise into greater importance.