Mauryan Empire: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox country

| common_name            = Mauryan Empire

| native_name            =  

| era                    = [[Iron Age]]

| government_type        = [[Absolute monarchy]], as described in [[Kautilya]]'s ''[[Arthashastra]]''<br /> and [[Rajamandala]]<ref name="avari-2007">Avari, Burjor (2007). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1e2V_4Um10C India, the Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-continent from C. 7000 BC to AD 1200] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123134054/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y1e2V_4Um10C |date=23 November 2022 }}'' Taylor & Francis. {{ISBN|0415356156}}. pp. 188-189.</ref>

| year_start            = 322&nbsp;BCE&nbsp;

| event_end              = Assassination of Brihadratha by [[Pushyamitra Shunga]]

| s1                    = Shunga Empire

| flag_s6                =  

| capital                = [[Pataliputra]]<br />(present-day [[Patna]])

| common_languages      = [[Sanskrit]] (literary and academic),

[[Magadhi Prakrit]] (vernacular)

| religion              = {{plainlist|

| GDP_PPP                =  

| year_leader1          = 322–298&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader2          = 298–272&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader3          = 268–232&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader4          = 232–224&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader5          = 224–215&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader6          = 215–202&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader7          = 202–195&nbsp;BCE

| year_leader8          = 195–187&nbsp;BCE

| stat_year1            = 261 BCE

| stat_area1            = 3400000

| ref_area2              = <ref name="Turchin223">{{cite journal|last2=Adams|first2=Jonathan M.|last3=Hall|first3=Thomas D|date=December 2006|title=East-West Orientation of Historical Empires|url=http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/369/381|journal=Journal of World-Systems Research|volume=12|issue=2|page=223|issn=1076-156X|last1=Turchin|first1=Peter|access-date=16 September 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520161830/http://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/index.php/jwsr/article/view/369/381|archive-date=20 May 2019|df=dmy-all}}</ref>{{break}}(high-end estimate of peak area)

}}

{{Maurya}}

{{citation

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">

{{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=PA24|year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-882905-8|page=24}} Quote: "Yet Sumit Guha considers that 20 million is an upper limit. This is because the demographic growth experienced in core areas is likely to have been less than that experienced in areas that were more lightly settled in the early historic period. The position taken here is that the population in Mauryan times (320–220 BCE) was between 15 and 30 million—although it may have been a little more, or it may have been a little less."</ref>  

{{citation

|last=Ludden

{{citation

== Etymology ==

The name "Maurya" does not occur in [[Edicts of Ashoka|Ashoka's inscriptions]], or the contemporary Greek accounts such as [[Megasthenes]]'s ''[[Indica (Megasthenes)|Indica]]'', but it is attested by the following sources:{{sfn|Irfan Habib|Vivekanand Jha|2004|p=14}}

* The [[Puranas]] (c. 4th century CE or earlier) use Maurya as a dynastic appellation.{{sfn|Irfan Habib|Vivekanand Jha|2004|p=14}}

* The Buddhist texts state that Chandragupta belonged to the "[[Moriya (tribe)|Moriya]]" clan of the Shakyas, the tribe to which [[Gautama Buddha]] belonged.{{sfn|Irfan Habib|Vivekanand Jha|2004|p=14}}

*[[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>

The dynasty's connection to the peacocks, as mentioned in the Buddhist and Jain traditions, seems to be corroborated by archaeological evidence. For example, peacock figures are found on the [[Lauria Nandangarh#Pillar of Ashoka|Ashoka pillar at Nandangarh]] and several sculptures on the Great Stupa of [[Sanchi]]. Based on this evidence, modern scholars theorize that the peacock may have been the dynasty's emblem.{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|p=15}}

==History==

===Founding===

===Chandragupta Maurya===

{{Main|Chandragupta Maurya}}

After the [[death of Alexander the Great]] in 323 BCE, Chandragupta led a [[Seleucid–Mauryan war|series of campaigns]] in 305 BCE to take [[satrapies]] in the Indus Valley and northwest India.<ref name="greenwood">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JEvN6XwWTk8C&pg=PA252|title=From Polis to Empire, the Ancient World, C. 800 B.C.-A.D. 500|date=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|isbn=0313309426|access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref> When Alexander's remaining forces were routed, returning westwards, Seleucus I Nicator fought to defend these territories. Not many details of the campaigns are known from ancient sources. Seleucus was defeated and retreated into the mountainous region of Afghanistan.<ref name=kistler>{{cite book |last1=Kistler |first1=John M. |title=War Elephants |date=2007 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0803260047 |page=67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5RHK4Ol15QC&pg=PA64 |access-date=16 August 2019}}</ref>

Megasthenes in particular was a notable Greek ambassador in the court of Chandragupta Maurya.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=38}} His book ''Indika'' is a major literary source for information about the Mauryan Empire. According to [[Arrian]], ambassador Megasthenes (c.&nbsp;350&nbsp;– c.&nbsp;290&nbsp;BCE) lived in Arachosia and travelled to [[Pataliputra]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book5a.asp |chapter=Book 5 |title=Anabasis |title-link=Anabasis Alexandri |author-link=Arrian |author=Arrian |quote=Megasthenes lived with [[Sibyrtius]], satrap of Arachosia, and often speaks of his visiting [[Sandracottus]], the king of the Indians.}}</ref> Megasthenes' description of Mauryan society as freedom-loving gave Seleucus a means to avoid invasion, however, underlying Seleucus' decision was the improbability of success. In later years, Seleucus' successors maintained diplomatic relations with the Empire based on similar accounts from returning travellers.<ref name=greenwood />

Chandragupta renounced his throne and followed Jain teacher [[Bhadrabahu]].{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|pp=39–40}}{{sfn|Geoffrey Samuel|2010|pp=60}}{{sfn|Romila Thapar|2004|p=178}} He is said to have lived as an ascetic at [[Shravanabelagola]] for several years before fasting to death, as per the Jain practice of ''[[sallekhana]]''.{{sfn|R. K. Mookerji|1966|pp=39–41}}

{{Main|Bindusara}}

[[File:I42 1karshapana Maurya Bindusara MACW4165 1ar (8486583162).jpg|thumb|A silver coin of 1 [[karshapana]] of the Maurya empire, period of [[Bindusara]] Maurya about 297–272 BC, workshop of Pataliputra. '''Obv:''' Symbols with a sun. '''Rev:''' Symbol. '''Dimensions:''' 14 × 11 mm. '''Weight:''' 3.4 g.]]

Bindusara's life has not been documented as well as that of his father Chandragupta or of his son Ashoka. Chanakya continued to serve as prime minister during his reign. According to the medieval Tibetan scholar Taranatha who visited India, Chanakya helped Bindusara "to destroy the nobles and kings of the sixteen kingdoms and thus to become absolute master of the territory between the eastern and western oceans".{{sfn|Alain Daniélou|2003|p=109}} During his rule, the citizens of [[Taxila]] revolted twice. The reason for the first revolt was the maladministration of [[Susima]], his eldest son. The reason for the second revolt is unknown, but Bindusara could not suppress it in his lifetime. It was crushed by Ashoka after Bindusara's death.<ref name="EB_legends">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/legendsofindianb00burn#page/20/mode/2up |title=Legends of Indian Buddhism |author=Eugène Burnouf |publisher=E. P. Dutton |location=New York |year=1911 |pages=59 }}</ref>

===Ashoka===

{{Main|Ashoka}}

[[File:Sarnath capital.jpg|right|thumb|[[Lion Capital of Ashoka]] at [[Sarnath]]. c. 250 BCE.]]

[[File:Ashoka pillar at Vaishali, Bihar, India.jpg|thumb| Ashoka pillar at [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]].]]

[[File:6thPillarOfAshoka.JPG|thumb|Fragment of the 6th Pillar [[Edicts of Ashoka|Edict of Ashoka]] (238 BCE), in [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]], sandstone, [[British Museum]].]]

===Decline===

====Shunga coup (185&nbsp;BCE)====

====Establishment of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180&nbsp;BCE)====

{{Main|Indo-Greek Kingdom}}

== Military ==

==Administration==

[[File:MauryaStatuettes.jpg|thumb|Statuettes of the Mauryan era]]

}}</ref>

=== Local government ===

==Economy==

{{see also|Economic history of India|Coinage of India}}

[[File:MauryanStatuette2ndCenturyBCE.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Maurya statuette, 2nd century BCE.]]

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0 auto;"  align="center"  colspan="1" cellpadding="3" style="font-size: 80%;"

==Religion==

[[File:Shravanabelagola2007 - 44.jpg|thumb|Bhadrabahu Cave, [[Shravanabelagola]] where [[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]] is said to have died]]

[[File:Sanchi2.jpg|thumb|The [[stupa]], which contained the relics of Buddha, at the center of the [[Sanchi]] complex was originally built by the Maurya Empire, but the balustrade around it is [[Sunga]], and the decorative gateways are from the later [[Satavahana]] period.]]

[[File:Taxila1.jpg|thumb|The [[Dharmarajika]] [[stupa]] in [[Taxila]], modern Pakistan, is also thought to have been established by Emperor [[Asoka]].]]

==Society==

==Architectural remains==

[[File:Barabar Caves 2.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Mauryan architecture in the [[Barabar Caves]]. [[Lomas Rishi Cave]]. 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.]]

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 protection of animals in India was advocated by the time of the Maurya dynasty; being the first empire to provide a unified political entity in India, the attitude of the Mauryas towards forests, their denizens, and fauna in general is of interest.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor|last=Allen|first=Charles|publisher=Hachette Digital|year=2012|isbn=978-1-408-70388-5|location=London|pages=274}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=On the border of the forest, he should establish a forest for elephants guarded by foresters. The Office of the Chief Elephant Forester should with the help of guards protect the elephants in any terrain. The slaying of an elephant is punishable by death.|author=[[Kautilya]] |title=[[Arthashastra]]}}

The Mauryas also designated separate forests to protect supplies of timber, as well as lions and tigers for skins. Elsewhere the ''Protector of Animals'' also worked to eliminate thieves, tigers and other predators to render the woods safe for grazing cattle.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

==Contacts with the Hellenistic world==

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>

===Reconquest of the Northwest (c. 317–316&nbsp;BCE)===

Chandragupta ultimately occupied Northwestern India, in the territories formerly ruled by the Greeks, where he fought the satraps (described as "Prefects" in Western sources) left in place after Alexander (Justin), among whom may have been [[Eudemus (general)|Eudemus]], ruler in the western Punjab until his departure in 317&nbsp;BCE or [[Peithon, son of Agenor]], ruler of the Greek colonies along the Indus until his departure for [[Babylon]] in 316&nbsp;BCE.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}}

===Conflict and alliance with Seleucus (305&nbsp;BCE)===

{{Main|Seleucid–Mauryan war}}

[[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:

====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>]]

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.

{{blockquote|He (Seleucus) crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a marriage relationship. | [[Appian]]| ''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars [https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_11.html 55]}}

====Exchange of presents====

An influential and large Greek population was present in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent under Ashoka's rule, possibly remnants of Alexander's conquests in the Indus Valley region. In the [[Edicts of Ashoka|Rock Edicts of Ashoka]], some of them inscribed in Greek, Ashoka states that the Greeks within his dominion were converted to Buddhism:

{{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]])}}

<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>

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:

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

===Subhagasena and Antiochos III (206&nbsp;BCE)===

==Timeline==

*317–316&nbsp;BCE: Chandragupta Maurya conquers the Northwest of the Indian subcontinent.

*305–303&nbsp;BCE: Chandragupta Maurya gains territory by [[Seleucid–Mauryan war|defeating the Seleucid Empire]].

*269–232&nbsp;BCE: The Mauryan Empire reaches its height under Ashoka, Chandragupta's grandson.

*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]].

==See also==

*[[Gupta Empire]]

*[[History of India]]

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

* {{cite book |author=Alain Daniélou |title=A Brief History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xlwoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |year=2003 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-59477-794-3 }}

* {{cite book |author1=Irfan Habib |author2=Vivekanand Jha |title=Mauryan India |series=A People's History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUvGQgAACAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Aligarh Historians Society / [[Tulika Books]] |isbn=978-81-85229-92-8 }}

* {{citation |last=Hemacandra |translator=R.C.C. Fynes |title=The Lives of the Jain Elders |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=quNpKVqABGMC |year=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-283227-6}}

* {{cite book |author=Kailash Chand Jain |title=Lord Mahāvīra and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8-TxcO9dfrcC |date=1991 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=978-81-208-0805-8 }}

* {{cite book |last1=Kosmin |first1=Paul J. |author-link=Paul J. Kosmin |title=The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in Seleucid Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UWdAwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-674-72882-0 }}

* {{citation |last=Malalasekera |first=Gunapala Piyasena |title=Encyclopaedia of Buddhism: Acala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UfYAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Government of Ceylon}}

* {{cite book |author=R. K. Mookerji |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and His Times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C&pg=PA3 |year=1966 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0405-0 }}

* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |year=1988 |orig-year=first published in 1966 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-0433-3}}

* {{citation |last=Roy |first=Kaushik |title=Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-107-01736-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRE3n1VwDTIC}}

* {{citation |last=Sen |first=R.K. |title=Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r0ZBAQAAMAAJ |year=1895 |publisher=The Society |chapter=Origin of the Maurya of Magadha and of Chanakya}}

* {{cite book |author=S. N. Sen |title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC |year=1999 |publisher=New Age International |isbn=978-81-224-1198-0 }}

* {{cite book |author=Upinder Singh |title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GW5Gx0HSXKUC |year=2008 |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-81-317-1677-9 }}

* {{cite book |author=Romila Thapar |title=Early India: From the Origins to A.D. 1300 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5irrXX0apQC |year=2004 |orig-year=first published by Penguin in 2002 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24225-8 }}

* {{citation |last=Thapar |first=Romila |author-link=Romila Thapar |title=The Past Before Us|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aei9AAAAQBAJ |year=2013 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |isbn=978-0-674-72651-2 }}