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{{Infobox country
{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Maurya Empire
| conventional_long_name = Mauryan Empire
| common_name            = Mauryan Empire
| common_name            = Mauryan Empire
| native_name            =  
| native_name            =  
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| s6                    = Vidarbha kingdom (Mauryan era)
| s6                    = Vidarbha kingdom (Mauryan era)
| flag_s6                =  
| flag_s6                =  
| image_map              = Mauryan Empire 260 BCE.png
| image_map              = Ashoka Maurya Empire.png
| image_map_caption    = Maximum extent of the Maurya Empire, as shown by the location of [[Edicts of Ashoka|Ashoka's inscriptions]], and visualized by ASI ([[Archeological Survey Of India]]) based on various inscriptions and Ancient Greecian and Ancient Indian texts<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.06445|title=Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol-13, Issue no.-1-4}}</ref>, modern archaeologist : [[Dougald J. W. O'Reilly]] <ref>https://books.google.nl/books?id=eyHTschgg50C&pg=PA178&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>,old archeologist [[Myra Shackley]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/atlasoftraveltou0000shac|title=Atlas of travel and tourism development|last=Shackley|first=Myra L.|date=2006|publisher=Amsterdam ; Boston : Elsevier|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-7506-6348-9}}</ref>: modern historian : [[Upinder Singh]]<ref>https://archive.org/details/history-of-ancient-and-early-medeival-india-from-the-stone-age-to-the-12th-century-pdfdrive</ref>,[[Jackson J. Spielvogel]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/westerncivilizat08edspie|title=Western civilization|last=Spielvogel|first=Jackson J.|date=2012|publisher=Boston, MA : Wadsworth Cengage Learning|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-495-91329-0}}</ref><ref>https://books.google.nl/books?id=cCdmEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT143&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>[[Hugh Bowden]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/timesancientcivi0000unse|title=The Times ancient civilizations|date=2002|publisher=London : Times Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-00-710859-6}}</ref>;old historians:[[John Haywood (British historian)|John Haywood]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/atlasofworldhist00hayw|title=Atlas of world history|last=Haywood|first=John|date=1997|publisher=New York : Barnes & Noble Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-7607-0687-9}}</ref>;[[ Patrick Karl O'Brien]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/philipsatlasofwo0000unse_u6t7|title=Philip's Atlas of World History: From the Origins of Humanity to the Year 2000|date=1999|publisher=The Softback Preview|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-540-07858-5}}</ref><ref>https://books.google.nl/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA46&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>,[[H. C. Raychaudhuri]] <ref>https://www.routledge.com/India-The-Ancient-Past-A-History-of-the-Indian-Subcontinent-from-c-7000/Avari/p/book/9781138828216</ref>,[[John F. Cady]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/southeastasiaits0000cady_v1t8|title=Southeast Asia: its historical development|last=Cady|first=John F. (John Frank)|date=1964|publisher=New York, McGraw-Hill|others=Internet Archive}}</ref>,[[Gerald Danzer]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/atlasofworldhist0000danz|title=An atlas of world history|last=Danzer|first=Gerald A.|date=2000|publisher=Ann Arbor, MI : Borders Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-681-46572-5}}</ref>,[[Vincent Arthur Smith]];<ref name="Smith1920">{{citation|last=Smith|first=Vincent Arthur|title=The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2gxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA104%7Cyear=1920%7Cpublisher=Clarendon Press|pages=104–106}}</ref> [[Robert Roswell Palmer]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/randmcnallyatla00rand|title=Rand McNally atlas of world history|last=Rand McNally and Company|last2=Palmer|first2=R. R. (Robert Roswell)|date=1965|publisher=Chicago|others=Internet Archive}}</ref>,[[Geoffrey Parker]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/timescompacthist0000unse_g4l2|title=The Times compact history of the world|date=2008|publisher=London : Times Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-00-726731-6}}</ref>,[[R. C. Majumdar]];<ref name="India1950">{{citation|last1=Majumdar|first1=R. C.|last2=Raychaudhuri|first2=H. C.|last3=Datta|first3=Kalikinkar|title=An Advanced History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MyIWMwEACAAJ%7Cedition=Second%7Cyear=1950%7Cpublisher=Macmillan & Company|page=104}}</ref> and historical geographer:[[Joseph E. Schwartzberg]].<ref name="dsal.uchicago.edu">Schwartzberg, Joseph E. [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/ ''A Historical Atlas of South Asia''] , 2nd ed. (University of Minnesota, 1992), Plate III.B.4b ([https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=055 p.18]) and Plate XIV.1a-c ([https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182 p.145]) {{!}}url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/ {{!}}date=26 January 2021</ref>
| image_map_caption    = Maximum extent of the Maurya Empire, as shown by the location of [[Edicts of Ashoka|Ashoka's inscriptions]], and visualized by ASI ([[Archeological Survey Of India]]) based on ancient inscriptions, ancient Greecian , ancient Indian texts,<ref>{{Cite book|page=412|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.06445|title=Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol-13, Issue no.-1-4}}</ref> modern archaeologist :[[Nayanjot Lahiri]]<ref name="NAVJOT>"
Pg.5  : In relation to his predecessors, he was the first Indian king to rule over an empire embracing much of India and its western borderlands, from Afghanistan to Orissa and towards the south as far as Karnataka. In relation to the rulers who followed him, it was his example which influenced thought-philosophical, religious, cultural-in Asia more profoundly than that of any other political figure of antiquity." {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=bJ_XCgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=5|title=Ashoka in Ancient India|last=Lahiri|first=Nayanjot|date=2015-08-05|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-05777-7|language=en}}</ref>, [[Dougald J. W. O'Reilly]]<ref name="DOUGLE">" {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.nl/books?id=eyHTschgg50C&pg=PA178&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=maurya&f=false|title=Early Civilizations of Southeast Asia|last=O'Reilly|first=Dougald J. W.|date=2007|publisher=Rowman Altamira|page=178|isbn=978-0-7591-0279-8|language=en}}</ref> old archeologist :[[D.R. Bhandarkar]]<ref name="BHANDARKAR">" Pg.42-43 : We thus obtain a fairly accurate idea of the extent of Asoka's dominions. They included the whole of India except the southern extremity of the peninsula held by the Choda, Pandya, Satiya- putra and Keralaputra kings. This southern boundary is marked roughly by a line drawn from Pulicat near Madras in the east, to Gooty and Chitaldrug in the north where the four copies of Aśoka's Minor Rock Edicts have been discovered right up to the northern point of the South Canara District on the west. Let us now see what Greek princes have been mentioned by Aśoka as his contemporaries, and try to identify them. They have all been named in Rock Edict XIII. Of course, Amtiyoka is the first to be named as he was a neighbour of Asoka. Beyond his kingdom, we are told, were ruling the four princes Turamaya, Amtekina or Amtikini, Maga and Alikasumdra. Amtiyoka is, of course, Antiochus II. Theos (B.C. 261-246), king of Syria, and Turamaya, Ptolemy II. Philadelphos of Egypt (285-247). Amtekina or Amtikini, as Bühler has remarked, corresponds to the Greek Antigenes rather than to Antigonus."{{Cite book|page=42-43|url=http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.35379|title=Asoka|last=Bhandarkar|first=D. R.|publisher=Central Archelogical Library|isbn=978-93-837-2346-1}}</ref>, [[Myra Shackley]]:<ref name="SHACKLEY">" Pg.67 - After Alexanderâs retreat from the Indus the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya established the first indigenous empire to exercise control over much of the subcontinent, and eventually, under his successors, this covered all but the tip of the peninsula. Asoka, the greatest of the Mauryan emperors, took power in 272 BC and extended the empire from Afghanistan to Assam and from the Himalayas to Mysore, leaving behind a series of inscriptions recording his edicts on pillars and rocks across the continent." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/atlasoftraveltou0000shac|title=Atlas of travel and tourism development|last=Shackley|first=Myra L.|date=2006|publisher=Amsterdam ; Boston : Elsevier|others=Internet Archive|page=67|isbn=978-0-7506-6348-9}}</ref> modern historian : [[Robert W. Strayer]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/waysofworld0000robe|page=121|title=Ways of the World|last=Robert W. Strayer : Eric W. Nelson|date=2016|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-1-319-05448-9}}</ref>, [[Eric Nelson]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/waysofworld0000robe|page=121|title=Ways of the World|last=Robert W. Strayer : Eric W. Nelson|date=2016|publisher=Bedford/St. Martin's|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-1-319-05448-9}}</ref>, [[Upinder Singh]]<ref name="UPINDER"> Pg.740 : "Chandragupta and Seleucus Nikator, who had inherited the eastern provinces of Alexander empire. This may have occurred in about 301 BCE and was resolved by an agreement. Chandragupta obtained the territories of Arachosia (the Kandahar area of south-east Afghanistan), Gedrosia (south Baluchistan), and Paropomisadai (the area between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent) and handed over 500 elephants in return. "
 
Pg.748 : "The distribution of Ashoka's inscriptions suggests the extent of the Maurya empire. In the north-west, it extended up to Kandahar in Afghanistan, with the kingdom of Antiochus II of Syria lying to the west. Its eastern frontier extended to Orissa. It included almost the entire subcontinent, except the southernmost parts, which, according to rock edict 13, were inhabited by the Cholas and Pandyas, and according to rock edict 2, by the Keralaputras and Satiyaputras."
{{Cite book|page=740,748|url=http://archive.org/details/history-of-ancient-and-early-medeival-india-from-the-stone-age-to-the-12th-century-pdfdrive|title=History Of Ancient And Early Medeival India From The Stone Age To The 12th Century|last=[[Upinder Singh]]|date=2008}}</ref>, [[Jackson J. Spielvogel]]<ref name="JACKSON"> " Pg.106 - Seleucid Kingdom Another Hellenistic monarchy was founded by the general Seleucus (suh-LOO-kuss), who established the Seleucid dynasty of Syria. This was the largest of the Hellenistic kingdoms and controlled much of the old Persian Empire from Turkey in the west to India in the east, although the Seleucids found it increasingly difficult to maintain control of the eastern territories. In fact, an Indian ruler named Chandragupta Maurya (chundruh-GOOP-tuh MOWR-yuh) (324-301 B.c.E.) created a new Indian state, the Mauryan Empire, and drove out the Seleucid forces. His grandson Asoka (uh-SOH-kuh) (269-232 b.c.e.) extended the empire to include most of India and is considered the greatest ruler in India's history Asoka, a pious Buddhist, sought to convert the remaining Greek communities in northwestern India to his religion and even sent Buddhist missionaries to Greek rulers. The Seleucid rulers maintained relations with the Mauryan Empire. Trade was fostered, especially in such luxuries as spices and jewels. Seleucus also sent Greek and Macedonian ambassadors to the Mauryan court. Best known of these was Megasthenes (muh-GAS-thuh-neez), whose report on the people of India remained one of the western best sources of information on India until the Middle Ages. " {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/westerncivilizat08edspie|title=Western civilization|last=Spielvogel|first=Jackson J.|date=2012|page=106|publisher=Boston, MA : Wadsworth Cengage Learning|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-495-91329-0}}</ref>, [[Hugh Bowden]]<ref name="BOWDEN"> " Pg.122 : India's first approach towards becoming a unified state occurred under the first three kings of the Mauryan Empire. The founder of the dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya (c.310-286 BCE) , king of Magadha in Eastern India, unfied under his control the other kingdom of the Gangetic Plain. His grandson, Ashoka (c.270-234 BCE) , consolidated Mauryan imperial rule, extending it into eastern and southern "{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/timesancientcivi0000unse|title=The Times ancient civilizations|date=2002|page=122|publisher=London : Times Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-00-710859-6}}</ref>, [[Ram Sharan Sharma]]<ref name="SHARAN">“ Pg.355 : English Translation of his statement - "The biggest fact of Maurya political history was the establishment of the Magadha Empire, which included the whole of India except the far south. This empire was established with the strength of the sword and it could be protected only with the strength of the sword. Strong military power was necessary for both external security and internal peace..The tribal people living inside the empire and on its borders were equally a cause of trouble. So for this, there was a huge permanent army and tight judicial system."{{Cite book|page=355|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.401527|title=Prachin Bharat Me Rajneetik Vichar Avam Sansthae|last=Sharma|first=Ramsharan|date=1990}}</ref>, [[Charles Allen]]<ref name="CHARLES"> " Pg.1 : Ashoka Maurya—or Ashoka the Great as he was later known—holds a special place in the history of Buddhism and India. At its height in around 250 BCE, his empire stretched across the Indian subcontinent to Kandahar in the east, and as far north as the Himalayas. Through his quest to govern by moral force alone, Ashoka transformed Buddhism from a minor sect into a major world religion, while simultaneously setting a new yardstick for government that had lasting implications for all of Asia. His bold experiment ended in tragedy, however, and in the tumult that followed the historical record was cleansed so effectively that his name was largely forgotten for almost two thousand years. Yet, a few mysterious stone monuments and inscriptions miraculously survived the purge.  
 
" Pg. 60 : Pliny admits to the loss of Greek territory: "The Indians afterwards held a large part of Ariane [a satrapy of the Persian Empire encompassing what is now eastern Iran, south-western Afghanistan and Baluchistan] which they had received from the Macedonians, entering into marriage relations with him, and giving in return five hundred elephants, of which Sandrakottos had nine thousand." "{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ashokasearchfori0000alle/page/n1/mode/1up?q=Ashoka+Maurya%E2%80%94or|title=Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor|last=Allen|page=1 ,60 and his created map on pg. 12|first=Charles|date=2012-02-21|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1-4087-0388-5|language=en}}</ref>, [[Neil MacGregor]]<ref name="GREGOR">" Pg.205 : Chandragupta, who had risen to the throne following a military campaign that created a huge empire reaching from Kandahar in modern Afghanistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east. This included the great majority of modern India, and was the largest empire in Indian history. In 268 BC Ashoka took his place on the throne but not without considerable struggle. Buddhist writings tell us that in order to do so he killed ‘ninety-nine of his brothers’ presumably metaphorical as well as actual brothers. The same writings create a legend of Ashoka’s pre-Buddhist days as filled with self-indulgent frivolity and cruelty. When he became emperor he set out to complete the occupation of the whole subcontinent and attacked the independent state of Kalinga modern-day Orissa on the east coast. " {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofworldin0000macg/page/205/mode/2up|title=A history of the world in 100 objects|last=MacGregor|first=Neil|date=2011|page=205|publisher=New York : Viking|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-670-02270-0}}</ref>, [[Grigory Bongard-Levin]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=G. Bongard-Levin |url=http://archive.org/details/bongard-levin-1979-india-magadha-maurya |title=India in the Magadha and Mauryan Periods |publication-date=2010 |pages=69-70}}</ref> old historians:[[Mark F. Whitters]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-world-history-7-volumes-set-facts-on-file-2008/page/n33/mode/1up|page=33,262,270 & 590 |title=Encyclopedia Of World History 7 Volumes Set Facts On File 2008}}</ref>, [[Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur ]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-world-history-7-volumes-set-facts-on-file-2008/page/n269/mode/1up|page=33,262,270,590 |title=Encyclopedia Of World History 7th Volumes Set Facts On File 2008}}</ref>, [[Janice J. Terry]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-world-history-7-volumes-set-facts-on-file-2008/page/n262/mode/1up|page=33,262,270,590 |title=Encyclopedia Of World History 7 Volume Set Facts On File 2008}}</ref>, [[Michael J. Schroeder ]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-world-history-7-volumes-set-facts-on-file-2008/page/n270/mode/1up|page=33,262,270,590 |title=Encyclopedia of World History Volumes VII, Set Facts On File 2008}}</ref>, [[Marsha E. Ackermann ]]<ref name="WORLDHISTO">“ Pg.33 : Ashoka (Asoka) was the third ruler of the MAURYAN Empire. Under his long rule the empire that he inherited reached its zenith territorially and culturally. Soon after his death the Mauryan Empire split up and ended. He is remembered as a great ruler in world history and the greatest ruler in India. Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan dynasty in 326 B.C.E. Both he and his son Bindusara were successful warriors, unifying northern India and part of modern Afghanistan for the first time in history. Ashoka was not Bindusara's eldest son, and there is a gap of time between his father's death and his succession, due perhaps to war with his brothers. Ashoka continued to expand the empire by conquering southward. One war against Kalinga in the southeast was particularly bloody and filled him with remorse. As a result he converted to Buddhism (from Vedic Hinduism) and renounced war as an instrument of policy.”
“Pg.262 : Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan Empire in 326 B.C.E. in northern India. His son Bindusara and grandson AsHOKA (Asoka) continued his conquest that unified the entire subcontinent, with the exception of the southern tip, and part of Afghanistan into India's first great empire.  “
“Pg.270 :In 324 B.C.E. Chandragupta Maurya unified northern India by defeating his rivals. He went on to war against the successor of ALEXANDER THE GREAT in Asia, Seleucus Nicator, expelling his forces from the borderlands of India. In 305 B.C.E. the two men concluded a treaty in which the Greeks withdrew from the Punjab in northwestern India and which fixed the western boundary of the MAURYAN EMPIRE to the crest of the Hindu Kush. There was also exchange of ambassadors, gifts, and a vague mention of a marriage alliance. Megasthenes was Seleucus’s representative at Chandragupta’s court. “
&
“Check Mauryan Empire Map , Pg:590. “{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-world-history-7-volumes-set-facts-on-file-2008/page/n590/mode/1up|page=33,262,270,590 |title=ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD HISTORY 7 Volumes}}</ref>, [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee]]<ref name="MUKHERJEE">" Pg.12 : Asoka had the singular good fortune of being spared the ifficult task of founding and organising an inpare That ask was effectively executed by his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, who bequeathed to his successors an empire extending approximately from Afghanistan to Mysore Territories which are even now outside the Government of India were parts of the Indian Empire under Chandragupta, the four satrapies of Aria, Arochosia, Gedrosia, and the Paropanisadai, which Chanaragupta wrested in about 304 B C from the empire of Selukos as the penalty for his ill-advised aggression."
 
" Pg.13 :Yuan Chwang saw Asokan topes in Kapis (Kafiris- tan), Nagar (Jelalabad), and Udyana in the north-west. In Bengal, the authority of Asoka is proved by his stūpa at Tamralipti, the capital of Suhma, and the famous port of embarkation for voyages towards the south. According to Yuan Chwang, there was also a stupa of Asoka in the capital of Samatata or the Brahmaputra Delta, and others in different parts of Bengal and Bihar, viz., Punyavardhana (northern Bengal) and Karnasuvarna (modern Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts) [Watters, ii 184 f]. Yuan Chwang refers to Asokan topes being erected at various places in the south, in Chola and Dravida, of which the capital, Kanchipura, has been sought to be identified with the Satiyaputra country of the Edict Indeed, the distribu- tion of the Asokan topes as mentioned by Yuan Chwang is almost co-terminous with that of the inscriptions, and is equally significant of the vastness of his empire.Lastly, the extent of his empire is also indicated by his own mention in the Edicts (R.E. II, V, and XIII] of the peoples on its borders In the south, these are mentioned as the Cholas, Pandyas, the Satiyaputra and Keralaputra, who were all within his sphere of influence Towards the north-west, his empire marched with that of the Synan monarch, Antiochos [R.E. II], and hence extended up to Persia and Syria which were held by Antiochos, while it is also known how Asoka's grandfather, Chandragupta, had wrested from Selukos the provinces of Aria, Arachosia, Paropanisadai and Gedrosia, which descended to Asoka as his inheritance.
 
Lastly, the extent of his empire is also indicated by his own mention in the Edicts (Rock Edict II, V, and XIII] of the peoples on its borders In the south, these are mentioned as the Cholas, Pandyas, the Satiyaputra and Keralaputra, who were all within his sphere of influence Towards the north-west, his empire marched with that of the Synan monarch, Antiochos [Rock Edict II], and hence extended up to Persia and Syria which were held by Antiochos, while it is also known how Asoka's grandfather, Chandragupta, had wrested from Selukos the provinces of Aria, Arachosia, Paropanisadai and Gedrosia, which descended to Asoka as his inheritance ."
 
" Pg.16 : The capital of the empire at Pataliputra [Rock Edict V. Girnar], and of outlying towns, such as Bodh-Gaya [Rock Edict VIII), Kosambi (Allahabad Pillar Edict], Ujjeni, Takkhasilä [K.R.Edict),Suvarnagiri, Isila [M.R.Edict], and Tosali and Samāpā in the province of Kalinga [K.R.Edict] Thus we have a fairly definite idea of the limits of Asoka's empire in different directions. We may even hazard the conjecture that the empire was so large that Asoka did not live to visit all its parts, and inspect the execution of his inscriptions in different localities."{{Cite book|page=12,13,16|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=uXyftdtE1ygC&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Radhakumud+Mookerji%22&hl=en&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Asoka|last=Mookerji|first=Radhakumud|date=1962|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe|isbn=978-81-208-0582-8|language=en}}</ref><ref name="RADHA">"Pg.36-37: Chandragupta did not merely supplant the Nanda king in the sovereignty of Magadha. He made himself at once the sovereign of an empire which was much larger than that of Nanda, for it included the land of the five rivers up to the Indus. This empire also extended farther by his later conquests. His subsequent career may be gathered from the following statement of Plutarch [Lives. Chap. LXII] : 'Not long afterwards, Androcottos, who had at that time mounted the throne, presented Seleukos with 500 elephants and overran and subdued the whole of India with an army of 600,000 . " The throne " here is the throne of Magadha which he had won by defeating the Nanda king. The present to Seleukos was the result of a war between the two. It would appear that in the struggle for power which ensued among the generals of Alexander after his death, Seleukos won for himself a secure position as the ruler of Babylon by about 311 B C. and felt free to devote himself to the consolidation of his authority in the distant provinces. Bactria was not subdued without hard fighting. And by about 305 or 304 B. C. at the latest, he planned for a recovery of the Indian conquests of Alexander. Taking the route along the Kabul river,and crossed the Indus [Appian, Syr. 55]. But the expedition proved abortive and ended in an alliance. It was because he had to confront a new India, strong and united, under Chandragupta in command of a formidable army, and felt that discretion was the better part of valour. By the terms of the treaty, Seleukos ceded to Chandragupta the Satrapies of Arachosia' (Kandahar) and the Paropanisadae (Kabul), together with portions of Aria (Herat) and Gedrosia (Baluchistan). Thus Chandragupta was able to add another glorious feather to his cap. He extended his empire beyond the frontiers of India up to the borders of Persia. That is why it was possible for his grandson Asoka to declare in two of his Rock Edicts [11 and XIII] that the Syrian emperor, Antiochus [Antiyoka Yonaraja] was his immediate neighbour, one of his frontagers (an Anta or a Pratyanta king). "{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times|last=Mookerji|first=Radhakumud|date=1966|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-0405-0|language=en}}</ref>,[[John Haywood (British historian)|John Haywood]]<ref name="HAYWOOD"> " Pg.24 : In 321 Chandragupta Maurya (321-c. 293) seized the throne of the kingdom of Magadha, overthrowing the Nanda dynasty. Chandragupta spent most of his reign building a strong central administration, but he defeated a Seleucid invasioin, adding all of northwest India to his domains. His son Bindusara also conquered much of southern India. Under Ashoka the Mauryan empire reached its greatest extent. Appalled by his bloody conquest of the east coast kingdom of Kalinga in 261 Ashoka abjured further warfare and, becoming a Buddhist, tried to impose Buddhist standards of behavior on his people." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/atlasofworldhist00hayw|page=24|title=Atlas of world history|last=Haywood|first=John|date=1997|publisher=New York : Barnes & Noble Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-7607-0687-9}}</ref>, [[Patrick Karl O'Brien]]<ref name="BRIEN"> " Pg.46 - By 500 Bc kingdoms existed throughout the Ganges region. Chief among these was Magadha, favourably located for control both of riverborne trade and of the sources of raw materials such as iron. Magadha gradually expanded at the expense of its neighbours and before 297 Bc its king, Chandragupta Maurya, ruled most of north India . His grandson Ashoka (r. 272-231 Bc) further extended the empire, conquering Kalinga in 261 Bc, and only the extreme south retained its independence. Pillar and rock edicts mark the extent of Mauryan political authority: these proclaimed Ashoka's ethical code of social responsibility and toleration. It was an age of peace and prosperity."{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/philipsatlasofwo0000unse_u6t7|title=Philip's Atlas of World History: From the Origins of Humanity to the Year 2000|page=46|date=1999|publisher=The Softback Preview|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-540-07858-5}}</ref><ref>https://books.google.nl/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA46&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false</ref>, [[H. C. Raychaudhuri]]<ref name="RAYCHAUDHARI">"Pg.273 : The ceded country comprised a large portion of Ariana itself, a fact ignored by Tarn. In exchange the Maurya a monarch gave the comparatively small recompense of 500 elephants. It is believed that the territory ceded by the Syrian king included the four satrapies: Aria, Arachosia, Gedrosia and the Paropanisadai, i.e., Herat, Kandahar, Makran and Kabul. Doubts have been entertained about this by several scholars including Tarn. The inclusion of the Kabul valley within the Maurya Empire is, however, proved by the inscriptions of Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, which speak of the Yonas and Gandharas as vassals of the Empire. And the evidence of Strabo probably points to the cession by Seleukos of a large part of the Iranian Tableland besides the riparian provinces on the Indus."
" Pg.297: The conquest of the territory between the eastern and western seas has been taken by some scholars to refer to the annexation of the Deccan. But we should not forget that already in the time of Chandragupta the Maurya Empire extended from Saurashtra to Bengal (Gangaridae), i.e., from the western to the eastern sea. "
" Pg.327 : The full political effects of this change of policy became manifest only after the death of Ashoka, perhaps even after the 27th year of his consecration. From the time of Bimbisara to the Kalinga war' the history India was the story of the expansion of Magadha from a tiny state in South Bihar to a gigantic Empire extending from the foot of the Hindukush to the borders of the Tamil country."{{Cite book |last=Raychaud |first=Hem Chandra Raychaudhuri|page=273,297,327|url=http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.1633 |title=Political history of ancient India |date=1953}}</ref>, [[John F. Cady]]<ref name="CADY"> " Pg.34 - The India from whose culture Southeast Asian peoples borrowed so extensively was partly united for the first time politically in the third century B.C. The Mauryan Empire (330 to 180 By.) included the north Indian valleys westward to Greek Bactria and southward along the eastern Indian coast to the mouths of the Kistna and Godavari Rivers. Mauryan power centering at Patna in the lower Ganges Valley reached its peak in the mid-third century B.c. under the leadership of the great Asoka, who was a political exemplar of Buddhist ideals and humanitarian principles of government. Asoka unified and promoted the Buddhist faith without persecuting dissident elements; he built India's first shrines of cut stone and burned brick; he sponsored missionary efforts within India and beyond. Mauryan rule declined rapidly after his death in 237 B.c."{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/southeastasiaits0000cady_v1t8|title=Southeast Asia: its historical development|page=34|last=Cady|first=John F. (John Frank)|date=1964|publisher=New York, McGraw-Hill|others=Internet Archive}}</ref>, [[Gerald Danzer]]<ref name="DANZER">" Pg.44 - The Mauryan Empire reached out from the Ganges valley to annex the Indus valley peoples shortly after the death of Alexander the Great. Asoka extended the empire in all directions, but had an even greater impact in spreading the teachings of the Buddha throughout his realm. He had pillars erected at crossroads locations covered with edicts written in stone to proclaim his ideals." ..."In the generation after Alexander, however, information resurfaces with the establishment of the Mauryan Empire by Chandragupta in 324 BCE. By 240 bce the Mauryan Empire reached its greatest extent, controlling the great river valleys of both the Ganges and Indus rivers. Of even more importance was the conversion of the emperor, Asoka, to Buddhism. "{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/atlasofworldhist0000danz|title=An atlas of world history|last=Danzer|first=Gerald A.|date=2000|page=44|publisher=Ann Arbor, MI : Borders Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-681-46572-5}}</ref>, [[Vincent Arthur Smith]]<ref name="Smith1920">
Pg.75: The Indian conquests of Alexander to the east of the Indus, which extended across the Panjab as far as the Hyphasis or Bias river, quickly passed, as we have seen, soon after the death of Alexander, into the hands of Chandragupta Maurya, and the four satrapies of Aria, Arachosia, Gedrosia, and the Paropanisadai were ceded to him by Seleukos Nikator about B. c. 305. The Maurya frontier was thus extended as far as the Hindu Rush Mountains, and the greater part of the countries now called Afghanistan, Baluchistan and Makran, with the North- Western Frontier Province, became incorporated in the Indian Empire. That empire included the famous strongholds of Kabul, Zabul, Kandahar, and Herat, and so possessed the scientific frontier ' for which Anglo-Indian statesmen have long sighed in vain. There is no reason to suppose that the trans-Indus provinces were lost by Bindusara, and it is reasonable to assume that they continued under the sway of Asoka, who refers to Antiochos, King of Syria, in terms which suggest that the Syrian and Indian empires were conterminous. Costly buildings ascribed to Asoka were seen by Hiuen Tsang in different parts of Afghanistan. Among others he mentions a stone stupa, a hundred feet high, at the town of Kapisa, somewhere in Kafiristan, and a remarkable building of the same kind, three hundred feet in height and richly decorated, at Nangrahar, near Jalalabad, on the Kabul river. The Swat valley also contained evidences of Asoka's passion for building ."
"Pg.81 : Asoka's empire, therefore, comprised the countries now known as Afghanistan, as far as the Hindu Kush, Baluchistan, Makran, Sind, Kachh (Cutch), the Swat valley, with the adjoining regions, Kashmir, Nepal, and the whole of India proper, except the extreme south, Tamilakam or Tamil Land. His dominions were far more extensive than British India of to-day, excluding Burma. "{{citation|last=Smith|first=Vincent Arthur|title=The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2gxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA104%7Cyear=1920%7C|publisher=Clarendon Press|pages=75,81}}</ref>, [[Robert Roswell Palmer]]<ref name="PALMER">" Pg.116 - Based on Magadha in the Ganges valley, the Mauryan empire flourished from 322 B.C., when its founder Chandragupta seized the capital city of Pataliputra to 185 B.C., when the last ruler of the dynasty died. Chandragupta united north India from the mouths of the Ganges to the watershed west of the Indus. He then took over, from a satrap of the Alexandrian empire, the regions of Arachosia and Gandhara up to the Hindu Kush mountains. His son Bindusara extended the empire to about the fifteenth parallel of latitude, except for Kalinga on the east coast, which was later annexed by Asoka. The reign of Asoka (273-232 B.C.) -saw the height of the Mauryan empire, and is one of the great periods of Indian history. Shortly after the conquest of Kahnga Asoka was converted to Buddhism, whereupon, forswearing mihtarism. he devoted himself to the welfare of his people and the propagation of Buddhism. His missionaries brought Buddhism and Indian civilization to Ceylon and elsewhere." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/randmcnallyatla00rand|title=Rand McNally atlas of world history|last=Rand McNally and Company|page=106|last2=Palmer|first2=R. R. (Robert Roswell)|date=1965|publisher=Chicago|others=Internet Archive}}</ref>, [[Geoffrey Parker]]<ref name="GEOFFREY">" Pg.28 - A further turning point came in 320 BC when Chandragupta Maurya seized the state of Magadha on the lower Ganges, and occupied large parts of central India, and in 305 BC annexed the province of Trans-Indus from the successors of Alexander the Great (see page 32). Chandragupta’s grandson Ashoka (273-232 BC) expanded this Mauryan empire southwards, bringing the greater part of the sub-continent under his rule and inscribing edicts on pillars and rock-faces all over India as a permanent reminder of his power (map 2). Ashoka’s death introduced a troubled period, punctuated by invasions of both Greeks and nomads who founded states in the north-west, such as the Kushan empire, where Hellenistic and Indian influences mingled. Further south, the Satavahanas of the Deccan ruled a state that straddled the peninsula by AD 150." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/timescompacthist0000unse_g4l2|page=28|title=The Times compact history of the world|date=2008|publisher=London : Times Books|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-00-726731-6}}</ref>, [[R. C. Majumdar]]<ref name="MAJUMDAR">
"Pg.101 : Towards the close of the reign of Chandrgupta, the Maurya empire received a further extension in the north-west Seleucus the general of Alexander, who had made himself master of Babylon, gradually extended his empire from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus and even tried to regain the provinces to the east of that river. He failed and had to conclude a treaty with Chandragupta by which he surrendered a large territory including, in the opinion of certain writers, the satrapies of Paropanisadai {Kabul), Aria (Herat), Arachosia (Qandahar), and Gedrosia (Baluchistan), in return for 500 elephant.
"Pg.104 : The conquest of this province rounded off the Maurya empire, which now embraced almost the whole of nonTamil India and a considerable portion of Afganistan. It stretched from the land of the Yonas, Kambojaa and Gandharas in the Kabul valley and some adjoining mountain territory to the country of the Andhra in the Godavari-Krishna basin and the district(Ahara) of Isila in the north of Mysore* and from Sopara and Girnar in the west to Dhauli and Jaugada in the east. In the north-west the empire touched the realm of Antiochos II the Greek king of Syria and Western Asia, and in the south it extended as far as the Kingdom of tho Chodas, Pandyas, Satiyaputra and Keralaputras in the Tamil country. If tradition is to be believed, the dominions of Ashoka included the secluded vales of Kashmir and Nepal as well as the riparian plins of Pundravardhana (North Bengal) and Samatata [East Bengal), The inclusion of the Himalayan valleys is rendered probably by the discovery of inscriptions at Mansera in the Hazara district, at Kalsi in the Dehradun district at Nigali Sagar and Rummindei in the Nepaleso Tarai and at Rampurva in the Champaran district of North Bihar. "{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4263|title=Advanced history of India|last=Majumdar|first=R. C.|date=1953|publisher=Macmillan & Company|page=101,104}}</ref>and historical geographer:[[Joseph E. Schwartzberg]]<ref name="dsal.uchicago.edu">Schwartzberg, Joseph E. [https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/ ''A Historical Atlas of South Asia''] , 2nd ed. (University of Minnesota, 1992), Plate III.B.4b ([https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=055 p.18]) and Plate XIV.1a-c ([https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/pager.html?object=182 p.145]) {{!}}url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/schwartzberg/ {{!}}date=26 January 2021</ref> , Anthropologist and Bioarcheologist : [[Ian Barnes]]<ref name="IANBARNES">“ Pg.42 : Threatened by Chandragupta’s growing power, Seleucis of Syria, Alexander’s successor, challenged him by invading northern India in 305 BC but suffered a devastating defeat. A treaty ending the conflict gave Chandragupta all lands north to the Hindu Kush, including Baluchistan and Afghanistan. Chandragupta used an extensive and elaborate civil service, an army, and a secret service to rule. A virtual dictatorship coincided with widespread public works, building roads and developing irrigation systems……The Mauryan dynasty’s greatest ruler was Asoka, Chandragupta’s grandson. He came to the throne after fighting his brothers for the succession. His policy was to continue enlarging the empire, and in 251 BC, he invaded and conquered Kalinga, part of modern Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh. The Kalinga campaign caused such extensive misery and destruction to the local population that Asoka renounced armed conquest and adopted a policy of “conquest by dharma,” by spiritual rectitude and law.
&
Check Mauryan Empire on Page  43 “{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/historyatlasofas00ianb|title=The history atlas of Asia|page=42|last=Barnes|first=Ian|last2=Hudson|first2=Robert|last3=Parekh|first3=Bhikhu C.|date=1998|publisher=New York : Macmillan|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-02-862581-2}}</ref>
 


| capital                = [[Pataliputra]]<br />(present-day [[Patna]])
| capital                = [[Pataliputra]]<br />(present-day [[Patna]])
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| currency              = [[Pana (Currency)|Panas]]
| currency              = [[Pana (Currency)|Panas]]
| title_leader          = [[List of Magadha monarchs#House of Maurya|Emperor]]
| title_leader          = [[List of Magadha monarchs#House of Maurya|Emperor]]
| leader1                = [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]
| leader1                = [[Chandragupta Maurya|Emperor Chandragupta]]
| year_leader1          = 322–298&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader1          = 322–298&nbsp;BCE
| leader2                = [[Bindusara]]
| leader2                = [[Bindusara|Emperor Bindusara]]
| year_leader2          = 298–272&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader2          = 298–272&nbsp;BCE
| leader3                = [[Ashoka]]
| leader3                = [[Ashoka|Emperor Ashoka]]
| year_leader3          = 268–232&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader3          = 268–232&nbsp;BCE
| leader4                = [[Dasharatha Maurya|Dasharatha]]
| leader4                = [[Dasharatha Maurya|Emperor Dasharatha]]
| year_leader4          = 232–224&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader4          = 232–224&nbsp;BCE
| leader5                = [[Samprati]]
| leader5                = [[Samprati|Emperor Samprati]]
| year_leader5          = 224–215&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader5          = 224–215&nbsp;BCE
| leader6                = [[Shalishuka]]
| leader6                = [[Shalishuka|Emperor Shalishuka]]
| year_leader6          = 215–202&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader6          = 215–202&nbsp;BCE
| leader7                = [[Devavarman (Maurya)|Devavarman]]
| leader7                = [[Devavarman (Maurya)|Emperor Devavarman]]
| year_leader7          = 202–195&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader7          = 202–195&nbsp;BCE
| leader8                = [[Shatadhanvan]]
| leader8                = [[Shatadhanvan|Emperor Shatadhanvan]]
| year_leader8          = 195–187&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader8          = 195–187&nbsp;BCE
| leader9                = [[Brihadratha Maurya|Brihadratha]]
| leader9                = [[Brihadratha Maurya|Emperor Brihadratha]]
| year_leader9          = 187–184&nbsp;BCE
| year_leader9          = 187–184&nbsp;BCE
| stat_year1            = 261 BCE
| stat_year1            = 261 BCE
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{{Maurya}}
{{Maurya}}
The '''Maurya Empire''', or the '''Mauryan Empire''', was a geographically extensive [[Iron Age]] historical power on the [[Indian subcontinent]] based in [[Magadha]]. Founded by [[Chandragupta Maurya]] in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE.<ref name="Dyson2018-lead-maurya">
The '''Mauryan Empire''', also known as the Maurya Empire, was a historically significant power during the Iron Age on the Indian subcontinent, with its core in Magadha. It was founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE and declined around 184 BCE.<ref name="Dyson2018-lead-maurya">
{{citation
{{citation
|last=Dyson|first=Tim|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8|pages=16–17}} Quote: "Magadha power came to extend over the main cities and communication routes of the Ganges basin. Then, under Chandragupta Maurya (c.321–297 bce), and subsequently Ashoka his grandson, Pataliputra became the centre of the loose-knit Mauryan 'Empire' which during Ashoka's reign (c.268–232 bce) briefly had a presence throughout the main urban centres and arteries of the subcontinent, except for the extreme south."</ref> The Maurya Empire was centralized by the conquest of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]], and its capital city was located at [[Pataliputra]], modern [[Patna]]. Outside this imperial center, the empire's geographical extent depended on the loyalty of military commanders who controlled the armed cities that sprinkled it.<ref name="Ludden2013-lead-4"/>{{sfn|Hermann Kulke|2004|pp=xii, 448}}<ref>{{cite book | first1=Romila | last1=Thapar | title=A History of India, Volume 1 | publisher=Penguin Books | author-link=Romila Thapar | year=1990 | page=384 | isbn=0-14-013835-8}}</ref> During [[Ashoka]]'s rule ({{Circa|268|232 BCE}}) the empire briefly controlled the major urban hubs and arteries of the Indian subcontinent except those in the deep south.<ref name="Dyson2018-lead-maurya"/> It declined for about 50&nbsp;years after Ashoka's rule, and dissolved in 185&nbsp;BCE with the assassination of Brihadratha by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] and the foundation of the [[Shunga Empire]] in Magadh.
|last=Dyson|first=Tim|title=A Population History of India: From the First Modern People to the Present Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8|pages=16–17}} Quote: "Magadha power came to extend over the main cities and communication routes of the Ganges basin. Then, under Chandragupta Maurya (c.321–297 bce), and subsequently Ashoka his grandson, Pataliputra became the centre of the loose-knit Mauryan 'Empire' which during Ashoka's reign (c.268–232 bce) briefly had a presence throughout the main urban centres and arteries of the subcontinent, except for the extreme south."</ref> The Maurya Empire centralized its power through the conquest of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]], with its primary capital located at [[Pataliputra]], modern-day [[Patna]]. However, the empire also had other regional capitals, including [[Taxila]], [[Ujjain]], [[Suvarnagiri]], and [[Tosali]], which were governed by appointed governors and governers controlled by the Emperor.<ref>{{cite book | first1=Romila | last1=Thapar | title=A History of India, Volume 1 | publisher=Penguin Books | author-link=Romila Thapar | year=1990 | page=384 | isbn=0-14-013835-8}}</ref>The empire directly or indirectly ruled by Ashoka was thus immense, running from the Hindu Kush to Bengal, and from the Himalayas to the Karnataka.<ref>Alain Daniélou ."A brief history of India".2003, p.114. Archive Link:https://archive.org/details/briefhistoryofin00dani/page/114/mode/1up</ref>
 
 
It declined for about 50&nbsp;years after Ashoka's rule, and dissolved in 185&nbsp;BCE with the assassination of Brihadratha by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]] and the foundation of the [[Shunga Empire]] in Magadh.


[[Chandragupta Maurya]] raised an army, with the assistance of [[Chanakya]], his teacher and the author of [[Arthashastra]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: A History|last=Keay|first=John|publisher=Grove Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8021-3797-5|pages=82}}</ref> and overthrew the [[Nanda Empire]] in {{circa|322 BCE}}, laying the foundation for the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta rapidly expanded his power west across central and western India by defeating the [[satrap]]s left by [[Alexander the Great]], and by 317 BCE the empire had fully occupied [[northwestern India]].{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=31}} The Mauryan Empire then defeated [[Seleucus I Nicator]], a [[Diadochi|diadochus]] and founder of the [[Seleucid Empire]], during the [[Seleucid–Mauryan war]], thus acquiring territory west of the [[Indus River]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Balochistan]].<ref>[[Seleucus I]] ceded the territories of [[Arachosia]] (modern Kandahar), [[Gedrosia]] (modern Balochistan), and [[Paropamisadae]] (or [[Gandhara]]). [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]] (modern [[Herat]]) "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded [[satrapy|satrapies]] by some scholars ... on the basis of wrong assessments of the passage of [[Strabo]] ... and a statement by [[Pliny]]{{dn|date=June 2023}}" (Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee 1996, p. 594).</ref>{{sfn|John D Grainger|2014|p=109|ps=: [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] "must ... have held Aria", and furthermore, his "son [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochos]] was active there fifteen years later".}}
[[Chandragupta Maurya]] raised an army, with the assistance of [[Chanakya]], his teacher and the author of [[Arthashastra]],<ref>{{Cite book|title=India: A History|last=Keay|first=John|publisher=Grove Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-8021-3797-5|pages=82}}</ref> and overthrew the [[Nanda Empire]] in {{circa|322 BCE}}, laying the foundation for the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta rapidly expanded his power west across central and western India by defeating the [[satrap]]s left by [[Alexander the Great]], and by 317 BCE the empire had fully occupied [[northwestern India]].{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=31}} The Mauryan Empire then defeated [[Seleucus I Nicator]], a [[Diadochi|diadochus]] and founder of the [[Seleucid Empire]], during the [[Seleucid–Mauryan war]], thus acquiring territory west of the [[Indus River]], [[Afghanistan]] and [[Balochistan]].<ref>[[Seleucus I]] ceded the territories of [[Arachosia]] (modern Kandahar), [[Gedrosia]] (modern Balochistan), and [[Paropamisadae]] (or [[Gandhara]]). [[Aria (satrapy)|Aria]] (modern [[Herat]]) "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded [[satrapy|satrapies]] by some scholars ... on the basis of wrong assessments of the passage of [[Strabo]] ... and a statement by [[Pliny]]{{dn|date=June 2023}}" (Raychaudhuri & Mukherjee 1996, p. 594).</ref>{{sfn|John D Grainger|2014|p=109|ps=: [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] "must ... have held Aria", and furthermore, his "son [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochos]] was active there fifteen years later".}}


Under the Mauryas, internal and external trade, agriculture, and economic activities thrived and expanded across India due to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The Maurya dynasty built a precursor of the [[Grand Trunk Road]] from Pataliputra to [[Taxila]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/dinner-on-the-grand-trunk-road/|title=Dinner on the Grand Trunk Road|last=Bhandari|first=Shirin|date=2016-01-05|publisher=Roads & Kingdoms|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-19}}</ref>{{rs?|date=April 2023}} After the [[Kalinga War]], the Empire experienced nearly half a century of centralized rule under Ashoka the Great. Ashoka's embrace of [[Buddhism]] and sponsorship of Buddhist missionaries allowed for the expansion of that faith into [[Sri Lanka]], northwest India, and [[Central Asia]].{{sfn|Hermann Kulke|2004|p=67}}
Under the Mauryas, internal and external trade, agriculture, and economic activities thrived and expanded across India due to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The Maurya dynasty built a precursor of the [[Grand Trunk Road]] from Pataliputra to [[Taxila]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://roadsandkingdoms.com/2016/dinner-on-the-grand-trunk-road/|title=Dinner on the Grand Trunk Road|last=Bhandari|first=Shirin|date=2016-01-05|publisher=Roads & Kingdoms|language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-19}}</ref>After the [[Kalinga War]], the Empire experienced nearly half a century of centralized rule under Ashoka the Great. Ashoka's embrace of [[Buddhism]] and sponsorship of Buddhist missionaries allowed for the expansion of that faith into [[Sri Lanka]], northwest India, and [[Central Asia]].{{sfn|Hermann Kulke|2004|p=67}}


The population of South Asia during the Mauryan period has been estimated to be between 15 and 30 million.<ref name="Dyson2018-lead-maurya-4">
The population of South Asia during the Mauryan period has been estimated to be between 15 and 30 million.<ref name="Dyson2018-lead-maurya-4">
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*[[Sangam literature|Tamil Sangam literature]] also designate them as '{{transliteration|ta|moriyar}}' and mention them after the [[Nanda Empire|Nandas]]<ref name="Singh 2008">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ&q=mokur+sangam+poem&pg=PA385|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|last=Singh|first=Upinder|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131716779|language=en}}</ref>
*[[Sangam literature|Tamil Sangam literature]] also designate them as '{{transliteration|ta|moriyar}}' and mention them after the [[Nanda Empire|Nandas]]<ref name="Singh 2008">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pq2iCwAAQBAJ&q=mokur+sangam+poem&pg=PA385|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|last=Singh|first=Upinder|date=2008|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=9788131716779|language=en}}</ref>
*[[Kuntala country|Kuntala]] inscription (from the town of Bandanikke, [[Mysore district|North Mysore]]) of 12th century AD chronologically mention Mauryya as one of the dynasties which ruled the region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.107941|title=Annual Report Of Mysore 1886 To 1903|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
*[[Kuntala country|Kuntala]] inscription (from the town of Bandanikke, [[Mysore district|North Mysore]]) of 12th century AD chronologically mention Mauryya as one of the dynasties which ruled the region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.107941|title=Annual Report Of Mysore 1886 To 1903|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
 
*The Kalpasutra of the Jains mentions a Mauryaputra of the Kasyapa gotra, which shows that the Mauryas were regarded as high class folk who was the disciple of Mahavira.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/chandraguptamaur035072mbp|title=Chandragupta Maurya|last=Purushottam Lal Bhargava|publisher=The Upper India Publishing House Ltd Lucknow|others=BRAOU, Digital Library Of India}}</ref>
According to some scholars, Kharavela' [[Hathigumpha inscription]] (2nd-1st century BC) mentions era of Maurya Empire as Muriya Kala (Mauryan era),<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/epigrahiaindicav014769mbp|title=Epigraphia Indica Vol.20|date=1920|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|page=[https://archive.org/details/epigrahiaindicav014769mbp/page/n106 80]|language=en}}</ref> but this reading is disputed: other scholars—such as epigraphist [[D. C. Sircar]]—read the phrase as mukhiya-kala ("the principal art").<ref>{{cite book | chapter=The Satavahanas and the Chedis | author = [[D. C. Sircar]] | year = 1968 | title =The Age of Imperial Unity | editor = [[R. C. Majumdar]] | publisher = Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan | page = 215 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J1SgAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>
According to Kharavela' [[Hathigumpha inscription]] (2nd-1st century BC) mentions era of Maurya Empire as Muriya Kala (Mauryan era),<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/epigrahiaindicav014769mbp|title=Epigraphia Indica Vol.20|date=1920|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|page=[https://archive.org/details/epigrahiaindicav014769mbp/page/n106 80]|language=en}}</ref> but this reading is disputed: other scholars—such as epigraphist [[D. C. Sircar]]—read the phrase as mukhiya-kala ("the principal art").<ref>{{cite book | chapter=The Satavahanas and the Chedis | author = [[D. C. Sircar]] | year = 1968 | title =The Age of Imperial Unity | editor = [[R. C. Majumdar]] | publisher = Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan | page = 215 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=J1SgAAAAMAAJ}}</ref>


According to the Buddhist tradition, the ancestors of the Maurya kings had settled in a region where peacocks (''mora'' in [[Pali language|Pali]]) were abundant. Therefore, they came to be known as "Moriyas", literally meaning, "belonging to the place of peacocks". According to another Buddhist account, these ancestors built a city called Moriya-nagara ("Moriya-city"), which was so called, because it was built with the "bricks coloured like peacocks' necks".{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=14}}
According to the Buddhist tradition, the ancestors of the Maurya kings had settled in a region where peacocks (''mora'' in [[Pali language|Pali]]) were abundant. Therefore, they came to be known as "Moriyas", literally meaning, "belonging to the place of peacocks". According to another Buddhist account, these ancestors built a city called Moriya-nagara ("Moriya-city"), which was so called, because it was built with the "bricks coloured like peacocks' necks".{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=14}}
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Prior to the Maurya Empire, the [[Nanda Empire]] ruled over a broad swathe of the Indian subcontinent. The Nanda Empire was a large, militaristic, and economically powerful empire due to conquering the [[Mahajanapadas]]. According to several legends, Chanakya travelled to [[Pataliputra]], [[Magadha]], the capital of the Nanda Empire where Chanakya worked for the Nandas as a minister. However, Chanakya was insulted by the Emperor [[Dhana Nanda]] when he informed them of Alexander's invasion. Chanakya swore revenge and vowed to destroy the Nanda Empire.<ref name="Namita20082">{{cite book|last1=Sugandhi|first1=Namita Sanjay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bdULPF4gNYC&pg=PA88|title=Between the Patterns of History: Rethinking Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan|year=2008|isbn=9780549744412|pages=88–89}}</ref> He had to flee in order to save his life and went to [[Taxila]], a notable center of learning, to work as a teacher. On one of his travels, Chanakya witnessed some young men playing a rural game practicing a pitched battle. One of the boys was none other than Chandragupta. Chanakya was impressed by the young Chandragupta and saw royal qualities in him as someone fit to rule.
Prior to the Maurya Empire, the [[Nanda Empire]] ruled over a broad swathe of the Indian subcontinent. The Nanda Empire was a large, militaristic, and economically powerful empire due to conquering the [[Mahajanapadas]]. According to several legends, Chanakya travelled to [[Pataliputra]], [[Magadha]], the capital of the Nanda Empire where Chanakya worked for the Nandas as a minister. However, Chanakya was insulted by the Emperor [[Dhana Nanda]] when he informed them of Alexander's invasion. Chanakya swore revenge and vowed to destroy the Nanda Empire.<ref name="Namita20082">{{cite book|last1=Sugandhi|first1=Namita Sanjay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bdULPF4gNYC&pg=PA88|title=Between the Patterns of History: Rethinking Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan|year=2008|isbn=9780549744412|pages=88–89}}</ref> He had to flee in order to save his life and went to [[Taxila]], a notable center of learning, to work as a teacher. On one of his travels, Chanakya witnessed some young men playing a rural game practicing a pitched battle. One of the boys was none other than Chandragupta. Chanakya was impressed by the young Chandragupta and saw royal qualities in him as someone fit to rule.


{{Continental Asia in 200 BCE|right|The Maurya Empire and contemporary Asian polities circa 200 BCE}}
Meanwhile, [[Alexander the Great]] was leading his Indian campaigns and ventured into Punjab. His army mutinied at the [[Beas River]] and refused to advance farther eastward when confronted by another army. Alexander returned to [[Babylon]] and re-deployed most of his troops west of the [[Indus River]]. Soon after Alexander died in Babylon in 323&nbsp;BCE, his empire fragmented into independent kingdoms led by his generals.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=31}}
Meanwhile, [[Alexander the Great]] was leading his Indian campaigns and ventured into Punjab. His army mutinied at the [[Beas River]] and refused to advance farther eastward when confronted by another army. Alexander returned to [[Babylon]] and re-deployed most of his troops west of the [[Indus River]]. Soon after Alexander died in Babylon in 323&nbsp;BCE, his empire fragmented into independent kingdoms led by his generals.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=31}}


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}}</ref> The Greek generals [[Eudemus (general)|Eudemus]] and [[Peithon, son of Agenor|Peithon]] ruled in the Indus Valley until around 317&nbsp;BCE, when Chandragupta Maurya (with the help of Chanakya, who was now his advisor) fought and drove out the Greek governors, and subsequently brought the Indus Valley under the control of his new seat of power in Magadha.{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=31}}
}}</ref> The Greek generals [[Eudemus (general)|Eudemus]] and [[Peithon, son of Agenor|Peithon]] ruled in the Indus Valley until around 317&nbsp;BCE, when Chandragupta Maurya (with the help of Chanakya, who was now his advisor) fought and drove out the Greek governors, and subsequently brought the Indus Valley under the control of his new seat of power in Magadha.{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=31}}


Chandragupta Maurya's ancestry 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 Mauryas 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.<ref>:"Androcottus, when he was a stripling, saw Alexander himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that 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]]  62-3 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243&layout=&loc=62.1 Plutarch 62-3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028230118/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243&layout=&loc=62.1 |date=28 October 2008 }}</ref> Chanakya is said to have met the Nanda king, angered him, and made a narrow escape.<ref>:"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." [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte15.html Justin XV.4.15] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201051124/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte15.html |date=1 February 2016 }}</ref>{{rs?|date=April 2023}}
Chandragupta Maurya's ancestry 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 Mauryas 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.<ref>:"Androcottus, when he was a stripling, saw Alexander himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that 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]]  62-3 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243&layout=&loc=62.1 Plutarch 62-3] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081028230118/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243&layout=&loc=62.1 |date=28 October 2008 }}</ref> Chanakya is said to have met the Nanda king, angered him, and made a narrow escape.<ref>:"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." [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte15.html Justin XV.4.15] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201051124/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/texte15.html |date=1 February 2016 }}</ref>


==Empire Expansion==
==Empire Expansion==
===Conquest of the Nanda Empire===
===Conquest of the Nanda Empire===
Historically reliable details of Chandragupta's campaign against [[Nanda Empire]] are unavailable and legends written centuries later are inconsistent. Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu texts claim [[Magadha]] was ruled by the [[Nanda dynasty]], which, with [[Chanakya]]'s counsel, [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] conquered Nanda Empire.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|pp=362–364}}{{sfn|Sen|1895|pp=26–32}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|p=272}} The army of Chandragupta and Chanakya first conquered the Nanda outer territories, and finally besieged the Nanda capital '''Pataliputra'''. In contrast to the easy victory in Buddhist sources, the Hindu and Jain texts state that the campaign was bitterly fought because the Nanda dynasty had a powerful and well-trained army.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=28–33}}{{sfn|Sen|1895|pp=26–32}}
Historically reliable inscription details of Chandragupta's campaign against [[Nanda Empire]] are unavailable and but later written Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu texts which claim [[Magadha]] was ruled by the [[Nanda dynasty]], which, with [[Chanakya]]'s counsel, [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] conquered Nanda Empire.{{sfn|Thapar|2013|pp=362–364}}{{sfn|Sen|1895|pp=26–32}}{{sfn|Upinder Singh|2008|p=272}} The army of Chandragupta and Chanakya first conquered the Nanda outer territories, and finally besieged the Nanda capital '''Pataliputra'''. In contrast to the easy victory in Buddhist sources, the Hindu and Jain texts state that the campaign was bitterly fought because the Nanda dynasty had a powerful and well-trained army.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=28–33}}{{sfn|Sen|1895|pp=26–32}}
 
[[File:Nanda Empire, c.325 BCE.png|thumb|Nanda_Empire 323 BCE]]
The Buddhist ''Mahavamsa Tika'' and Jain ''Parishishtaparvan'' records Chandragupta's army unsuccessfully attacking the Nanda capital. {{sfn|Hemacandra|1998|pp=175–188}} Chandragupta and Chanakya then began a campaign at the frontier of the Nanda empire, gradually conquering various territories on their way to the Nanda capital.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=33}} He then refined his strategy by establishing garrisons in the conquered territories, and finally besieged the Nanda capital Pataliputra. There [[Dhana Nanda]] accepted defeat.{{sfn|Malalasekera|2002|p=383}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=33-34}} The conquest was fictionalised in ''Mudrarakshasa'' play, it contains narratives not found in other versions of the Chanakya-Chandragupta legend. Because of this difference, [[Thomas Trautmann]] suggests that most of it is fictional or legendary, without any historical basis.{{sfn|Trautmann|1971|p=43}} [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee]] similarly considers Mudrakshasa play without historical basis.<ref>Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, Radhakumud Mookerji, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1966, p.26-27 {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA27 |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |access-date=2016-11-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127023139/https://books.google.fr/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA27 |archive-date=27 November 2016 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9788120804050 |last1=Mookerji |first1=Radhakumud |year=1966 }}</ref>
The Buddhist ''Mahavamsa Tika'' and Jain ''Parishishtaparvan'' records Chandragupta's army unsuccessfully attacking the Nanda capital. {{sfn|Hemacandra|1998|pp=175–188}} Chandragupta and Chanakya then began a campaign at the frontier of the Nanda empire, gradually conquering various territories on their way to the Nanda capital.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=33}} He then refined his strategy by establishing garrisons in the conquered territories, and finally besieged the Nanda capital Pataliputra. There [[Dhana Nanda]] accepted defeat.{{sfn|Malalasekera|2002|p=383}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=33-34}} The conquest was fictionalised in ''Mudrarakshasa'' play, it contains narratives not found in other versions of the Chanakya-Chandragupta legend.[[Radha Kumud Mukherjee]] similarly considers Mudrakshasa play without historical basis.<ref>Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, Radhakumud Mookerji, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1966, p.26-27 {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA27 |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |access-date=2016-11-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127023139/https://books.google.fr/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA27 |archive-date=27 November 2016 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9788120804050 |last1=Mookerji |first1=Radhakumud |year=1966 }}</ref>


These legends state that the Nanda king was defeated, deposed and exiled by some accounts, while Buddhist accounts claim he was killed.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=34}} With the defeat of Dhana Nanda, Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Empire.{{sfn|Roy|2012|p=62}}
These legends state that the Nanda king was defeated, deposed and exiled by some accounts, while Buddhist accounts claim he was killed.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=34}} With the defeat of Dhana Nanda, Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Empire.{{sfn|Roy|2012|p=62}}


===Conquest of the Eastern Seleucid Empire===
===Conquest of the Eastern Seleucid Empire===
[[File:Seleucid Empire.png|thumb|Seleucid Empire 281 BCE]]
[[File:Chandragupta Maurya Empire c.290 BCE.png|thumb|Chandragupta Maurya Empire c.290 BCE]]


Greek historians mentioned the result of [[Seleucid–Mauryan war]] where Seleucid Empire's eastern satrapies( [[Gedrosia]],[[Arachosia]], [[Aria]], and [[Paropamisadae]]) ceded to Mauryan Empire :
Greek historians mentioned the result of [[Seleucid–Mauryan war]] where Seleucid Empire's eastern satrapies( [[Gedrosia]],[[Arachosia]], [[Aria]], and [[Paropamisadae]]) ceded to Mauryan Empire :
{{quote|text= " Seleucus crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of he Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until  they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship.  Some of these exploits were performed before the death of Antigonus and some afterward." |sign=<small>[[Appian]]</small>|source=''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars [https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-syrian-wars/appian-the-syrian-wars-11/ 55]}}<blockquote>" The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the Paropamisadae, above whom lies the Paropamisus mountain: then, towards the south, the Arachoti: then next, towards the south, the Gedroseni, with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside all these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. Alexander [III 'the Great' of Macedon] took these away from the Arians and established settlements of his own, but [[Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Sandrocottus]] [Chandragupta], upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange five hundred elephants. " — Strabo 15.2.9[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15B*.html#2.9]</blockquote>
{{quote|text= " Seleucus crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of he Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until  they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship.  Some of these exploits were performed before the death of Antigonus and some afterward." |sign=<small>[[Appian]]</small>|source=''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars [https://www.livius.org/sources/content/appian/appian-the-syrian-wars/appian-the-syrian-wars-11/ 55]}}
{{quote|text= " The geographical position of the tribes is as follows: along the Indus are the Paropamisadae, above whom lies the Paropamisus mountain: then, towards the south, the Arachoti: then next, towards the south, the Gedroseni, with the other tribes that occupy the seaboard; and the Indus lies, latitudinally, alongside all these places; and of these places, in part, some that lie along the Indus are held by Indians, although they formerly belonged to the Persians. Alexander [III 'the Great' of Macedon] took these away from the Arians and established settlements of his own, but [[Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Sandrocottus]] [Chandragupta], upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange five hundred elephants. " |sign=<small>[[Strabo]] </small>|source= 15.2.9<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15B*.html#2.9]</ref> }}
Greecian historian Pliny also quoted a passage from Megasthanes work about Chandragupta Empire boundaries:
<blockquote>
Most geographers, in fact, do not look upon India as bounded by the river Indus, but add to it the four satrapies of the [[Gedrosia|Gedrose]], the [[Arachosia|Arachotë]], the [[Herat|Aria]], and the [[Paropamisadë]], the [[Kabul River|River Cophes]] thus forming the extreme boundary of India. According to other writers, however, all these territories, are reckoned as belonging to the country of the Aria. 
 
— Pliny, Natural History VI, 23<ref>Pliny, Natural History VI, 23[https://archive.today/20121210070738/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.23]</ref><ref>Pliny, Natural History VI, 23[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof21855plin/page/50/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
The conquest of the south by Chandragupta Maurya may also perhaps be inferred from the following statement of Plutarch. "The throne" in the context is the Magadhan throne, the occupation of which by Chandragupta is thus followed by two other events, viz., the defeat of Selucus, and the conquest of the remaining part of India not included in the Magadhan empire of the Nandas:
 
<blockquote>"Not long afterwards Androkottos, who had by that time mounted the throne, presented Selukos with 500 elephants, and overran and subdued the whole of India with an army of 600,000."
<br>
— Chapter LXII ,Life of Alexander, Plutarch<ref>Chapter LXII ,Life of Alexander, Plutarch [https://books.google.co.in/books?id=TXtEAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false]</ref>
</blockquote>
Megasthenes defined the region that Chandragupta won from Seleucus as likely western side Gedrosia which shares boundaries with the Euphrates River, and eastern side Arachosia shares boundaries with the Indus. The northern frontier boundary formed by Hindukush mountain range:
<blockquote>
India, which is in shape quadrilateral, has its eastern as well as its western side bounded by the great sea, but on the northern side it is divided by Mount Hemôdos from that part of Skythia which is inhabited by those Skythians who are called the Sakai, while the fourth or western side is bounded by the river called the Indus.
<br>
— Book I Fragment I , Indica, Megasthanes<ref>Book I Fragment I , Indica, Megasthanes by Mccrindle, J. W[https://archive.org/details/AncientIndiaAsDescribedByMegasthenesAndArrianByMccrindleJ.W/page/n39/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:SakastanMap.jpg|thumb|Satrapian provinces in northwestern India which ceaded to Chandragupta by Selucus due to [[Treaty of Indus]].]]
<blockquote>
Sandrokottos the king of the Indians, India forms the largest of the four parts into which Southern Asia is divided, while the smallest part is that region which is included between the Euphrates and our own sea. The two remaining parts, which are separated from the others by the Euphrates and the Indus, and lie between these rivers...
India is bounded on its eastern side, right onwards to the south, by the great ocean; that its northern frontier is formed by the Kaukasos range(Hindukush Range) as far as the junction of that range with Tauros; and that the boundary.
 
— Book I Fragment II , Indica, Megasthanes<ref>Book I Fragment II , Indica, Megasthanes[https://archive.org/details/AncientIndiaAsDescribedByMegasthenesAndArrianByMccrindleJ.W/page/n54/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
 
====Treaty of the Indus====
The ancient historians Justin, Appian, and Strabo preserve the three main terms of the Treaty of the Indus:<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=9UWdAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in the Seleucid Empire|last=Kosmin|first=Paul J.|date=2014-06-23|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-72882-0|language=en}}</ref>
 
(i) Seleucus transferred to Chandragupta's kingdom the easternmost satrapies of his empire, certainly Gandhara, Parapamisadae, and the eastern parts of Gedrosia, Arachosia and Aria as far as Herat.
 
(ii) Chandragupta gave Seleucus 500 Indian war elephants.
 
(iii) The two kings were joined by some kind of marriage alliance (ἐπιγαμία οι κῆδος); most likely Chandragupta wed a female relative of Seleucus.
====Other account====
*Tibbetan Lama Taranatha (1575–1634)
 
<blockquote>Ashoka brought under his rule without bloodshed all the countries including those to the south of the Vindhya. And he conquered the northern Himalayas, the snowy ranges beyond Li-yul (Khotan)," the entire land of Jambudvipa bounded by seas on east, south and west, and also fifty small islands.
 
— History Of Buddhism In India ,Taranatha<ref>History Of Buddhism In India ,Taranatha[https://archive.org/details/TaranathasHistoryOfBuddhismInIndia/page/n89/mode/2up]</ref>
</blockquote><br>
<blockquote>
Ashoka served as a viceroy during the rule of his father Bindusara.
According to established constitutional usage, Asoka as Prince served as viceroy in one of the remoter provinces of the Empire. This was the province of Western India called Avantirattham  or province of Avanti with headquarter at Ujjain.
<br>
— Mahabodhivamsa, pg.98<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=uXyftdtE1ygC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Asoka|last=Mookerji|first=Radhakumud|date=1962|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe|isbn=978-81-208-0582-8|language=en}}</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Bindusara Empire.png|thumb|Bindusara Empire 273 BCE]]
 
===Conquest of the Saurashtra===
Chandragupta conquered Southern-Western part of India. Especially his conquest over Saurashtra and Sudarshana lake construction is preseved in later Satrapian king Rudradaman inscription:
 
<blockquote>
''8. mauryasya rājyaḥ candra-guptasya rāṣṭriyena vaiśyena puṣpa-guptena kāritam śokasya mauryasya kṛte yavana-raj tuṣāra-saphenādhāyā''
 
—Junagadh rock inscription of [[Rudradaman]]<ref name="WB">[http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/HISTORY/PRIMARYDOCS/EPIGRAPHY/JunagadhRockInscription.htm  "Junagadh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman", ''Project South Asia''.]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223182107/http://projectsouthasia.sdstate.edu/Docs/HISTORY/PRIMARYDOCS/EPIGRAPHY/JunagadhRockInscription.htm |date=23 February 2009 }}</ref>
 
'''Translation''' : for the sake of ordered to be made by the Vaishya Pushyagupta, the provincial governor of the Maurya king [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]; adorned with conduits for [[Ashoka]] the Maurya by the [[Yavana]] king [[Tushaspha]] while governing; and by the conduit ordered to be made by him, constructed in a manner worthy of a king (and) seen in that breach.
</blockquote>
 
===Rule over territories of Yonas , Kambojas, Nabhakas, Nabhapamktis, Bhojas, Pitinikas, Andhras and Palidas===
 
The [[Kambojas]] are a people of Central Asian origin who had settled first in [[Arachosia]] and [[Drangiana]] (today's southern Afghanistan), and in some of the other areas in the northwestern Indian subcontinent in [[Sindhu]], [[Gujarat]] and [[Sauvira]]. The Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the [[Pitinikas]], the [[Andhras]] and the [[Palidas]] were other people under Ashoka's rule:
 
<blockquote>
 
''9. hidā laja viśavashi Yona Kambojeshu Nabhaka Nabhapamtishu Bhoja Pitinikyeshu''
 
''10. Adha Paladeshu shavata Devānampiyashā dhammanushathi anuvatamti[] yata pi dutā''
 
— Ashoka, Rock Edict 13 , Kalsi Rock, South Portion.<ref>Ashoka, Rock Edict 13 , Kalsi Rock, South Portion by E. Hultzsch[https://archive.org/details/InscriptionsOfAsoka.NewEditionByE.Hultzsch/page/n186/mode/1up?view=theater]</ref>
 
'''Translation''' : Likewise here in the king's (Ashoka ) territory, among the [[Yonas]] and [[Kambojas]], among the [[Nabhakas]] and [[Nabhapamkits]],  among the [[Bhojas]] and the [[Pitinikas]],  among the [[Andhras]] and the [[Palidas]],  everywhere (people) are conforming to Beloved-Of-God (Ashoka) instruction in morality.
</blockquote>


===Conquest of the Kalinga===
===Conquest of the Kalinga===
[[Kalinga War]] plays a very important role in Mauryan history which changes a cruel Emperor Chanda-Ashoka to Priyadarshi Ashoka.
[[Kalinga War]] plays a very important role in Mauryan history which changes a cruel Emperor Chanda-Ashoka to Priyadarshi Ashoka.


<blockquote> "Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Priyadarsi(Ashoka)conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dharma, a love for the Dharma and for instruction in Dharma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas. "</blockquote>
<blockquote> "Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Priyadarsi(Ashoka)conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation. One hundred and fifty thousand were deported, one hundred thousand were killed and many more died (from other causes). After the Kalingas had been conquered, Beloved-of-the-Gods came to feel a strong inclination towards the Dharma, a love for the Dharma and for instruction in Dharma. Now Beloved-of-the-Gods feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas. "
— Ashoka, Major Rock Edict No. 13[https://books.google.co.in/books?id=K4vHjbUtf_4C&pg=PT82&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false]
 
— Ashoka, Major Rock Edict 13<ref>Ashoka, Major Rock Edict 13 [https://books.google.co.in/books?id=K4vHjbUtf_4C&pg=PT82&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false]</ref>
</blockquote>
 
===Conquest of the Kuntala===
Shikarpur Taluq inscription mentioned about Mauryan ruling in the region of [[Kuntala country|Kuntala]] .The Kuntala country is an ancient Indian political region  included the western Deccan and some parts of central,south Karnataka and north Mysore.
[[File:South India 500 to 200 BCE.jpg|thumb|South India , Kuntala present in Western coastal region]]
<blockquote>
''Kuntala-kshôpiyam pesarvett â-nava-Nanda-Gupta-kula-Mauryya-kshmâpar aldar llasaj-jasad''
 
— Shikarpur Taluq, inscription 225<ref>Shikarpur Taluq inscription 225, Epigraphia Carnatica, Volume 17[https://archive.org/details/epigraphia_carnatica_vol7_myso/page/n327/mode/1up]</ref><ref>Shikarpur Taluq inscription 225, Epigraphia Carnatica Volume 17[https://archive.org/details/epigraphia_carnatica_vol7_myso/page/n587/mode/1up]</ref>
 
'''Translation''' : The Kuntala country, which is like curls (kuntaja) to the lady Earth, was-ruled by the renowned nine Nandas, the Gupta and Mauryan kings.
</blockquote>
 
===Conquest of the Nepala===
According to the Asokavadana, it is stated that in his youth, Ashoka subdued the revolt in the of the Khasas (present day Nepala region) and [[Taxila|Taksasila]]. Similarly, in contrast, according to a 15th-century Tibetan historian:
<blockquote>
Meanwhile, peoples of the hilly countries like Nepal and Khasya revolted. Asoka was sent with the army to subdue them. Without difficulty Asoka subdued .the hilly races, imposed levy and annual tax on them, realised ransom from them and offered these to the king.
 
— History Of Buddhism In India ,[[Taranatha]]<ref>History Of Buddhism In India ,[[Taranatha]][https://archive.org/details/TaranathasHistoryOfBuddhismInIndia/page/n80/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
Apart from Taranath's account, it is noteworthy that Ashoka was responsible for the construction of several significant structures in Nepal. These include the [[Ramagrama Stupa]],[[Gotihawa|Gotihawa Pillar of Ashoka]], [[Nigali Sagar|Nigali-Sagar Ashoka Pillar inscription]] , and the [[Lumbini pillar inscription]] of Ashoka.The Chinese pilgrims [[Fa-Hien]] (337 CE – c. 422 CE) and [[Xuanzang]] (602–664 CE) describe the Kanakamuni Stupa and the Asoka Pillar of currently Nepal region in their travel accounts. Xuanzang speaks of a lion capital atop the pillar, now lost. A base of a [[Pillar of Ashoka]] has been discovered at [[Gotihawa]], a few miles from Nigali Sagar, and it has been suggested that it is the original base of the Nigalar Sagar pillar fragments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ghosh |first=A. |date=1967 |title=The Pillars of Aśoka - Their Purpose |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29755169 |journal=East and West |volume=17 |issue=3/4 |pages=273–275 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref>


===Boundaries sharing territories===
===Boundaries sharing territories===


Even though Ashoka defined the boundaries of his empire four times in various inscriptions (with same lines) but he never mentioned any inner hole or unconquered region inside his empire.This suggests that Ashoka's empire was likely contiguous, with no significant unconquered regions within its borders :
Even though Ashoka defined the boundaries of his empire four times in various inscriptions ('''with same lines''') but he never mentioned any inner hole or unconquered region inside his empire.This suggests that Ashoka's empire was likely contiguous, with no significant unconquered regions within its borders :
----
<blockquote>
''3. Sav[r]atra vijite [De]va[naṃ]priyasa Priyadraśisa y[e] ca [a]ṃta yathā [Coḍa] Paṃḍiya Satiyaputro Keraḍaputro Taṃbapaṃṇī Aṃtiyo[k]o nāma Yonaraja ye ca aṃñe tasa Aṃtiyokasa samaṃta rajano ''
 
''4. savratra Devanaṃpriyasa Priyadraśisa raño du[vi] cik[i]sa [kr]i[ṭa] manusa-cikisa .. pa[śu-c]ikisa [ca]''
 
—Second Rock-Edict: Shahbazgarhi<ref>Second Rock-Edict, Shahbazgarhi by E. Hultzsch[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/51/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
''4. Sav[a]ta vijitsi Devanampiyas[a] Piyadasis[a] lajine ye cha amta [a]tha Choda Pam[di]ya Satiyaputo Ke[lala]puto Tamba[pa]mni''
 
''5. Aṃtiyoge [n]āma Yona-lājā ye ca aṃne tas[ā A]ṃtiyogasā sā[ma]ṃta lā[j]ano [sa]vatā Devānaṃpiyasā Piyadasisā lājine duve cikisakā kaṭā manusacikisā cā pasu-cikisā cā ''


—Second Rock Edict: Kalsi<ref>Second Rock Edict, Kalsi by E. Hultzsch[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/28/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
----
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Sav[r]atravijite [De]va[nam]priyasaPriyadrashisa y[e] cha [a]mtayatha [Choda] PamdiyaSatiyaputro KeradaputroTambapamni…,
''6. Sa[vatra vi]jitasi Devanapriyasa Priyadrasisa rajine ye cha ata atha [Choda] Pa[mdiya] Sa[ti]ya[p]u[tra] Keralaputra [Tam]bapani Atiyoge nama Yona-raja ye cha [a] .... sa ......[gasa] samata ra[jane sa]vratra ...... priyasa Priyadrasisa rajine''
 
''7. duve chikisa [ka]ta manusa-chik[isa cha] pasu [chi]kisa cha ''
 
—Second Rock Edict: Mansehra<ref>Second Rock Edict, Mansehra by E. Hultzsch[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/71/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
-Second Rock-Edict: Shahbazgarhi[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/51/mode/1up]
----
<blockquote>
''1. Sarvata vijitamhi Devānaṃpriyasa Piyadasino rāño''
 
''2. evamapi pracaṃtesu yathā Coḍa Pāḍā Satiyaputo Ketalaputo ā Taṃba-''
 
''3. paṃṇī Aṃtiyako Yona-rājā ye vā pi tasa Aṃtiy[a]kas[a] sāmīp[aṃ] ''
 
''4. rājāno sarvatra Devānaṃpriyasa Priyadasino rāño dve cikīcha katā ''
 
''5 manusa-cīkichā ca pasu cikīchā ca''
 
—Second Rock Edict :Girnar<ref>Second Rock Edict, Girnar by E. Hultzsch[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/n136/mode/1up]</ref>
</blockquote>
----
'''— [[James Prinsep]] Translation''' : Everywhere within the conquered province of Raja Piyadasi (Ashoka), the beloved of the gods, as well as in the parts occupied by the faithful, such as Chola, Pandiya, Satiyaputra, and Keralaputra, even as fart as Tambapanni (Sri Lanka) and, moreover, within the dominions the Greek (of which [[Antiochus]] generals are the rulers ) everywhere the heaven-beloved Raja Piyadasi’s double system of medical aid is established— both medical aid for men, and medical aid for animals, together with the medicaments of all sorts, which are suitable for men, and suitable for animals.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25520/page/117/mode/1up|title=Complete Works of Alexander Cunningham: Inscriptions of Asoka Vol I|last=Cunningham|page=117|first=Alexander|date=1969|publisher=Indological Book House, Varanasi}}</ref>
 
'''— [[E. Hultzsch]] Translation:''' Everywhere in the dominions of Dévanampriya Priyadarsina, and (of those) who (are his) borderers, such as the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Satiyaputra, the Kéralaputra, Tamaraparni, the Yona(Greek) king named Antiyoka , and the other kings who are the neighbours of this Antiyoka, everywhere two kinds of medical treatment were established by king Devanampriya Priyadarsin, (viz.) medical treatment for men and medical treatment for cattle.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/52/mode/1up|title=Inscriptions of Asoka, Vol. I|page=52|last=Hultzsch|first=E.|date=1989|publisher=Indological Book House, Varanasi}}</ref>
 
[[File:Ashoka Maurya Empire 250 BCE.jpg|thumb|Possible Mauryan Empire size according to details given in Ashoka Second Rock Edict of Shahbazgarhi , Kalsi ,Mansera and Girnar.]]
 
===Empire reconstruction from fragments===
 
According to the account of Fa Hein who was the first Chinese pilgrim to visit India during 399 and 414 CE. His work "The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D.)"mentioned that Ashoka constructed 84,000 Buddhist stupas and pillars after destroying seven stupas that initially housed Buddha relics. Ashoka divided the relics from these seven stupas into 84,000 parts :
<br>
<blockquote> " King Asoka having destroyed seven (of the original) pagodas, constructed 84,000 others. The very first which he built is the great tower which stands about three li to the south of this. city. In front of this pagoda is an impression of Buddha’s foot, (over which) they have raised a chapel, the gate of which faces the north. To the south of the tower is a stone pillar, about a chang and a half in girth (18 feet), and three cluing or so in height (35 feet). On the surface of this pillar is an inscription to the following effect: “King Asoka presented the whole of Jambudvipa to the priests of the four quarters, and redeemed it again with money, and tins he did three times.” Three or four hundred paces to the north of the pagoda is the spot where Asoka was horn (or resided). On this spot he raised the city of Ni-li, and in the midst of it erected a stone pillar, also about 35 feet in height, on the top of which he placed the figure of a lion, and also engraved an historical record on the pillar giving an account of the successive events connected with Ni-li, with the corresponding year, day, and month."
<br>
— Chapter XXVII , The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D)<ref>Chapter XXVII , The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D)[https://www.wisdomlib.org/south-asia/book/the-travels-of-fa-hian/d/doc220127.html]</ref></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Sav[a]ta vijitsi Devanampiyas[a] Piyadasis[a] lajine ye cha amta [a]tha Choda Pam[di]yaSatiyaputo Ke[lala]putoTamba[pa]mni..  
" When King Asoka was living he wished to destroy the eight towers and to build eighty-four thousand others. Having destroyed seven, he next proceeded to treat this one in the same way."
 
— Chapter XXIII ,The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D)<ref>Chapter XXIII ,The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D)[https://www.wisdomlib.org/south-asia/book/the-travels-of-fa-hian/d/doc220123.html]</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
-Second Rock Edict: Kalsi[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/28/mode/1up]
 
Ashoka built one pillar beside every stupa :
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
sa[vatra vi]jitasi Devanapriyasa Priyadrashisarajine ye cha ataatha [Choda] Pa[mdiya] Sa[ti]ya[p]u[tra] Keralaputra [Tam]bapani..
" In after times Asoka, wishing to discover the utmost depths to which these ladders went, employed men to dig down and examine into it. They went on digging till they came to the yellow spring (the earth's foundation), but yet had not come to the bottom. The king, deriving from this an increase of faith and reverence, forthwith built over the ladders a and facing the middle flight he placed a standing figure (of Buddha) sixteen feet high. Behind the vihara, he erected a stone pillar thirty cubits high, and on the top placed the figure of a lion. Within the pillar on the four sides are figures of Buddha; both within and without it is shining and bright as glass. It happened once that some heretical doctors had a contention with the Sramanas respecting this as a place of residence. Then the argument of the Sramanas failing, they all agreed to the following compact: "If this place properly belongs to the Sramanas, then there will he some supernatural proof given of it." Immediately on this the lion on the top of the pillar uttered a loud roar."
—Chapter XVII, The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D)<ref>Chapter XVII, The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D)[https://www.wisdomlib.org/south-asia/book/the-travels-of-fa-hian/d/doc220117.html]</ref>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
-Second Rock Edict: Mansehra[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25989/page/71/mode/1up]
 
Ashoka commissioned the construction of 84,000 stupas for the preservation of Buddha's relics. However, over time, many of the Ashoka pillars , inscriptions and stupas have been subject to complete destruction and deterioration. According to the British historian Charles Allen, historical records of Ashoka were effectively cleansed to the extent that his name was largely forgotten for nearly two thousand years. However, very few mysterious stone monuments and inscriptions miraculously survived, preserving his historical legacy :
 
<blockquote>" Pg.2 - Ashoka Maurya—or Ashoka the Great as he was later known—holds a special place in the history of Buddhism and India. At its height in around 250 BCE, his empire stretched across the Indian subcontinent to Kandahar in the east, and as far north as the Himalayas. Through his quest to govern by moral force alone, Ashoka transformed Buddhism from a minor sect into a major world religion, while simultaneously setting a new yardstick for government that had lasting implications for all of Asia. His bold experiment ended in tragedy, however, and in the tumult that followed the historical record was cleansed so effectively that his name was largely forgotten for almost two thousand years. Yet, a few mysterious stone monuments and inscriptions miraculously survived the purge. "<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=K4vHjbUtf_4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Charles+Allen%22&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false|title=Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor|last=Allen|first=Charles|date=2012-02-21|publisher=Little, Brown Book Group|isbn=978-1-4087-0388-5|language=en}}</ref> </blockquote>
 
According to the Indian historian Ram Sharan Sharma, the Mauryans maintained a large army and implemented a strict judicial system to exercise control over tribal populations under their Empire :
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
Sav[r]atravijite [De]va[nam]priyasaPriyadrashisa Ye Ca anta ataChoda, Pandiya, Satiyaputo, Ketalaputo, Tam bapanni, Antiyogonaama, Yonalaja....  
" Pg.355 The biggest fact of Maurya political history was the establishment of the Magadha Empire, which included the whole of India except the far south. This empire was established with the strength of the sword and it could be protected only with the strength of the sword. Strong military power was necessary for both external security and internal peace..The tribal people living inside the empire and on its borders were equally a cause of trouble. So for this, there was a huge permanent army and tight judicial system."<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.401527|title=Prachin Bharat Me Rajneetik Vichar Avam Sansthae|last=Sharma|first=Ramsharan|date=1990}}</ref>  </blockquote>
</blockquote> -Second Rock Edict :Girnar[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.25520/page/117/mode/1up]
===North-East and South influence===
'''—Translation:''' Everywhere in the conquered dominions of king Priyadarsin, the beloved-of the gods, and the dominions on the boarders as those of the Choda (the Colas), Pandiya (the Pandyas). Satiyaputo (The Satiyaputras) and the Ketalaputo (the Keralaputras), as far as Tam bapanni (Tamraparni) the Yavana king named Antiyogonaama (Antiyoka) and the other neighbouring kings of this king Antiyoka.
Ashoka's influence in North-East and South India is evident through the dissemination of Buddhist principles, rock edicts, and the broader cultural exchanges facilitated by the Mauryan Empire. While the direct impact may vary, Ashoka's legacy remains a significant part of India's historical and cultural tapestry. <ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/encyclopedia-of-world-history-7-volumes-set-facts-on-file-2008|title=Encyclopedia Of World History 7 Volumes Set Facts On File 2008}}</ref>


===Popular Maps===
Indian New Parliament already
have carved Mauryan Empire  over mural which represents Indian integrity and glorious past.<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Parliament Ashoka Empire mural|url=https://bharatmotherofdemocracy.ignca.gov.in/contents/ashoka-responsible-and-accountable-governance/$OG_IMAGE|access-date=2024-07-22|website=bharatmotherofdemocracy.ignca.gov.in|language=en}}</ref>. Several historians have reconstructed the map of the Mauryan Empire based on details from Ashoka's inscriptions and accounts from Greek historians, among other sources. For example :
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%;"
! colspan="2" | Renowned Scholars Authoritative Crafted Maps
|-
!style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | Mauryan empire maps created by Historians/Other Scholars
!style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | Map Link
|-
| ASI ([[Archeological Survey Of India]])
| [https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.06445/page/n421/mode/1up Rough Map by ASI]
|-
|-
| [[NCERT]]
| [https://archive.org/details/medieval-india-ncert-class-11/page/n146/mode/1up Their designed map]
|-
| British Historian [[Geoffrey Parker]]
| [https://archive.org/details/timescompacthist0000unse_g4l2/page/29/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
| British historian [[Patrick Karl O'Brien]]
| [https://archive.org/details/philipsatlasofwo0000unse_u6t7/page/46/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
|-
| Australian historian [[Craig Benjamin]]
| [https://archive.org/details/the-cambridge-world-history-volume-iv/page/519/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
| American historian [[Gerald Danzer]]
| [https://archive.org/details/atlasofworldhist0000danz/page/44/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
| British Historian [[Charles Allen]]
| [https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Ashoka/K4vHjbUtf_4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT5&printsec=frontcover His designed map]
|-
| Historian [[Robert W. Strayer]] and [[Eric Nelson]]
| [https://archive.org/details/waysofworld0000robe/page/121/mode/1up Their designed map]
|-
| Irish Historian and Indologist [[Vincent Arthur Smith]]
| [https://archive.org/details/asokabuddhistemp00smitiala/asokabuddhistemp00smitiala/page/n284/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
| Anthropologist and Bioarcheologist [[Professor Ian Barnes]]
| [https://archive.org/details/historyatlasofas00ianb/page/43/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
| Group of Historian, Archeologist and Historical Geographer, published by Millennium House
| [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781921811043/page/65/mode/1up?q=Pink Their designed map]
|-
| American Historian [[Albert M. Craig]]
| [https://archive.org/details/heritageofworldc0000crai/page/142/mode/1up?q=%22Southwest+Asia+and+India+ca.+250%22 His designed map]
|-
| Indian Historian Kashi Prasad Jayaswal
| [https://archive.org/details/pvjO_itihas-pravesh-bharatiya-itihas-ka-digdarshan-by-jaychandra-vidyalankar-ed.-by-l/page/89/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
|Historical Geographer C. Collin Davies
| [https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.509319/page/13/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
|Indologist Prof. N.A. Nikam and American Philosopher [[Richard McKeon|Prof. Richard McKeon]]
| [https://archive.org/details/TheEdictsOfAsokaNikamMcKeon/page/n25/mode/1up Their designed map]
|-
|Group of historian namely [[Jeremy Adelman]],  [[Peter Brown]], [[Benjamin A. Elman]], [[Stephen Kotkin]], [[Xinru Liu]], [[Gyan Prakash]], [[Brent Shaw]] and Archeologist [[Holly Pittman]]
| [https://archive.org/details/worldstogetherwo0000unse_p0y1/page/234/mode/2up?q=%22various+Afro-Eurasian+worlds+together%22 Their designed world map for 250 BCE]
|-
|Professor of East Asian Studies, [[William J. Duiker]]
|
[https://archive.org/details/essentialworldhi0000duik_s5l0/page/51/mode/1up?q=%22The+Empire+of+Ashoka.+Ashoka%22 His designed map]
|-
|Italian historian [[Gianni Sofri]]
| [https://archive.org/details/gandhiindiacentu0000sofr/page/20/mode/1up?q=%22the+fifteenth+century%22 His designed map]
|-
|History Professor of Oxford University [[Harold Arthur Harris]]
| [https://archive.org/details/greekathletesath00harr/page/75/mode/1up?q=%22conquered+Kalinga+and+governed%22 His designed map]
|-
|Pakistani popular known historian Muhammad Hussain Panhwar
| [https://archive.org/details/AnIllustratedHistoricalAtlasOfSoomraKingdomByM.H.Panhwar/Six_Thousands_Years_Of_Irrigation/page/n116/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
|Indian Historian [[Dwijendra Narayan Jha]]
| [https://archive.org/details/ancient-india-in-historical-outline-d.-n.-jha/page/96/mode/1up His designed map]
|-
|Linguist Dr. Aaron Ralby and  University of Oklahoma professor Amanda Lomazoff
| [https://archive.org/details/atlasofworldmili0000ralb/page/107/mode/1up?q=%22starved+himself%22 Their designed map]
|-
|History professor of Southern Methodist University, Johan Elverskog
| [https://archive.org/details/buddhismandislamonthesilkroad/page/n22/mode/1up Their designed map]
|-
|Group of Historian, Archeologist and Historical Geographer, published by Berkshire
| [https://archive.org/details/berkshire-encyclopedia-of-world-history-2nd-ed./page/316/mode/1up Their designed map]
|-
|[[National Geographic Maps]] 
| [https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158899532712910 Their designed map]<br>
[https://archive.org/details/ancient-civilizations-discovering-our-past-california-edition-jackson-j.-spielvogel/page/260/mode/1up Other]
|}
===Territorial span on a national scale===
The territorial expanse of the Mauryan Empire, when correlated with contemporary nations, is delineated as follows:<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/thomas-1922-maurya-empire/mode/1up| title=Cambridge History of India, Volume 1, The Maurya Empire|last=Thomas|first=F.W.| website=Internet Archive }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:100%;"
|-
! style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | Present day countries
! style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | Mauryan Empire Extent
|-
| {{flag|Bangladesh}}
| (Whole)
|-
| {{flag|Pakistan}}
| (Whole)
|-
| {{flag|Bhutan}}
| (Whole)
|-
| {{flag|Afghanistan}}
| (Whole)
|-
| {{flag|India}}
| (Whole except southernmost tip)
|-
| {{flag|Iran}}
| (Eastern Gedrosia part only within Jaz Murian Lake)
|-
| {{flag|Myanmar}}
| (Western tip closer to [[Rangakuta Stupa]])
|}
== Wars Involving the Mauryan Empire ==
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! style="background:orange;"|<span style="color: white;">Conflict</span>
! style="background:orange;"|<span style="color: white;">Mauryan Emperor</span>
! style="background:orange;"|<span style="color: white;">Opponent</span>
! style="background:orange;width: 320px;"|<span style="color:white;">Outcome</span>
|-
| '''Conquest of Magadha'''<br>(322 BCE - 320 BCE)
| [[Chandragupta Maurya]]
| [[Dhana Nanda]] of [[Nanda Empire]]
| '''Mauryan Victory'''
* Chandragupta establishes the Mauryan Empire replacing Nandas.
*He married the princes of the Nanda's [[Durdhara]]
|-
| '''Seleucid-Maurya War'''<br>(305 BCE - 303 BCE)
| [[Chandragupta Maurya]]
| [[Seleucid Empire]]
| '''Mauryan Victory'''
*Treaty of the Indus.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=33–34}}
* Seleucid Empire's eastern satrapies ceded to Mauryan Empire
* Seleucus gives the hand of his daughter to Chandragupta, founding a dynastic alliance
* Chandragupta gives 500 [[war elephants]] to Seleucus
* Establishment of [[Megasthenes|diplomatic relations]]
* Conquest of the Persian territories such as [[Aria (region)]] [[Arachosia]], [[Gedrosia]] and [[Paropamisadae]] by the Mauryans <ref>[[Strabo]], ''Geography'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15B*.html#2.9 xv.2.9]</ref> {{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=33–34}}<ref name="Smith1920">{{citation|last=Smith|first=Vincent Arthur|title=The Oxford History of India: From the Earliest Times to the End of 1911|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p2gxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA104|year=1920|publisher=Clarendon Press|pages=104–106}}</ref>
|-
| '''Conquest of Kalinga'''<br>(265 BCE - 261 BCE)
| [[Ashoka the Great]]
| [[Kalinga Kingdom]]
| '''Mauryan Victory'''
* Kalinga conquered by the Emperor Ashoka.
* 150,000 people died on the Kalinga side and an almost equal number of Ashoka's army. Total death count approx 3 lakh.
* Ashoka elder brother son inspire Ashoka to became Buddhist, to devote the rest of his life to ahimsa (non-violence).
* Ashoka changes hispolicy of Diga-Vijaya (conquest of all four direction) to Dhamma-Vijaya (victory through Dharma).
|}
==Founding Emperors==
===Chandragupta Maurya===
===Chandragupta Maurya===
{{Main|Chandragupta Maurya}}
{{Main|Chandragupta Maurya}}
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====Establishment of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180&nbsp;BCE)====
====Establishment of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180&nbsp;BCE)====
{{Main|Indo-Greek Kingdom}}
{{Main|Indo-Greek Kingdom}}
[[File:World in 200 BCE.png|thumb|300px|Map of the world in 200 BC showing the [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom]], the Maurya Empire and the [[Yuezhi]] (Kushans)]]
The fall of the Mauryas left the [[Khyber Pass]] unguarded, and a wave of foreign invasion followed. The [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greco-Bactrian]] king, [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius]], capitalized on the break-up, and he conquered southern Afghanistan and parts of northwestern India around 180&nbsp;BCE, forming the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]. The Indo-Greeks would maintain holdings on the trans-Indus region, and make forays into central India, for about a century. Under them, Buddhism flourished, and one of their kings, [[Menander I|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 [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]]s, [[Satavahana]]s, and [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]]s are unclear, what is clear is that Scythian tribes, renamed [[Indo-Scythians]], brought about the demise of the Indo-Greeks from around 70&nbsp;BCE and retained lands in the trans-Indus, the region of [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]], and Gujarat.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
The fall of the Mauryas left the [[Khyber Pass]] unguarded, and a wave of foreign invasion followed. The [[Greco-Bactrian Kingdom|Greco-Bactrian]] king, [[Demetrius I of Bactria|Demetrius]], capitalized on the break-up, and he conquered southern Afghanistan and parts of northwestern India around 180&nbsp;BCE, forming the [[Indo-Greek Kingdom]]. The Indo-Greeks would maintain holdings on the trans-Indus region, and make forays into central India, for about a century. Under them, Buddhism flourished, and one of their kings, [[Menander I|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 [[Shunga Empire|Shunga]]s, [[Satavahana]]s, and [[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]]s are unclear, what is clear is that Scythian tribes, renamed [[Indo-Scythians]], brought about the demise of the Indo-Greeks from around 70&nbsp;BCE and retained lands in the trans-Indus, the region of [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]], and Gujarat.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}


== Military ==
== Military ==
Megasthenes mentions military command consisting of six boards of five members each, (i) [[Navy]] (ii) military transport (iii) [[Infantry]] (iv) [[Cavalry]] with [[Catapults]] (v) [[Chariot|Chariot divisions]] and (vi) [[Elephant]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kangle|first=R. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzxwTS0-nbUC&q=megasthenes+navy&pg=PA66|title=A Study|date=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-0041-0|language=en}}</ref>
Megasthenes mentions military command consisting of six boards of five members each, (i) [[Navy]] (ii) military transport (iii) [[Infantry]] (iv) [[Cavalry]] with [[Catapults]] (v) [[Chariot|Chariot divisions]] and (vi) [[Elephant]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kangle|first=R. P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dzxwTS0-nbUC&q=megasthenes+navy&pg=PA66|title=A Study|date=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-0041-0|language=en}}</ref>
Historians theorise that the organisation of the Empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by [[Chanakya]] 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]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gabriel A |first=Richard |title=The Ancient World :Volume 1 of Soldiers' lives through history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HscIwvtkq2UC&pg=PA301 |date=30 November 2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=28 |isbn=9780313333484 }}</ref> 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.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|2003|p=107}}


==Administration==
==Administration==
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The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at [[Pataliputra]]. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals are [[Tosali]] (in the east), [[Ujjain]] (in the west), [[Suvarnagiri]] (in the south), and [[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|date=August 2016}}. The mauryans established a well developed coin minting system. Coins were mostly made of silver and copper. Certain gold coins were in circulation as well. The coins were widely used for trade and commerce<ref>{{cite book|title= Ancient Indian History and Civilization|first= Sailendra |last= Nath sen |publisher= Routledge |year=1999  |page=160|isbn= 9788122411980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&q=maurya+dynasty+sen
The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at [[Pataliputra]]. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals are [[Tosali]] (in the east), [[Ujjain]] (in the west), [[Suvarnagiri]] (in the south), and [[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|date=August 2016}}. The mauryans established a well developed coin minting system. Coins were mostly made of silver and copper. Certain gold coins were in circulation as well. The coins were widely used for trade and commerce<ref>{{cite book|title= Ancient Indian History and Civilization|first= Sailendra |last= Nath sen |publisher= Routledge |year=1999  |page=160|isbn= 9788122411980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&q=maurya+dynasty+sen
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
Historians theorise that the organisation of the Empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by [[Chanakya]] 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]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Gabriel A |first=Richard |title=The Ancient World :Volume 1 of Soldiers' lives through history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HscIwvtkq2UC&pg=PA301 |date=30 November 2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=28 |isbn=9780313333484 }}</ref> 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.{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|2003|p=107}} A vast [[espionage]] system collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, Ashoka nevertheless continued to maintain this large army, to protect the Empire and instil stability and peace across West and South Asia.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}.Even though large parts were under the control of  Mauryan empire the spread of information and imperial message was limited since many parts were inaccessible and were situated far away from capital of empire.<ref>{{cite book|title= History of India |first= Herman |last= Kulke |publisher= Routledge |year=2004 |page=79 |isbn= 9780415329200 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RoW9GuFJ9GIC&q=india++history}}</ref>


The economy of the empire has been described as, "a socialized monarchy", "a sort of state socialism", and the world's first welfare state.<ref name="Boesche2003">{{cite book|author=Roger Boesche|title=The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K85NA7Rg67wC&pg=PA67|year=2003|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-0607-5|pages=67–70}}</ref> Under the Mauryan system there was no private ownership of land as all land was owned by the king to whom tribute was paid by the by the laboring class.  In return the emperor supplied the laborers with agricultural products, animals, seeds, tools, public infrastructure, and stored food in reserve for times of crisis.<ref name="Boesche2003" />
The economy of the empire has been described as, "a socialized monarchy", "a sort of state socialism", and the world's first welfare state.<ref name="Boesche2003">{{cite book|author=Roger Boesche|title=The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K85NA7Rg67wC&pg=PA67|year=2003|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-0607-5|pages=67–70}}</ref> Under the Mauryan system there was no private ownership of land as all land was owned by the king to whom tribute was paid by the by the laboring class.  In return the emperor supplied the laborers with agricultural products, animals, seeds, tools, public infrastructure, and stored food in reserve for times of crisis.<ref name="Boesche2003" />


=== Local government ===
=== Local government ===
[[Arthashastra]] and [[Megasthenes]] accounts of [[Pataliputra]] describe the intricate municipal system formed by Maurya empire to govern its cities. A city counsel made up of thirty commissioners was divided into six committees or boards which governed the city. The first board fixed wages and looked after provided goods, second board made arrangement for foreign dignitaries, tourists and businessmen, third board made records and registrations, fourth looked after manufactured goods and sale of commodities, fifth board regulated trade, issued licenses and checked weights and measurements, sixth board collected sales taxes. Some cities such as Taxila had autonomy to issue their own coins. The city counsel had officers who looked after public welfare such as maintenance of roads, public buildings, markets, hospitals, educational institutions etc.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&q=pataliputra+local+government+system&pg=SL1-PA262|title=Indian History|date=1988|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=9788184245684|language=en}}</ref> The official head of the village was Gramika (in towns [[Nagar Palika|Nagarika]]).<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.172447|title=India As Described By Megasthenes|last=Narain Singh Kalota|date=1978}}</ref> The city counsel also had some magisterial powers. The taking of Census was regular process in the Mauryan administration. The village officials (Gramika) and municipal officials ([[Nagar Palika|Nagarika]]) were responsible enumerating different classes of people in the Mauryan empire such as traders, agriculturists, smiths, potters, carpenters etc. and also cattle, mostly for taxation purposes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/explained-the-politics-behind-the-caste-census-in-bihar/articleshow/96916420.cms|title=Explained: History and politics of caste census in Bihar &#124; India News - Times of India|website=The Times of India}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=ToI is not a reliable source for history; also see [[Wikipedia:Reliable_sources/Noticeboard/Archive_287#Times_of_India_RFC]]|date=January 2023}} These vocations consolidated as castes, a feature of Indian society that continues to influence the Indian politics till today.
[[Arthashastra]] and [[Megasthenes]] accounts of [[Pataliputra]] describe the intricate municipal system formed by Maurya empire to govern its cities. A city counsel made up of thirty commissioners was divided into six committees or boards which governed the city. The first board fixed wages and looked after provided goods, second board made arrangement for foreign dignitaries, tourists and businessmen, third board made records and registrations, fourth looked after manufactured goods and sale of commodities, fifth board regulated trade, issued licenses and checked weights and measurements, sixth board collected sales taxes. Some cities such as Taxila had autonomy to issue their own coins. The city counsel had officers who looked after public welfare such as maintenance of roads, public buildings, markets, hospitals, educational institutions etc.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&q=pataliputra+local+government+system&pg=SL1-PA262|title=Indian History|date=1988|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=9788184245684|language=en}}</ref> The official head of the village was Gramika (in towns [[Nagar Palika|Nagarika]]).<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.172447|title=India As Described By Megasthenes|last=Narain Singh Kalota|date=1978}}</ref> The city counsel also had some magisterial powers. The taking of Census was regular process in the Mauryan administration. The village officials (Gramika) and municipal officials ([[Nagar Palika|Nagarika]]) were responsible enumerating different classes of people in the Mauryan empire such as traders, agriculturists, smiths, potters, carpenters etc. and also cattle, mostly for taxation purposes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/explained-the-politics-behind-the-caste-census-in-bihar/articleshow/96916420.cms|title=Explained: History and politics of caste census in Bihar &#124; India News - Times of India|website=The Times of India}}</ref> These vocations consolidated as castes, a feature of Indian society that continues to influence the Indian politics till today.


==Economy==
==Economy==
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==Religion==
==Religion==
Throughout the period of empire, [[Brahmanism]] was an important religion.<ref name="Nath sen 1999 164">{{cite book|title= Ancient Indian History and Civilization|first= Sailendra |last= Nath sen |publisher= Routledge |year=1999 |page=164|isbn= 9788122411980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&q=maurya+dynasty+sen}}</ref> The Mauryans favored Brahmanism as well as Jainism and Buddhism. Minor religious sects such as [[Ajivika]]s also received patronage. A number of [[List of Hindu texts|Hindu texts]] were written during the Mauryan period.<ref>{{cite book | last=Ray | first=A. | title=Towns and Cities of Medieval India: A Brief Survey | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-351-99731-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TslDwAAQBAJ | page=22}}</ref>
Throughout the period of empire, [[Vedic]] was an important religion.<ref name="Nath sen 1999 164">{{cite book|title= Ancient Indian History and Civilization|first= Sailendra |last= Nath sen |publisher= Routledge |year=1999 |page=164|isbn= 9788122411980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&q=maurya+dynasty+sen}}</ref> The Mauryans favored Brahmanism as well as Jainism and Buddhism. Minor religious sects such as [[Ajivika]]s also received patronage. A number of [[List of Hindu texts|Hindu texts]] were written during the Mauryan period.<ref>{{cite book | last=Ray | first=A. | title=Towns and Cities of Medieval India: A Brief Survey | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-351-99731-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TslDwAAQBAJ | page=22}}</ref>


[[File:Shravanabelagola2007 - 44.jpg|thumb|Bhadrabahu Cave, [[Shravanabelagola]] where [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] is said to have died]]
[[File:Shravanabelagola2007 - 44.jpg|thumb|Bhadrabahu Cave, [[Shravanabelagola]] where [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] is said to have died]]
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[[File:Barabar Caves 2.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Mauryan architecture in the [[Barabar Caves]]. [[Lomas Rishi Cave]]. 3rd century BCE.]]
[[File:Barabar Caves 2.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|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 Paliputra, modern [[Kumhrar]] in [[Patna]]. Excavations have unearthed the remains of the palace, which is thought to have been a group of several 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 {{formatnum:{{#expr:9.75-2.74 round 0}}}} 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 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.<ref>"L'age d'or de l'Inde Classique", p23</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2016}} 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 was responsible for the construction of the stone columns which replaced the earlier wooden ones.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}
The greatest monument of this period, executed in the reign of [[Chandragupta Maurya]], was the old palace at Paliputra, modern [[Kumhrar]] in [[Patna]]. Excavations have unearthed the remains of the palace, which is thought to have been a group of several 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 {{formatnum:{{#expr:9.75-2.74 round 0}}}} 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 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.<ref>"L'age d'or de l'Inde Classique", p23</ref>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 was responsible for the construction of the stone columns which replaced the earlier wooden ones.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}


[[File:Early stupa 6 meters in diameter with fallen umbrella on side in Chakpat near Chakdara.jpg|thumb|left|An early [[stupa]], 6 meters in diameter, with fallen umbrella on side. Chakpat, near [[Chakdara]]. Probably Maurya, 3rd century BCE.]]
[[File:Early stupa 6 meters in diameter with fallen umbrella on side in Chakpat near Chakdara.jpg|thumb|left|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 [[Buddhist architecture]].  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]], [[Bodhgaya]], [[Bharhut]], and possibly [[Amaravati Stupa]]. The most widespread examples of Mauryan architecture are the [[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashoka pillars]] and carved edicts of Ashoka, often exquisitely decorated, with more than 40 spread throughout the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>"L'age d'or de l'Inde Classique", p22</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2016}}
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 [[Buddhist architecture]].  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]], [[Bodhgaya]], [[Bharhut]], and possibly [[Amaravati Stupa]]. The most widespread examples of Mauryan architecture are the [[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashoka pillars]] and carved edicts of Ashoka, often exquisitely decorated, with more than 40 spread throughout the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>"L'age d'or de l'Inde Classique", p22</ref>


The peacock was a dynastic symbol of Mauryans, as depicted by Ashoka's pillars at Nandangarh and Sanchi Stupa.{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=15}}
The peacock was a dynastic symbol of Mauryans, as depicted by Ashoka's pillars at Nandangarh and Sanchi Stupa.{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=15}}
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When [[Ashoka]] embraced 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{{failed verification|date=September 2017}} to advocate [[Conservation (ethic)|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:<ref name="IWH5"/>
When [[Ashoka]] embraced 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{{failed verification|date=September 2017}} to advocate [[Conservation (ethic)|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:<ref name="IWH5"/>
{{blockquote|Our king killed very few animals.|[[Edicts of Ashoka|Edict on Fifth Pillar]]}}


However, the edicts of 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.<ref name="IWH5"/>
However, the edicts of 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.<ref name="IWH5"/>
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Relations with the Hellenistic world may have started from the very beginning of the Maurya Empire. [[Plutarch]] reports that Chandragupta Maurya met with [[Alexander the Great]], probably around [[Taxila]] in the northwest:<ref name="RM16">{{cite book |last1=Mookerji |first1=Radhakumud |author-link1=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |date=1966 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120804050 |pages=16–17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA16 |language=en}}</ref>
Relations with the Hellenistic world may have started from the very beginning of the Maurya Empire. [[Plutarch]] reports that Chandragupta Maurya met with [[Alexander the Great]], probably around [[Taxila]] in the northwest:<ref name="RM16">{{cite book |last1=Mookerji |first1=Radhakumud |author-link1=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |date=1966 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=9788120804050 |pages=16–17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA16 |language=en}}</ref>


{{blockquote|Sandrocottus, when he was a stripling, saw Alexander himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that 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<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243&redirect=true|title=Plutarch, Alexander, chapter 1, section 1|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref name="RM16"/>}}
{{blockquote|Sandrocottus(Chandragupta), when he was a stripling, saw Alexander himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that Alexander narrowly missed making himself master of the country, since its king (Dhananda) was hated and despised on account of his baseness and low birth.| Plutarch 62-4<ref name="RM16"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243&redirect=true|title=Plutarch, Alexander, chapter 1, section 1|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}


===Reconquest of the Northwest (c. 317–316&nbsp;BCE)===
===Reconquest of the Northwest (c. 317–316&nbsp;BCE)===
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===Conflict and alliance with Seleucus (305&nbsp;BCE)===
===Conflict and alliance with Seleucus (305&nbsp;BCE)===
{{Main|Seleucid–Mauryan war}}
{{Main|Seleucid–Mauryan war}}
[[File:Hellenistic world and Maurya Empire 281 BCE.png|thumb|right|A map showing the north western border of Maurya Empire, including its various neighboring states.]]
[[File:Hellenistic World 281 BC with Seleukos & Mauryan Empire.png|thumb|right|A map showing the north western border of Maurya Empire, including its various neighboring states.]]
[[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 and the Indus ([[Appian]], ''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars 55), until in 305&nbsp;BCE he entered into a confrontation with Emperor Chandragupta:
[[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 and the Indus ([[Appian]], ''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars 55), until in 305&nbsp;BCE he entered into a confrontation with Emperor Chandragupta:


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====Marriage alliance====
====Marriage alliance====
[[File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg|thumb|upright|Figure of a foreigner, found in [[Sarnath]], 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bachhofer |first1=Ludwig |title=Early Indian Sculpture Vol. I |date=1929 |publisher=The Pegasus Press |location=Paris |pages=239–240 |url=https://indianculture.gov.in/rarebooks/early-indian-sculpture-vol-i |language=en}}</ref> This is a probable member of the West Asian [[Pahlava]] or [[Saka]] elite in the [[Gangetic plain]]s during the Mauryan period.<ref name="Gupta 122">Page 122: About the [[Masarh lion]]: "This particular example of a foreign model gets added support from the male heads of foreigners from Patna city and Sarnath since they also prove beyond doubt that a section of the elite in the Gangetic Basin was of foreign origin. However, as noted earlier, this is an example of the late Mauryan period since this is not the type adopted in any Ashoka pillar. We are, therefore, visualizing a historical situation in India in which the West Asian influence on Indian art was felt more in the late Mauryan than in the early Mauryan period. The term West Asia in this context stands for Iran and Afghanistan, where the Sakas and Pahlavas had their base-camps for eastward movement. The prelude to future inroads of the Indo-Bactrians in India had after all started in the second century B.C."... in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Swarajya Prakash |author-link=Swaraj Prakash Gupta|title=The Roots of Indian Art: A Detailed Study of the Formative Period of Indian Art and Architecture, Third and Second Centuries B.C., Mauryan and Late Mauryan |year=1980 |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-391-02172-3 |pages=88, 122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lDqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}.</ref><ref name="Gupta 318">According to Gupta [[:File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg|this is]] a non-Indian face of a foreigner with a conical hat: "If there are a few faces which are nonIndian, such as one head from Sarnath with conical cap ( Bachhofer, Vol . I, Pl . 13 ), they are due to the presence of the foreigners their costumes, tastes and liking for portrait art and not their art styles." in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Swarajya Prakash |author-link=Swaraj Prakash Gupta|title=The Roots of Indian Art: A Detailed Study of the Formative Period of Indian Art and Architecture, Third and Second Centuries B.C., Mauryan and Late Mauryan |year=1980 |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-391-02172-3 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lDqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report 1907-08 |date=1911 |page=55 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35434/page/n101/mode/2up}}</ref>]]
[[File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg|thumb|upright|Figure of a foreigner, found in [[Sarnath]], 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bachhofer |first1=Ludwig |title=Early Indian Sculpture Vol. I |date=1929 |publisher=The Pegasus Press |location=Paris |pages=239–240 |url=https://indianculture.gov.in/rarebooks/early-indian-sculpture-vol-i |language=en}}</ref> This is a probable member of the West Asian [[Pahlava]] or [[Saka]] elite in the [[Gangetic plain]]s during the Mauryan period.<ref name="Gupta 122">Page 122: About the [[Masarh lion]]: "This particular example of a foreign model gets added support from the male heads of foreigners from Patna city and Sarnath since they also prove beyond doubt that a section of the elite in the Gangetic Basin was of foreign origin. However, as noted earlier, this is an example of the late Mauryan period since this is not the type adopted in any Ashoka pillar. We are, therefore, visualizing a historical situation in India in which the West Asian influence on Indian art was felt more in the late Mauryan than in the early Mauryan period. The term West Asia in this context stands for Iran and Afghanistan, where the Sakas and Pahlavas had their base-camps for eastward movement. The prelude to future inroads of the Indo-Bactrians in India had after all started in the second century B.C."... in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Swarajya Prakash |author-link=Swaraj Prakash Gupta|title=The Roots of Indian Art: A Detailed Study of the Formative Period of Indian Art and Architecture, Third and Second Centuries B.C., Mauryan and Late Mauryan |year=1980 |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-391-02172-3 |pages=88, 122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lDqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}.</ref><ref name="Gupta 318">According to Gupta [[:File:Mauryan head from Sarnath.jpg|this is]] a non-Indian face of a foreigner with a conical hat: "If there are a few faces which are nonIndian, such as one head from Sarnath with conical cap ( Bachhofer, Vol . I, Pl . 13 ), they are due to the presence of the foreigners their costumes, tastes and liking for portrait art and not their art styles." in {{cite book |last1=Gupta |first1=Swarajya Prakash |author-link=Swaraj Prakash Gupta|title=The Roots of Indian Art: A Detailed Study of the Formative Period of Indian Art and Architecture, Third and Second Centuries B.C., Mauryan and Late Mauryan |year=1980 |publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation |isbn=978-0-391-02172-3 |page=318 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lDqAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report 1907-08 |date=1911 |page=55 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.35434/page/n101/mode/2up}}</ref>]]
Chandragupta and [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] concluded a peace treaty and a marriage alliance in 303 BCE. Chandragupta received vast territories and in a return gave Seleucus 500 [[war elephant]]s,{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|2003|p=105}}<ref>Ancient India, (Kachroo, p.196)</ref><ref>''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' (Hunter, p.167)</ref><ref>''The evolution of man and society'' (Darlington, p.223)</ref><ref>W. W. Tarn (1940). "Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita", ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' '''60''', p. 84–94.</ref> a military asset which would play a decisive role at the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in 301&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=37}} 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]] (modern [[Patna]] in [[Bihar state|Bihar]]). Later, [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]], the ruler of [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] and contemporary of [[Ashoka]], is also recorded by [[Pliny the Elder]] as having sent an ambassador named [[Dionysius (ambassador)|Dionysius]] to the Mauryan court.<ref name="perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de">{{cite web|url=http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728023626/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.%2BNat.%2B6.21 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2013 |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, H. T. Riley) }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2016}}
Chandragupta and [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] concluded a peace treaty and a marriage alliance in 303 BCE. Chandragupta received vast territories and in a return gave Seleucus 500 [[war elephant]]s,{{sfn|R. C. Majumdar|2003|p=105}}<ref>Ancient India, (Kachroo, p.196)</ref><ref>''The Imperial Gazetteer of India'' (Hunter, p.167)</ref><ref>''The evolution of man and society'' (Darlington, p.223)</ref><ref>W. W. Tarn (1940). "Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita", ''The Journal of Hellenic Studies'' '''60''', p. 84–94.</ref> a military asset which would play a decisive role at the [[Battle of Ipsus]] in 301&nbsp;BCE.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=37}} 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]] (modern [[Patna]] in [[Bihar state|Bihar]]). Later, [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]], the ruler of [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] and contemporary of [[Ashoka]], is also recorded by [[Pliny the Elder]] as having sent an ambassador named [[Dionysius (ambassador)|Dionysius]] to the Mauryan court.<ref name="perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de">{{cite web|url=http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+6.21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728023626/http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.%2BNat.%2B6.21 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 July 2013 |title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, H. T. Riley) }}</ref>


Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received vast territory west of the Indus, including the [[Hindu Kush]], modern-day Afghanistan, and the [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] province of Pakistan.<ref>[[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent A. Smith]] (1998). ''Ashoka''. Asian Educational Services. {{ISBN|81-206-1303-1}}.</ref><ref>[[Walter Eugene Clark]] (1919). "The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology", ''Classical Philology'' '''14''' (4), pp. 297–313.</ref> Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as the inscriptions of the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], are known as far as [[Kandahar]] in southern Afghanistan.
Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received vast territory west of the Indus, including the [[Hindu Kush]], modern-day Afghanistan, and the [[Balochistan, Pakistan|Balochistan]] province of Pakistan.<ref>[[Vincent Arthur Smith|Vincent A. Smith]] (1998). ''Ashoka''. Asian Educational Services. {{ISBN|81-206-1303-1}}.</ref><ref>[[Walter Eugene Clark]] (1919). "The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology", ''Classical Philology'' '''14''' (4), pp. 297–313.</ref> Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as the inscriptions of the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], are known as far as [[Kandahar]] in southern Afghanistan.
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{{blockquote|After having made a treaty with him (Sandrakotos) and put in order the Orient situation, Seleucos went to war against [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]].|[[Junianus Justinus]]|''Historiarum Philippicarum, libri XLIV'', [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/trad15.html XV.4.15]}}
{{blockquote|After having made a treaty with him (Sandrakotos) and put in order the Orient situation, Seleucos went to war against [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonus]].|[[Junianus Justinus]]|''Historiarum Philippicarum, libri XLIV'', [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/trad15.html 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|date=July 2009}}
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.


====Exchange of presents====
====Exchange of presents====
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{{blockquote|Now, in times past (officers) called [[Mahamatras]] of morality did not exist before. Mahdmatras of morality were appointed by me (when I had been) anointed thirteen years. These are occupied with all sects in establishing morality, in promoting morality, and for the welfare and happiness of those who are devoted to morality (even) among the [[Yona|Greeks]], [[Kambojas]] and [[Gandharas]], and whatever other western borderers (of mine there are).|([[Major Rock Edicts|Rock Edict Number 5]])}}
{{blockquote|Now, in times past (officers) called [[Mahamatras]] of morality did not exist before. Mahdmatras of morality were appointed by me (when I had been) anointed thirteen years. These are occupied with all sects in establishing morality, in promoting morality, and for the welfare and happiness of those who are devoted to morality (even) among the [[Yona|Greeks]], [[Kambojas]] and [[Gandharas]], and whatever other western borderers (of mine there are).|([[Major Rock Edicts|Rock Edict Number 5]])}}


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 uses the word [[Eusebeia]] ("[[Piety]]") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous "[[Dharma]]" of his other Edicts written in [[Prakrit]]:{{npsn|date=August 2016}}
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 uses the word [[Eusebeia]] ("[[Piety]]") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous "[[Dharma]]" of his other Edicts written in [[Prakrit]]:


{{blockquote|Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Ashoka) made known (the doctrine of) 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 {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20051103235517/http://www.afghanan.net/afghanistan/mauryans.htm]}} {{unreliable source?|date=August 2016}}}}
{{blockquote|Ten years (of reign) having been completed, King Piodasses (Ashoka) made known (the doctrine of) 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 {{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20051103235517/http://www.afghanan.net/afghanistan/mauryans.htm]}}}}


===Buddhist missions to the West (c. 250&nbsp;BCE)===
===Dhamma Vijaya to the West (c. 250&nbsp;BCE)===
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
AiKhanoumAndIndia.jpg|The distribution of the [[Edicts of Ashoka]].<ref>Reference: "India: The Ancient Past" p.113, Burjor Avari, Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-35615-6}}</ref>
AiKhanoumAndIndia.jpg|The distribution of the [[Edicts of Ashoka]].<ref>Reference: "India: The Ancient Past" p.113, Burjor Avari, Routledge, {{ISBN|0-415-35615-6}}</ref>
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Also, in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], Ashoka mentions the Hellenistic kings of the period as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism, although no Western historical record of this event remains:
Also, in the [[Edicts of Ashoka]], Ashoka mentions the Hellenistic kings of the period as recipients of his Buddhist proselytism, although no Western historical record of this event remains:


{{blockquote|The conquest by [[Dharma]] has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred [[yojana]]s (5,400–9,600&nbsp;km) away, where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochos]] rules, beyond there where the four kings named [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy]], [[Antigonus Gonatas|Antigonos]], [[Magas of Cyrene|Magas]] and [[Alexander II of Epirus|Alexander]] rule, likewise in the south among the [[Chola]]s, the [[Pandya]]s, and as far as [[Tamraparni]] ([[Sri Lanka]]). |[[Edicts of Ashoka]], 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika.{{npsn|date=August 2016}}}}
{{blockquote|The conquest by [[Dharma]] has been won here, on the borders, and even six hundred [[yojana]]s (5,400–9,600&nbsp;km) away, where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|Antiochos]] rules, beyond there where the four kings named [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus|Ptolemy]], [[Antigonus Gonatas|Antigonos]], [[Magas of Cyrene|Magas]] and [[Alexander II of Epirus|Alexander]] rule, likewise in the south among the [[Chola]]s, the [[Pandya]]s, and as far as [[Tamraparni]] ([[Sri Lanka]]). |[[Edicts of Ashoka]], 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika.}}


Ashoka also encouraged the development of [[herbal medicine]], for men and animals, in their territories:
Ashoka also encouraged the development of [[herbal medicine]], for men and animals, in their territories:


{{blockquote|Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka's] domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the [[Chola]]s, the [[Pandya]]s, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as [[Tamraparni]] and where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|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. |[[Edicts of Ashoka|2nd Rock Edict]]{{npsn|date=August 2016}}}}
{{blockquote|Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka's] domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the [[Chola]]s, the [[Pandya]]s, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as [[Tamraparni]] and where the Greek king [[Antiochus II Theos|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. |[[Edicts of Ashoka|2nd Rock Edict]]}}


The Greeks in India even seem to have played an active role in the spread of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as [[Dharmaraksita]], are described in [[Pāli|Pali]] sources as leading Greek ("[[Yona]]") Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism (the [[Mahavamsa]], XII<ref>''Mahavamsa'' [http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chapters.html chapter XII] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905050433/http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chapters.html |date=5 September 2006 }}</ref>{{npsn|date=August 2016}}).
The Greeks in India even seem to have played an active role in the spread of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as [[Dharmaraksita]], are described in [[Pāli|Pali]] sources as leading Greek ("[[Yona]]") Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism (the [[Mahavamsa]], XII)<ref>''Mahavamsa'' [http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chapters.html chapter XII] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905050433/http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/chapters.html |date=5 September 2006 }}</ref>


===Subhagasena and Antiochos III (206&nbsp;BCE)===
===Subhagasena and Antiochos III (206&nbsp;BCE)===
{{Part of History of India|File:MET DT9196.jpg}}
{{Part of History of India|File:MET DT9196.jpg}}
[[Sophagasenus]] was an Indian [[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|date=June 2007}} 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]] king, after having made peace with [[Euthydemus II|Euthydemus]] in [[Bactria]], went to India in 206&nbsp;BCE and is said to have renewed his friendship with the Indian king there:
[[Sophagasenus]] was an Indian [[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. 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]] king, after having made peace with [[Euthydemus II|Euthydemus]] in [[Bactria]], went to India in 206&nbsp;BCE and is said to have renewed his friendship with the Indian king there:


{{blockquote|text=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.|author=[[Polybius]] |title=[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]], 11.39<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/invalidquery.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0234:book=11:chapter=39|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307194743/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+11.39|url-status=dead|title=No document found|archive-date=7 March 2008|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}
{{blockquote|text=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.|author=[[Polybius]] |title=[[The Histories (Polybius)|The Histories]], 11.39<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/invalidquery.jsp?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0234:book=11:chapter=39|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307194743/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+11.39|url-status=dead|title=No document found|archive-date=7 March 2008|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref>}}
Fa-Hian, the Chinese Buddhist monk and traveler, mentioned Dharmavarddhana, who was believed to be Subhagsena by historians :
<blockquote>
From this, descending eastward, journeying for five days, we arrive at the country of Gandhara (Kien-to-wei). This is the place which Dharmavarddhana, the son of Asoka, governed. Buddha also in this country, when he was a Bodhisattva, gave his eyes in charity for the sake of a man. On this spot also they have raised a great stupa, adorned with silver and gold. The people of this country mostly study the Little Vehicle.
~Chapter X ,The travels of Fa-Hian (400 A.D.)
[https://www.wisdomlib.org/south-asia/book/the-travels-of-fa-hian/d/doc220110.html]
</blockquote>
==Later Mauryans==
The Rājataranginī mentions Jalauka as the successor of Asoka in Kasmira, while Tāranātha mentions another successor Virasena who ruled in Gandhāra and he was as Dr. Thomas suggests, probably the predecessor of Subhagasena.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.10359|title=Political History of ancient India|last=Hemchandra Raychaudhuri|first=M. A.|date=1932|page=238}}</ref>
Petty Maurya kings continued to rule in western India as well as Magadha long after the extinction of the imperial line. King Dhavala of the Maurya dynasty is referred to in the Kanaswa inscription of A.D. 738. Professor Bhandarkar identifies him with Dhavalappadeva, the overlord of Dhanika mentioned in the Dabok (Mewar) inscription of A.D. 725.” Maurya chief of the Konkan and Khandesh are referred to in the early epigraphs. A Maurya Prince of Magadha named Pürnavarman is mentioned by Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.10359|title=Political History of ancient India|last=Hemchandra Raychaudhuri|first=M. A.|date=1932|page=240}}</ref> In 7th century A.D. Hiuen Tsang, wrote about small dominions in eastern India for he relates that shortly before his visit Purnavarman, king of Magadha, a descendant of Ashoka who had restored the Bodhi-tree, which had been destroyed by Sasanka, apart from this he also mention Mauryan ruler named Narendragupta of Karnasuvarna(Bengal).<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.55603|title=The Cambridge History Of India Vol.i|last=Rapson|first=E. J.|date=1935|page=513}}</ref>
During the sixth century Kolaba along with the Northern Konkan coast was probably ruled by Mauryas and Nala Chiefs as Kirtivarman (550-567), the first of the Calukyas who conquered Konkan is described as the night of death to the Nalas and Mauryas [Indian Antiquary VIII. 24.].
From an inscribed stones of the fifth and the sixth century discovered in the Thānā district of North Konkan, it describes that a Mauryan King Suketuvarman was ruling in Konkan. Konkan was given in charge of a Maurya family.<ref name="HAI">"Konkan was given in charge of a Maurya family. A grant of the Maurya prince Suketuvarman, who ruled in this period, has been discovered in the Thānā district of North Konkan." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/jEqi_literay-and-historical-studies-in-indology-of-dr.-vasudev-vishnu-mirashi-mlbd-varanasi|page=128|title=Literay And Historical Studies In Indology Of Dr. Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi MLBD Varanasi|last=MLBD Varanasi}}</ref><ref name="CORPUS"> "A stone inscription from Vada in the north of the Thana District mentions a Maurya king named Suketuvarman ruling in Konkan." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.367473|title=Corpus Inscriptionium Indicarum Vol Iv Part 1|page=75|last=Vasudev Vishnu Mirshi|date=1955|publisher=Government Epigraphist For India, Ootacamund|language=Multilingual}}</ref><ref name="INSCRIPTION"> "We have discussed above about the Saka era. From the point of view of its early history as well as for the history of the later Mauryas of Konkana the Vala (or Vada) inscription of Suketuvarman, dated Saka 322, is one of utmost importance. The inscription was actually found at the place of this name in the Thane District of Maharashtra though wrongly attributed to Vala in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. It aims at registering the installation of the deity Koțiśvara by one Simhadatta, son of Anankiparadatta in the Saka year 322, and some grants to the divinity by one Isuprakki, the Vallabha-Talavara of the Maurya Dharma- mahārāja Suketuvarman of the Bhojas. The inscription adds one more name to the list of the Mauryas of Konkaņa." {{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.29982|page=32|title=puratattva: Bulletin of the Indian archaeological society number 25  1994-95|last=Dikshit|first=K. N.|date=1995|publisher=Indian Archaeological Society,New delhi}}</ref>
It is interesting to see that More is a name quite common among Marathas, Kunbis and Rolls of Kolaba. Probably here can be traced the name Maurya. Two small landing places of the name of More in Elephanta and in Karanja can be taken as relics of the Maurya power formerly existing in Konkan. The Mauryas of the Konkan, previously subdued, were overwhelmed and the city of Puri (either Gharapuri, i.e., the island of Elephanta near Bombay, or Rajpuri near Janjira), which was located in the Arabian Sea and was probably the Maurya capital, was invaded by Pulakesin's battleships and was captured.<ref>https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/KOLABA/his_early.html</ref>
===Rediscovery===
Coins of the Kalacuri king Krşņarāja have been found in the island of Bombay. But the country was not directly administered by the Kalacuris. They gave it to a feudadtory family called the Mauryas.The Kaņaśva inscription dated A.D. 738-39 mentions the Maurya king Dhavalappa, who was probably holding the fort of Chittorgarh.This family probably succumbed to the attack of the Arabs, who are credited with a victory over them. Another Maurya family was ruling at Valabhi (modern Valā) in Saurāştra. A later scion of it named Govindaraja Maurya was reigning from Väghli in Khāndeśa as a feudatory of the Mahamandaleśvara Seunacandra II. The family ruling in North Konkan in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. was related to any of the branches of the great Maurya family. The first notice of the Maurya family ruling in North Konkan occurs in the description of the conquests of the early Chalukya king Kirtivarman I (A.D. 566-598). In the Aihole inscription where he is described as the Night of Destruction to the Nalas, Mauryas and Kadambas. The Kadambas were described as subclan of Southern Mauryans who where completely lost.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/ancient-history-of-maharashtra_202110|title=Ancient History of Maharashtra|page=140|last=Maharashtra State Gazetteers|date=1967}}</ref>
====The Mauryas of Konkan region====
Suketuvarman is known from a solitary stone inscription found at Vada to the north of Thana near Bombay but now preserved in the Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay. The epigraph, which is damaged and written in the southern characters of about the 4th or 5th century A.D. and refers to a king named Suketuvarman of the Maurya dynasty. He appears to have been ruling near about Thana during that period.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.07863|title=Central Provinces District Gazetteers: Nagpur District|page=65|last=N. V. SundaraRaman|first=Chairman|last2=P. Setu Madhava Rao|first2=Member|last3=V. B. Kolte|first3=Member|last4=C. D. Deshpande|first4=Member|last5=B. R. Rairikar|first5=Member|last6=Sarojini Babar|first6=Member|last7=V. T. Gune|first7=Member|last8=P. N. Chopra|first8=Member|last9=V. N. Gurav|first9=Member-Secretary|date=1908|publisher=Bombay, Times Press}}</ref>
====The Mauryas of Western coastline====
Two copper plate grants discovered in the Goa territory on the west coast reveal the existence of two kings named [[Chandravarman Maurya|Chandravarman]] and [[Anirjitavarman]] who belonged to the Maurya dynasty as per their inscription. As both the grants are dated in the regnal years of the ruling kings, from the palaeographical point of view, they may be assigned to the 6th or 7th century A.D., the grant of Chandravarman being slightly earlier than that of Anirjitvarman. Both these rulers, who assume the epithet of Mahārāja in their records. The charter of Chandravarman records the donation, by the king, of some lands to the Mahāvihāra situated in Sivapura which is identified with the village bearing the same name near Chandor in Goa. The grant of Anirjitavarman, registers certain gifts, made by the king, to a Brāhmaņa named Hastyärya. It is issued from a a place called Kumāradvīpa which appears to be located somewhere in the Goa territory. These two records show that Candravarman and Anirjitvarman were ruling somewhere in the Goa territory about the 6th-7th century A.D.<ref>{{Cite book|page=295|url=http://archive.org/details/epigraphia-indica|title=epigraphia-indica}}</ref>
====The Mauryas of the Mathura region====
[[Dindirāja]] alias Karka fragmentary stone inscription from Mathura city in Uttar Pradesh which, on palaeographical grounds, is referred to the latter half of the 7th century A.D., mentions four members of the Maurya dynasty viz. Krşņarāja in his family, Chandragupta his son, Aryarāja and, probably his son, Dindirāja alias Karka.<ref name="INSC">"Jhalarpatan inscription (AD 689) of Durgagana, the Kudarkot inscription of about the second half of the seventh century, the Nagar inscription (AD 684) of Dhanika, and the Kanaswa inscription (AD 738) of Sivagana." The inscription was composed "in adoration of a god whose epithets kal- anjana-rajah-punja-dyuti, (ma)havaraha-rupa and jangama have only been preserved". It leaves "no doubt that the reference is to the god Vishnu since the expression mahavaraha-rupa certainty speaks of the Boar incarnation of the deity." The hero of the prasasti is a king named Dindiraja of the Maurya dynasty.{{Cite book|page=80-81|url=http://archive.org/details/hindu-temples-vol.-ii-ed-sitaram-goel_202306|title=Hindu Temples Vol. II (Ed Sitaram Goel)|last=Ed Sitaram Goel|date=1993}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|page=208-209|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.11070|title=Pracyavidya-Tarangini|last=D. C. Sircar|date=1969}}</ref>The last named ruler of this Mauryan branch appears to have burnt the city of Kanyakubja (Kannauj). The Maurya kings mentioned in this record seem to have held sway over the south-western areas of Uttar Pradesh. The Jaina tradition represents king Yasovarman (circa 728-53 A.D.) of Kannauj as a descendant of Chandragupta Maurya. This may refer to Yasovarman's relations with Karka-Dindirāja who, in all probability, was the grandson of a Maurya ruler named Chandragupta of 7th century A.D.<ref>{{Cite book|page=207-212|url=http://archive.org/details/bmshri.epigraphiaindica0000unse_z3v3|title=Epigraphia indica (1957-1958)|publisher=The director general archaeological survey of india|others=Servants of Knowledge}}</ref>
====The Mauryas of the Rajasthan region====
King Dhavala or Dhavalātman inscription" from Kanaswa in the old Kota, State of Rajasthan, dated in the Mälava year (i.e. Vikrama Samvat) 795 or 738. A.D., refers to the Brahmana Sivagana as a feudatory of king Dhavala of the Maurya lineage. Dr. D.C. Sircar has suggested, on grounds of palaeographical resemblance and geographical proximity, that the Mauryas of the Mathura region mentioned above may be connected with the Maurya king Dhavala of the Kanaswa record.<ref>{{Cite book|page=209|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.06115|title=Epigraphia Indica, Vol-32, Issue no.-1-42}}</ref> It has also been suggested that the Mauryas who are stated to have been defeated by the Tājika (i. e. Arab) army in the Navsari plates of the Gujarat Chalukya chief Pulakeśin, dated 738 A.D., were probably these Mauryas of the Malwa Rajasthan region.<ref>{{Cite book|page=540|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.461080|title=The Dynastic History Of Northern India Vol. 2|last=Ray|first=H. C.|date=1935-11-18}}</ref>
Dhavala inscription from Dabok about 8 miles to the east of Udaipur in Rajasthan, mentions a Guhila chief Dhanika of Dhabagarta  and his lord Dhavalappa Deva. Bhandarkar was inclined to identify Dhavalappa of this epigraph with the Maurya king Dhavalātman of the Kanaswa inscription referred.<ref>{{Cite book|page=73|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.16596|title=ANTIQUITIES OF INDIA|last=BARNETT|first=L. D.|date=1958|publisher=PUNTHI PUSTAK, CALCUTTA}}</ref> It is possible that they were related to the Mauryas of the West Coast region and might have extended their suzerainty over Rajasthan which then formed part of Harsa's (606-47 A.D.) dominion. As pointed out by Dr. Sircar, the date of the Dabok record as read by him shows that Harsa must have lost parts of Rajasthan before his death in 647 A.D., though the Mauryas of Rajasthan must have owed allegiance to him before.<ref name="INSCRI"> "The second inscription of Dhanıka, dated A.D. 725, was discovered at Dabok in Mewar .It mentions Śrī Dhanıka as ruling over DHAVALAGARTTA as a feudatory chief under paramabhattāraka-mahārājādhırājā paramēśvara-Śrī-DHAVALAPPADEVA According to Prof DR Bhandarkar, the paramount ruler mentioned in the record is the same as the king DHAVALA of the Maurya dynasty referred to in the Kansuvām inscription of AD 738" {{Cite book|294|url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.48555|title=Bharata- Kaumudi Studies In Indology In Honur Of Dr Radha Kumud Mookerji Part-i|last=Mookerji|first=Radha Kumud|date=1945}}</ref><ref name="HAII"> "The Mauryas are referred to in a record at Jhalrapatan dated A.D. 690. Another record in Kotah State, dated A.D. 738-39, refers to the local prince as a friend of king Dhavala of Maurya lineage..As already noted above, the Mauryas fell a victim to the Arab aggression, and it was probably after this catastrophe that Bappa defeated them and took possession of Chitor." {{Cite book|page=162|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.505920|title=The Classical Age Vol-iii (1954)|last=Munshi K. M.|date=1954|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.}}</ref>
Jhalrapatan (Jhalwar District Rajasthan) inscription dated 689 A.D. mentions a Maurya ruler named Durgagana.<ref name="DHAVAL"> "This inscription is dated in the 796th year of the Lords of Malava. It is probable that the Jhalrapathan inscription, which is dated in the 747th year of an unnamed era, is to be referred to the same method of computing time. The slight difference in the alphabet to which attention has been drawn is of the kind that might develop in the fifty years which, on this hypothesis, would separate the two. Neither the Sivagaņa of our inscription nor the Durgagana of the Jhalrapathan inscription is spoken of as a sovereign monarch: and when we find one spoken of as ruling at Kotah, under a Maurya Emperor, in the year 796 of the Lords of Malava, and the other referred to as ruler in the year 747, of a town only seventy miles to the south, which has always been very closely connected with Kotah, it seems natural to suppose that "Durgagana," and "Sivagana," are of the same stock. If this be so, it is to be noted that the want of any reference on the Jhalrâpâthan inscription speaks of an era which at the time had wide and undisputed currency. "{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/auchityalamkara00petegoog|title=The Auchityalamkara of Kshemendra, with a note on the date of Patanjali, and an inscription from Kotah; two papers read before the Bombay branch of the Royal Asiatic society, with a preface in reply to Professor Bhandarkar|last=Peterson|first=Peter|date=1885|publisher=Bombay, Printed at the Education society's press, Byculla|others=University of California}}</ref> Further, Bappa, son of Guhila or Guhadatta, founder of the Guhila family, supplanted his uncle known as the Mori (i.e. Maurya) ruler of Chitor in whose service he was before.<ref>{{Cite book|page=23-30|url=http://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.12693|title=MEDIEVAL STUDIES|last=BANERJEE|first=ANIL CHANDRA|date=1958|publisher=A. MUKHARJEE AND COMPANY , CALCUTTA}}</ref>
====The Mauryas of Khandesh region====
Govindarāja stone record from Väghli in the Khandesh District, Maharastra State, dated Saka 991 or 1069 A.D. refers to a Maurya chief Govinda or Govindaraja as a subordinate of the early Yadava king Seuņachandra II. The epigraph mentions twenty princes or chiefs who were predecessors of Mauryan King Govindaraja, the earliest member being Kikața. It is also stated that originally the capital of the Mauryas was at Valabhī in Surashtra.<ref>{{Cite book|page=418|url=http://archive.org/details/epigraphia-indica|title=epigraphia-indica}}</ref>
====Modern Assertion====
Ashoka appointed the princes of the royal blood as viceroys in the outlying provinces of his vast empire to carry on the administration.Four such Mauryan princes viceroys ruling at Taxila, Ujjain, Tosali and Suvarnagiri are known from lithic records of Ashoka edicts. So Mauryan lineage kings spreaded from the time of Ashoka.The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang (7th century A.D.) mentions a Maurya ruler of Magadha named Pürņavarman. While some of the later Mauryan rulers enjoyed independent status, others were either semi-independent or feudatories or even petty chiefs. Future discoveries may throw further light on these later Mauryas.


==Timeline==
==Timeline==
Line 406: Line 787:
*250&nbsp;BCE: Ashoka builds Buddhist stupas and erects pillars bearing inscriptions.
*250&nbsp;BCE: Ashoka builds Buddhist stupas and erects pillars bearing inscriptions.
*184&nbsp;BCE: The empire collapses when Brihadratha, the last emperor, is killed by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]], a Mauryan general and the founder of the [[Shunga Empire]].
*184&nbsp;BCE: The empire collapses when Brihadratha, the last emperor, is killed by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]], a Mauryan general and the founder of the [[Shunga Empire]].
== Sources of Mauryan History ==
{| class=wikitable
|-
! style="background: orange;" | Mauryan History Sources !! style="background: yellow;" | Authentic Names
|-
| Jain Scriptures ||
1 - Brihatkalpa Sutra
2 - Brihatkathakosha
3 - Aradhana Satkathaprabandh
4 - Shri Chandravirachita Kathakosha
5 - Nemichandrakrita Kathakosha
6 - Parishishtaparvana
7 - Vividhtirthakalpa
8 - Punyashravakathakosha
9 - Nisitha Sutra
|-
| Buddhist Scriptures ||
1 - Mahavansha
2‌‌ - Dipavansha
3‌‌ - Mahabodhivansha
4 - Tripitaka
5 - Divyavadana
6 - Ashokavadana
7 ‌- Vinayapitaka
8 - Mahavansatika (Vansatthappakasini)
9 - Uttara Vihara Attakatha
|-
| Vedic Scriptures ||
1 - Matsya Purana
2 - Vishnu Purana
3‌ - Bhagavata Purana
4 - Bhavishya Purana
5 - Brahmanda Purana
6 - Vayu Purana
7 - Kamandaka Neetisara
|-
| Inscriptions / Rock Edicts Evidence ||
1 - Ashoka's Rock Edicts, Cave Inscriptions, Pillar Edicts
2 - Kharavela's Hathigumpha Rock Edicts
3 - Rudradaman Inscription of Junagarh
|-
| Ancient Historical Books ||
1 - Arthashastra, Kautilya
2 - Mudrarakshasa, Vishakhadatta
3 - Mahabhashya, Patanjali
4 - Malavikagnimitram, Kalidasa
5 - Harshacharita, Banabhatta
6 - Rajatarangini, Kalhana
7 - Indica, Megasthenese
8 - Naturalis Historia, Pliny
9 - Epitome of Trogus, Justin
10 - Geographica, Strabo
11 - Anabasis Alexandri, Arrian
12 - The travels of Fa-Hian, Fa Hian
|}


==In literature==
==In literature==
Line 417: Line 891:
! colspan=2 | Ruler!!Reign!!Notes
! colspan=2 | Ruler!!Reign!!Notes
|-
|-
|[[Chandragupta Maurya]]||[[File:Chandragupta Maurya and Bhadrabahu.png|100px]] ||322–297 BCE|| Founder of first Indian united empire.  
|[[Chandragupta Maurya]]|| ||322–297 BCE|| Founder of first Indian united empire.  
|-
|-
|[[Bindusara]]||[[File:I42 1karshapana Maurya Bindusara MACW4165 1ar (8486583162).jpg|100px]] ||297–273 BCE||Known for his foreign diplomacy and crushed of [[Vidarbha]] revolt.
|[[Bindusara]]||[[File:I42 1karshapana Maurya Bindusara MACW4165 1ar (8486583162).jpg|100px]] ||297–273 BCE||Known for his foreign diplomacy and crushed of [[Vidarbha]] revolt.
Line 494: Line 968:
==See also==
==See also==
* [[Magadha]]
* [[Magadha]]
*[[Pradyota dynasty]]
*[[Gupta Empire]]
*[[Gupta Empire]]
*[[History of India]]
*[[History of India]]
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