Magadha ［摩掲陀国］ (, Pali;  Makada-koku): The most powerful of the sixteen great states in India in the time of Shakyamuni Buddha. Magadha, with Rājagriha as its capital, covered an area south of the Ganges River in what is now the state of Bihar in northeastern India. Eagle Peak, Buddhagayā (the place of Shakyamuni’s enlightenment), and Bamboo Grove Monastery were located in this kingdom. Magadha was ruled in the Buddha’s lifetime by Bimbisāra and then by his son Ajātashatru. Shakyamuni taught widely in the kingdom, which became the center of Buddhism and Buddhist culture. Bimbisāra and later Ajātashatru became followers of Shakyamuni Buddha. It is said that Shakyamuni preached in the Magadhi dialect of that region. The capital, Rājagriha, was the base of his religious activities. King Ajātashatru succeeded in annexing the neighboring kingdom of Kosala, Magadha’s only rival. According to one view, when Udāyibhadra, a son of Ajātashatru (a grandson according to another view), was king of Magadha, he moved the capital to Pātaliputra. Another account holds that Ajātashatru himself moved the capital from Rājagriha to Pātaliputra. In the third century b.c.e., King Ashoka of the Maurya dynasty ruled the area of Magadha. Ashoka, who was a Buddhist, is famous for basing his government on humane Buddhist principles while maintaining an atmosphere of religious freedom. Magadha is also known as the birthplace of Jainism.