Which Mahājanapada rose to political and military prominence between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE?

Correct — D. NCERT's Themes in Indian History, Part I, says it directly: between the sixth and the fourth centuries BCE, Magadha (in present-day Bihar) became the most powerful mahajanapada.

Its capital was first Rajagaha (Rajgir). In the fourth century BCE it moved to Pataliputra (Patna), which commanded the routes along the Ganga.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Avanti — Avanti, with its capital at Ujjayini, was one of the sixteen mahajanapadas, but NCERT gives the rise to dominance in this period to Magadha, not Avanti.
• (b)
  Kuru — Kuru appears in NCERT's list of mahajanapadas, but the state that became most powerful between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE was Magadha.
• (c)
  Gandhāra — Gandhāra, in the north-west with its capital at Taxila, was one of the sixteen, but NCERT does not describe it rising to dominance. Magadha did.

Early Buddhist and Jaina texts list sixteen mahajanapadas. NCERT's examples include Vajji, Magadha, Koshala, Kuru, Panchala, Gandhara and Avanti.

Modern historians explain Magadha's rise by geography: productive agriculture, iron mines in present-day Jharkhand, elephants from its forests for the army, and the Ganga for cheap communication.

Early Buddhist and Jaina writers credited ambitious kings instead, Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda, and their ministers.

Key facts

• NCERT: between the sixth and fourth centuries BCE, Magadha became the most powerful mahajanapada.
• Magadha's capital moved from Rajagaha (Rajgir) to Pataliputra (Patna) in the fourth century BCE.
• Capitals to pair: Avanti with Ujjayini, Gandhara with Taxila.
• The kings NCERT names for Magadha's rise are Bimbisara, Ajatasattu and Mahapadma Nanda.

Common traps

• Choosing Kuru for its fame in the Mahabharata. The question dates the rise to the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, which NCERT gives to Magadha.
• Naming Pataliputra as Magadha's first capital. It was Rajagaha, with Pataliputra from the fourth century BCE.

No directly related past PYQ was found.