1.Emergence of New Religions

Centre of civilization was from
Haryana and western UP to Eastern UP and Bihar
due to more rainfall and better fertility of the land
abundance of iron ore resources and the knowledge of the usage of Iron and its tools
increased resulting in increased agricultural activity.
Evidence= ploughshare dated to ~500 BC has been found from Jakhera in Etah district in western U.P.

Increased agriculture –> surplus food
allowed for the development of other occupations such as craft production, trade, and urban centres.

i.e.why 6th century BC = ‘Second Urbanisation’ in the Indian Subcontinent. •
The towns and cities such as Pataliputra, Rajagriha, Sravasti, Varanasi, Vaishali, Champa, Kaushambi, and Ujjaini came into prominence between 600 and 300 BC.
Became centres of trade, commerce, and craft production.
The evidence= 1000s of coins known as Punch Marked Coins (PMC).

The increased urbanization, trade, etc. disrupted the traditional equality and
gave way to inequality and social conflict.
• New social problems emerged such as
violence, cruelty, theft, hatred, and falsehood.

• On the religious front,
the Varna-divided society meant that Shudras had to serve the 3 higher varnas.
• They worked as domestic slaves, agricultural slaves, craftsmen, and hired laborers in post-Vedic times.
Even, the Kshatriyas reacted strongly against the ritualistic domination of the Brahmanas,
led a kind of protest movement against the importance attached to birth in the varna system.
The growth of trade and commerce added to the importance of the Vaishyas
and naturally, they sought a religion that would improve their position.

• Therefore– Jainism and Buddhism gained acceptance because of the following reasons:
–NOt any importance to the existing Varna system.
– They preached the concept of peace and social equality
which would put an end to wars between different kingdoms and consequently promote trade and commerce.
Hence, the Vaishyas gave handsome gifts.
– Both Jainism and Buddhism propounded simple, puritan, and ascetic living which attracted common people in the light of growing social inequalities.

 Mahājanapadas (Sanskrit: महाजनपद, lit. ‘great realm’, from maha, “great”, and janapada “foothold of a people”) were 16 kingdoms or oligarchic republics that existed in ancient India from the 6th -4thcenturies BCE. Two of them were most probably ganatantras (republics) and others had forms of monarchy. Ancient Buddhist texts like the Anguttara Nikaya^[1] make frequent reference to 16 great kingdoms and republics which had evolved and flourished in a belt stretching from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and included parts of the trans-Vindhyan region,^[2] prior to the rise of Buddhism in India.

The Anguttara Nikaya (aṅguttaranikāya; literally “Increased by One Collection,” also translated “Gradual Collection” or “Numerical Discourses”) is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the “three baskets” that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. This nikaya consists of several thousand discourses ascribed to the Buddha and his chief disciples arranged in eleven nipatas, or books, according to the number of dhamma items referenced in them.