Mauryan Empire Flashcards
Background
The sixth century BC witnessed a series of conflicts between Avanti, koshala and Magadha mahajanapadas for expansion
Ultimately Magadha won
After the nandas, powerful Maurya and dynasty established itself on the throne of Magadha
Later on, it became one of the most important dynasty in ancient Indian history
Sources of mauryan dynasty
Both Indian and classical sources suggest that Alexander’s retreat from India facilitated Chandragupta to carve out a kingdom for himself
Kautilya’s arthashastra is one of the greatest treatise on economic, socio-political conditions of the contemporary period
Mudrarakshasa, a historical play in Sanskrit by Vishakha Dutta of 4th century narrated the ascent of the King Chandragupta Maurya to power in North India with the aid of Chanakya. It is an account of social economic conditions of that era.
Parisistha Parvana, a Jain work, was written by hemchandra, which is a biography of Chanakya
It also provides crucial information about Chandragupta Maurya, such as his early life, his conquest of Meghadha, the famine in Magadha and his conversion to Jainism
Other sources are Rajatarangini of kalhana, kathacharitasagar of somdev and brihadkathamanjari of Kshemendra
Buddhist jatakas describe the stories of Buddha’s previous births. They also tell us about the prevalent social order, the existence of guilds, popular customs which flourished the Mauryan age.
Manjushrimulkalpa was a non canonical Buddhist work that covers wide historical period from the 7th BC to the 8th AD. It also contains important information about the Nandas and mauryas
Greek governor strabo (64BC to 19AD) wrote an important geographical work called geographica. He also refers to the matrimonial Alliance between Seleucus nicator and Chandragupta Maurya and the women bodyguards of Chandragupta
The work of diodorus (1st century BC) is the earliest available Greek account of India, named bibliotheca historia. His accounts on India are derived from megasthenes Indica
Pliny (1st century AD) is the author of natural history (75AD) and give the account of India based on Greek sources and reports by western merchants
Rulers of the Mauryan dynasty:
Chandragupta Maurya,
Bindusara,
Ashoka
Chandragupta Maurya
Mauryan dynasty was established by Chandragupta Maurya
He belong to an ordinary family
Chandragupta with the help of Kautilya overfree the Nanda ruler, dhanananda and established the Mauryan dynasty
According to a Greek historian Justin in order to establish his dominance Chandragupta started a military campaign with 6 lakh soldiers in whole India
Chandragupta Maurya also Ford war with indo Greek ruler, seleucus Nicator in which Chandragupta emerged victorious
Nicator married his daughter Helena to Chandragupta
Seleucus nicator also sent his ambassador megasthenes to the mauryan court.
Megasthenes wrote the book Indica
During the time of Chandragupta the mauryan rule was spread in the whole of the Indian subcontinent accept Tamilnadu and the North Eastern parts of India
In the last phase of his life Chandragupta less The throne and embraced Jainism from a Jain sage bhadrabahu and died performing sallekhana (fasting onto death) at shravanabelagola or Mysore
Kautilya’s Artha Shastra
Considered as the greatest piece of work in the history of the mauryas
Kautilya composed the work in Sanskrit
It is the most significant text to show about contemporary mauryan administrative system
In general, it is an authoritative work on polity and public administration
It is divided into 15 parts, 180 chapters and 6000 slokas
It is in both pros and verse style, which is commonly called the Mahabharata style
Bindu Sara
After Chandragupta his son bindusara became the ruler of the mauryan dynasty
During his reign, the Maurya Empire spread to the South as far as Mysore and does included almost the entire country (accept Kalinga and far southern Kingdoms)
The greeks called Bindu Sara, amitrochatas (Amitra Ghat in Sanskrit)
During his rule, antiochus, the ruler of Syria sent dry figs and wine to Bindu Sara but refused to send a sophist or philosopher
Deimachus, and ambassador of Antiochus 1 was at the court of bindusara
Ptolemy 2 of philadelphus, the ruler of Egypt, sent an ambassador named dynosis to the court of bindu Sara
Buddhist text mahavamsha suggests that bindusara was a follower of brahmanism, but various other Buddhist works mention that he embraced ajivika sect under the guidance of pinglavatsa
Ashoka
He was the governor of Avanti before ascending to The throne
During his father’s rule he also went to taxila to suppress the rebellion
According to Buddhist traditions, Ashoka was extremely cruel in his early life and set on the throne after killing his 99 brothers. However there is no historical authenticity of this claim
Deepavamsa states that in the year 273 BC he captured the Magadha Empire but was crowned in 269 BC with the help of his able minister Radha Gupta
Ashoka was the first Indian king who gave royal public orders through his edicts
Information about ashoka’s rule can be obtained from his inscriptions. They can be categorised as:
Major Rock inscriptions,
Minor Rock inscriptions,
Separate inscriptions,
Major pillar inscriptions
Minor pillar inscriptions
Ashoka addressed his subjects as “son” and called himself devanam priyadassi
The name Ashoka was found only at three places in Karnataka and one in Madhya Pradesh
His inscriptions have been found in India, Nepal and Afghanistan
So far this inscriptions have been found in 45 places in a total of 182 recitations
Ashoka’s inscription where composed in prakrit and a written in the Brahmi script in most parts of the Empire, however from the North Western part they are written in kharoshti and Aramaic script
Major Rock edicts
MRE 1: It prohibits animal slaughter particularly during the festive season. Only two peacocks and one deer were allowed to be killed in his royal kitchen.
MRE 2: a provides medical treatment for men and animal. Also talks about 4 kingdoms of south: chola, Pandya, Satya Putras, and Kerala putras
MRE 3: yuktas and pradeshikas along with Rajuka shall visit all areas of kingdom once every five years to spread Dhamma. It also talks about generosity with Brahmins
MRE 4: it gave importance to Dhamma ghosha (sound of dhamma) over bheri ghosha (the sound of War). It also emphasized that duty is most important
MRE 5: it talks about appointment of Mahamattas to propagate dhamma and to look after the welfare of the people
MRE 6: it shows the kings desire to get informed about his subject’s well being
MRE 7: it talks about adoption of the policy of tolerance for all religions
MRE 8: it describes ashoka’s first dhamma Yatras to Bodhgaya and bodhi tree.
MRE 9: stresses on moral duties of citizens and also condemns popular ceremonies (birth, marriage, etc)
MRE 10: it’s stresses on dhamma and condemns an individual’s attempt to fame and glorry
MRE 11: Ashoka explains about the policy of duty is towards elders and abstaining from killing animals and liberal behaviour towards friends
MRE 12: it talks about religious tolerance particularly about non Buddhist religions
MRE 13: the language of all edicts. It laid paramount importance of Ashoka policy of Dhamma. It mentions about the Kalinga War, dhamma victory over the kingdoms of far west and South India
MRE 14: talks about engravings of inscriptions in other parts of the territory and the purpose of the edicts
Kalinga war
Ashoka’s domestic and foreign policies is were influenced by the Buddhist ideology
After becoming the emperor, he fought the major war, popularly called the Kalinga War in 261 BC
Ashoka successfully conquered Kalinga
It became the fifth province of the Magadha, along with prachaya, Avanti, Uttarpatha and dakshinapatha
According to the Buddhist literature, lakhs of people were killed in this war, many more were wounded and 1.5 lakh people were held prisoners of War
Ashoka was deeply moved by the large scale massacre in the Kalinga War
And he adopted the Dhamma ghosha in place of the bheri ghosha
Ashoka’s policy of Dhamma
Ashoka became a Buddhist after the Kalinga War
He provided immense donation to Buddhists and promoted the Dhamma Yatra
According to traditional Anushrutis, Ashoka organised the third Buddhist council
Ashoka set up a very high ideal for himself, that is the king being equal to the father
Ashoka appointed Dhamma mahamattas to propagate dhamma to different sections of the society, including women
Ashoka Dhamma policy was not only religiously motivated, but he consciously tried to use it as his State policy as well
Ashoka sent his missionaries to promote Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Central Asia
Ashoka used to ask the tribes to follow the path of dhamma
Ashoka appointed and officer called Rajuka who had the right to reward to save Dhamma and punish the subjects if they violated Dhamma
It is known from the Kandahar inscription that due to the policy of ashoka’s dhamma, the fowlers and fishermen also renounced violence and lived the life of the farm producers
Ashoka opposed rituals and traditions especially prevailing women
He banned the killings of various birds and animals
Ashoka taught people the lesson of live and let live
He taught kindness towards living beings and good behaviour towards brothers
Evaluation of Ashoka
He tried to establish a pan India Empire through his ability and spread fame of the Maurya Empire inside and outside the country
Ashoka was successful in uniting the whole country under the principle of one religion, one language and often one script
Most of ashoka’s inscriptions are in brahmi script, but in the integration of the country, he respected all scripts like Brahmi, kharoshthi, Aramaic and greek
Ashoka’s name is immortalized in history for his policy of peace, non aggression and cultural conquest
Kautilya advised the king that he should always try to win by power, but Ashoka adopted the exact opposite i.e. the king should try to win through the means of benevolence
During the rule of Ashoka, The mauryan Empire became highly complex, which could not survive after the death of Ashoka
In 232 BC after ashoka’s death, the neighbouring kings captured the North Western Frontier of this Empire
Ashoka successors
After Ashoka, the rule of weak successors continued for the next 50 years
After Ashoka, his son, Kunal became the next emperor. He was called divyaavadan.
According to Rajatarangini, the ruler of Kashmir was jaluka during the rule of Kunal in Magadha
The names of samprati, dasharatha, shalishuka and brihadratha (the last mauryan ruler) are known as the later mauryan rulers
Mauryan administration system
The king was the head of the mauryan administrative system
Kautilya had called the king, dharma pravartak or the operator of the social system
The top officials in the mauryan administration were called, tirthas (18 in number).
Most of the officers were paid in cash. Ministers, commanders and princes were of the highest order and were given high salaries
The Messenger was an important official. He moved from place to place and captain eye on the activities of the spy officers of the king
In the central government, there were more than two dozen departments for the administration, which look after the social and economic activities in the areas adjacent to the capital
Provincial administration:
The mauryan Empire was divided into several provinces
Each problems was under the control of a prince
Provinces were also divided into smaller units
There was a system of administration in both gramanchal and Nagaranchal
Provinces and capitals during the mauryan period:
Uttarapath’s capital was Taxila
Avantika’s capital was Ujjaini
Dakshinapat’s capital was Suvarnagiri
Magadha’s capital was Pataliputra
Kalinga’s capital was Tosali
City administration:
Megasthenes has described the city administration of pataliputra
It was administered by a group of 30 members
There was a total of 6 committees in the city and each had five members
The head officer of the city was astronomoyi and the head of the district was agronomoyi.
Military administration:
According to megasthenes, there was a council of 30 members for military administration
It was divided into 6 sub committees having 5 members each
These 6 sub committees were:
Infantry, cavalry, elephant, chariot, boat, transport and provisions
Economic structure
According to artha Shastra, 27 adhyaksha were appointed in the entire state. They were responsible mainly to regulate the economic functions
These officers used to control and regulate agriculture, trade and commerce, weight and measurement, mines, spinning and weaving
State also provided facilities for irrigation and water distribution and levied tax on the same
Kautilya’s arthashastra mentioned that there is a system of forced labour in agriculture which was an important social development
However, megasthenes said slavery was not present in mauryan Empire
In the mauryan empire, the state had a Monopoly on the sale of mines, alcohol and the manufacturing of weapons
Historically, the slave system came to India with Turkish rulers. However, in the ancient period, it existed in the form of domestic servants and were generally regarded as the members of the master’s family
The trade routes contributed bravely to the advance economic system of the mauryan Empire. For example, the trade route from pataliputra to Nepal via Vaishali and Champaran
Transportation
There was also a road in the foot hills of the Himalayas
There were major Trade centre such as Vaishali, Champaran, kapilavastu, Kalsi, hazara, Peshawar, etc.
In the Northern plains, the Ganga and its tributaries were a part of the water transportation
