Seleucid–Mauryan war

The Seleucid–Mauryan War was a confrontation between the Seleucid and Mauryan empires that took place somewhere between 305 and 303 BCE, when Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Empire crossed the Indus river into the former Indian satrapies of the Macedonian Empire, which had been conquered by Emperor Chandragupta Maurya of the Maurya Empire.

The confrontation resulted in a dynastic marriage-alliance between Seleucus and Chandragupta, the gift of war elephants to Seleucus, and the transferring of control over the Indus Valley region and (possibly) part of Afghanistan to Chandragupta. The alliance freed Seleucus to turn his attention toward his rivals in the west, while Chandragupta secured control over the areas that he had sought, the Maurya Empire emerging as the dominant power of the Indian subcontinent.

Background

In the wake of Alexander's Indian campaign, Chandragupta Maurya led a successful revolt from north-western India against the Nanda Dynasty, rulers at the time of the Gangetic Plain, establishing himself as Emperor of Magadha around 321 BC. He fought the empire for eleven years with successful guerrilla campaigns, and captured the Nanda capital of Pataliputra. This led to the fall of the empire and the eventual creation of the Maurya Empire with Chandragupta Maurya as its emperor.

The Persian provinces in what is now modern Afghanistan, together with the wealthy kingdom of Gandhara and the states of the Indus Valley, had all submitted to Alexander the Great and become part of his empire. When Alexander died, the Wars of the Diadochi ("Successors") split his empire apart; as his generals fought for control of Alexander's empire. In the eastern territories one of these generals, Seleucus I Nicator, was taking control and was starting to establish what became known as the Seleucid Empire. According to the Roman historian Appian, ''History of Rome'', Seleucus was

The Roman historian Justin described how Sandrocottus (Greek version of Chandragupta's name) assassinated Greek governors and established an oppressive regime "after taking the throne":

Confrontation

Details of the conflict are lacking, and the only sources mentioning the confrontation between Seleucus and Chandragupta are a few references by Strabo, Appian, Plutarch, and Justin. According to Appian,

It is unknown if there was in fact a pitched battle. Jansani warns that "there are very little details about the battle or skirmish they fought, and that none of the ancient authors depicted either Seleucus or Chandragupta as the clear victor of this battle. This lack of information about the encounter and the ensuing treaty means that it is impossible to reconstruct them." Military historian John D. Grainger has argued that Seleucus, upon crossing the Indus, "would find himself in a trap, with a large river at his back and a hostile continent before him," and consequently could not have advanced much farther than the Indus. According to Grainger, the details of the conflict are unclear, but the outcome clearly must have been "a decisive Indian victory," with Chandragupta driving back Seleucus' forces as far as the Hindu Kush and consequently gaining large territories in modern-day Afghanistan. Wheatley and Heckel suggest that the degree of friendly Maurya-Seleucid relations established after the war implies that the hostilities were probably "neither prolonged nor grievous".

Dynastic marriage-alliance

The confrontation was followed by a dynastic marriage-alliance, briefly mentioned by, or alluded to, by Greco-Roman authors Strabo (64 or 63 BCE – c. 24 CE) XV 2,9, Plutarch (1st c. CE), Justin (2nd c. CE), and Appian (2nd c. CE) Syr.'' 55. According to Jansari, Strabos and Plutarch may have drawn information from the same source, possibly Megasthenes. No Indian sources record the events, and Jansari warns that "the dependence on a small group of sources from only one literary tradition necessitates a cautious approach to these texts and the events they describe."

Three terms are recorded by these ancient sources. Seleucus Nicator seems to have ceded territories to Chandragupta, and received war elephants from Chandragupta Maurya, which subsequently influenced the Wars of the Diadochi in the west. Seleucus and Chandragupta also agreed to a marriage alliance, probably the marriage of Seleucus' daughter to Chandragupta.

Overview of the alliance

Strabo mentions the exchange of elephants and territory as part of the dynastic marriage-alliance. In his ''Geographica'', composed about 300 years after Chandragupta's death, he describes a number of tribes living along the Indus, and then states that "The Indians occupy n partsome of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians":

Jansari notes that "them" refers to "territories previously held by Alexander, but it is not specified which these were."

V.A. Smith (1914):

Kosmin summarizes those sources as follows, cautiously interpreting which territories may have been transferred:

Jansari notes that, in the 20th century, diverging views on Chandragupta have developed between western academics and Indian scholars. While westerners tend to take a reserved view on Chandragupta's accomplishments, Indian authors have portrayed Chandragupta as a very successful king who established the first Indian nation.

Gedrosia (Baluchistan)

=Malan mountain range (Purali/Hingol river)

=

V.A. Smith (1914), ''Early History of India'',:

Tarn limits the ceded part of Gedrosia to the territory east of the Porali Hingol) river, referring to Eratosthenes (c.276 BC – c.195/194 BCE), who states (in Tarn words) that

With regard to Gedrosia, more recent authors mention either "Gedrosia," which gives the impression that Baluchistan as far as Iran was hand over, or ' he easternpart of Gedrosia'. According to Thapar (1963), referring to Smith (1914), ''History of India'',

In ''History of Early India'', also from 1963, Thapar writes that "Some Seleucid territories that today would cover eastern Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Makran were ceded to the Maurya."

According to Kosmin, Seleucus "certainly" transferred "the eastern parts of Gedrosia." Thomas Trautmann includes the Makran Coast, referring to Smith (1924), and taking the Ashokan Edict of Kandahar as a validation for a maximum interpretation of Strabo. Smith actually takes the Malin range, east of the Makran coast, as the western limit, The validation by the Ashokan edicts is questioned by Coningham & Young and "a growing number of researchers," as the Ashokan edicts may rather point to the maximum extent of contact, and not of institutionalized control.

=Lower Indus Valley

=
Coningham & Young also question the extent of control over the lower Indus Valley, following Thapar, noting that this may hve been an area of peripheral control. Raymond Allchin also notes the absence of major cities in the lower Indus valley.

Paropamisadae (Gandhara and Kabul) and Arachosia (Kandahar)

According to Tarn, "the Paropamisadae itself was never Chandragupta's." Tarn, writing in 1922 before the discovery of the edicts of Ashoka in Kandahar and Laghman Province in the 1930s-60s, limits the exchanged territory to the Indus Valley. According to Tarn, the limit followed the Kunar river, east of Kabul and ending in Jalalabad, further south along the watershed, and ending at the Hingol river.

Kosmin writes that Seleucud "certainly" ceded Gandhara and Parapamisadae (this includes Gandhara), but "possibly" also Arachosia. Trautmann includes most of Afghanistan, including Herat, and Pakistan, noting that this extent has been doubted. He refers to Smith, stating that Smith "convincingly supported the veracity of the territorial cession," and arguing that the Ashokan inscription in Gandhara "confirmed the accuracy of the ancient testimony."

Coningham & Young question the extent of control over eastern Afghanistan, noting that "a growing number of researchers would now agree that the Ashokan edicts may have represented 'an area of maximum contact rather than streamlined bureaucratic control'."

Aria (Herat)

The acquisition of Aria (modern Herat) is disputed. Smith included a large part of Aria, referring to Strabo and Pliny. Strabo XV, 1, 10:

Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 CE):

Smith reads Strabo XV 1,10 as implying that "Strabo informs us that the cession included a large part of Ariane." He further argues that Pliny, in his treatment of the borders of India, when referring to various authors who "include in India the four satrapies of Gedrosia, Arachosia, Aria, and the Paropanisadae," this

According to Tarn, explicitly criticising Smith for his interpretation of the extent of Aria, the idea that Seleucus handed over more than what is now eastern Afghanistan is an exaggeration originating in a statement by Pliny the Elder in his Geographia VI, 69, referring not specifically to the lands received by Chandragupta, but rather to the various opinions of geographers regarding the definition of the word "India."

According to Kosmin, Seleucid "possibly" gave away "Aria as far as Herat." According to Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee, Aria "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded satrapies by some scholars ..on the basis of wrong assessments of the passage of Strabo ..and a statement by Pliny." According to John D. Grainger, "Seleucus "must ..have held Aria", and furthermore, his "son Antiochos was active there fifteen years later." According to Sherwin-White and Kuhrt (1993), "The region of Aria is definitely known to have been Seleucid under Seleucus I and Antiochus I as it definitely was after Antiochus III's great campaign in the east against the Parthians and Bactrians. ..There is no evidence whatever that it did not remain Seleucid, like Drangiana, with which it is linked by easy routes."

Military consequences

The arrangement proved to be mutually beneficial. The border between the Seleucid and Mauryan Empires remained stable in subsequent generations, and friendly diplomatic relations are reflected by the ambassador Megasthenes, and by the envoys sent westward by Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka. Chandragupta's gift of war elephants "may have alleviated the burden of fodder and the return march" and allowed him to appropriately reduce the size and cost of his large army, since the major threats to his power had now all been removed.

With the war elephants acquired from the Mauryas, Seleucus was able to defeat his rival, Antigonus, along with his allies at the Battle of Ipsus. Adding Antigonus's territories to his own, Seleucus would found the Seleucid Empire, which would endure as a great power in the Mediterranean and the Middle East until 64 BC.

Mauryan control of territory in what is now Afghanistan helped guard against invasion of India from the northwest. Chandragupta Maurya went on to expand his rule in India southward into the Deccan.

While Seleucus surrendered territory west of the Indus and in Afghanistan, he was accepted by satraps of the eastern provinces in present-day Iran. His Iranian wife, Apama, may have helped him implement his rule in Bactria and Sogdiana.Walter Eugene Clark (1919). "The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology", ''Classical Philology'' 14 (4), p. 297-313.

See also

* Kalinga War
* Nanda-Mauryan War
* Shunga–Greek War
* First Battle of Jhelum
* Greek campaigns in India
* List of wars involving India
* Military history of India

Notes

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Seleucid-Mauryan war
Wars involving ancient India
Wars involving the Maurya Empire
Mauryan
300s BC conflicts
Maurya Empire
Foreign relations of ancient India
Invasions by India
Seleucus I Nicator