Ajatashatru (ruled 491-461 BCE) was a king of the Magadha empire that ruled north India.

There is not a great deal known about Ajatashatru, who lost in the shrouds of time. What is known that he became a King of Magadha and the adjoining areas by murdering his father, Bimbisara. And that he was a contemporary of Lord Buddha, and was a patron of the then-new religion of Buddhism and let the Sangha function in his Kingdom.

Some details of him are given in the earliest Buddhist scriptures.