The Janapadas were the major realms or kingdoms

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

 of Vedic

Vedic period

The Vedic period was a period in history during which the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, were composed. The time span of the period is uncertain. Philological and linguistic evidence indicates that the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, was composed roughly between 1700–1100 BCE, also...

 (Iron Age

Iron Age India

Iron Age India, the Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent, succeeds the Late Harappan culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition...

) India

Indian subcontinent

The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...

 which, by the 6th century BC, evolved into the sixteen classical Mahajanapadas.

Etymology

The term janapada is a compound (or tatpurusha) term, composed of janas "tribe" (cf. Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 cognate

Cognate

In linguistics, cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This learned term derives from the Latin cognatus . Cognates within the same language are called doublets. Strictly speaking, loanwords from another language are usually not meant by the term, e.g...

 genus, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 cognate kin) and pada "foot" (cf. Latin cognate pedis). From its earliest attestation, the word has had a double meaning of "realm, territory" and "subject population". A janapadin is the ruler of a janapada. Dunkel (2002) compares the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 andrapodon "slave", compares PIE

Pie

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....

  "fetters" (i.e. "what is attached to the feet"). Sanskrit padám, usually taken to mean "footprint, trail", diverges in accent from the PIE reconstruction.
For the sense of "population of the land", padasya janas, the inverted padajana would be expected. A primary meaning of "place of the people", janasya padam, would not explain why the compound is of masculine gender. An original dvandva

Dvandva

A dvandva or twin or Siamese compound refers to one or more objects that could be connected in sense by the conjunction 'and', where the objects refer to the parts of an agglomeration described by the compound...

 "land and people" is conceivable, but a dual inflection would be expected.

Origins

The political process among the ancient Indo-Aryans

Indo-Aryans

Indo-Aryan is an ethno-linguistic term referring to the wide collection of peoples united as native speakers of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-Iranian family of Indo-European languages...

 appears to have originally started with semi-nomadic tribal

Tribe

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...

 units called Jana. Early Vedic texts attest several Janas or tribes of the Aryans, living in semi-nomadic tribal state, fighting among themselves and with other Non-Aryan tribes for cows, sheeps and green pastures. These early Rigvedic

Rigveda

The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...

 Janas in the course of the early Indian Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

 coalesced into the geographically fixed Janapadas.

Lists

Ancient Sanskrit texts like Ashtadhyayi (IV.4.168-175), Ramayana (IV/41-43), Mahabharata (VII/11/16-17; VIII/8/18-20)) and numerous Puranas (Bhuvanakosa list of countries) refer to many Janapadas of ancient times.

Pāṇini's Ashtadhyayi furnishes a list of fifteen Kshatriya monarchical Janapadas

Janapadas

The Janapadas were the major realms or kingdoms of Vedic India which, by the 6th century BC, evolved into the sixteen classical Mahajanapadas.-Etymology:...

, viz., Salveya, Gandhari

Gandhari

Gāndhārī may refer to:* Gandhari , character in the Indian epic, Mahabharata* Gāndhārī language, north-western prakrit spoken in Gāndhāra* Gandhari script, also known as Kharoṣṭhī* Ghandari people, who lived in Gandhara...

, Magadha

Magadha

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

, Kalinga

Kalinga

Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...

, Surasena

Surasena

Surasena was an ancient Indian region corresponding to the present-day Braj region in Uttar Pradesh. According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya, Surasena was one of the solasa Mahajanapadas in 6th century BCE The ancient Greek writers refer the region as Sourasenoi and mention its capital...

, Kosala

Kosala

Kosala was an ancient Indian region, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Awadh in present day Uttar Pradesh. According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text, the Bhagavati Sutra, Kosala was one of the Solasa Mahajanapadas in 6th century BCE and its cultural and...

, Ajada, Kuru, Salva

Salva

Salva may refer to:*Common sage*Salva , from Italy*Salva, Bistriţa-Năsăud, a commune in Romania*Şəlvə, Khojali, Azerbaijan*Şəlvə, Lachin, Azerbaijan*Bartolomé Salvá-Vidal, Spanish tennis player...

, Pratyagratha, Kalakuta, Ashmaka, Kamboja

Kamboja

Kamboja may refer to:*Kamboja *Kambojas, an ancient tribe of the Hindukush in Iron Age India*Kamboja-Pala Dynasty of Bengal*Kamboj, a clan of South Asia-See also:*Cambodia*Kumbhoj, a town in Kolhapur district...

, Avanti

Avanti

Avanti may refer to:* Avanti , a UK Government sponsored programme to assist construction project partners to work together more effectively...

 and Kunti. Besides, there were those following the republic

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...

an constitutions.

In context of Krsna digvijay, the Mahabharata

Mahabharata

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....

 furnishes a key list of twenty-five ancient Janapadas, viz., Anga

Anga

Anga was a kingdom that flourished on the eastern Indian subcontinent in the 6th century BCE until taken over by Magadha in the same century. Counted among the "sixteen great nations" in Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya, Anga also finds mention in the Jain Vyakhyaprajnapti’s list of...

, Vanga

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

, Kalinga

Kalinga (India)

Kalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...

, Magadha

Magadha

Magadha formed one of the sixteen Mahājanapadas or kingdoms in ancient India. The core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganga; its first capital was Rajagriha then Pataliputra...

, Kasi

Kasi

KASI or Kasi may refer to:* Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, South Korea* Kingdom of Kashi, or Kasi, an ancient kingdom with Varanasi as its capital* 1430KASI, a radio station licensed to serve Ames, Iowa...

, Kosala

Kosala

Kosala was an ancient Indian region, corresponding roughly in area with the region of Awadh in present day Uttar Pradesh. According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text, the Bhagavati Sutra, Kosala was one of the Solasa Mahajanapadas in 6th century BCE and its cultural and...

, Vatsa

Vatsa

Vatsa was one of the solasa Mahajanapadas of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya....

, Garga, Karusha, Pundra, Avanti

Avanti

Avanti may refer to:* Avanti , a UK Government sponsored programme to assist construction project partners to work together more effectively...

, Dakshinatya, Parvartaka, Dasherka, Kashmir

Kashmir

Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

a, Ursa, Pishacha

Pishacha

Pishachas are flesh eating demons, according to Hindu mythology. Their origin is obscure, although some believe that they were created by Brahma. Another legend describes them as the sons of either Krodh or of Daksha’s daughter Pishach. They have been described to have a dark complexion with...

, Mudgala, Kamboja, Vatadhana, Chola, Pandya, Trigarta, Malava, and Darada (MBH 7/11/15-17). Besides, there were the Janapadas of Kurus and Panchala

Panchala

Panchala is an ancient region of northern India, which corresponds to the geographical area around the Ganges River and Yamuna River, the upper Gangetic plain in particular. This would encompass the modern-day states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. During the ancient times, it was home to a...

s also.

Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

 (an earlier list) includes Janapadas of Andhras, Pundras, Cholas, Pandyas, Keralas, Mekhalas, Utkalas, Dasharna

Dasharna

Dasharna was an ancient Indian janapada in eastern Malwa region between the Dhasan River and the Betwa River. The name of the janapada was derived from the , the ancient name of the Dhasan River. The janapada was also known as Akara and Rudradaman I in his Junagarh rock inscription referred to...

s, Abravantis, Avantis, Vidarbhas, Mlecchas, Pulindas, Surasenas, Prasthalas, Bharatas, Kurus, Madrakas, Kambojas, Daradas, Kiratas, Tangana, Yavanas, Sakas (from Saka-dvipa) Chinas, Maha-Chinas, Niharas etc.

The Bhuvanakosa Section of numerous Puranas

Puranas

The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...

 divides the ancient Indian subcontinent

Subcontinent

A subcontinent is a large, relatively self-contained landmass forming a subdivision of a continent. By dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent, or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision...

 into (1) the Dakshinapatha

Dakshinapatha

Ancient Buddhist and Hindu texts use the term Dakshinapatha as a name for both the southern high road of the Indian subcontinent, and for the region lying south of Majjhimdesa or middle India. It is derived from the two Sanskrit roots dakshina for south, and patha for road.The first reference to...

 (Southern India), (2) the Madhyadesa (Mid India), (3) the Prachya (Eastern India), (4) the Aparanta

Aparanta

Aparanta, or Aparantaka was a geographical region of ancient India, variously corresponding to the northern Konkan, northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kachch and Sindh....

 (Western India), (5) the Udichya or north/north-west division, (6) the Vindyavasins, and (7) the Parvatashrayins, and in the detailed list of countries, it refers to many Janapadas of ancient times (See: Kirfel's list of the countries of Bhuvanakosha)

By about the sixth century BCE, many of these Janapadas further evolved into larger political entities by the process of merger and land-grabbing which eventually led to the formation of bigger kingdoms known in Buddhist texts as the Mahajanapadas

Mahajanapadas

Mahājanapadas , literally "great realms", were ancient Indian kingdoms or countries...

 or the great nations (a karmadharaya of maha

Maha

-Acronyms:*MaHa, Nepali comedy duo, Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya*Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia- Indian words :In Sanskrit and other Indian languages influenced by it, the prefix maha means "great".*Maha Avatar, Great incarnation...

"great" and janapada "country").

Later Developments

The Thai language uses the derivative term ชนบท (chon-ná-bòt

Royal Thai General System of Transcription

The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand...

) to mean "countryside," or "the rural areas of Thailand."