The Mauryan Empire

Our knowledge of the Mauryas comes from foreign accounts, ancient texts, coins, and Ashoka's own inscriptions — a favourite "match the author" topic in exams.

• Kautilya (Chanakya) wrote the Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft and economics.
• The Junagadh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman (150 AD) gives evidence about the Sudarshan Lake.
• Punch-marked coins and Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW) are important material sources.

The social origin of the Mauryas is debated, with different texts placing them in different varnas.

• According to Jaina texts, the Mauryas were neither of higher nor of lower origin.
• The Puranas and Brahmanical literature describe them as Shudras.
• The Junagadh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman (150 AD) suggests the Mauryas may have been of Vaishya origin.

• Capital — Pataliputra.
• Founder — Chandragupta Maurya.
• Last ruler — Brihadratha, who was killed by Pushyamitra Shunga.
• The Mauryan Empire was the first pan-Indian (all-India) empire.

The founder of the dynasty, Chandragupta overthrew the Nandas, fought the Greeks, and built a vast empire before turning to Jainism in his final years.

• He is referred to as a 'Vrishala' in the Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta.
• He founded the Mauryan Empire in 322 BC with the help of Chanakya (Kautilya).
• He overthrew the Nanda Dynasty with Chanakya's help and was guided by his mentor Vishnugupta / Chanakya.
• He made Chanakya his Prime Minister and drove the Greeks out of India.
• Late in life he followed Jainism, abdicated the throne in favour of his son, and accompanied the Jain saint Bhadrabahu to Shravanabelagola (Karnataka), where he died by starvation (Sallekhana).
• The Shravanabelagola (Jain site) has the statue of Gomateshwar; the Sudarshan Lake was constructed during his reign at Girnar Hill, Gujarat.
• He built the historical Grand Trunk Road, also called Uttarapath.

Just before the rise of the Mauryas, the Greek conqueror Alexander invaded north-west India, setting the political stage that Chandragupta would later exploit.

• Alexander (Sikandar) joined hands with Ambhi (king of Taxila) and defeated Porus in the Battle of Hydaspes.
• The Battle of Hydaspes was fought on the Vitasta (Jhelum) river between Alexander and Porus.
• 326 BC — Alexander, the ruler of Macedonia, started the Indian conquest campaign.
• Alexander returned from India in 325 BC.

Chandragupta's victory over Seleucus secured the north-west, and his minister Chanakya laid the theoretical foundations of Mauryan governance.

• Chandragupta married the daughter of Seleucus Nicator, and Seleucus sent Megasthenes as his ambassador.
• Chandragupta blessed Seleucus with a gift of 500 war elephants.
• According to Megasthenes, Pataliputra had 64 gates and 570 towers, with a standing army of 6 lakh infantry, 30,000 cavalry and 9,000 elephants; Mauryan society was divided into 7 classes.
• Indians were called "Sworn Brothers" by ancient travellers; the official 'Agronomoi' looked after the construction of roads.

• Chanakya was the Advisor and Prime Minister of Chandragupta and authored the Arthashastra.
• He was a teacher of political science and economics at Takshashila (Taxila).
• The number of Tirthas (officials) in the Arthashastra is eighteen (18).
• First Indian thinker to speak of food-for-work programmes to counter famine, and to discuss minute details of administration & military organisation.
• Adhyakshas were superintendents of different departments; the seven elements (Saptanga) of a state are Raja (the king), Mitra (friend/ally), Durg (fort), Amatya (secretaries/ministers), Janapada (territory), Kosha (treasury) and Sena (army).

Chandragupta's son maintained the empire and kept up cordial ties with the Hellenistic west.

• He ascended the throne about 297 BC and was a follower of Jainism.
• He ruled over 16 Mahajanapadas of India and followed the Ajivika sect founded by Makkhali Gosala (friend of Mahavira).
• Deimachus was the Seleucid emperor Antiochus I's ambassador at Bindusara's court.
• Bindusara asked Antiochus I, the Seleucid king of Syria, to send him dried figs, sweet wine, and a philosopher.
• Ashoka was appointed Viceroy of Taxila and Ujjain during Bindusara's reign.

Ashoka, the greatest Mauryan ruler, expanded the empire, embraced Buddhism after the Kalinga War, and spread Dhamma across Asia through his edicts.

• He was earlier Viceroy of Taxila and Ujjain before accession.
• In the Maski minor rock edict, he is named Devanampriya Ashoka and Buddhashakya — naming him in person.
• In the Gurjara (Gujarra) minor rock edict he is named Devanampriyasa Ashoka Rajasa ("Beloved of the Gods").
• He is mentioned as Piyadassi Raja in the Barbara (Barabar) cave inscription and as Piyadasi in the Kandhar major rock edict.
• The Dhammashoka name appears in Sarnath; he is called Piyadasi in the Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa.
• Ashoka is mentioned as 'Priyadarshi' in the Bhabru inscription (Rajasthan).

• Rupnath is in Madhya Pradesh and Bairat is in Rajasthan.
• The name of Ashoka occurs on minor rock edicts at Kandhar, Budhni, Gujarra, Maski, Sopara, Brahmagiri, Siddhapur and Jatinga-Rameshwar.

The bloody Kalinga War of 261 BC was the turning point that transformed the warrior-king into a messenger of peace and Dhamma.

• The great bloodshed filled him with deep remorse, after which he embraced Buddhism.
• His religious teacher / preceptor was the Buddhist monk and high priest Moggaliputta Tissa (Upagupta).
• The Kalinga War is described in Major Rock Edict XIII — but this edict was not engraved in Kalinga itself, where instead two separate Kalinga (Separate) Edicts were issued (see below).

The dynasty rose with Chandragupta and ended about fifty years after Ashoka, when the last king was assassinated by his own commander.

• After Ashoka, a succession of weak rulers could not hold the vast empire together, leading to its decline.

Ashoka recorded his policy of Dhamma on rocks, pillars and cave walls — these inscriptions are the first decipherable records of Indian history.

• The first Ashokan edict was discovered by Padre Tie Fenthaler.
• Alexander Cunningham published a set of Ashokan inscriptions in 1837.
• The Kandahar Edicts of Ashoka were discovered in the year 1958.
• The Mauryan pillar capital (Lion Capital) is at Sarnath, founded by Ashoka.
• The purpose behind the Pillars of Ashoka was to spread the Dhamma policies.
• The oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India are the Barabar and Nagarjuni caves (cut for the Ajivikas).
• The National Emblem of India is taken from the Sarnath Lion Capital.

There are fourteen Major Rock Edicts in a series, plus two separate Kalinga edicts; together they spell out Ashoka's policy of Dhamma.

• Kalinga Edict I declares that all people are Ashoka's children and discusses Mahamatras.
• Kalinga Edict II proclaims that edicts can be issued even to a single person.

The seven Pillar Edicts are inscribed on tall, polished monolithic pillars that served as an appendix to the rock edicts.

• Locations: Kandahar (Afghanistan), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), Delhi, Vaishali & Champaran (Bihar), Sarnath & Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh).
• Many pillars are as high as 50 feet and weigh as much as 50 tons; they depict animals such as elephants, lions, & wheels and lotuses (significant symbols in Buddhism).

• Delhi–Meerut & Delhi–Topra pillars carry Pillar Edicts I–VI; the Topra Pillar (Delhi) and Meerut Pillar were transported to Delhi by Firoz Shah Tughlaq from their original sites; one was erected at Qutub Minar.

Ashoka chose the everyday language of the people and adapted the script to suit different regions of his vast empire.

• In the western parts, the language was Prakrit but the script was Kharosthi.
• Major Rock Edict XIII contains an extract in Greek and Aramaic as well.
• In Afghanistan, edicts are written in Aramaic script and Greek language.
• At Shahbazgarhi and Mansehra, the script is Kharosthi (written from right to left).
• At Kandhar, the edicts are bilingual — using both Greek and Aramaic languages and scripts.

Ashoka's "Dhamma" was a moral code of righteous living, and his reign produced India's earliest stone art and monuments.

• The four cardinal points of Dhamma are Tolerance, Non-violence, Good Conduct (obeying parents & elders, respecting Brahmanas and monks), and Welfare.
• A new officer called 'Dhamma-Mahamatra' was appointed for the promotion of Dhamma; Major Edict XI explains the Dhamma.

• He built the Dhamekh Stupa; the lower portion of the Dhamekh Stupa at Sarnath is covered with carved stone.
• He built the first Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya (Bihar).
• He built the famous Buddhist Sanchi Stupa (Madhya Pradesh), discovered in 1818 by Sir Henry Taylor.
• The Lion Capital at Sarnath belongs to Ashoka, and the National Emblem of India is taken from the Sarnath Pillar.
• The Ashoka pillar of Rampurva is topped with a statue of a Bull (Rampurva Bull Capital).
• The painted illustration of the moving of the Ashoka Pillar at Topra is found in Sirat-i-Firuz Shahi.