600 BCE
South Asia (East India) · Early State

Pundra / Pundravardhana

c. 600 BCE – 300 CE

Overview

Early polity in Bengal region; urban center at Mahasthangarh.

Pundra / Pundravardhana

Small early polity in the Barind Tract of north Bengal, centered on Mahasthangarh. Mentioned in the Mahabharata and Buddhist texts. Peripheral to the major Gangetic Mahajanapadas.

Territory Phases

  1. Pundra600 BCE300 CE

    Small early polity in the Barind Tract of north Bengal, centered on Mahasthangarh. Mentioned in the Mahabharata and Buddhist texts. Peripheral to the major Gangetic Mahajanapadas but important for understanding early state formation in eastern India.

Sources

  1. Hand-drawn polygon
  2. Thapar, R. (2002) Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300
  3. Raychaudhuri, H.C. (1923/1996) Political History of Ancient India
  4. Allchin, F.R. (1995) The Archaeology of Early Historic South Asia
  5. Buddhist Anguttara Nikaya(Canonical list of 16 Mahajanapadas)