Tribes in Ancient India c50.21

c50.21

The Purāṇas assert that the successors of Jarāsandha ruled over Magadha for a thousand years. Two of these kings, Kuśāgra and Vṛṣabha, are commemorated in early names of Rājagṛha (Girivraja, Kuśāgra-pura, Vṛṣabha-pura). Ripuñjaya was the last king of this dynasty. He was killed by his minister Sunīka (? Pulika, Muṇika, Suṇaka), who installed his son Pradyota on the throne of Magadha. Five kings of the Pradyota dynasty ruled over Magadha for 138 years, after which the Śiśunāgas came into power.⁷ Twelve kings of this dynasty reigned in Magadha for 162 years, Mahānandin being the last king. Mahāpadma Nanda, son of Mahānandin by his Śūdra wife, destroyed the Kṣatriya race and established Śūdra rule in Magadha. Thereafter eight sons of Nanda ruled over Magadha for a hundred years,¹ and then the Nandas were destroyed in their turn by Kauṭilya who installed Candragupta Maurya on the throne. Ten kings of the Maurya dynasty are said to have ruled over Magadha for 137 years. Bṛhadratha was the last king of this dynasty, which was followed by the Śuṅgas, founded by Puṣyamitra. Ten kings of this dynasty ruled for 112 years, Devabhūti being the last monarch of the Śuṅga family; he was killed by Vāsudeva Kāṇva, who founded the Kāṇva dynasty, and four kings of this family ruled in Magadha for 45 years. Then Sipraka, a royal servant, murdered King Suśarman, usurped the throne and founded the Andhra dynasty, thirty kings of which reigned in Magadha for 456 years.² The Viṣṇupurāṇa gives us a long list of the ancestors of Jarāsandha as well as of the monarchs who succeeded him.³