King of the Magadha area in modern-day Bihar, Ajatashatru (“[he whose] adversary is unborn,” 5th century B.C.E.).
- Around 494 B.C.E., Ajatashatru ousted and killed his father, Bimbisara, and subsequently extended his father's territorial conquests.
- Ajatashatru captured the city of Vaishali, the capital of the Vrjjis dynasty, after conquering the region around Benares.
Both Ajatashatru and his father wanted to establish an empire in the Ganges River basin, and they were among the first Indian rulers to think of such a thing.
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