n.
Ancient kingdom, India, situated in present-day Bihar and Jharkhand states, northeastern India.
An important kingdom in the 7th century BC, it absorbed the kingdom of Anga in the 6th century BC. Pataliputra ( Patna ) was its capital. Its strength grew under the Nanda dynasty ; under the Mauryan dynasty (4th2nd centuries BC), it comprised nearly the entire Indian subcontinent. It afterwards declined. Revived in the 4th century AD under the Gupta dynasty , it was conquered by the Muslims in the late 12th century. It was the scene of many events in the life of the Buddha .