Mahapadma Nanda

Quick Facts

• Reign - circa 4th century BCE
• Father - Mahanadin
• Dynasty - Nanda Dynasty
• Predecessor - Mahanadin
• Successor - Panduka

Life and Conquests of Mahapadma Nanda

Mahapadma Nanda was a bastard son of the last Shishunaga King, Mahanandin. His mother was a Sudra maid of the royal kingdom. So he was the first Shudra king of Magadha.  In childhood, Mahapadma Nanda was insulted greatly by the son's of other wives of Mahanandin as he was a shudra. He developed a hatred towards Kshatriyas with that insult and later went on to win the title "Destroyer of Kshatriyas", as he killed all the Kshatriyas later.

He killed his father and all of his step-brothers for the throne. He named his dynasty as Nanda dynasty. He made Pataliputra ( Patna, Bihar ) as the capital of his kingdom. He followed an expansionist policy and conquered all nine Kshatriya Kingdom. Most popular kingdoms that he defeated were Kurus, Panchalas, Maithilas, Aikshvakus, Asmaka, Kalinga and the Surasenas. During the peak of its glory, the Nanda dynasty stretched from Punjab in the west to Bengal in the east and to the Vindhya mountains in the south. Mahapadma Nanda established the first great North Indian empire having its power center in Magadha. 

He gave respect to other religions. During his rule, people enjoyed the freedom of following the religion of their faith without any fear. The people followed Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. But the rulers of the Nanda empire embraced Jainism. His rule encouraged arts and literature. Panini, the eminent linguist, was born during this era. Because of religious hate, the Vedic philosophers of his time referred to his rise as the beginning of Kali-yuga as he was a Shudra. The treasury was continuously supplemented by collecting taxes and well planned economic activities. The wealth of Nanda kingdom under his rule increased tremendously. Agricultural infrastructure was developed in a big way. This also very much boosted the economy of the kingdom.

The Vaayu Purana assigns 28 years to Mahapadma Nanda's reign. Nanda dynasty ruled for the next 22 years.

Controversies

According to Buddhist texts, Ugrasen established the Nanda Dynasty and Mahapadma Nanda is not mentioned anywhere. As per Buddhist texts, the next eight kings were brothers not sons of first Nanda King. As per Jain texts, he was a barber's son, not any King's bastard son.