Sisunaga Dynasty

The Sisunaga dynasty was an early ruling house in ancient India, founded by King Sisunaga in the Magadha region during the 7th century BC. The reign of the dynasty marked a period of political transition and consolidation in the kingdom of Magadha, which served as a precursor to subsequent influential dynasties in the region.

The founder, Sisunaga, is credited with laying the foundations of Magadha’s centralized authority and regional importance. However, historical information about this dynasty is limited, and much of what is known comes from later historical accounts and inscriptions.

The significance of the Sisunaga dynasty lies in its establishment of Magadha as a major political power that paved the way for subsequent powerful ruling houses, including the Nanda dynasty and the Maurya empire. Despite the lack of detailed historical records, the Sisunaga dynasty played a key role in the early development of the Magadha region and its subsequent impact on the course of Indian history.

Sisunaga Dynasty

Introduction

The Shishunaga dynasty ruled the kingdom of Magadha in ancient India from 412 to 345 BC. It is considered to be the third imperial dynasty of Magadha after Brihadratha and Haryanka. Shishunaga, the founder of the dynasty, was initially an Amatya, or “minister,” of the last emperor of the Haryanka dynasty, Nagadasaka, and succeeded to the throne after a popular uprising in 412 BC.

Establishment of the Sisunaga Dynasty

According to Buddhist tradition, Shishunaga was an Amatya in the Haryanka kingdom who rebelled and became king.

Rise of the Shishunaga Dynasty

• (1) It was in 412 BC when King Shishunaga founded the Shishunaga Empire and tried to bring back the unification which was later done by Chandragupta Maurya. The accession of a new ruler to the Magadha throne did not lead to an interruption in the process of Magadha’s imperial expansion. This started from the time of Bimbisara. Shishunaga had ample knowledge of Magadhan politics and administration. He served as the viceroy of Varanasi while Nagadaksha was the ruler. He waged war with the Avanti zealously because the war was left to him as a legacy from the former dynasty. Avanti became Magadha’s only major rival in northern India after the fall of Kosala. The civil war that rented the kingdom of Avanti made his task much easier for him. There he seems to have humbled the pride of Avanti and perhaps joined it to Magadza. He probably transferred his capital to Girivraj for the convenient conduct of the war against Avanti. From all available evidence, Sishunaga seems to have conquered the kingdoms of Vatsa and Kosala into Magadha. King Sishunaga moved his capital eventually to Vaishali, where he was born. Historians believed that Sishunaga’s father was a chieftain of the Lichchhavis and his mother was a Vaishali courtesan. He moved the capital to this city in honor of his parents. The achievements of King Shishunaga were known to modern historians from the Puranic literature of the time. Sishunaga, the predecessor of Bimbisara, was able to bring a part of the North Indian kingdom under his rule.
• (2) According to the Indian Puranas and Buddhist records, he underwent a massive rebellion and ascended the throne soon after. However, there is a huge distortion between the Puranic and Buddhist accounts. The Puranas in their present form are clearly corrupted. For they made Pradyota and his successors, who were contemporary with Bimbisara. It is to be noted that Pradyata, his son Palaka, etc. were the rulers of the powerful empire of Avanti and Ujjain. Ujjain was the capital at that time. This was taken from “Brihatkatha” and Buddhist records. Buddhists state that Shishunaga destroyed the descendants of Pradyota and made Avanti a part of the powerful Magadha empire. The Puranas themselves stated that Sishunaga defeated the Pradyotas and their popularity among the kingdoms of North India. So if Sishunaga defeated the descendants of Pradyota, he must have obviously come after Bimbisara, as stated in the Celoyn Chronicles.
• (3) However, this was also unsolvable, as MaxMuller argued. He revealed the truth after a detailed study of the Puranas and Buddhist records. Now in the context of Sishunaga, Puranic literature has stated that after the time of Bimbisara, each of this hierarchy has 4 kings. Now the Puranas themselves state that kings of others like the Ikshvakus, i.e. kings of the Surya vamsa, existed up to the time of Sishunaga. They also stated that Sishunaga also defeated Avanti Pradyotas. Therefore, Sishunaga became king as the fourth ruler of Magadha, as mentioned in Ceylonese, Buddhist, and Puranic records.

Reign of the Shishunaga Dynasty

From 412 BCE until 345 BCE, the Shishunaga Dynasty ruled the Magadha Kingdom in ancient India. Shishunaga, after whom the dynasty was called, was the first king of the dynasty after the people revolted against the older Haryanka Dynasty in the 5th century BCE. The Shishunaga Dynasty had a brief reign before being superseded by the Nandas and later the Mauryas, but it also contributed to the firm foundation of the Magadha Empire, which would rule the Indian subcontinent for centuries to come.

Shishunaga inherited Magadha’s immense land and riches. The province of Magadha, which is now Bihar, has always been rich in natural resources, iron ores for weapon making, and forests with woodlands and elephants to aid the army.

Its fields, too, produced enough grain to feed vast armies, and the Haryanka rulers took advantage of this beginning with Bimbisara’s reign. Shishunaga developed the Magadhan army throughout his reign, and his greatest military achievement, which even eclipsed his predecessors, was effectively fighting and defeating the Avanti Kingdom. Avanti became a part of Magadha after Shishunaga’s reign, and the Avanti Pradyota Dynasty died out.

King Shishunaga

Shishunaga (412–395 BCE) was the founder of the Magadha Empire’s Shishunaga dynasty in modern-day northern India.

Initially, he was an amatya (official) of the Haryanka dynasty’s Magadha kingdom. The people who rose against the Haryanka dynasty’s control installed him on the throne. According to the Puranas, he established his son in Varanasi and reigned from Girivraja (Rajagriha). Kalashoka, his son, succeeded him (Kakavarna). Shishunaga’s most significant accomplishment was the downfall of Avanti’s power, which had its capital in Ujjain.

This effectively ended Magadha and Avanti’s 100-year conflict. Avanti became a part of the Magadha empire and remained so until the end of the Mauryan dynasty. Later, the capital was relocated to Vaishali.

Political conditions during Shishunaga’s time

The political condition of India during the Sishunaga’s time was tumultuous. The northern part of India was divided into several small kingdoms called Mahajanapadas. While Avanti, Vatsa, and Kosala were expanding their frontiers at the expense of their neighboring states, Bimbisara of Haryanka Kula ascended the Magadhan throne. Bimbisara probably overthrew Brihadratha from the throne of Magadha and assumed the title of ‘Srenika’ after his accession. Historian Bhandarkar has suggested that Bimbisara was a General before he ascended the Magadhan throne, as his title “Srenika ” suggested. But this interpretation contradicts the evidence of ‘Mahavamsa’ that Bimbisara was a scion of the Haryanka Kula. Hence Bhandarkar’s suggestion is generally rejected. Bimbisara was destined to initiate Magadha in the race for imperial supremacy. Bimbisara ruled Magadha for 52 years. After that, his son Ajatashatru ascended the throne and ruled for not more than 32 years. During his reign, Gautam Buddha died. There after a series of accession of the throne by different kings of the same dynasty like Udayi, Anuruddha, Munda, and Nagadasaka, and after Shishunaga came into existence by expelling the last king of the Haryana Kula dynasty, Nagadaska from the Magadhan throne.

King Kakavarna or Kalashoka

Shishunaga’s son and heir was Kalashoka, or Kakavarna. He divided his empire among his 10 sons and enthroned Nandivardhana, his ninth son, as King of Magadha. Shishunaga had relocated Magadha’s capital to Vaishali. Shishunaga was followed by Kalashoka. Kalashoka returned the capital to Pataliputra. According to Buddhist tradition, King Kalashoka attended the Second Buddhist Council, which was convened at Vaishali 100 years after Lord Buddha’s Maha Parinirvana. Despite King Kalashoka’s greatest efforts, Buddhist divisions remained. He divided his dominion among his 10 sons, who governed concurrently.

Kalasoka and the Second Buddhist Council

The second Buddhist Council was sponsored by Kalasoka at Vaishali in 383 BC. This council was invited by a Buddhist monk Yasa, who saw the local monks of Vaishali following the teaching laxily. The dispute was on 10 Points such as storing salt in the horn, eating after midday, eating once and going to villages for alms, eating sour milk after one’s meal, etc. It was not settled and sects of Buddhism appeared for the first time. The President of this council was Sabakami.

Successors of King Kalasoka

Kalasoka met a tragic end. Bana in his “Harshacharita” recorded the legend that Kalasoka was murdered by an assassin who plunged a dagger into his throat near a town which may be the city of Pataliputra. Kalasoka’s successors were his 10 sons. They were too weak to rule the whole empire. This lasted until 345 BC. This period was well known for conspiracies against kings and anarchy in the skies of the political arena. The names of the ten sons were Bhadrasena, Korandavarna, Mangura, Sarvanjaha, Jalika, Ubhaka, Sanjaya, Koravya, Nandivardhana and Panchamaka. Of these, one of Sishunaga’s ten sons Maha Nandin occupied the throne and ruled for a very short time. In 345 BC, he was assassinated by the famous ruler of the time, Mahapadma Nanda, who was his illegitimate son. At that time he established the Nanda dynasty era.

Later rulers of the Sisunaga dynasty

According to Buddhist tradition, ten sons of Kalashoka ruled at the same time. The Mahabodhi Vamsa lists their names as Bhadrasena, Kolandhavarna, Mangla, Sarvanjaha, Jalika, Ubaka, Sanjaya, Kolavya, Nandivardhana and Panchamakara. Only Nandivardhana is mentioned in the Purana list, which lists Nandivardhana as the 9th Shaishnaga king and his son Mahanandin as the 10th and last Shaishnaga king. Mahanandin was murdered by Mahapadma, the illegitimate son of a Sudra wife.

The religion of the Sisunaga Dynasty

Since the advent of the Vedas around 1500 BC, the ancient Indian society was divided into four main castes: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras, and became the sphere of influence for the Brahmins.

However, since the civilization at that time was primarily concentrated in the northwest, the east of India remained outside the scope of the Vedic corpus. This is the most probable reason why different ideologies and ideas emerged mostly in this region of India.

It is important to remember that under the politically and militarily powerful Haryanka dynasty, both Jainism and Buddhism established significant roots in the eastern Indian subcontinent. Both faiths taught peace and penance and both were strongly supported by the Haryanka rulers. Under Shishunaga, the Magadha Empire continued to promote Buddhism, Jainism, Ajivikaism and other religions. During their reign, the Second Buddhist Council met in Vaishali (the first was probably held under Haryanka auspices). To the chagrin of the Brahmins, future Magadhan monarchs continued to support Buddhism and Jainism. Although the Magadhan rulers were not against Hinduism, he was unable to establish roots there at that time.

Decline of the Sisunaga Dynasty

According to tradition, Kalashoka was brutally killed with a dagger thrust into his throat by a Shudra, a low-caste man who assumed the throne and founded the Nanda dynasty. The Nanda dynasty began with Mahapadma Nanda and was subsequently followed by the Mauryas, who brought the Magadha Empire to its zenith. Although the Shishunaga dynasty was short, little is known about them except for Shishunaga himself, who rose from the position of an officer in the empire through hard work and intelligence. They helped make Magadha the most powerful kingdom in the Indian subcontinent and reached its zenith during the reign of Ashoka Maurya.

Successors of the Shishunaga Dynasty

After Sishunaga, political tensions rose again regarding the accession of the Magadhan Kingdom. Kalasoka then ascended the throne. He ruled for 28 years. But the Ceylon chronicles place Kalasoka as the immediate successor of Sishunaga. This discrepancy has been explained by Professors Jacobi, Geiser, and Bhandarkar by stating that “Kalasoka and Kakavarnin were one and the same person” Kalasoka’s reign is known for two events such as the permanent shift of the Magadhan capital from Vaishali to Pataliputra and the convening of the Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali. This tradition is also confirmed by Curtius, who pointed out that the barber, who was a charming person, became the lover of Queen Kalasoka. Through her influence, he “advanced too near the place of trust of the reigning monarch” and murdered him. The assassin then pretended to be the guardian of the royal children and eventually usurped supreme authority by putting the young princes to death. This usurper was Mahapadma Nanda, the founder of the Nanda dynasty, and the young princes killed by him were the ten sons of Kalasoka, who probably ruled together. Thus the Shishunaga dynasty came to a tragic end and around 345 BC a new Nanda dynasty followed. This was proved by the Ceylon and Puranic records of the time.

Conclusion

From c. 412 BC until approx. 345 BC, the Shishunaga dynasty (also Sishunaga/Shishunaga dynasty) ruled the kingdom of Magadha in ancient India (in some sources from 421 BC). It is said to be Magadha’s third imperial dynasty after Brihadratha and Haryanka, although the Brihadratha dynasty is now considered mythological. Shishunaga, the first ruler of the dynasty, rose to power when the people revolted against the older Haryanka dynasty in the 5th century BCE and was named after him. The Shishunaga dynasty had a short reign before being replaced by the Nandas and later the Mauryas. Nevertheless, it contributed to the solid foundation of the Magadhan Empire, which would rule the Indian subcontinent for centuries.

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