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The page provides explanations to a list of words (in alphabetical
order), those are related to this site and are not so commonly used in normal
literature. The aim is not to provide a quotable dictionary but to assist the reader in an easier understanding. These words are mentioned in one or other page
- Additionally, while going through the pages, direct links to bubble-info-boxes containing the explanations are provided.
Geographical (historical) information
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Ashram
Indian name for a hermitage, monastic community, or other
place of religious significance. Mostly used for a place where a sadhak (saint)
lives and either it is named after the name of the saint or after the name
of the place.-derived from Sanskrit asrama 'hermitage'.[The word is
accepted in Britannica (New English Oxford Dictionary)]
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Bagalamukhi
yantra
Om
Hleem Bagalamukhi
sarva dushtanaam vaacham mukham padam stambhaya, jivham keelaya, buddhim
vinashaya
Hleem Om Phat.
The
picture above is of "Bagalamukhi-yantra" and the Mantra is
"Bagalamukhi-mantra".
Goddess "Bagalamukhi" is often worshipped to win over foes and for victory
in lawsuits.
Another name for Bagalamukhi is "Peetambari" as her favorite color
is Yellow (golden yellow).
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Bhubaneswari
yantra
Om
Hreem Bhubaneswaraye Hreem Namah
The
picture above is of "Bhubaneswari-yantra" and the Mantra is
"Bhubaneswari-mantra".The word "Bhubaneswari" means- the Goddess of the Universe.
Having an universal command, the Goddess is able to bestow any of her 64
Kalaas
(divine qualities) upon the devotee.
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Chaar Dhaam
& chaar yuga
There are 4 most important places in Sanaatan
dharma (= religion of truth; The Hindu
religion is rooted from Satya Sanaatana
religion which is the root of all religions), to where
each Hindu (who has Hindu religion) is supposed to make pilgrimage at least once in life. These 4
places are called chaar dhaam (chaar =
4, dhaam = abode or place). These are:
1. Badrinaath (Tehri-Garhwal district of the mighty Himaalayas, North
India)
2. Raameshwaram (South India)
3. Dwaarka (West India), and
4. Jagannaath Dhaam Puri (Orissa, East India)
The ancient Epics also relate the history of the chaar
dhaam with the widely accepted Four Yugas (Yuga = era).
The chaar yuga s are:
Satya yuga, Tretayaa
yuga, Dwaapara yuga, and Kali
yuga. According to the epics, the relation of yuga
with dhaama are as follows:
Badrinaath » Satya yuga,
Rameshwaram » Tretayaa yuga,
Dwaarka » Dwaapara yuga, and
Jagannaath » Kali yuga.
The present age is approaching the end of Kali yuga.
It is widely believed in the Hindu mythology that towards the end of Kali
yuga, Lord Vishnu (Lord
Jagannaath is a form of Lord Vishnu)
will appear as Kalki Avataar to save the
saints (good) and destroy the sinners (evil). This will happen at a time
when the Sin will be at it's peak,
i.e. at the worst time of this Kali yuga. As
he will come to destroy the Kalanka (=
blemishes of and on the humanity), he is called Kalki
avataar.
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Dharma
Indian (Bharat) expression
for the "eternal law of the cosmos", "inherent property in
the nature of the things". -Origin Sanskrit, literally 'decree,
custom, or property of something'. From spiritual point of view it means - characteristics of
truth, honesty, and justice - Also it is often used in the sense of "religion",
e.g. Christian religion, Hindu religion (dharma) etc. [The word is
accepted in Britannica].
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Garuda
Garuda A mythical bird
half-man-half-bird -on which Lord Visnu moves. It is the vehicle of Lord
Visnu. Shri Garuda is one of the powers of Lord Visnu himself. HUge in
size, and brighter than pure gold, its Teja (lusture) crosses the Sun.
Extremely heroic and brave in nature and a staunch enemy of evils and
snakes (representating evil). Also, he is destroyer of poison. Garuda
Sadhana gives the power to cure venom and poisonous effect.
According to Puranic stories, he was
born of Sage Kashyapa and Vinata, one of the daughters of Daksha Prajapati
and is of Kaashyap gotra. He has a white face, a beak-like long nose, red
wings, and a huge body with a golden hue. His lustre was so brilliant that
soon after his birth, the demi-gods mistook him for Agni (fire) and began
worshipping him.
Garuda had a son named Sampati, and his
wife was Unnati. Another wife of Kashyapa, Kadru, who was the mother of
the serpent race, was Vinata's great rival. Once the two wives had a
dispute over the color of the horse of Indra- the, Uchchaishrava, that was
obtained during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthana). Vinata lost
the bet and as per the conditions, she was made a slave of Kadru. She
could regain her freedom only if Garuda could obtain the nectar (Amrit).
Garuda succeeded in stealing it from heaven but not without a fight with
Indra, its preserver. In one side were all the Gods with Indra and Garuda
was on one side. It was said that he almost won over all the Gods before
being severly harmed and in the process Indra's Vajra (thunder-bolt
weapon) was destroyed. Indra recovered the nectar afterwards, after Garuda
freed his mother.
Garuda's son Jatayu once tried to fly
up to the Sun in the sky. This burnt his wings and he fell down. Also, he
tried to resist Raavana during the abduction of Sitaa and got fatal
injuries. In this condition, he awaited his death till giving Raama the
details of Sita's abduction by Ravana and her whereabouts. His last rites
were performed by Rama. Jatayu had been a friend of Rama's father,
Dasharatha.
Garuda, after getting permission and
acceptance from Shri Visnu, after the war, wrote one of the first
Puraanas, teh Garuda puraana. This is in the form of instructions to
Garuda by Vishnu and deals with a variety of science and principles,
including the secret of creation of the Universe.
Garuda
Mantra : Om PA Kshim Svaaha
Garuda Mantra for destroying poison: Om hreem hrauum hreem hreem
bhirundayai svaahaa
Garuda Gaayatri: Om TatPurushaaya
Vidmahe, SuvarnaPakshaaya Dheemahi, Tannoh Garudah Prachodayaat
Mahapurusa Achyuta is believed to be
born at the will of Shri Jagannath (Visnu), with the inherent subtle power
of Shri Garuda. He was found by his father, in dreams, near the Garuda
Khamba (pillar), at the front of the Jagannath Temple. Being a power of
Visnu, and one of the five souls of Visnu, he easily acquired all the
powers (siddhis) of Garuda after sometime, e.g. the power to see the
future. He is a saviour of the devotees and extremely kind and
devotee-concerned.Please see "Birth of Shri Achyuta" page for more details
and "Taamrapothi" page for his sadhana and the manifested power to see the
events in the three time-zones.
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Guru
Guru is often used for a Hindu spiritual teacher or Guide.
Also the word is used for each of the ten first leaders of the Sikh
religion.
The word Guru comes from Sanskrit guru 'weighty,
grave' (compare with Latin gravis). It means "with
weightage (a big importance)".
Also it is often (correctly from
spiritual point-of-view) interpreted as being derived from two root
words Gu
(meaning darkness), and ru
(dispeller or remover). A real Guru (sad-Guru) is an
awakened human who transmits higher consciousness to the disciples and
devotees - to take them from an ordinary path to the path-of-truth. An
aspirant who is accepted by a Guru and who is considered to be worthy
to be initiated is called shisya
(disciple).
From the spiritual point of view -The Guru is as good as the
God. It has been said that -
Guru Brahmaa, Guru Vishnu, Gurudeva Maheswara
Guru saakhsaat Parambrahma, tasmayi Shri Gurave Namoh.
(Guru himself is Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva-
And is representative of the Supreme-Soul, hence regards and
obligations to Guru.)
When we offer respects to the guru, we are offering respects to
God. In Baba Buddhanath Das's words, the Supreme-God becomes
invisible in the living world and makes the Guru visible. Hence,
for realizing God's mercy, it is required that we learn to offer
respects to God through God's representative. The origin is from Sanskrit. [The word is
introduced in Britannica].
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Karma
Karma of a person means the sum of that individual person's actions
in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in
future existences.
informal: destiny or fate, following as effect from cause. The origin is
from Sanskrit equivalent word maneing 'deeds, sum-of-actions'.
Additionally, Karma means "the duty or work" that a person is supposed to
perform which is fixed by the Allmighty. [The word is accepted in
Britannica].
Karma yoga: The discipline of selfless action as a way to
perfection instead of following mystic, ascetic, or other spiritual paths.
Such a person is called as "Karma yogi".
Karma phala: The fruit (consequence) that a persons gets (either
enjoys or bears) depending on his past-Karma.
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Mahant
Mahant is mostly used in Hinduism and literally means a chief priest of
a temple or the head of a monastery. [The word is accepted in
Britannica].
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Mantra
Mantra is a combination of divine syllables or sounds
which when recited invokes the latent power in that particular mantra,
which involves pleasing some deities or attaining some results (used originally in Vedic sanatana dharma,
Hinduism and Buddhism). The Mantras are created by spiritual Seers (Rishis
and Yogis) in a divine trance. Each mantra has a rishi
(spiritual seer).
In Sanskrit, mantra
literally means 'instrument of thought', from man (to think)
verb : ‘Mananat trayate iti
mantrah’ - by the
Manana (constant recollection or
recitation) of which one is liberated. Liberation involves your aim,
i.e. what one wants to achieve by this mantra -sadhana.
Each Mantra consists of a Matraa (phase) which
creates a distinct sound-frequency; a Devataa (deity or God); a
Bija (seed) which gives it a special power, and the Kilakam
(support or pillar). Some mantras consisty of only seeds (single
syllables without special literal meaning) an are called
Bija-mantras. [The word is accepted in Britannica].
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Peepal
tree
Botanical name or the Latin name:
Ficus
religious
Name in "Sanskrit" language :
Ashvattha
The "Peepal tree" or the "holy fig tree"
is the most accepted botanical entity in the Hindu tradition. It is
considered sacred by both Hindus and Buddhists and its name has been referred in the
Vedas and hindu epics. The saints used to meditate sitting under this
holy tree. It was only under the Peepal
tree that Gautam Buddha (9th Avataar of Lord Vishnu) attained
enlightenment and that particular tree was named as " Bodhi-brikhsa",
the wisdom-tree. The Peepal is considered as a feminine to the masculine
Banyan tree.
The tree grows in most parts of India, especially on the banks of rivers and large
water bodies and are abundantly found in the forests on the lower slopes of the
Himalayas, Orissa as well as in central India. The Peepal-bark has light
gray color and is smooth and the leaves have a distinctive shape of heart and
have long and tapering tips. The tree is also used in
Ayurveda (the Indian
branch of medical science dealing with natural plants and products).
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Sadhana
Intense, disciplined, and regular practice or learning for
spritualism, religion, art and craft, e.g. music. Mostly it refers to
intense spiritual practice to get enlightment -derived from Sanskrit sadhana
'dedication to an aim', from sadh 'bring about'. [The word is
accepted in Britannica]. A person who performs sadhana
is a Sadhak.
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Samadhi
Samadhi is a blissfull state of intense concentration or
super-consciousness achieved through Yoga (or meditation). In yoga this is
also regarded as the final stage, at which union with the divine is
reached, before or at the time when a sadhak reaches his final stage of
leaving the body (not necessarily forever). It is derived from Sanskrit
equivalent word meaning "state of contemplation". [The word is accepted in
Britannica].
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Sannyasi
Sannyasi (also Sanyasi; Sannyasinii for female gender): a Hindu
religious mendicant or Ascetic. The origin is from Sanskrit 'sanyasin'
meaning - laying aside, ascetic', from sa 'together' + ni
'down' + as 'throw'. [The word is accepted in
Britannica].
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Shri-khsetra
Another name for "Puri", Orissa, India.
The holy town "Puri",
situated in the East-coast of India in the state of Orissa is called as
Shri-khsetra. The word "Shri" in "Sanskrit" is used to
render importance, respect, and weightage to anything. The temple of Shri-Jagannath
(Jagannath is a form of Lord Vishnu) is called as "Shri-Mandir",
and the place (Puri) is called as "Shri-Khsetra".
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Shunya
yantra
The Shunya
Sadhana
has no audible Mantra,
unlike all other Yantra sadhanas. The picture above is of Shunyayantra. There are ten
circles (approximate) representating ten solar-rings and the dot
represents the Parambrahman. A
Sadhak
who performs shunya-sadhana is a shunya-sadhak.
(please click on the Yantra for a larger image)
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Siddhi
Siddhi literally means absolute or total understanding;
enlightenment (a state of being "Buddha", also called "Siddha"). Additionally, the word is
frequently (Siddhis in plural) used to mean the paranormal powers
possessed by saints, mystics, mantriks, and tantriks. The origin is from
Sanskrit. [The word is accepted in
Britannica].
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Tantra
Tantra (noun) refers to a Hindu or Buddhist spiritual
Sadhana, that is performed using
Yantra, Mantra, and specific rituals. One of the
ways in which Tantra is explained is : Tanu trayate itii Tantra (which
liberates from the limitations of the body). From point-of-view of
spiritual practice, Tantra means :
Yantra ku Mantrare Bhediba hiin Tantra (Oriya), i.e.
To pierce through an Yantra by applying a
Mantra is Tantra.
One who practises Tantra is a Tantrik (also Tantric).
Tantra is infact the best way of Spiritual practice to attain
Siddhis. In the times of Guru Matsyendranath,
Guru Gorakhnath, Guru Viswamitra etc., tantra was a
much respected and evolved science. However, with time, tantra became a
Taboo, partly because of misuse-of-capabilites by certain Greedy
individuals, and partly because the real knowledge was made very confined
due to the fear of misuse and slowly got extinct. In recent times, the
word has been associated with a variety of strange things, by people with
orientation-less or poor imagination, which has nothing really to do with
Tantra.
Tantra is a vast Science, with many different ways,
Siddhis, rituals and know-hows of six-abilites:
Shanti, (peace), Vashikaran (hypnotism and control),
Stambhan (paralyze someone), Vidveshana (create conflict between persons),
Uchhatan (driving away), and Maarana (destroy or kill someone). It is the misuse of such
capabilities that led to extinction of the divine knowledge, however,
these are never the main aims of tantra. The fear of tantra-practising is
unfounded.
The construction of the Jagannath temple at Puri is based
on the principle of Tantra. The temple is constructed in the form of
Shri-Yantra and the deities are placed on Maha-Vairabh Yantra
which was designed using 100000 special black stones (saalagrama).
The word dates back from the 7th century (at least) or
earlier and the origin is from Sanskrit (from tan 'stretch'). [The
word is accepted in Britannica].
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Yantra
Yantra is a type geometrical diagram or object, used Tantra
(tantric worship). They are made of various metals (e.g., copper, silver,
gold, astadhatu - an alloy of 8 different metals - etc.) or dried leaves
of a special plant (bhoja patra). -origin is from Sanskrit, literally 'device
for holding or fastening'. In tantric method of spiritualism (tantric
sadhana) an "Yantra" often represents the body of
the deity related to that sadhana.
e.g.,
Shunya yantra,
Bhubaneswari yantra, Bagalamukhi yantra
It also literally means - A Machine. [The word is accepted in
Britannica].
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Geographical (historical)
information
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Orissa
Orissa is an eastern state belonging to the Indian sub-continent.
The city of Bhubaneswar (temple city of India) is the state capital.
During the medieval times, the state corresponding roughly with now-a-days
Orissa passed under the various names such as: Utkala,
Kalinga,
and Odra (Udra) Desa. The state boundaries varied
from time to time and were sometimes much larger. These land names are
associated with peoples. The Okkala or Utkala, the Kalinga, and the Odra
or Oddaka were mentioned in literature as tribes. Ancient Greeks
knew the latter two as Kalingai and Oretes. Eventually the
names got identified with the territories. The
land was inhabited by semi-Hinduized tribes (shabaras) in the
hinterland, a group of farming Brahmins (halua brahmuna) who
practised invincible Tantra method near Jajpur area (the place of
Goddess Biraja), and people of
other castes and trades as well.
For centuries before and after
the birth of Christ, Kalinga was a formidable political
power, extending from the Ganga river to the Godavari river.
Approximately between the 11th and 16th centuries the name was twisted;
the name Odra Desa was gradually transformed into
Uddisa, Udisa, or Odisa,
which in English became Orissa. The language of Odisa came
to be known as Oriya.
The following picture shows the location of modern
Orissa within India:
[Location of modern Orissa within India]
Kalinga was already
famous at the dawn of Indian history. Buddhist sources refer to the
rule of King Brahmadutta in Kalinga at the time of
the Buddha's death. In the 4th century BC the first Indian empire builder,
Mahapadma Nanda, conquered Kalinga, but the Nanda rule
was short-lived. In 260 BC the Mauryan emperor Ashoka
invaded Kalinga and fought one of the greatest and most bloody wars
of ancient history. He then renounced war, became a Buddhist, and preached
peace and non-violence in and outside India. In the 1st century BC the Kalinga
emperor Kharavela conquered vast territories that collectively came
to be called the Kalinga empire.
Kalinga became a maritime power beginning in the
1st century AD, and its overseas activities culminated in the 8th century
with the establishment of the Shailendra empire in Java.
Orissa was ruled during the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries by the powerful
Bhauma-Kara dynasty and in the 10th and 11th centuries by the
Soma dynasty. The Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneshwar, the
greatest Shiva monument of India, was inititated by the
king Yayati.
Medieval Orissa enjoyed a golden age under the Ganga
Dynasty.
Its founder, Anantavarma Chodagangadeva (1078-1147),
ruled
from the Ganges to the Godavari with "Cuttack" city as the state capital. He began the
construction of the temple of Jagannaatha (Lord of the Universe) at
Puri.
Narasimhadeva 1 (1238-64) built the Sun Temple (Surya
Mandira) of
Konarka, one of the finest and best creations of Hindu architecture
all over the world. In the 13th
and 14th centuries, when much of India was overrun by the Muslims,
independent Orissa remained a citadel of Hindu religion, philosophy, art,
and architecture. The "Veera Kalinga Putras" (brave sons of
Kalinga) were the last to give up, till it was conquered by betraying.
The Gangas were succeeded by the Surya
dynasty. Its first king, Kapilendradeva (1435-66), won territories from his
Muslim neighbours and greatly expanded the Orissa kingdom. His successor,
Purushottamadeva, maintained these gains with difficulty. The next and
the last Surya king, Prataparudradeva, became a disciple of
the naamayogi avataar Chaitanya mahaprabhu,
the great medieval saint, and became a pacifist. After his death (1540)
Orissa's power declined, and in 1568, when King Mukundadeva was killed by his
own countrymen, Orissa lost its independence to the Afghan rulers of
Bengal.
The Mughal emperor Akbar conquered Orissa from the
Afghans in 1590-92. When the Mughal Empire fell in 1761, part of Orissa
remained under the Bengal nawaabs, but the greater part was snatched by the Marathas.
The Bengal sector came under British rule in 1757 after the Battle of
Plassey; the Maratha sector was conquered by the British in 1803.
Although after 1803 the British controlled the entire Oriya-speaking
area, it continued to be administered as two units. It was not until April
1, 1936, that the British heeded calls for unification on a linguistic
basis and constituted Orissa as a separate province; 26 Oriya
princely states, however, remained outside the provincial administration.
After the independence of India in 1947, all these princely states except
Saraikela and Kharsawan (which merged with Bihar) became part of Orissa.
Geography:
The state can be broadly divided into four natural
divisions: (1) the northern plateau, (2) the eastern ghats,
(3) the central tract, and (4) the coastal plains. The northern plateau
(in the northern part of the state) is an extension of the forest-covered,
lightly settled, and mineral-rich Chot-Nagpur plateau centred in southern
Bihar. The eastern ghats, extending roughly parallel to the coast, are
remnants of a very ancient line of hills in eastern peninsular India;
rising to heights of 3,600 feet (1,100 metres), the eastern ghats are
forest-covered, provide a home for a variety of wildlife, and are
populated by several tribal groups. The central tract comprises a series
of plateaus and basins occupying the inland area west and north of the
Eastern Ghats; the plateau areas provide scant resources, but several of
the basins--notably the Kalahandi, Balangir, Hirakud, and
Jharsuguda--have the soil and the irrigation facilities to support local
agriculture. The coastal plains are formed of alluvial soils deposited by
the many rivers flowing to the Bay of Bengal; locally the area is known as
the Baleshwar Coastal Plain to the northeast, the Mahanadi delta in the
centre, and the Chilika Plain to the southwest. The coastal plains are
heavily populated, have extensive irrigation, and are devoted almost
entirely to the growing of rice during the rainy season.
The main rivers are the Subarnarekha, Burabalang,
Baitarani, Brahmani, Mahanadi, Rushikulya, and Vamsadhara. Notable
mountain ranges are the Mahendra Hill (Giri; rising to 4,924 feet [1,501
metres]), the Malaya Hill (3,894 feet [1,187 metres]), and the Megasini
(3,822 feet [1,165 metres]). Orissa's Chilika Lake is the biggest
saltwater lagoon in India.
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Kalinga
Kalinga is another name for the state of Orissa, but was larger
in size than the modern day Orissa. The following figure shows the
location of Anga, Banga,
Kalinga, Magadha
and other states in ancient India:
[Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Magadha, & other states in ancient India]
Kalinga is an ancient territory of east-central India that included most of
modern Orissa, part of northern Andhra
Pradesh, and a portion of Madhya Pradesh. Strictly, it
stretched not farther south than the Godavari River, thus excluded Vengi
(the Andhra territory between Godavari river and the Krishna river). The hinterland
of Kalinga led through mountainous and thickly forested country,
inhabited by semi-Hinduized tribes, to central India and the Gangetic
plain. With the ports of Coringa (modern day Kakinada), Vishakhapatnam, Chicacole,
and Ganjam and the important towns of Rajahmundry and Vizayanagaram,
Kalingans made excellent seaborne trade with Burma (now Myanmar) and areas still farther
south and east. It was mentioned by the Roman writer Pliny the Elder.
Kalinga was conquered by Mahapadma, the founder of the Nanda
dynasty (c. 343-c. 321 BC) of Magadha. It seceded from the
Magadhan empire sometime after the fall of the Nanda dynasty, but it was
reconquered by the Maurya king Ashoka in the 3rd century BC in a
terrible war that was said to have helped to convert him to Buddhism.
Subsequently, the Soma-vanshis (who belong to Soma dynasty) of southern Kosala, who controlled the
strategic town of Chakrakotta (in the former Bastar state), ruled parts of
the coastal strip for a period of time, as did the Yayatis, Vishnukundins,
Bhanjas, and Bhauma Karas.
The eastern Gangas (pronounced as Gungu s) were
the most famous rulers of all Kalinga. Their dynasty, which began
its rule in the mid-11th century AD, sometimes competed with and sometimes
allied itself with the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi. In the next
century
Anantavarma Chodagangadeva
was particularly renowned; he built the Temple of Jagannaatha
at Puri. The famous temple of the
sun-god at Konarak (Konaarka) was built in the 13th century by Narasimhadeva I. Between 1238 and 1305 the
Gangas (pronounced as Gungus)
successfully withstood Muslim infiltration from the north, but the dynasty
collapsed when the sultan of Delhi penetrated Kalinga from the
south in 1324.
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Anga
Anga is another name for some of the eastern regions of the
present-day Bihar state and some parts of West Bengal.
Champaa was the capital of Anga, identified with two villages of that name
on the south bank of the Ganges River, east of Monghyr The city is often
mentioned in early Buddhist literature as a city of importance and was one
of the six great cities of northern India during Gautam Buddha's time
(6th-5th century BC). It was a centre for foreign trade, and it gave its
name to a kingdom later founded in Annam (now in Vietnam).
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Banga
Banga is another name for ancient Bengal (West Bengal).
It is a historic region in the northeastern part of the Indian
subcontinent, generally corresponding to the area inhabited by speakers of
the Bengali language and now divided between the Indian state of West
Bengal and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Bengal formed part of most
of the early empires that controlled northern India.
From the 8th to the 12th century, Bengal was under the
Buddhist Pala dynasty,
based in neighbouring Bihar. After about 1200 it was governed by
semi-independent Muslim rulers, and from 1576 it belonged to the Mughal
empire. When Mughal power declined in the 18th century, a separate dynasty
emerged in Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. Its rulers, known as the nawabs of
Bengal, soon came into conflict with the British,
who had established themselves at Calcutta in western Bengal (1690) and
who took possession of the nawabs' realm in 1757-64. Bengal was
thenceforth the base for British expansion in India. From 1773 its
governor-general was the chief executive of British India; from 1834 he
bore the title "governor-general of India." Assam was joined to Bengal
from 1838 to 1874. In 1854 the government of India was separated from that
of Bengal, though Calcutta remained India's capital until 1912. With the
end of British rule in 1947, West Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa became part of
the Republic of India. East Bengal went to Pakistan, but in 1971 it became
the independent state of Bangladesh.
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Magadha
Magadha is another name for the west-central part of the
present-day state of Bihar.
It
ancient kingdom of India, Magadha was situated in now-a-days west-central
Bihar, in northeastern India. It was the centre of several larger kingdoms
or empires between the 6th century BC and the 8th century AD.
The early importance of Magadha may be explained by its
strategic position in the Ganges River valley, enabling it to control
communication and trade on the river. The river further provided a link
between Magadha and the rich ports in the Ganges delta.
Under King Bimbisaara (~ 543 - 491
BC) of the Haryanka line, the kingdom of Anga (eastern Bihar)
was added to Magadha. Kosala was annexed later. The supremacy of Magadha
continued under the Nanda (4th century BC) and Mauryan (4th-2nd century
BC) dynasties; under the Mauryan dynasty the empire included almost the
entire subcontinent of India. The early centuries AD saw the decline of
Magadha, but the rise of the Gupta dynasty in the 4th century brought it
once more to a position of preeminence. Not only did these imperial
dynasties begin by establishing their power in Magadha but in each case Pataliputra
(adjacent to modern Patna) was the imperial capital, thus adding to the
prestige of Magadha.
Lively accounts of Pataliputra and
Magadha are available in the 'Indica' of Megasthenes (~ 300
BC) and in travel diaries of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Fa-hsien and
Hsüan-tsang (4th-5th and 7th centuries AD). Many sites in Magadha were
sacred to Buddhism. Toward the close of the 12th century, Magadha was
conquered by the Muslims.
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