Reality at times can be more compelling than fantasy. When you read through history, there are often examples of this standing true. If we rewind the clock and look at the Indian subcontinent, we see 16 noble houses, at times warring with each other and at other times working together to dominate the lands, resources and the people, albeit without dragons.

Origins

During the Later Vedic Period, tribal settlements called jana padas started growing into bigger entities and by 600 BC formed the 16 Mahajanapadas. Some of these kingdoms were ruled as monarchies with kings having supreme authority and the others were republics or quasi-democracies, centuries before their western equivalents in Greece or Rome.

The kings at this time came mostly from the Kshatriya caste that dominated military power. They claimed nobility from stories of righteous heroism in the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. The 16 houses were Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji, Malla, Chedi, Vatsa, Kuru, Panchala, Machcha, Surasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja.

Each has its own rich history, some of which play an important role even today, in religious sentiments, power dynamics and the subcontinent’s culture. For example, the first great Kuru king Purakshit makes an appearance in the epic of Mahabharata. In Videha, Janaka, a philosopher king, and supposedly the father of Sita, is known to have a dialogue with the sage Ashtavakra so important that it is transcribed into its own scripture called Ashtavakra Gita, on the nature of soul, reality and bondage. Kosala was a subject of the Ikshvaku dynasty, the same lineage as Prince Rama.

It is not in the scope of this article to trace the origins of all the houses, but we can pay attention to the most consequential— Magadha. Magadha came to dominate the region as the greatest kingdom of them all, conquering other houses through aggression and alliances. It was beset with assassinations and betrayals, but also with tales of heroism, righteousness and glory. It would ultimately fall to the greatest emperor India had ever witnessed — Chandragupta Maurya.

The Story of Magadha

The first mention of Magadha in the Vedic texts is done so with a tone of contempt for not being wholly Brahmin. The story starts around 544 BC with a boy who became king at the age of 15, named Bimbasara. He was a contemporary of Buddha, spreading his message and teachings throughout the region and was also a friend of Mahavira, the great teacher of the Jain tradition at the same time. He is legendary for the justness of his rule and for his spirit of generosity. He gave birth to a son named Ajatashatru, who would succeed him in his rule. Bimbasara groomed the boy, trained him and gave him the viceroyalty of one of the annexed states, Anga. Ajatashatru returned the favor by usurping the throne, imprisoning his father and starving him to death in the year 492 BC.

Ajatashatru (492BC-460BC), despite his unforgiving ruthlessness towards his father, in his own right was a great leader. He fought a war against Vajji, conquered the republic of Vaishali and defeated Kosala. Under Ajatashatru, Magadha became the strongest kingdom in North India.

After Ajatashatru, came the Dayan and the Sisupala dynasties ruling for about 60 years until 396 BC. As fate would have it, most of these successions ironically, met with the same end as Bimbisara, in parricides.

The last Sisupala ruler was murdered by the first and most important of the Nanda Kings, King Mahapadma. This dynasty ruled from 345–322 BC. He was the first non-Kshatriya ruler of the land. He has been described as the destroyer of all Kshatriyas and it was the Nanda’s strength that played a factor in stopping Alexander from invading India further east. He commanded a huge army of 20,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots and no less than 3,000 elephants.

Magadha had a great advantage both with respect to geography and resources. Rajgriha, a former capital city was naturally fortified by five hills and the new capital, Pataliputra was surrounded by rivers on most sides. Magadha also sat on top of the biggest iron ore of the time. It would take administrative incompetence and internal turmoil for this great state to meet its end and a new empire to emerge from its ashes.

Invasions

During the time of these internal battles for supremacy, the outside world started paying attention to the riches of India. Northern India was subject to two invasions during this time. One from the Persians and the second from the Greeks. Both managed to make some headway into the Northwest region but could never make it to the heartland. Under the rule of Persia, Gandhara subjugated to Darius I in the late 6th Century BC. Gandhara was just one of 20 Satraps or vassal states under him and remained so for 200 years, however, it was responsible for over 80 percent of the revenue from Asia that went into the treasuries of the empire.

Alexander after burning his way through the Persian empire and conquering everything in his wake set his eyes on India. His armies reached the North West Frontier of the land 327 BC, and managed to grab Gandhara with the help of the betrayal of the king of Taxila. Alexander’s decisive battle with King Puru, referred to as Porus, was etched into Greek histories. Puru refused to bend the knee before him even after defeat, and this impressed Alexander to the extent where he gave Porus his kingdom back albeit as a subaltern.

Alexander wanted to carry onwards, but internal threats of mutiny and the sheer overwhelming size of the conquest made him begrudgingly turn back.

“Alexander may have intruded into India but, in a sense, India had conquered him”.

He never managed to make it back, dying from a malady still debated to this day.

The rule of both foreign entities in the end was ephemeral and quickly forgotten without leaving a lasting impact in the memories of Indians, but it was responsible for setting up trade routes that commissioned the exchange goods, ideas and culture between such alien civilizations.

Decline

By the late 4th century, the Indian kingdoms started descending down a steep decline towards chaos and misadministration. There was infighting and local disruptions of power. The last Nanda king, Dhana Nanda, at an alms-giving ceremony, once insulted a brahmin by the name of Kautilya. That insult would prove to be very costly, in fact, it cost him an empire.

Chandragupta’s origins are shrouded in debate, but at some point he was tutored by his teacher the statesman-philosopher Kautilya in Taxila — The same Kautilya that was insulted by Dhana Nanda. Kautilya had sworn vengeance and decided it was time for a regime change, with his student Chandragupta chosen as the bringer of said change. Chandragupta’s own grand ambitions matched Kautilya’s and both of them started working together to overthrow the Nanda King and seize control of Magadha. Through astute plotting, counter-plotting, unlikely coalitions and ultimately war, Magadha fell to Chandragupta.

He eventually would expand his reach to almost all of India and in effect form the greatest empire the land had ever seen.