mahājanapadas (Pāli). The sixteen states or political entities that according to tradition existed at the time of the Buddha. They were Kāsī, Kosala, Aṇga, Magadha, Vajji, Malla, Cetiya, Vaṃsa, Kuru, Pañcāla, Maccha, Sūrasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandhāra, and Kamboja. The first fourteen are included in the ‘central region’ (Pāli, Majjhimadesa), while the last two are part of the ‘northern territory’ (uttarāpatha).

A Dictionary of Buddhism, Oxford University Press, 2003, 2004 (which is available in electronic version from answer.com)