Janaka of Videha

The Kingdom of Videha was supposed to have had 16,000 villages and its capital in Mithila (in present day Nepal). It was a great seat of learning in Eastern India and is famous for the sage Yajnavalkya Vajasaneya (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) of Janaka's court. Although Puranic genealogies say that the founder of the Mithila Royal Family was Nimi, Satpath Brahmana says that it was Mathava Videgha who migrated east from Saraswati. Janaka was supposed to have been one of the greatest kings of this dynasty.

In our previous posts we had come up with the following approximate lower limits (conjectural):
a. Parikshita ~ 950 B.C.E (951 +- 214 B.C.E)
b. Janamejaya ~ 975 B.C.E

In order to determine the approximate chronological lower limit of the Videhan kingdom under Janaka, we need to explore the following student-teacher list:
a. Indrota Daivapa or Daivapi Saunaka was a contemporary of Janamejaya (Satapatha Brahamana 13/5/4/1)
b. His pupil was Driti Aindota. (Jaiminiya Upanishad/ Vamsa Brahamana).
c. His pupil was Pulusha Prachinayoga (Vedic Index)
d. His pupil was Paulishi Satyayajna (Chandyogya Upanishad 5/11/1/2) who was a contemporary of Budila Asvatarasvi and Uddalaka Atuni of Janaka's court
e. His pupil was Somashusma Satyayajni Prachinayoga who is said to have interacted with Janaka. (Satapath Brahmana 11/6/2/1-3)

Thus from Janamejaya to Janaka there are 5 to 6 generations, or around 270 years.  This would put Janaka of Videha, in the range of ~750 B.C.E.

The other important kingdoms of north India at that time were:
a. Gandhara
b. Kekaya
c. Madra
d. Ushinara
e. Matsya
f. Kuru
g. Panchala
h. Kashi
i. Kosala

This was probably the predecessor to the sixteen Mahajanapadas of the period around ~600 B.C.E

Conclusion (conjectural lower bands)
a. Parikshita: ~ 950 B.C.E = PGW Culture
b. Janamejaya: ~925 B.C.E = PGW Culture
c. Janaka: ~ 750 B.C.E

Please note this is a only a hypothesis.