Kosala, sometimes referred to as Uttara Kosala was one of the Mahajanapadas of ancient India. It emerged as a small state during the Late Vedic period and became one of the earliest states to transition from a lineage-based society to a monarchy. By the 6th century BCE, it had consolidated into one of the four great powers of ancient northern India, along with Magadha, Vatsa, and Avanti.
Kosala and its neighboring kingdoms.
Jetavana of Sravasti showing the three preferred residences of the Buddha. Sanchi.
Procession of Prasenajit of Kosala leaving Sravasti to meet the Buddha, Sanchi.
The ruins of the city walls of Shravasti, the capital of the Kosala kingdom.
The Mahājanapadas were sixteen kingdoms or aristocratic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period.
Pottery of the Northern Black Polished Ware culture (c. 500–200 BCE)
Silver coin of Avanti mahajanapada (4th century BCE)
Coin of Early Gandhara Janapada: AR Shatamana and one-eighth Shatamana (round), Taxila-Gandhara region, c. 600–300 BCE.
A coin of Takshashila, portrays a tree flanked by a hill surmounted by a crescent and a Nandipada above a swastika.
