During the life time of Lord Gautam Buddha, sixteen great powers
(Mahajanpadas) existed in the 7th and early 6th centuries
BC. Among the more important republics were the Sakyas of Kapilavastu and the
Licchavis of Vaishali. Besides the republics, there were monarchical states,
among which the important ones were Kaushambi (Vatsa), Magadha, Kosala and
Avanti. These states were ruled by vigorous personalities who had embarked upon
the policies of aggrandisement and absorption of neighbouring states. However,
there were distinct signs of the republican states while those under the
monarchs were expanding.
Buddha was born in BC 560 and died at the age of eighty in BC 480.
The place of his birth was a grove known as Lumbini, near the city of
Kapilavastu, at the foot of Mount Palpa in the Himalayan ranges within Nepal.
Buddha, whose original name was Siddhartha Gautama, was the founder of
Buddhism, the religion and the philosophical system that evolved into a great
culture throughout much of southern and eastern Asia.
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