First Principles IASlearning from first principles

History atlas · Theme 7

हिन्दी — Read in Hindi

Mauryan empire

324 or 321 to 187 BCE

The first great empire of ancient India, founded by Chandragupta Maurya after the decline of the Nanda dynasty in Magadha, with its capital at Pataliputra, modern Patna. It lasted from the late fourth century BCE to the middle of the second: Chandragupta ruled from about 324 or 321 to 297 BCE, Bindusara from 297 to 273, and Ashoka from 268 to 232, though some books place Ashoka's accession about 273 and his coronation a few years later. At its height under Ashoka it covered Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, the northwest and Pakistan, parts of Afghanistan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha after the Kalinga conquest and large parts of the Deccan, while the Tamil kingdoms of the far south stayed outside direct rule.

Edicts:
IndusGangaMahanadiSonThe empire under AshokaKalinga, about 261 BCEChola, Chera, Pandya, Satyaputra: outside direct rule
  • Capital
  • Major Rock Edict
  • Pillar edict
  • Sacred site
  • Cave inscription
  • Site
  • Minor Rock Edict
  • Ashoka names himself
  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

Literary sources

  • The Arthashastra is traditionally associated with Kautilya, also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, adviser of Chandragupta.
  • The Arthashastra has 15 books or adhikaranas, on internal administration (tantra), inter state relations (avapa) and other topics.
  • It is the first Indian text to define the state, and it argues from the standpoint of the vijigishu, the would be conqueror.
  • It ranks artha, material well being, above dharma and kama, because they depend on it.
  • The Arthashastra is a theoretical work on statecraft, not a description, and it says nothing of the Mauryas, of Chandragupta or of Pataliputra.
  • Later texts drew on the Arthashastra
    • Kamandaka's Nitisara.
    • Dandin's Dashakumaracharita.
    • Vishakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa.
    • Bana Bhatta's Kadambari.
  • Other texts add to the picture
    • The Mudrarakshasa.
    • The Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa.
    • The Ashokavadana and the Vamsatthapakasini.
    • The Puranas, with their dynastic lists.
  • Patanjali's Mahabhashya and the Milindapanha speak of Chandragupta, and Hemachandra's Parishishtaparvan records Chandragupta's Jain connection.
  • The Sangam poet Mamulanar's Akananuru may refer to a southward expansion.

Foreign accounts

  • Megasthenes was the Greek ambassador Seleucus Nikator sent to Chandragupta's court at Pataliputra.
  • Megasthenes wrote the Indica, now lost but surviving in Strabo, Arrian and Pliny.
  • The Indica names Sandrocottus for Chandragupta, Amitrochates for Bindusara and Palimbothra for Pataliputra.
  • The Indica's exaggerated or inaccurate details must be compared with other evidence.

Inscriptions

  • Ashoka's inscriptions are the most direct and reliable official source, written mostly in Prakrit in the Brahmi script.
  • James Prinsep deciphered the Brahmi script of the inscriptions.
  • In the northwest the inscriptions use Prakrit in the Kharosthi script, and a few of them are written in Greek and in Aramaic.
  • Ashoka mostly calls himself Devanampiya and Piyadasi, names identified as his from the Sri Lankan Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa.
  • Ashoka uses his own name in the inscriptions at only four places.
  • Rudradaman's Junagadh inscription of 150 CE records the Sudarshana lake, begun under Chandragupta and completed under Ashoka.
  • The Mahasthan and Sohgaura inscriptions refer to famine relief.

Sources for the Mauryas

SourceAuthorWhat it gives
ArthashastraKautilya, Chanakya or Vishnugupta, by traditionThe theory of the state and its administration; names no Maurya
IndicaMegasthenesPataliputra, society and administration, through later Greek and Roman writers; some details exaggerated
Ashokan inscriptionsAshoka, as Devanampiya PiyadasiDhamma, policy, territorial extent and the languages in use
ParishishtaparvanHemachandraChandragupta's connection with Jainism and Shravanabelagola
Mahabhashya; MilindapanhaPatanjali; unnamedSome information on Chandragupta
PuranasDynastic lists and some chronology
AkananuruMamulanarA possible reference to a southward expansion
Junagadh inscriptionRudradaman, 150 CEThe Sudarshana lake, begun under Chandragupta and completed under Ashoka
Mahasthan and Sohgaura inscriptionsFamine relief
The inscriptions are the most direct official source; the Arthashastra is theory, and the Indica must be checked against other evidence.Source: Theme 7 handout