The
Maurya

Maurya
Empire

Empire was a geographically extensive
Iron Age

Iron Age historical
power founded by
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya which dominated ancient India
between 322 BCE and 187 BCE. Extending into the kingdom of
Magadha
.png/500px-Mahajanapadas_(c._500_BCE).png)
Magadha in
the
Indo-Gangetic Plain
.jpg/780px-Mount_Ararat_and_the_Araratian_plain_(cropped).jpg)
Indo-Gangetic Plain in the eastern side of the Indian
subcontinent, the empire had its capital city at
Pataliputra

Pataliputra (modern
Patna).[2][3] The empire was the largest to have ever existed in the
Indian subcontinent, spanning over 5 million square kilometres
(1.9 million square miles) at its zenith under Ashoka.
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya raised an army and with the assistance of Chanakya
(also known as Kauṭilya),[4] overthrew the
Nanda Empire

Nanda Empire in c. 322
BCE and rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and
western India. By 317 BCE the empire had fully occupied
Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander the Great.[5] Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by
Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexander's army, gaining
additional territory west of the Indus River.[6]
The
Maurya

Maurya
Empire

Empire was one of the largest empires of the world in its
time. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along
the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, to the east into Assam, to
the west into
Balochistan

Balochistan (southwest
Pakistan

Pakistan and southeast Iran) and
the
Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush mountains of what is now Afghanistan.[7] The
Empire

Empire was
expanded into India's central and southern regions[8][9] by the
emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded Kalinga (modern
Odisha), until it was conquered by Ashoka.[10] It declined for about
50 years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in
185 BCE with the foundation of the
Shunga dynasty

Shunga dynasty in Magadha.
Under
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya and his successors, internal and external
trade, agriculture, and economic activities all thrived and expanded
across
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India thanks to the creation of a single and efficient system
of finance, administration, and security. After the Kalinga War, the
Empire

Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace and security under
Ashoka.
Mauryan

Mauryan
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious
transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge.
Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of
Jainism

Jainism increased social and
religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's
embrace of
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the
reign of social and political peace and non-violence across all of
India.
Ashoka

Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist missionaries into
Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and Mediterranean
Europe.[11]
The population of the empire has been estimated to be about 50–60
million, making the
Mauryan Empire

Mauryan Empire one of the most populous empires of
Antiquity.[12][13] Archaeologically, the period of
Mauryan

Mauryan rule in
South Asia
.svg/400px-South_Asia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
South Asia falls into the era of
Northern Black Polished Ware
.png/440px-Northern_Polished_Black_Ware_Culture_(700-200_BCE).png)
Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW).
The Arthashastra[14] and the Edicts of
Ashoka

Ashoka are the primary sources
of written records of
Mauryan

Mauryan times. The Lion Capital of
Ashoka

Ashoka at
Sarnath

Sarnath has been made the national emblem of India.
Contents
1 History
1.1
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya
1.2 Conquest of Magadha
1.3 Chandragupta Maurya
1.4 Bindusara
1.5 Ashoka
1.6 Decline
1.6.1 Shunga coup (185 BCE)
1.6.2 Establishment of the
Indo-Greek Kingdom

Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE)
2 Administration
3 Economy
4 Religion
4.1 Buddhism
4.2 Jainism
5 Architectural remains
6 Natural history
7 Contacts with the
Hellenistic

Hellenistic world
7.1 Foundation of the Empire
7.2 Reconquest of the Northwest (c. 317–316 BCE)
7.3 Conflict and alliance with Seleucus (305 BCE)
7.3.1 Marital alliance
7.3.2 Exchange of presents
7.4 Greek population in India
7.5 Buddhist missions to the West (c. 250 BCE)
7.6 Subhagasena and
Antiochos III

Antiochos III (206 BCE)
8 Timeline
9 In literature
10 See also
11 Notes
11.1 Sources
12 External links
History[edit]
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya[edit]
Main articles:
Chanakya

Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya
See also: List of
Mauryan

Mauryan rulers
The
Maurya

Maurya
Empire

Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, with help from
Chanakya, at Takshashila. According to several legends, Chanakya
travelled to Magadha, a kingdom that was large and militarily powerful
and feared by its neighbors, but was insulted by its king Dhana Nanda,
of the Nanda dynasty.
Chanakya

Chanakya swore revenge and vowed to destroy the
Nanda Empire.[15] Meanwhile, the conquering armies of
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander the
Great refused to cross the
Beas River

Beas River and advance further eastward,
deterred by the prospect of battling Magadha.
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander returned to
Babylon

Babylon and re-deployed most of his troops west of the Indus River.
Soon after
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander died in
Babylon

Babylon in 323 BCE, his empire
fragmented into independent kingdoms led by his generals.[16]
The Greek generals Eudemus and Peithon ruled in the Indus Valley until
around 317 BCE, when
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya (with the help of
Chanakya, who was now his advisor) orchestrated a rebellion to drive
out the Greek governors, and subsequently brought the Indus Valley
under the control of his new seat of power in Magadha.[5]
Chandragupta Maurya's rise to power is shrouded in mystery and
controversy. On one hand, a number of ancient Indian accounts, such as
the drama
Mudrarakshasa (Signet ring of Rakshasa – Rakshasa was the
prime minister of Magadha) by Vishakhadatta, describe his royal
ancestry and even link him with the Nanda family. A kshatriya clan
known as the Maurya's are referred to in the earliest Buddhist texts,
Mahaparinibbana Sutta. However, any conclusions are hard to make
without further historical evidence. Chandragupta first emerges in
Greek accounts as "Sandrokottos". As a young man he is said to have
met Alexander.[17] He is also said to have met the Nanda king, angered
him, and made a narrow escape.[18] Chanakya's original intentions were
to train a guerilla army under Chandragupta's command.
Conquest of Magadha[edit]
Main articles: Chandragupta Maurya, Nanda Dynasty, and Magadha
Chanakya

Chanakya encouraged
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya and his army to take over the
throne of Magadha. Using his intelligence network, Chandragupta
gathered many young men from across
Magadha
.png/500px-Mahajanapadas_(c._500_BCE).png)
Magadha and other provinces, men
upset over the corrupt and oppressive rule of king Dhana Nanda, plus
the resources necessary for his army to fight a long series of
battles. These men included the former general of Taxila, accomplished
students of Chanakya, the representative of King Parvataka, his son
Malayaketu, and the rulers of small states. The Macedonians (described
as
Yona

Yona or
Yavana

Yavana in Indian sources) may then have participated,
together with other groups, in the armed uprising of Chandragupta
Maurya

Maurya against the Nanda dynasty. The
Mudrarakshasa of Visakhadutta as
well as the Jaina work
Parisishtaparvan

Parisishtaparvan talk of Chandragupta's
alliance with the Himalayan king Parvataka, often identified with
Porus,[19][20] although this identification is not accepted by all
historians.[21] This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a composite
and powerful army made up of Yavanas (Greeks), Kambojas, Shakas
(Scythians),
Kiratas (Himalayans), Parasikas (Persians) and Bahlikas
(Bactrians) who took
Pataliputra

Pataliputra (also called Kusumapura, "The City of
Flowers"):[22][23]
"Kusumapura was besieged from every direction by the forces of Parvata
and Chandragupta: Shakas, Yavanas, Kiratas, Kambojas, Parasikas,
Bahlikas and others, assembled on the advice of Chanakya" in
Mudrarakshasa 2 [24][22]
Preparing to invade Pataliputra,
Maurya

Maurya came up with a strategy. A
battle was announced and the Magadhan army was drawn from the city to
a distant battlefield to engage with Maurya's forces. Maurya's general
and spies meanwhile bribed the corrupt general of Nanda. He also
managed to create an atmosphere of civil war in the kingdom, which
culminated in the death of the heir to the throne.
Chanakya

Chanakya managed to
win over popular sentiment. Ultimately Nanda resigned, handing power
to Chandragupta, and went into exile and was never heard of again.
Chanakya

Chanakya contacted the prime minister, Rakshasas, and made him
understand that his loyalty was to Magadha, not to the Nanda dynasty,
insisting that he continue in office.
Chanakya

Chanakya also reiterated that
choosing to resist would start a war that would severely affect
Magadha
.png/500px-Mahajanapadas_(c._500_BCE).png)
Magadha and destroy the city. Rakshasa accepted Chanakya's reasoning,
and
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya was legitimately installed as the new King of
Magadha. Rakshasa became Chandragupta's chief advisor, and Chanakya
assumed the position of an elder statesman.
Territorial evolution of the
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire
The approximate extent of the
Magadha
.png/500px-Mahajanapadas_(c._500_BCE).png)
Magadha state in the 5th century BCE.
The
Maurya

Maurya
Empire

Empire when it was first founded by
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya c.
320 BCE, after conquering the
Nanda Empire

Nanda Empire when he was only about
20 years old.
Chandragupta extended the borders of the
Maurya

Maurya
Empire

Empire towards
Seleucid

Seleucid
Persia

Persia after defeating Seleucus c. 305 BCE.[25]
Bindusara

Bindusara extended the borders of the empire southward into the Deccan
Plateau c. 300 BCE.[26]
Ashoka

Ashoka extended into Kalinga during the
Kalinga War

Kalinga War c. 265 BCE,
and established superiority over the southern kingdoms.
Hermann Kulke and
Dietmar Rothermund believe that Ashoka's empire did
not include large parts of India, which were controlled by autonomous
tribes[27]
Chandragupta Maurya[edit]
Main article: Chandragupta Maurya
The
Pataliputra

Pataliputra capital, ruins of pillared hall at Kumrahar site.
Chandragiri Hill, where
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya spent last years of his
life as a
Jain

Jain monk.
Chandragupta campaigned against the Macedonians when Seleucus I
Nicator, in the process of creating the
Seleucid Empire

Seleucid Empire out of the
eastern conquests of
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander the Great, tried to reconquer the
northwestern parts of
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India in 305 BCE. Seleucus failed
(Seleucid–
Mauryan

Mauryan war), the two rulers finally concluded a peace
treaty: a marital treaty (Epigamia) was concluded, in which the Greeks
offered their
Princess

Princess for alliance and help from him. Chandragupta
snatched the satrapies of
Paropamisade

Paropamisade (Kamboja and Gandhara),
Arachosia

Arachosia (Kandhahar) and
Gedrosia

Gedrosia (Balochistan), and Seleucus I
Nicator received 500 war elephants that were to have a decisive role
in his victory against western
Hellenistic

Hellenistic kings at the Battle of
Ipsus in 301 BCE. Diplomatic relations were established and
several Greeks, such as the historian Megasthenes,
Deimakos and
Dionysius resided at the
Mauryan

Mauryan court.
Megasthenes

Megasthenes in particular was
a notable Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya.[28]
According to Arrian, ambassador
Megasthenes

Megasthenes (c.350–c.290 BCE) lived
in
Arachosia

Arachosia and travelled to Pataliputra.[29]
Chandragupta established a strong centralized state with an
administration at Pataliputra, which, according to Megasthenes, was
"surrounded by a wooden wall pierced by 64 gates and 570 towers".
Aelian, although not expressly quoting
Megasthenes

Megasthenes nor mentionning
Pataliputra, described Indian palaces as superior in splendor to
Persia's
Susa

Susa or Ectabana.[30] The architecture of the city seems to
have had many similarities with Persian cities of the period.[31]
Chandragupta's son
Bindusara

Bindusara extended the rule of the
Mauryan

Mauryan empire
towards southern India. The famous Tamil poet Mamulanar of the Sangam
literature described how the
Deccan Plateau

Deccan Plateau was invaded by the Maurya
army.[32] He also had a Greek ambassador at his court, named
Megasthenes.[33]
Megasthenes

Megasthenes describes a disciplined multitude under Chandragupta, who
live simply, honestly, and do not know writing:
"The Indians all live frugally, especially when in camp. They dislike
a great undisciplined multitude, and consequently they observe good
order. Theft is of very rare occurrence.
Megasthenes

Megasthenes says that those
who were in the camp of Sandrakottos, wherein lay 400,000 men, found
that the thefts reported on any one day did not exceed the value of
two hundred drachmae, and this among a people who have no written
laws, but are ignorant of writing, and must therefore in all the
business of life trust to memory. They live, nevertheless, happily
enough, being simple in their manners and frugal. They never drink
wine except at sacrifices. Their beverage is a liquor composed from
rice instead of barley, and their food is principally a rice-pottage."
Strabo

Strabo XV. i. 53–56, quoting Megasthenes.
Chandragupta renounced his throne and followed
Jain

Jain teacher
Bhadrabahu.[34][35][36] He is said to have lived as an ascetic at
Shravanabelagola
.jpg/440px-Shravanabelagola._Hassan_district_(13).jpg)
Shravanabelagola for several years before fasting to death, as per the
Jain

Jain practice of sallekhana.[37]
Bindusara[edit]
Main article: Bindusara
A silver coin of 1 karshapana of the
Maurya

Maurya empire, period of
Bindusara

Bindusara
Maurya

Maurya about 297-272 BC, workshop of Pataliputra. Obv:
Symbols with a Sun Rev: Symbol Dimensions: 14 x 11 mm Weight: 3.4 g.
Bindusara

Bindusara extended the borders of the empire southward into the Deccan
Plateau c. 300 BCE.[26]
Bindusara

Bindusara was born to Chandragupta, the founder of the
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire.
This is attested by several sources, including the various
Puranas

Puranas and
the Mahavamsa.[38] He is attested by the
Buddhist texts

Buddhist texts such as
Dipavamsa

Dipavamsa and
Mahavamsa
_-_Geographicus_-_Taprobane-mallet-1686.jpg/300px-1686_Mallet_Map_of_Ceylon_or_Sri_Lanka_(Taprobane)_-_Geographicus_-_Taprobane-mallet-1686.jpg)
Mahavamsa ("Bindusaro"); the
Jain

Jain texts such as
Parishishta-Parvan; as well as the Hindu texts such as Vishnu Purana
("Vindusara").[39][40] According to the 12th century
Jain

Jain writer
Hemachandra's Parishishta-Parvan, the name of Bindusara's mother was
Durdhara.[41] Some Greek sources also mention him by the name
"Amitrochates" or its variations.[42][43]
Historian Upinder Singh estimates that
Bindusara

Bindusara ascended the throne
around 297 BCE.[44] Bindusara, just 22 years old, inherited
a large empire that consisted of what is now, Northern, Central and
Eastern parts of
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India along with parts of
Afghanistan

Afghanistan and
Baluchistan.
Bindusara

Bindusara extended this empire to the southern part of
India, as far as what is now known as Karnataka. He brought sixteen
states under the
Mauryan Empire

Mauryan Empire and thus conquered almost all of the
Indian peninsula (he is said to have conquered the 'land between the
two seas' – the peninsular region between the
Bay of Bengal

Bay of Bengal and the
Arabian Sea).
Bindusara

Bindusara didn't conquer the friendly Tamil kingdoms of
the Cholas, ruled by King Ilamcetcenni, the Pandyas, and Cheras. Apart
from these southern states, Kalinga (modern Odisha) was the only
kingdom in
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India that didn't form the part of Bindusara's empire.[45]
It was later conquered by his son Ashoka, who served as the viceroy of
Ujjaini

Ujjaini during his father's reign, which highlights the importance of
the town.[46][47]
Bindusara's life has not been documented as well as that of his father
Chandragupta or of his son Ashoka.
Chanakya

Chanakya continued to serve as
prime minister during his reign. According to the medieval Tibetan
scholar Taranatha who visited India,
Chanakya

Chanakya helped
Bindusara

Bindusara "to
destroy the nobles and kings of the sixteen kingdoms and thus to
become absolute master of the territory between the eastern and
western oceans."[48] During his rule, the citizens of
Taxila
._Circa_220-185_BC.jpg)
Taxila revolted
twice. The reason for the first revolt was the maladministration of
Susima, his eldest son. The reason for the second revolt is unknown,
but
Bindusara

Bindusara could not suppress it in his lifetime. It was crushed by
Ashoka

Ashoka after Bindusara's death.[49]
Bindusara

Bindusara maintained friendly diplomatic relations with the Hellenic
World.
Deimachus was the ambassador of
Seleucid

Seleucid emperor
Antiochus I

Antiochus I at
Bindusara's court.[50] Diodorus states that the king of Palibothra
(Pataliputra, the
Mauryan

Mauryan capital) welcomed a Greek author, Iambulus.
This king is usually identified as Bindusara.[50] Pliny states that
the Egyptian king Philadelphus sent an envoy named Dionysius to
India.[51][52] According to Sailendra Nath Sen, this appears to have
happened during Bindusara's reign.[50]
Unlike his father Chandragupta (who at a later stage converted to
Jainism),
Bindusara

Bindusara believed in the
Ajivika

Ajivika sect. Bindusara's guru
Pingalavatsa (Janasana) was a Brahmin[53] of the
Ajivika

Ajivika sect.
Bindusara's wife, Queen Subhadrangi (Queen Aggamahesi) was a
Brahmin[54] also of the
Ajivika

Ajivika sect from Champa (present Bhagalpur
district).
Bindusara

Bindusara is credited with giving several grants to Brahmin
monasteries (Brahmana-bhatto).[55]
Historical evidence suggests that
Bindusara

Bindusara died in the 270s BCE.
According to Upinder Singh,
Bindusara

Bindusara died around 273 BCE.[44] Alain
Daniélou believes that he died around 274 BCE.[56] Sailendra Nath Sen
believes that he died around 273-272 BCE, and that his death was
followed by a four-year struggle of succession, after which his son
Ashoka

Ashoka became the emperor in 269-268 BCE.[50] According to the
Mahavamsa,
Bindusara

Bindusara reigned for 28 years.[57] The Vayu Purana, which
names Chandragupta's successor as "Bhadrasara", states that he ruled
for 25 years.[58]
Ashoka[edit]
Main article: Ashoka
Aśoka pillar at Sarnath. ca. 250 BCE.
Ashoka

Ashoka pillar at Vaishali.
Fragment of the 6th Pillar Edict of
Ashoka

Ashoka (238 BCE), in Brahmi,
sandstone, British Museum.
As a young prince,
Ashoka

Ashoka (r. 272–232 BCE) was a brilliant
commander who crushed revolts in
Ujjain

Ujjain and Takshashila. As monarch he
was ambitious and aggressive, re-asserting the Empire's superiority in
southern and western India. But it was his conquest of Kalinga
(262–261 BCE) which proved to be the pivotal event of his life.
Although Ashoka's army succeeded in overwhelming Kalinga forces of
royal soldiers and civilian units, an estimated 100,000 soldiers and
civilians were killed in the furious warfare, including over 10,000 of
Ashoka's own men. Hundreds of thousands of people were adversely
affected by the destruction and fallout of war. When he personally
witnessed the devastation,
Ashoka

Ashoka began feeling remorse. Although the
annexation of Kalinga was completed,
Ashoka

Ashoka embraced the teachings of
Buddhism, and renounced war and violence. He sent out missionaries to
travel around
Asia
.svg/440px-Asia_on_the_globe_(Asia_centered).svg.png)
Asia and spread
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism to other countries.[citation
needed]
Ashoka

Ashoka implemented principles of ahimsa by banning hunting and violent
sports activity and ending indentured and forced labor (many thousands
of people in war-ravaged Kalinga had been forced into hard labour and
servitude). While he maintained a large and powerful army, to keep the
peace and maintain authority,
Ashoka

Ashoka expanded friendly relations with
states across
Asia
.svg/440px-Asia_on_the_globe_(Asia_centered).svg.png)
Asia and Europe, and he sponsored Buddhist missions. He
undertook a massive public works building campaign across the country.
Over 40 years of peace, harmony and prosperity made
Ashoka

Ashoka one of
the most successful and famous monarchs in Indian history. He remains
an idealized figure of inspiration in modern India.[citation needed]
The Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, are found throughout the
Subcontinent. Ranging from as far west as
Afghanistan

Afghanistan and as far south
as Andhra (Nellore District), Ashoka's edicts state his policies and
accomplishments. Although predominantly written in Prakrit, two of
them were written in Greek, and one in both Greek and Aramaic.
Ashoka's edicts refer to the Greeks, Kambojas, and Gandharas as
peoples forming a frontier region of his empire. They also attest to
Ashoka's having sent envoys to the Greek rulers in the West as far as
the Mediterranean. The edicts precisely name each of the rulers of the
Hellenic world at the time such as Amtiyoko (Antiochus), Tulamaya
(Ptolemy), Amtikini (Antigonos), Maka (Magas) and Alikasudaro
(Alexander) as recipients of Ashoka's proselytism.[citation needed]
The Edicts also accurately locate their territory "600 yojanas away"
(a yojanas being about 7 miles), corresponding to the distance
between the center of
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India and
Greece

Greece (roughly 4,000 miles).[59]
Decline[edit]
Ashoka

Ashoka was followed for 50 years by a succession of weaker kings.
Brihadratha, the last ruler of the
Mauryan

Mauryan dynasty, held territories
that had shrunk considerably from the time of emperor Ashoka.
Brihadratha was assassinated in 185 BCE during a military parade
by the
Brahmin

Brahmin general Pushyamitra Shunga, commander-in-chief of his
guard, who then took over the throne and established the Shunga
dynasty.[60]
Shunga coup (185 BCE)[edit]
Buddhist records such as the
Ashokavadana

Ashokavadana write that the assassination
of
Brihadratha and the rise of the Shunga empire led to a wave of
religious persecution for Buddhists,[61] and a resurgence of Hinduism.
According to Sir John Marshall,[62] Pushyamitra may have been the main
author of the persecutions, although later Shunga kings seem to have
been more supportive of Buddhism. Other historians, such as Etienne
Lamotte[63] and Romila Thapar,[64] among others, have argued that
archaeological evidence in favour of the allegations of persecution of
Buddhists
.jpeg/476px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhists are lacking, and that the extent and magnitude of the
atrocities have been exaggerated.
Establishment of the
Indo-Greek Kingdom

Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE)[edit]
Main article: Indo-Greek Kingdom
The fall of the Mauryas left the
Khyber Pass

Khyber Pass unguarded, and a wave of
foreign invasion followed. The Greco-Bactrian king, Demetrius,
capitalized on the break-up, and he conquered southern
Afghanistan

Afghanistan and
parts of northwestern
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India around 180 BCE, forming the
Indo-Greek Kingdom. The
Indo-Greeks

Indo-Greeks would maintain holdings on the
trans-Indus region, and make forays into central India, for about a
century. Under them,
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism flourished, and one of their kings,
Menander, became a famous figure of Buddhism; he was to establish a
new capital of Sagala, the modern city of Sialkot. However, the extent
of their domains and the lengths of their rule are subject to much
debate. Numismatic evidence indicates that they retained holdings in
the subcontinent right up to the birth of Christ. Although the extent
of their successes against indigenous powers such as the Shungas,
Satavahanas, and Kalingas are unclear, what is clear is that Scythian
tribes, renamed Indo-Scythians, brought about the demise of the
Indo-Greeks

Indo-Greeks from around 70 BCE and retained lands in the
trans-Indus, the region of Mathura, and Gujarat.[citation needed]
Administration[edit]
Statuettes of the
Mauryan

Mauryan era
The
Empire

Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital
at Pataliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial
capitals are
Tosali

Tosali (in the east),
Ujjain

Ujjain (in the west), Suvarnagiri
(in the south), and
Taxila
._Circa_220-185_BC.jpg)
Taxila (in the north). The head of the provincial
administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the
provinces as king's representative. The kumara was assisted by
Mahamatyas and council of ministers. This organizational structure was
reflected at the imperial level with the Emperor and his
Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).[citation needed]
Historians theorise that the organisation of the
Empire

Empire was in line
with the extensive bureaucracy described by
Kautilya

Kautilya in the
Arthashastra: a sophisticated civil service governed everything from
municipal hygiene to international trade. The expansion and defense of
the empire was made possible by what appears to have been one of the
largest armies in the world during the Iron Age.[65] According to
Megasthenes, the empire wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000
cavalry, 8,000 chariots and 9,000 war elephants besides followers and
attendants.[66] A vast espionage system collected intelligence for
both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced
offensive warfare and expansionism,
Ashoka

Ashoka nevertheless continued to
maintain this large army, to protect the
Empire

Empire and instil stability
and peace across West and South Asia.[citation needed]
Economy[edit]
See also: Economic history of
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India and Coinage of India
Maurya

Maurya statuette, 2nd century BCE.
For the first time in South Asia, political unity and military
security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and
commerce, with increased agricultural productivity. The previous
situation involving hundreds of kingdoms, many small armies, powerful
regional chieftains, and internecine warfare, gave way to a
disciplined central authority. Farmers were freed of tax and crop
collection burdens from regional kings, paying instead to a nationally
administered and strict-but-fair system of taxation as advised by the
principles in the Arthashastra.
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya established a
single currency across India, and a network of regional governors and
administrators and a civil service provided justice and security for
merchants, farmers and traders. The
Mauryan

Mauryan army wiped out many gangs
of bandits, regional private armies, and powerful chieftains who
sought to impose their own supremacy in small areas. Although
regimental in revenue collection,
Maurya

Maurya also sponsored many public
works and waterways to enhance productivity, while internal trade in
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India expanded greatly due to new-found political unity and internal
peace.[citation needed]
Under the Indo-Greek friendship treaty, and during Ashoka's reign, an
international network of trade expanded. The Khyber Pass, on the
modern boundary of
Pakistan

Pakistan and Afghanistan, became a strategically
important port of trade and intercourse with the outside world. Greek
states and Hellenic kingdoms in
West Asia
.svg/400px-Western_Asia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
West Asia became important trade
partners of India. Trade also extended through the Malay peninsula
into Southeast Asia. India's exports included silk goods and textiles,
spices and exotic foods. The external world came across new scientific
knowledge and technology with expanding trade with the
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire.
Ashoka

Ashoka also sponsored the construction of thousands of roads,
waterways, canals, hospitals, rest-houses and other public works. The
easing of many over-rigorous administrative practices, including those
regarding taxation and crop collection, helped increase productivity
and economic activity across the Empire.[citation needed]
In many ways, the economic situation in the
Mauryan Empire

Mauryan Empire is
analogous to the Roman
Empire

Empire of several centuries later. Both had
extensive trade connections and both had organizations similar to
corporations. While Rome had organizational entities which were
largely used for public state-driven projects,
Mauryan

Mauryan
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India had
numerous private commercial entities. These existed purely for private
commerce and developed before the
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire
itself.[67][unreliable source?]
Maurya

Maurya
Empire

Empire coinage
Hoard of mostly
Mauryan

Mauryan coins.
Silver punch mark coin of the
Maurya

Maurya empire, with symbols of wheel and
elephant. 3rd century BCE.[citation needed]
Mauryan

Mauryan coin with arched hill symbol on reverse.[citation needed]
Mauryan Empire

Mauryan Empire coin. Circa late 4th-2nd century BCE.[citation needed]
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire, Emperor
Salisuka

Salisuka or later. Circa 207-194 BCE.[68]
Religion[edit]
Buddhism[edit]
The stupa, which contained the relics of Buddha, at the center of the
Sanchi

Sanchi complex was originally built by the
Maurya

Maurya Empire, but the
balustrade around it is Sunga, and the decorative gateways are from
the later
Satavahana

Satavahana period.
The
Dharmarajika

Dharmarajika stupa in Taxila, modern Pakistan, is also thought to
have been established by Emperor Asoka.
Magadha, the centre of the empire, was also the birthplace of
Buddhism.
Ashoka

Ashoka initially practised
Hinduism

Hinduism but later embraced
Buddhism; following the Kalinga War, he renounced expansionism and
aggression, and the harsher injunctions of the
Arthashastra

Arthashastra on the use
of force, intensive policing, and ruthless measures for tax collection
and against rebels.
Ashoka

Ashoka sent a mission led by his son Mahinda and
daughter
Sanghamitta

Sanghamitta to Sri Lanka, whose king Tissa was so charmed
with Buddhist ideals that he adopted them himself and made Buddhism
the state religion.
Ashoka

Ashoka sent many Buddhist missions to West Asia,
Greece

Greece and South East Asia, and commissioned the construction of
monasteries and schools, as well as the publication of Buddhist
literature across the empire. He is believed to have built as many as
84,000 stupas across India, such as
Sanchi

Sanchi and Mahabodhi Temple, and
he increased the popularity of
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism in Afghanistan,
Thailand

Thailand and
North Asia
.svg/500px-North_Asia_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
North Asia including Siberia.
Ashoka

Ashoka helped convene the Third Buddhist
Council of India's and South Asia's Buddhist orders near his capital,
a council that undertook much work of reform and expansion of the
Buddhist religion. Indian merchants embraced
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism and played a
large role in spreading the religion across the
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire.[69]
Jainism[edit]
Bhadrabahu

Bhadrabahu Cave,
Shravanabelagola
.jpg/440px-Shravanabelagola._Hassan_district_(13).jpg)
Shravanabelagola where Chandragupta is said to have
died
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya embraced
Jainism

Jainism after retiring, when he renounced
his throne and material possessions to join a wandering group of Jain
monks. Chandragupta was a disciple of the
Jain

Jain monk Bhadrabahu. It is
said that in his last days, he observed the rigorous but
self-purifying
Jain

Jain ritual of santhara (fast unto death), at Shravana
Belgola in Karnataka.[37][36][70][35] However, his successor,
Bindusara, was a follower of another ascetic movement, Ājīvika,[71]
and distanced himself from
Jain

Jain and Buddhist movements.[citation
needed] Samprati, the grandson of Ashoka, also embraced Jainism.
Samprati

Samprati was influenced by the teachings of
Jain

Jain monks and he is known
to have built 125,000 derasars across India. Some of them are still
found in the towns of Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Ujjain, and Palitana. It is
also said that just like Ashoka,
Samprati

Samprati sent messengers and
preachers to Greece,
Persia

Persia and the
Middle East
.svg/440px-Middle_East_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Middle East for the spread of
Jainism, but, to date, no research has been done in this area.[72][73]
Thus,
Jainism

Jainism became a vital force under the
Mauryan

Mauryan Rule.
Chandragupta and
Samprati

Samprati are credited for the spread of
Jainism

Jainism in
South India. Hundreds of thousands of temples and stupas are said to
have been erected during their reigns. However, due to lack of royal
patronage, its own strict principles, and the rise of Shankaracharya
and Ramanuja, Jainism, once a major religion of southern India, began
to decline.[citation needed]
Architectural remains[edit]
Main articles: Edicts of Ashoka,
Sanchi

Sanchi Stupa, and
Mauryan

Mauryan art
Mauryan

Mauryan architecture in the Barabar Caves. Lomas Rishi Cave. 3rd
century BCE.
The greatest monument of this period, executed in the reign of
Chandragupta Maurya, was the old palace at the site of Kumhrar.
Excavations at the site of
Kumhrar

Kumhrar nearby have unearthed the remains
of the palace. The palace is thought to have been an aggregate of
buildings, the most important of which was an immense pillared hall
supported on a high substratum of timbers. The pillars were set in
regular rows, thus dividing the hall into a number of smaller square
bays. The number of columns is 80, each about 7 meters high. According
to the eyewitness account of Megasthenes, the palace was chiefly
constructed of timber, and was considered to exceed in splendour and
magnificence the palaces of
Susa

Susa and Ecbatana, its gilded pillars
being adorned with golden vines and silver birds. The buildings stood
in an extensive park studded with fish ponds and furnished with a
great variety of ornamental trees and
shrubs.[74][better source needed] Kauṭilya's Arthashastra
also gives the method of palace construction from this period. Later
fragments of stone pillars, including one nearly complete, with their
round tapering shafts and smooth polish, indicate that
Ashoka

Ashoka was
responsible for the construction of the stone columns which replaced
the earlier wooden ones.[citation needed]
An early stupa, 6 meters in diameter, with fallen umbrella on side.
Chakpat, near Chakdara. Probably Maurya, 3rd century BCE.
During the Ashokan period, stonework was of a highly diversified order
and comprised lofty free-standing pillars, railings of stupas, lion
thrones and other colossal figures. The use of stone had reached such
great perfection during this time that even small fragments of stone
art were given a high lustrous polish resembling fine enamel. This
period marked the beginning of the Buddhist school of architecture.
Ashoka

Ashoka was responsible for the construction of several stupas, which
were large domes and bearing symbols of Buddha. The most important
ones are located at Sanchi, Bharhut, Amaravati,
Bodhgaya

Bodhgaya and
Nagarjunakonda. The most widespread examples of
Mauryan

Mauryan architecture
are the
Ashoka

Ashoka pillars and carved edicts of Ashoka, often exquisitely
decorated, with more than 40 spread throughout the Indian
subcontinent.[75][better source needed]
The peacock was a dynastic symbol of Mauryans, as depicted by Ashoka's
pillars at Nandangarh and
Sanchi

Sanchi Stupa.[76]
Mauryan

Mauryan structures and decorations at Sanchi
(3rd century BCE)
Approximate reconstitution of the Great
Stupa

Stupa under the Mauryas.
Remains of the Ashokan Pillar in polished stone, to the right of the
Southern Gateway.
Remains of the shaft of the pillar of Ashoka, under a shed near the
Southern Gateway.
The
Sanchi

Sanchi pillar capital of
Ashoka

Ashoka as discovered (left), and
simulation of original appearance (right).[77] Flame palmettes and
geese adorn the abacus.
Natural history[edit]
The two Yakshas, possibly 3rd century BCE, found in Pataliputra.
The protection of animals in
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India became serious business by the time
of the
Maurya

Maurya dynasty; being the first empire to provide a unified
political entity in India, the attitude of the Mauryas towards
forests, their denizens, and fauna in general is of interest.[citation
needed]
The Mauryas firstly looked at forests as resources. For them, the most
important forest product was the elephant. Military might in those
times depended not only upon horses and men but also battle-elephants;
these played a role in the defeat of Seleucus, one of Alexander's
former generals. The Mauryas sought to preserve supplies of elephants
since it was cheaper and took less time to catch, tame and train wild
elephants than to raise them. Kautilya's
Arthashastra

Arthashastra contains not
only maxims on ancient statecraft, but also unambiguously specifies
the responsibilities of officials such as the Protector of the
Elephant Forests.[78]
On the border of the forest, he should establish a forest for
elephants guarded by foresters. The Office of the Chief Elephant
Forester should with the help of guards protect the elephants in any
terrain. The slaying of an elephant is punishable by death.
— Arthashastra
The Mauryas also designated separate forests to protect supplies of
timber, as well as lions and tigers for skins. Elsewhere the Protector
of Animals also worked to eliminate thieves, tigers and other
predators to render the woods safe for grazing cattle.[citation
needed]
The Mauryas valued certain forest tracts in strategic or economic
terms and instituted curbs and control measures over them. They
regarded all forest tribes with distrust and controlled them with
bribery and political subjugation. They employed some of them, the
food-gatherers or aranyaca to guard borders and trap animals. The
sometimes tense and conflict-ridden relationship nevertheless enabled
the Mauryas to guard their vast empire.[79]
When
Ashoka

Ashoka embraced
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism in the latter part of his reign, he
brought about significant changes in his style of governance, which
included providing protection to fauna, and even relinquished the
royal hunt. He was the first ruler in history[not in citation given]
to advocate conservation measures for wildlife and even had rules
inscribed in stone edicts. The edicts proclaim that many followed the
king's example in giving up the slaughter of animals; one of them
proudly states:[79]
Our king killed very few animals.
— Edict on Fifth Pillar
However, the edicts of
Ashoka

Ashoka reflect more the desire of rulers than
actual events; the mention of a 100 'panas' (coins) fine for poaching
deer in royal hunting preserves shows that rule-breakers did exist.
The legal restrictions conflicted with the practices freely exercised
by the common people in hunting, felling, fishing and setting fires in
forests.[79]
Contacts with the
Hellenistic

Hellenistic world[edit]
Mauryan

Mauryan ringstone, with standing goddess. Northwest Pakistan. 3rd
Century BCE
Foundation of the Empire[edit]
Relations with the
Hellenistic

Hellenistic world may have started from the very
beginning of the
Maurya

Maurya Empire.
Plutarch

Plutarch reports that Chandragupta
Maurya

Maurya met with
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander the Great, probably around
Taxila
._Circa_220-185_BC.jpg)
Taxila in the
northwest:
"Sandrocottus, when he was a stripling, saw
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander himself, and we
are told that he often said in later times that
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander narrowly
missed making himself master of the country, since its king was hated
and despised on account of his baseness and low birth". Plutarch
62-4[80][non-primary source needed]
Reconquest of the Northwest (c. 317–316 BCE)[edit]
Chandragupta ultimately occupied Northwestern India, in the
territories formerly ruled by the Greeks, where he fought the satraps
(described as "Prefects" in Western sources) left in place after
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander (Justin), among whom may have been Eudemus, ruler in the
western
Punjab

Punjab until his departure in 317 BCE or Peithon, son of
Agenor, ruler of the Greek colonies along the Indus until his
departure for
Babylon

Babylon in 316 BCE.[citation needed]
"India, after the death of Alexander, had assassinated his prefects,
as if shaking the burden of servitude. The author of this liberation
was Sandracottos, but he had transformed liberation in servitude after
victory, since, after taking the throne, he himself oppressed the very
people he has liberated from foreign domination" Justin
XV.4.12–13[81]
"Later, as he was preparing war against the prefects of Alexander, a
huge wild elephant went to him and took him on his back as if tame,
and he became a remarkable fighter and war leader. Having thus
acquired royal power, Sandracottos possessed
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India at the time
Seleucos was preparing future glory." Justin XV.4.19[82]
Conflict and alliance with Seleucus (305 BCE)[edit]
Main article: Seleucid–
Mauryan

Mauryan war
A map showing the north western border of
Maurya

Maurya Empire, including its
various neighboring states.
Seleucus I

Seleucus I Nicator, the Macedonian satrap of the Asian portion of
Alexander's former empire, conquered and put under his own authority
eastern territories as far as
Bactria

Bactria and the Indus (Appian, History
of Rome, The Syrian Wars 55), until in 305 BCE he entered into a
confrontation with Emperor Chandragupta:
"Always lying in wait for the neighbouring nations, strong in arms and
persuasive in council, he [Seleucus] acquired Mesopotamia, Armenia,
'Seleucid' Cappadocia, Persis, Parthia, Bactria, Arabia, Tapouria,
Sogdia, Arachosia, Hyrcania, and other adjacent peoples that had been
subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the
boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in
Asia
.svg/440px-Asia_on_the_globe_(Asia_centered).svg.png)
Asia after that of
Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject to
Seleucus". Appian, History of Rome, The Syrian Wars 55[83]
Though no accounts of the conflict remain, it is clear that Seleucus
fared poorly against the Indian Emperor as he failed to conquer any
territory, and in fact was forced to surrender much that was already
his. Regardless, Seleucus and Chandragupta ultimately reached a
settlement and through a treaty sealed in 305 BCE, Seleucus,
according to Strabo, ceded a number of territories to Chandragupta,
including large parts of what is now
Afghanistan

Afghanistan and parts of
Balochistan.[citation needed]
Marital alliance[edit]
It is generally thought that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter,
or a Greek Macedonian princess, a gift from Seleucus to formalise an
alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 war
elephants,[25][84][85][86][87] a military asset which would play a
decisive role at the
Battle of Ipsus

Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.[88] In addition
to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes, to
Chandragupta, and later
Deimakos to his son Bindusara, at the Mauryan
court at
Pataliputra

Pataliputra (modern
Patna

Patna in
Bihar

Bihar state). Later, Ptolemy II
Philadelphus, the ruler of
Ptolemaic Egypt

Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka,
is also recorded by
Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named
Dionysius to the
Mauryan

Mauryan court.[89][better source needed]
Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received vast
territory west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush, modern-day
Afghanistan, and the
Balochistan

Balochistan province of Pakistan.[90][91]
Archaeologically, concrete indications of
Mauryan

Mauryan rule, such as the
inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka, are known as far as
Kandahar

Kandahar in
southern Afghanistan.
“
"He (Seleucus) crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus
[Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream,
until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a
marriage relationship."
”
“
"After having made a treaty with him (Sandrakotos) and put in order
the Orient situation, Seleucos went to war against Antigonus."
”
— Junianus Justinus, Historiarum Philippicarum, libri XLIV,
XV.4.15
The treaty on "Epigamia" implies lawful marriage between Greeks and
Indians was recognized at the State level, although it is unclear
whether it occurred among dynastic rulers or common people, or
both.[citation needed].
Exchange of presents[edit]
Classical sources have also recorded that following their treaty,
Chandragupta and Seleucus exchanged presents, such as when
Chandragupta sent various aphrodisiacs to Seleucus:[42]
"And Theophrastus says that some contrivances are of wondrous efficacy
in such matters [as to make people more amorous]. And Phylarchus
confirms him, by reference to some of the presents which Sandrakottus,
the king of the Indians, sent to Seleucus; which were to act like
charms in producing a wonderful degree of affection, while some, on
the contrary, were to banish love."
Athenaeus

Athenaeus of Naucratis, "The
deipnosophists" Book I, chapter 32[92]
His son
Bindusara

Bindusara 'Amitraghata' (Slayer of Enemies) also is recorded
in Classical sources as having exchanged presents with Antiochus
I:[42]
"But dried figs were so very much sought after by all men (for really,
as
Aristophanes

Aristophanes says, "There's really nothing nicer than dried figs"),
that even Amitrochates, the king of the Indians, wrote to Antiochus,
entreating him (it is Hegesander who tells this story) to buy and send
him some sweet wine, and some dried figs, and a sophist; and that
Antiochus wrote to him in answer, "The dry figs and the sweet wine we
will send you; but it is not lawful for a sophist to be sold in
Greece." Athenaeus, "Deipnosophistae" XIV.67[93]
Greek population in India[edit]
The Greek population apparently remained in the northwest of the
Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent under Ashoka's rule. In his Edicts of Ashoka, set
in stone, some of them written in Greek,
Ashoka

Ashoka relates that the Greek
population within his realm was absorbed, integrated, and converted to
Buddhism:
"Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the
Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and
the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods'
instructions in Dharma". Rock Edict Nb13 (S. Dhammika).[non-primary
source needed]
The
Kandahar

Kandahar Edict of Ashoka, a bilingual edict (Greek and Aramaic) by
king Ashoka, from Kandahar.
Kabul

Kabul Museum. (Click image for
translation).
Fragments of Edict 13 have been found in Greek, and a full Edict,
written in both Greek and Aramaic, has been discovered in Kandahar. It
is said to be written in excellent Classical Greek, using
sophisticated philosophical terms. In this Edict,
Ashoka

Ashoka uses the word
Eusebeia ("Piety") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous
"Dharma" of his other Edicts written in Prakrit:[non-primary source
needed]
"Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Ashoka)
made known (the doctrine of)
Piety

Piety (εὐσέβεια, Eusebeia) to
men; and from this moment he has made men more pious, and everything
thrives throughout the whole world. And the king abstains from
(killing) living beings, and other men and those who (are) huntsmen
and fishermen of the king have desisted from hunting. And if some
(were) intemperate, they have ceased from their intemperance as was in
their power; and obedient to their father and mother and to the
elders, in opposition to the past also in the future, by so acting on
every occasion, they will live better and more happily". (Trans. by
G.P. Carratelli [4])[unreliable source?]
Buddhist missions to the West (c. 250 BCE)[edit]
The distribution of the Edicts of Ashoka.[94]
Buddhist proselytism at the time of king
Ashoka

Ashoka (260–218 BCE).
Also, in the Edicts of Ashoka,
Ashoka

Ashoka mentions the
Hellenistic

Hellenistic kings
of the period as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism, although no
Western historical record of this event remains:
"The conquest by
Dharma

Dharma has been won here, on the borders, and even
six hundred yojanas (5,400–9,600 km) away, where the Greek king
Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy,
Antigonos, Magas and
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the
Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as
Tamraparni

Tamraparni (Sri Lanka)." (Edicts of
Ashoka, 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika).[non-primary source needed]
Ashoka

Ashoka also encouraged the development of herbal medicine, for men and
animals, in their territories:
"Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka's]
domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the
Pandyas, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as
Tamraparni

Tamraparni and
where the Greek king Antiochos rules, and among the kings who are
neighbors of Antiochos, everywhere has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King
Piyadasi, made provision for two types of medical treatment: medical
treatment for humans and medical treatment for animals. Wherever
medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have
had them imported and grown. Wherever medical roots or fruits are not
available I have had them imported and grown. Along roads I have had
wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals".
2nd Rock Edict[non-primary source needed]
The Greeks in
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India even seem to have played an active role in the
propagation of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as
Dharmaraksita, are described in Pali sources as leading Greek ("Yona")
Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism (the Mahavamsa,
XII[95][non-primary source needed]).
Subhagasena and
Antiochos III

Antiochos III (206 BCE)[edit]
Sophagasenus was an Indian
Mauryan

Mauryan ruler of the 3rd century BCE,
described in ancient Greek sources, and named Subhagasena or
Subhashasena in Prakrit. His name is mentioned in the list of Mauryan
princes[citation needed], and also in the list of the Yadava dynasty,
as a descendant of Pradyumna. He may have been a grandson of Ashoka,
or Kunala, the son of Ashoka. He ruled an area south of the Hindu
Kush, possibly in Gandhara. Antiochos III, the
Seleucid

Seleucid king, after
having made peace with Euthydemus in Bactria, went to
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India in
206 BCE and is said to have renewed his friendship with the
Indian king there:
"He (Antiochus) crossed the Caucasus and descended into India; renewed
his friendship with
Sophagasenus the king of the Indians; received
more elephants, until he had a hundred and fifty altogether; and
having once more provisioned his troops, set out again personally with
his army: leaving Androsthenes of Cyzicus the duty of taking home the
treasure which this king had agreed to hand over to him". Polybius
11.39[non-primary source needed]
Timeline[edit]
322 BCE :
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya founded the
Mauryan Empire

Mauryan Empire by
overthrowing the Nanda Dynasty.
317–316 BCE :
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya conquers the Northwest
of the Indian subcontinent.
305–303 BCE :
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya gains territory from the
Seleucid

Seleucid Empire.
298–269 BCE : Reign of Bindusara, Chandragupta's son. He
conquers parts of Deccan, southern India.
269–232 BCE : The
Mauryan Empire

Mauryan Empire reaches its height under
Ashoka, Chandragupta's grandson.
261 BCE :
Ashoka

Ashoka conquers the kingdom of Kalinga.
250 BCE :
Ashoka

Ashoka builds Buddhist stupas and erects pillars
bearing inscriptions.
184 BCE : The empire collapses when Brihadnatha, the last
emperor, is killed by Pushyamitra Shunga, a
Mauryan

Mauryan general and the
founder of the Shunga Empire.
In literature[edit]
According to Vicarasreni of Merutunga, Mauryans rose to power in 312
BC.[96]
See also[edit]
Pradyota dynasty
Gupta Empire
History of India
List of largest empires that existed in India
Notes[edit]
^ Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006).
"East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of
world-systems research. 12 (2): 223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 16
September 2016.
^ Kulke & Rothermund 2004, pp. xii, 448.
^ Thapar, Romila (1990). A History of India, Volume 1. Penguin Books.
p. 384. ISBN 0-14-013835-8.
^ Keay, John (2000). India: A History. Grove Press. p. 82.
ISBN 978-0-8021-3797-5.
^ a b Mookerji 1988, p. 31.
^
Seleucus I

Seleucus I ceded the territories of
Arachosia

Arachosia (modern Kandahar),
Gedrosia

Gedrosia (modern Balochistan), and
Paropamisadae

Paropamisadae (or Gandhara). Aria
(modern Herat) "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded
satrapies by some scholars [...] on the basis of wrong assessments of
the passage of
Strabo

Strabo [...] and a statement by Pliny." (Raychaudhuri
& Mukherjee 1996, p. 594). Seleucus "must [...] have held Aria",
and furthermore, his "son Antiochos was active there fifteen years
later." (Grainger 2014, p. 109).
^ The account of
Strabo

Strabo indicates that the western-most territory of
the empire extended from the southeastern Hindu Kush, through the
region of Kandahar, to coastal
Balochistan

Balochistan to the south of that
(Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee 1996, p. 594).
^
Sri Lanka
.svg/440px-Sri_Lanka_(orthographic_projection).svg.png)
Sri Lanka and the southernmost parts of
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India (modern
Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu and
Kerala) remained independent, despite the diplomacy and cultural
influence of their larger neighbor to the north (Schwartzberg 1992, p.
18; Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 68).
^ The empire was once thought to have directly controlled most of the
Indian subcontinent

Indian subcontinent excepting the far south, but its core regions are
now thought to have been separated by large tribal regions (especially
in the Deccan peninsula) that were relatively autonomous. (Kulke &
Rothermund 2004, p. 68-71, as well as Stein 1998, p. 74). "The major
part of the Deccan was ruled by [
Mauryan

Mauryan administration]. But in the
belt of land on either side of the Nerbudda, the Godavari and the
upper Mahanadi there were, in all probability, certain areas that were
technically outside the limits of the empire proper.
Ashoka

Ashoka evidently
draws a distinction between the forests and the inhabiting tribes
which are in the dominions (vijita) and peoples on the border (anta
avijita) for whose benefit some of the special edicts were issued.
Certain vassal tribes are specifically mentioned." (Raychaudhuri &
Mukherjee pp. 275–6)
^ Kalinga had been conquered by the preceding
Nanda Dynasty

Nanda Dynasty but
subsequently broke free until it was re-conquered by Ashoka, c. 260
BCE. (Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee, pp. 204–209, pp. 270–271)
^ Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 67.
^ Boesche, Roger (2003-03-01). The First Great Political Realist:
Kautilya

Kautilya and His Arthashastra. p. 11.
ISBN 9780739106075.
^ Demeny, Paul George; McNicoll, Geoffrey (May 2003). Encyclopedia of
population. ISBN 9780028656793.
^ "It is doubtful if, in its present shape, [the Arthashastra] is as
old as the time of the first Maurya," as it probably contains layers
of text ranging from
Maurya

Maurya times till as late as the 2nd century CE.
Nonetheless, "though a comparatively late work, it may be used [...]
to confirm and supplement the information gleaned from earlier
sources." (Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee 1996, pp.246–7)
^ Sugandhi, Namita Sanjay (2008). Between the Patterns of History:
Rethinking
Mauryan

Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan.
pp. 88–89. ISBN 9780549744412.
^ Kosmin 2014, p. 31.
^ :"Androcottus, when he was a stripling, saw
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander himself, and
we are told that he often said in later times that
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander narrowly
missed making himself master of the country, since its king was hated
and despised on account of his baseness and low birth."
Plutarch

Plutarch 62-3
Plutarch

Plutarch 62-3
^ :"He was of humble Indian to a change of rule." Justin XV.4.15 "Fuit
hic humili quidem genere natus, sed ad regni potestatem maiestate
numinis inpulsus. Quippe cum procacitate sua Nandrum regem
offendisset, interfici a rege iussus salutem pedum ceieritate
quaesierat. (Ex qua fatigatione cum somno captus iaceret, leo ingentis
formae ad dormientem accessit sudoremque profluentem lingua ei
detersit expergefactumque blande reliquit. Hoc prodigio primum ad spem
regni inpulsus) contractis latronibus Indos ad nouitatem regni
sollicitauit." Justin XV.4.15
^
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, Radhakumud Mookerji, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ., 1966, p.26-27 [1]
^ Sir John Marshall, "Taxila", p. 18 et passim
^ K. A. Nilakanta Sastri (ed., 1967), Age of the Nandas and Mauryas,
p.147
^ a b
Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, Radhakumud Mookerji, Motilal
Banarsidass Publ., 1966, p.27 [2]
^ History Of The Chamar Dynasty, Raj Kumar, Gyan Publishing House,
2008, p.51 [3]
^ Sanskrit original: "asti tava
Shaka-Yavana-Kirata-Kamboja-Parasika-Bahlika parbhutibhih
Chankyamatipragrahittaishcha Chandergupta Parvateshvara
balairudidhibhiriva parchalitsalilaih samantaad uprudham Kusumpurama".
From the French translation, in "Le Ministre et la marque de
l'anneau", ISBN 2-7475-5135-0
^ a b Majumdar 2003, p. 105.
^ a b Mookerji 1988, p. 39.
^ Kulke & Rothermund 2004, p. 69-70.
^ Paul J. Kosmin 2014, p. 38.
^ "
Megasthenes

Megasthenes lived with Sibyrtius, satrap of Arachosia, and often
speaks of his visiting Sandracottus, the king of the Indians." Arrian,
Anabasis Alexandri

Anabasis Alexandri Arrian. "Book 5". Anabasis.
^ "In the royal residences in
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India where the greatest of the kings of
that country live, there are so many objects for admiration that
neither Memnon's city of
Susa

Susa with all its extravagance, nor the
magnificence of
Ectabana

Ectabana is to be compared with them. (...) In the
parks, tame peacocks and pheasants are kept." Aelian, "Characteristics
of animals" Aelian, Characteristics of animals, book XIII, Chapter 18,
also quoted in The Cambridge History of India, Volume 1, p411
^ "The architectural closeness of certain buildings in Achaemenid Iran
and
Mauryan

Mauryan
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India have raised much comment. The royal palace at
Pataliputra

Pataliputra is the most striking example and has been compared with
the palaces at Susa, Ecbatana, and Persepolis" Aśoka and the decline
of the Mauryas, Volume 5, p.129, Romila Thapar, Oxford University
Press, 1961
^ A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to
the 12th century by Upinder Singh p.331
^ Kosmin 2014, p. 32.
^ Mookerji 1988, pp. 39-40.
^ a b Samuel 2010, pp. 60.
^ a b Thapar 2004, p. 178.
^ a b Mookerji 1988, pp. 39-41.
^ Srinivasachariar 1974, p. lxxxvii.
^
Vincent Arthur Smith (1920). Asoka, the Buddhist emperor of India.
Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 18–19.
ISBN 9788120613034.
^
Rajendralal Mitra

Rajendralal Mitra (1878). "On the Early Life of Asoka". Proceedings
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Asiatic Society of Bengal: 10.
^
Motilal Banarsidass

Motilal Banarsidass (1993). "The Minister Cāṇakya, from the
Pariśiṣtaparvan of Hemacandra". In Phyllis Granoff. The Clever
Adulteress and Other Stories: A Treasury of Jaina Literature.
Translated by Rosalind Lefeber. pp. 204–206.
^ a b c Kosmin 2014, p. 35.
^ Daniélou 2003, p. 108.
^ a b Singh 2008, p. 331.
^ Dineschandra Sircar 1971, p. 167.
^
William Woodthorpe Tarn (2010). The Greeks in
Bactria

Bactria and India.
Cambridge University Press. p. 152.
ISBN 9781108009416.
^ Mookerji Radhakumud (1962). Asoka. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 8.
ISBN 978-81-208-0582-8.
^ P.109 A brief history of
India
.jpg/580px-Renumbered_National_Highways_map_of_India_(Schematic).jpg)
India by Alain Daniélou, Kenneth Hurry
^ Eugène Burnouf (1911). Legends of Indian Buddhism. New York: E. P.
Dutton. p. 59.
^ a b c d Sen 1999, p. 142.
^ "Three Greek ambassadors are known by name: Megasthenes, ambassador
to Chandragupta; Deimachus, ambassador to Chandragupta's son
Bindusara; and Dyonisius, whom Ptolemy Philadelphus sent to the court
of Ashoka, Bindusara's son", McEvilley, p.367
^ India, the Ancient Past, Burjor Avari, p.108-109
^ P. 138 and P. 146 History and doctrines of the Ājīvikas: a
vanished Indian religion by Arthur Llewellyn Basham
^ P. 24
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism in comparative light by Anukul Chandra Banerjee
^ P. 171
Ashoka

Ashoka and his inscriptions, Volume 1 by Beni Madhab Barua,
Ishwar Nath Topa
^ Daniélou 2003, p. 109.
^ Kashi Nath Upadhyaya (1997). Early
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism and the Bhagavadgita.
Motilal Banarsidass. p. 33. ISBN 9788120808805.
^ Fitzedward Hall, ed. (1868). The Vishnu Purana. IV. Translated by H.
H. Wilson. Trübner & Co. p. 188.
^ Edicts of Ashoka, 13th Rock Edict, translation S. Dhammika.
^ Army and Power in the Ancient World by Angelos Chaniotis/Pierre
Ducrey(Eds.), Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart, P35
^ According to the Ashokavadana
^ Sir John Marshall, "A Guide to Sanchi", Eastern Book House, 1990,
ISBN 81-85204-32-2, pg.38
^ E. Lamotte: History of Indian Buddhism, Institut Orientaliste,
Louvain-la-Neuve 1988 (1958)
^ Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas by Romila Thapar, Oxford
University Press, 1960 P200
^ Gabriel A, Richard (30 November 2006), The Ancient
World :Volume 1 of Soldiers' lives through history, Greenwood
Publishing Group, p. 28
^ Majumdar 2003, p. 107.
^ The Economic History of the Corporate Form in Ancient India.
University of Michigan.
^ CNG Coins
^ Jerry Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts in
Pre-Modern Times (New York: Oxford University Press), 46
^ Kulke & Rothermund 2004, pp. 64-65.
^ Basham 1951, p. 138, 146.
^ Cort 2010, p. 199.
^ Tukol, T. K.,
Jainism

Jainism in South India
^ "L'age d'or de l'Inde Classique", p23
^ "L'age d'or de l'Inde Classique", p22
^ Mookerji 1988, p. 15.
^ Drawing reconstruction by F.C. Maisey for reference
^ Rangarajan, M. (2001) India's Wildlife History, pp 7.
^ a b c Rangarajan, M. (2001) India's Wildlife History, pp 8.
^ "Plutarch, Alexander, chapter 1, section 1".
^ "(Transitum deinde in Indiam fecit), quae post mortem Alexandri,
ueluti ceruicibus iugo seruitutis excusso, praefectos eius occiderat.
Auctor libertatis Sandrocottus fuerat, sed titulum libertatis post
uictoriam in seruitutem uerterat ; 14 siquidem occupato regno
populum quem ab externa dominatione uindicauerat ipse seruitio
premebat." Justin XV.4.12–13
^ "Molienti deinde bellum aduersus praefectos Alexandri elephantus
ferus infinitae magnitudinis ultro se obtulit et ueluti domita
mansuetudine eum tergo excepit duxque belli et proeliator insignis
fuit. Sic adquisito regno Sandrocottus ea tempestate, qua Seleucus
futurae magnitudinis fundamenta iaciebat, Indiam possidebat." Justin
XV.4.19
^ "Appian, The Syrian Wars 11".
^ Ancient India, (Kachroo, p.196)
^ The Imperial Gazetteer of India, (Hunter, p.167)
^ The evolution of man and society, (Darlington, p.223)
^ W. W. Tarn (1940). "Two Notes on
Seleucid

Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500
Elephants, 2. Tarmita", The Journal of Hellenic Studies 60, p. 84-94.
^ Kosmin 2014, p. 37.
^ "Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, M.D.,
F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.)". Archived from the original on 28
July 2013.
^ Vincent A. Smith (1998). Ashoka. Asian Educational Services.
ISBN 81-206-1303-1.
^
Walter Eugene Clark (1919). "The Importance of Hellenism from the
Point of View of Indic-Philology", Classical Philology 14 (4), p.
297-313.
^ "Problem while searching in The Literature Collection".
^ "The Literature Collection: The deipnosophists, or, Banquet of the
learned of Athenæus (volume III): Book XIV".
^ Reference: "India: The Ancient Past" p.113, Burjor Avari, Routledge,
ISBN 0-415-35615-6
^ Full text of the
Mahavamsa
_-_Geographicus_-_Taprobane-mallet-1686.jpg/300px-1686_Mallet_Map_of_Ceylon_or_Sri_Lanka_(Taprobane)_-_Geographicus_-_Taprobane-mallet-1686.jpg)
Mahavamsa Click chapter XII
^ Kailash Chand
Jain

Jain 1991, p. 85.
Sources[edit]
Jain, Kailash Chand (1991), Lord Mahāvīra and His Times, Motilal
Banarsidass, ISBN 978-81-208-0805-8
Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of
Yoga

Yoga and Tantra. Indic
Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press
Kosmin, Paul J. (2014), The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space,
Territory, and Ideology in
Seleucid

Seleucid Empire, Harvard University Press,
ISBN 978-0-674-72882-0
Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004), A History of
India
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India (4th
ed.), London: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-15481-2
Thapar, Romila (2004) [first published by Penguin in 2002], Early
India: From the Origins to A.D. 1300, University of California Press,
ISBN 978-0-520-24225-8
Keay, John (2000). India, a History. New York: Harper Collins
Publishers.
Stein, Burton (1998). A History of
India
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India (1st ed.), Oxford:
Wiley-Blackwell.
Raychaudhuri, H. C.; Mukherjee, B. N. (1996), Political History of
Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of
the Gupta Dynasty, Oxford University Press
Schwartzberg, J. E. (1992). A Historical Atlas of South Asia.
University of Oxford Press.
Grainger, John D. (1990, 2014). Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a
Hellenistic

Hellenistic Kingdom. Routledge.
Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1988) [first published in 1966], Chandragupta
Maurya

Maurya and his times (4th ed.), Motilal Banarsidass,
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Cort, John (2010) [1953], Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and
Idols in
Jain

Jain History, Oxford University Press,
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Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra (2003) [1952], Ancient India, Motilal
Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0436-8
Arthur Llewellyn Basham

Arthur Llewellyn Basham (1951), History and doctrines of the
Ājīvikas: a vanished Indian religion, foreword by L. D. Barnett (1
ed.), London: Luzac
Chanakya, Arthashastra, ISBN 0-14-044603-6
J.F.C. Fuller, The Generalship of
Alexander
_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg/440px-Istanbul_-_Museo_archeol._-_Alessandro_Magno_(firmata_Menas)_-_sec._III_a.C._-_da_Magnesia_-_Foto_G._Dall'Orto_28-5-2006_b-n.jpg)
Alexander the Great,
ISBN 0-306-81330-0
Robert Morkot, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece,
ISBN 0-14-051335-3
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Mauryan

Mauryan Empire.
Livius.org:
Maurya

Maurya dynasty
Extent of the Empire
Ashoka's Edicts
Preceded by
Nanda dynasty
Magadha
.png/500px-Mahajanapadas_(c._500_BCE).png)
Magadha dynasties
Maurya

Maurya Empire
Succeeded by
Shunga dynasty
v
t
e
Middle kingdoms of India
Timeline and
cultural period
Northwestern India
(Punjab-Sapta Sindhu)
Indo-Gangetic Plain
Central India
Southern India
Upper Gangetic Plain
(Kuru-Panchala)
Middle Gangetic Plain
Lower Gangetic Plain
IRON AGE
Culture
Late Vedic Period
Late Vedic Period
(
Brahmin

Brahmin ideology)[a]
Painted Grey Ware culture
Late Vedic Period
(Kshatriya/Shramanic culture)[b]
Northern Black Polished Ware
Pre-history
6th century BC
Gandhara
Kuru-Panchala
Magadha
Adivasi

Adivasi (tribes)
Culture
Persian-Greek influences
"Second Urbanisation"
Rise of
Shramana

Shramana movements
Jainism

Jainism -
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism -
Ājīvika

Ājīvika - Yoga
Pre-history
5th century BC
(Persian rule)
Shishunaga dynasty
Adivasi

Adivasi (tribes)
4th century BC
(Greek conquests)
Nanda empire
HISTORICAL AGE
Culture
Spread of Buddhism
Pre-history
Sangam period
(300 BC – 200 AD)
3rd century BC
Maurya

Maurya Empire
Early Cholas
Early Pandyan Kingdom
Satavahana

Satavahana dynasty
Cheras
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam
Culture
Preclassical Hinduism[c] - "Hindu Synthesis"[d] (ca. 200 BC - 300
AD)[e][f]
Epics -
Puranas

Puranas -
Ramayana

Ramayana -
Mahabharata

Mahabharata -
Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita - Brahma
Sutras - Smarta Tradition
Mahayana Buddhism
Sangam period
(continued)
(300 BC – 200 AD)
2nd century BC
Indo-Greek Kingdom
Shunga Empire
Maha-Meghavahana Dynasty
Early Cholas
Early Pandyan Kingdom
Satavahana

Satavahana dynasty
Cheras
46 other small kingdoms in Ancient Thamizhagam
1st century BC
1st century AD
Indo-Scythians
Indo-Parthians
Kuninda Kingdom
2nd century
Kushan Empire
3rd century
Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom
Kushan Empire
Western Satraps
Kamarupa

Kamarupa kingdom
Kalabhra dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
Culture
"Golden Age of Hinduism"(ca. AD 320-650)[g]
Puranas
Co-existence of
Hinduism

Hinduism and Buddhism
4th century
Kidarites
Gupta Empire
Varman dynasty
Kalabhra dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
Kadamba Dynasty
Western Ganga Dynasty
5th century
Hephthalite Empire
Alchon Huns
Kalabhra dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
Vishnukundina
6th century
Nezak Huns
Kabul

Kabul Shahi
Maitraka
Adivasi

Adivasi (tribes)
Badami Chalukyas
Kalabhra dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
Culture
Late-Classical
Hinduism

Hinduism (ca. AD 650-1100)[h]
Advaita Vedanta

Advaita Vedanta - Tantra
Decline of
Buddhism
.jpeg/440px-Gandhara_Buddha_(tnm).jpeg)
Buddhism in India
7th century
Indo-Sassanids
Vakataka dynasty
Empire

Empire of Harsha
Mlechchha dynasty
Adivasi

Adivasi (tribes)
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Kalabhras)
Pandyan Kingdom(Revival)
Pallava
8th century
Kabul

Kabul Shahi
Pala Empire
Pandyan Kingdom
Kalachuri
9th century
Gurjara-Pratihara
Rashtrakuta dynasty
Pandyan Kingdom
Medieval Cholas
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Cholas)
Chera Perumals of Makkotai
10th century
Ghaznavids
Pala dynasty
Kamboja-Pala dynasty
Kalyani Chalukyas
Medieval Cholas
Pandyan Kingdom(Under Cholas)
Chera Perumals of Makkotai
Rashtrakuta
References and sources for table
References
^ Samuel
^ Samuel
^ Michaels (2004) p.39
^ Hiltebeitel (2002)
^ Michaels (2004) p.39
^ Hiltebeitel (2002)
^ Micheals (2004) p.40
^ Michaels (2004) p.41
Sources
Flood, Gavin D. (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge
University Press
Hiltebeitel, Alf (2002), Hinduism. In: Joseph Kitagawa, "The Religious
Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture", Routledge
Michaels, Axel (2004), Hinduism. Past and present, Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press
Samuel, Geoffrey (2010), The Origins of
Yoga

Yoga and Tantra. Indic
Religions to the Thirteenth Century, Cambridge University Press
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