Mauryan Empire

Rise of the Mauryas

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Rise of the Mauryas

• Dhana Nanda, the final emperor of the Nanda dynasty, faced significant unpopularity as a result of his tyrannical taxation policies.
• There was a great deal of international instability in North-Western India after Alexander's conquest.
• Some of these regions came under the rule of the Seleucid Dynasty, founded by Seleucus Nicator I. He was one of the generals of Alexander the Great.
• Kautilya ascended to the throne in 321 BC with the assistance of an intelligent and politically savvy Brahmin named Chandragupta, who did so by defeating Dhana Nanda.

Origin of Mauryas 

• Mudrarakshasa – Mauryas were connected with the Nandas and were called them Vrishal/kulhina (of low clan)
• Buddhist Tradition Chandragupta was a Kshatriya (sakya clan). The regopm was full of peacocks so became famous as ‘Moriyas’
• Puranas they belonged to the Moriya clan (low caste) 
• Junagarh rock inscription of Rudrada man suggests that Mauryans might have been of Vaishya origin

Sources 

Literary Sources 

Arthashashtra of Kautliya – written in Sanskrit by Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya, it is a treatise on state craft and public administration under Mauryas. The book is in 15 parts.

Buddhist Literature 

• Ashika vadana and Divyavadana information about Bindusara and Ashoka’s expeditions to Taxila 
• Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa – Ashoka’s role in spreading of Buddhism in Sri Lanka 
• Jatakas Socio economic conditions of Mauryan period 
• Sthaviravali Charita or Parisistha parvan of Hemachandra Chandragupta’s conversion to Jainism 
• Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta in Sanskrit an account of prevailing socio economic conditions and about how Chandragupta overthrew the Nandas with the help of Chanakya 
• Indica of Megasthenese Socio economic and administrative structure under Mauryas Indians free from slavery, 7 castes system and usuary in India
• Puranas Chronology and lists of Maurayan kings 
• Others Account of Diodorous Pliny Plutarch – Chandragupta as Androcottus, Arrian and Justion – Chandragupta as Sandrocottus 

Founder of Mauryan Empire 

Chandragupta Maurya 322 BC – 298 BC

• Date of Birth: 340 BC
• Place of Birth: Pataliputra
• Date of Death: 297 BC
• Place of Death: Shravanabelagola, Karnataka
• Reign: 321 BC to 298 BC
• Spouses: Durdhara, Helena
• Child: Bindusara
• Successor: Bindusara
• Father: Sarvarthasiddhi
• Mother: Mura
• Grandchildren: Ashoka, Susima, Vitashoka
• Teacher: Chanakya

Chandragupta Maurya

Also called as Sandrocotus by Greek scholars.

• Chandragupta deposed the final Nanda monarch, Dhananand, and seized control of Patliputra in 322 BC, with the assistance of Kautilya (Chankya).
• Chandragupta defeated Selucus Nikator the general of Alexander in North West India in 305 BC. Selucus surrendered a vast territory in return for 500 elephants. Hinukush became the boundary between the two states. There was a matrimonial alliance between them.
• Selucus also sent the Greek Ambassador Megasthenese, to the court of Chandragupta Maurya.
• Chandragupta embraced Jainism and went to Chandragiri hill at Sravanbelagola with Bhadrabahu, where he died of slow starvation.
• Chandragupta was the first Indian ruler to unite the whole North India. Both trade and agriculture flourished during his reign. Weights and measure were standardized money came into use and sanitation and famine relief measures were undertaken by the states.

• Chandragupta’s origins are shrouded in mystery. The Greek sources (which are the oldest) mention him to be of non-warrior lineage. The Hindu sources also say he was a student of Kautilya of humble birth (probably born to a Shudra woman). Most Buddhist sources say he was a Kshatriya.
• It is generally accepted that he was an orphaned boy born into a humble family who was trained by Kautilya.
• Greek accounts mention him as Sandrokottos.
• Alexander had abandoned his India conquest in 324 BC and within a year, Chandragupta had defeated some of the Greek-ruled cities in the north-western part of the country.
• Kautilya provided the strategy while Chandragupta executed it. They had raised a mercenary army of their own.
• Then, they moved eastward into Magadha.
• In a series of battles, he defeated Dhana Nanda and laid the foundations of the Maurya Empire in about 321 BC.
• In 305 BC, he entered into a treaty with Seleucus Nicator in which Chandragupta acquired Baluchistan, eastern Afghanistan and the region to the west of Indus. He also married Seleucus Nicator’s daughter. In return, Seleucus Nicator got 500 elephants. Seleucus Nicator avoided a full-scale war with the mighty Chandragupta and in return got war assets that would lead him to victory against his rivals in the Battle of Ipsus, fought in 301 BC
• Megasthenes was the Greek ambassador at Chandragupta’s court.
• Chandragupta, as a leader, implemented a policy of expansion and successfully brought under his control a significant portion of present-day India, with the exception of a few regions such as Kalinga and the southernmost parts.
• His reign lasted from 321 BC to 297 BC.
• He abdicated the throne in favour of his son, Bindusara, and went to Karnataka with Jain monk Bhadrabahu. He had embraced Jainism and is said to have starved himself to death according to the Jain tradition at Shravanabelagola.

Chanakya

• Teacher of Chandragupta Maurya, who was also his Chief Minister.
• He was a teacher and scholar at Taxila. Other names are Vishnugupta and Kautilya.
• He was also a minister in the court of Bindusara.
• He is credited to be the master strategist behind the usurping of the Nanda throne and the rise of the Mauryan Empire through his student, Chandragupta.
• He wrote Arthashastra which is a treatise on statecraft, economics, and military strategy.
• Arthashastra was rediscovered by R Shamasastry in 1905 after it had disappeared in the 12th century.

The work contains 15 books and 180 chapters. The main theme is divided into:

• King, Council of Ministers and Departments of the Government
• Civil and criminal law
• Diplomacy of war

It also contains information on trade and markets, a method to screen ministers, spies, duties of a king, ethics, social welfare, agriculture, mining, metallurgy, medicine, forests, etc.

Chanakya is also called ‘Indian Machiavelli”.

Bindusara – 298 BC – 273 BC 

• Greeks called him Amitro Chates 
• Chandragupra Maurya was succeeded by his son Bindusara 
• He extended the kingdom further to the peninsular region of India as far South as Mysore 
• Antiochus I the Selucid king of Syria sent his Ambassador, Deimachus to his court
• Pliny mention that ptoleny Philladelphus of Egypt sent Dionysiys as his Ambassador to the court of Bindusara 
• Taranath – the Buddhist monk credits him for conquering the land between the two seas 
• Antiochus I sent some sweet wine and dried figs to Mauryan court on Bindusara’s request but denied to send a sophist explaining that Greek law forbid a sophist to be sold 

He patronized Ajivika sect 

• Son of Chandragupta.
• He ruled from 298 BC to 273 BC.
• Also called Amitraghata (Slayer of foes) or Amitrochates in Greek sources.
• Deimachus was a Greek ambassador at his court.
• He had appointed his son, Ashoka as the governor of Ujjain.

Ashoka – 273 BC – 232 BC

• Ashoka is a son of Mauryan Emperor Bindusara and Subhadrangi and grandson of Chandragupta Maurya.
• His other names were Devanampiya, which means Beloved of the Gods in Piyadasi & Sanskrit.
• Considered to be one of the most powerful rulers in India.
• His year of birth was 304BC.
• Ashoka ruled from 268 BC to 232BC.
• When Ashoka's empire was at its height, it reached from what is now Bangladesh to Afghanistan in the west. It encompassed nearly the entire Indian subcontinent with the exception of what is now Sri Lanka, the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
• He builts many edicts all over India including in present-day Nepal & Pakistan.
• Kingdom was located at Pataliputra, which is now known as Patna. There were provincials capitals at Ujjain & Taxila.

Rise to power

• Ashoka did not have the position of heir presumptive because he was not the eldest son of Bindusara.
• Bindusara wanted his older son Susima to become king.
• But Ashoka knew how to use guns and work as a soldier, and when he became governor of Ujjain, he showed he was a great leader.
• After Bindusara's death in 272 BC, there was a fight over who would take over as king. Ashoka won, with the help of his father's ministers.
• Buddhist myth says that Ashoka took the throne by killing his 99 brothers but leaving Tissa, the youngest, alone. 
• Radhagupta a minister of Bindusara helped him in fratricidal struggle.
• This war of succession accounts for interregnum of four years (273-269 BC) and only after securing his position on the throne, Ashoka had himself formally crowned in 269 BC.
• It was said that he was a foul-tempered, ruthless, and extremely vicious monarch.
• Even so, he constructed a torture chamber in which to execute his prisoners. As a consequence, he acquired the alias Chandashoka (cruel Ashoka).
• He initiated the conquest-based expansion of his empire upon assuming the throne. He engaged Kalinga (present-day Odisha) in conflict during the ninth year of his reign.
• Ashoka sent missionaries to the kingdoms of the Cholas and the Pandya’s and five states ruled by Greek kings Antiochus II – Syria 
• Philadelphos Ptolemy II – Eygypt 
• Antigonus – Mecedonia 
• Magus – Syrina 
• Alexander – Epirus and he also sent missionaries to Ceylon, Suvarnbhumi – Burna and parts of South East Asia.

Conversion to Buddhism

• Ashoka personally led the campaign against Kalinga in 265 BC and successfully defeated them.
• The war resulted in the complete destruction of entire cities and the loss of almost one hundred thousand lives.
• The profound impact of the atrocities of war deeply unsettled him, prompting him to completely renounce violence and embrace Buddhism as his guiding philosophy for the remainder of his existence.
• Ashoka's 13th Rock Edict provides a detailed and colourful description of the Kalinga conflict.
• He transformed from being Chandashoka to being Dharmashoka, meaning the holy Ashoka.
• Around 263 BC, Ashoka embraced Buddhism. Moggaliputta Tissa, a Buddhist monk, served as his mentor.
• Ashoka organised the third Buddhist Council in Pataliputra in 250 BC, with Moggaliputta Tissa serving as the president.

Ashoka Dhamma 

• Ashoka's Dhamma, also known as Dharma in Sanskrit,
• Ashoka introduced the concept of paternal kingship.
• The king considered all his subjects as his offspring and believed it was his responsibility to safeguard their well-being.
• In his edicts, he proclaimed that it was imperative for all individuals to fulfil their duty of serving their parents, showing deep respect towards their teachers, and embodying the principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and truthfulness.
• He requested that all individuals refrain from engaging in animal slaughter and sacrifice.
• He advocated for the compassionate treatment of animals, servants, and prisoners.
• He promoted the acceptance and respect of all religions.
• He pursued dominion through the principles of Dhamma rather than engaging in warfare.
• He dispatched missions overseas to propagate the teachings of the Buddha. Significantly, he dispatched his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitra to Sri Lanka.
• The majority of his decrees are composed in Pali and Prakrit using the Brahmi script. Additionally, some of them are written using the Kharoshti and Aramaic scripts. Additionally, there exist several decrees that have been documented in the Greek language. The choice of language is contingent upon the specific placement of the pillar.

Sources of information about Ashoka

There are two primary sources: 

• Buddhist texts
• Ashoka's edicts.

James Prinsep, a British scholar and government official, was the initial individual to decode Ashoka's inscriptions.
The Ashokavadana, written in the second century AD in Sanskrit, along with the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa (Pali chronicles from Sri Lanka), provide the majority of material about Ashoka.