By 500 BCE, sixteen monarchies and 'republics' known as the Mahajanapadas — Kasi , Kosala , Anga , Magadha , Vajji (or Vriji), Malla , Chedi , Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru , Panchala , Machcha (or Matsya), Surasena , Assaka , Avanti , Gandhara , Kamboja — stretched across the Indo-Gangetic