The post-Vedic period has a unique place in the history of ancient India, characterized as it was by intensification of social stratification, growth of a large number of urban centres and the emergence of many states. Each of these was the result of long drawn complex processes with bearings on each other.

Further, all these changes did not take place in isolation, rather they were inextricately inter­related. The new emergent system needed some ideological support, which was provided by the new heterodox systems, two of which, namely Jainism and Buddhism, became quite prominent. The orthodox Brahrnanism saw many changes creeping in so as to accommodate the emerging patterns.

In order to appreciate the problem of state formation and the growth of urbanism it seems necessary to look into the conditions prevailing during the later-Vedic phase. Having done this in the previous chapter (Vedic Age) we may now set ourselves to look for the factors contributing to the emergence of a state system i.e. transformation of raja as a chief to raja as the king in the janapadas.