A living atlas of the subcontinent 3300 BCE — 2026 CE
Today’s time machine
Editorial atlas · Mahajanapadas
India Map 364 BCE — Historical Map & Timeline
Sixteen large polities compete as cities, coinage and new philosophies flourish.
The interactive map shows the atlas’s nearest drawn reconstruction (c. 500 BCE). Frontiers moved in between, so use the list of powers below for 364 BCE.
Who ruled India in 364 BCE?
In 364 BCE, the main political power in this atlas is the Magadha.
Magadha Present-day Bihar. The Mahajanapada that grew into the strongest state of the Ganga plain under the Haryanka, Shishunaga and Nanda houses.Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — Magadha
What happened in India around 364 BCE?
c. 5th century BCE: The Buddha’s teaching travels from a regional landscape. Traditions locate key moments of the Buddha’s life at Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kushinagar. Monastic communities then carried his teachings along routes already linking courts, towns and merchants. Source: Britannica: Buddhism—Historical development
326 BCE: Alexander’s campaign reaches the Punjab. Macedonian forces crossed the Indus and fought King Porus near the Hydaspes before turning back at the Hyphasis. The expedition disturbed northwestern politics but did not amount to a conquest of the subcontinent. Source: Britannica: India—The northwestern frontier
c. 321 BCE: Chandragupta replaces the Nandas and faces Seleucus. Chandragupta Maurya established power in Magadha and extended it into the northwest. A settlement with Seleucus I connected the new empire to the Hellenistic world through diplomacy as well as war. Source: Britannica: Chandragupta