Surasena (Mahajanapada)

One city carried two different religious revolutions at once. Krishna devotion took root at Mathura, on the Yamuna river. So did the Buddha’s own teaching, carried there by one of his chief disciples. Later writers came to call it the city of two faiths.

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The City of Two Faiths

Krishna devotion and Buddhist teaching, both rooted at one Mahajanapada

c. 700 BCE

Surasena Rises

A Yadava kingdom takes shape at Mathura, on the Yamuna river.

Time of the Buddha

King Avantiputra Converts

Taught by Maha Kachchana, a chief disciple of the Buddha.

c. 300 BCE

Megasthenes Visits

The Greek envoy records the Surasenoi worshipping a god he calls “Herakles.”

c. 300 BCE

Absorbed Into Magadha

Surasena’s independence ends under the expanding Mauryan Empire.

The throughline: Mathura carried two living faiths at once — a Yadava clan’s devotion to Krishna, and a king’s own conversion to the Buddha’s teaching — centuries before it became a great centre of Kushan-era Buddhist art.

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Timeline

• c. 700 BCE: Surasena emerges as a kingdom centred on Mathura, on the banks of the Yamuna river.
• By the 6th century BCE: Surasena is counted among the sixteen Mahajanapadas, or “great realms,” in the Anguttara Nikaya.
• Time of the Buddha: King Avantiputra converts to Buddhism, taught by Maha Kachchana, one of the Buddha’s own chief disciples.
• c. 300 BCE: Megasthenes, a Greek ambassador at the Mauryan court, describes the Surasenoi and their worship of a god he calls “Herakles.”
• c. 300 BCE: Surasena is absorbed into the expanding Magadhan Empire under the Mauryas.

A Yadava Kingdom Among the Sixteen Mahajanapadas Need to Know

• Surasena was one of sixteen Mahajanapadas, or “great realms,” of ancient India. The Anguttara Nikaya, an early Buddhist text, lists it among them.
• Its capital was Mathura, on the banks of the Yamuna river.
• The kingdom was ruled by the Yadava clan. The Mahabharata and the Puranas name two of its branches, the Vrishnis and the Andhakas.
• Krishna, also called Vasudeva, is remembered in these texts as the head, or Samgha-mukhya, of the Yadava Samgha. This “Samgha” worked more like a clan assembly of equals than a single king’s court.
• Surasena was one of sixteen such republics and kingdoms spread across ancient India. Read more: AncHist0008 — The Mahajanapadas and the Rise of Magadha.

A King’s Conversion and a Greek Envoy’s Account Good to Know

• King Avantiputra ruled Surasena around the Buddha’s own lifetime. He converted to Buddhism after being taught by Maha Kachchana, one of the Buddha’s chief disciples.
• Around 300 BCE, the Greek ambassador Megasthenes visited the Mauryan court. He later wrote an account of India called the Indica.
• Megasthenes described the Surasenoi, the people of this region, as worshippers of a god he called “Herakles.” This was his own Greek name for a deity he recognised from what he was told in India.
• Scholars link this “Herakles” to Krishna, or to his brother Balarama — both central figures in Yadava tradition. But Megasthenes never used the word “Krishna” himself. The identification is a later scholarly reading, not his own claim.
• Mathura’s excavated layers show Painted Grey Ware pottery, followed later by Northern Black Polished Ware. Together, they point to a long, continuous settlement. Its position on the Yamuna also made it an important trade hub.
• Mathura later became one of two great centres of Kushan-era Buddhist art, alongside Gandhara. Read more: AncHist0079 — Gandhara vs Mathura Schools of Art.

Test Yourself

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1. Which early Buddhist text lists Surasena among the sixteen Mahajanapadas of ancient India?

The Anguttara Nikaya

The Rigveda

The Arthashastra

The Ashtadhyayi

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Absorption Into Magadha and a Lasting Legacy Great to Know

• Surasena’s independence ended around 300 BCE. The kingdom was absorbed into the expanding Magadhan Empire under the Mauryas.
• Mathura kept its religious importance long after. It remained a centre of Krishna devotion, a tradition explored in full in AncHist0081 — Vaishnavism: History and Development.
• Buddhism, brought here through Avantiputra’s own conversion, also endured at Mathura for centuries.
• The city’s dual identity, one seat of Krishna worship and early Buddhism at once, is why it earned its name as a city of two faiths.