The Maurya and Gupta Empires

During the reign of the Maurya and the Gupta empires, the society was carefully organized in a bureaucratic system, these empires were able to maintain a good security system and also a great political unity which fled across the large parts of the western and the southern part of Asia. In this bureaucratic system, a common economic system was included, which was able to support the stable agriculture that happened across the vast landholdings and which helped in the successful trade and commerce in their kingdom.

In this section, we are going to learn about the Maurya and the Gupta empires, we will know about these great dynasties which existed in history. 

The Great Mauryan Dynasty – One of the Greatest Dynasties in the World History

The Maurya Empire gives historical power to ancient India, which was ruled by the Maurya dynasty from the year 322-185 BCE. 

This kingdom originated from the Magadha dynasty which was situated in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (to the modern-day Bihar, eastern Uttar Pradesh), this is the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent. Maurya Empire had its capital city at Pataliputra (which is in modern-day known as Patna). This Mauryan empire was the largest dynasty to have existed in the Indian subcontinent. The Maurya spanned their rule over 5 million square kilometers under the control of Ashoka.

Chandragupta - Maurya Dynasty 

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The Empire was initially founded in the year 322 BCE by the great emperor Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta had overthrown the Nanda Dynasty, and thereby he rapidly expanded his territorial power with the help of Chanakya in the westerly direction across the central and western parts of India, in this manner the Maurya empire grew. 

Further, the king’s expansion took advantage of the local disruptions between smaller powers in the wake of the withdrawal of the westward by Alexander the Great’s armies. 

By the end of the year 316 BCE, the Mauryan empire had fully occupied the Northwestern part of India, by defeating and conquering the satraps who had been left by Alexander. After this the king, Chandragupta Maurya then defeated the invasion which was led by the Seleucus I, he was a Macedonian general from Alexander’s troop of the army, and thereby gained additional territory towards the western side of the Indus River – this defeat added to the glory of the Mauryan Empire History. 

Expansion of Maurya Dynasty

During its rule, the Maurya Empire was one of the largest empires existing in the entire world. If you talk about its greatest extent, the empire stretched towards the north which went along the natural boundaries of the Himalayan region, then towards the eastern side of Assam, to the westwards in Balochistan (which is now the southwest part of Pakistan and the south-eastern side of Iran) and it ended into the Hindu Kush mountains (now Afghanistan) 

Gupta Empire 

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The Gupta dynasty is popular for the rulers of the Magadha clan (modern-day it is Bihar, which is a north-eastern state of India) The empire maintained a strong empire over northern and the central part of the central and western side of Indian territory. The empire extended its reign from the early 4th to the later 6th century.

Even the eminent historians once regarded this Gupta period as the classical age ruling in India. During this period the norms of Indian literature, art, architecture, and philosophy were strongly established. Well, all of these assumptions were also challenged by even more extensive studies which were done keeping Indian society and culture between the Mauryan and the Gupta periods as the base. 

Among the contributions which were believed to be from the Gupta era were the - decimal system of notation, the great Sanskrit epics, and the Hindu art, also there were contributions in sciences of astronomy, mathematics, and metallurgy.

In administrative structure, the Gupta kingdom was divided into many small provinces, which were in turn divided into many other smaller units called the pradeshas, or known as the visayas. 

These provinces were being governed by many elite and imperial officers or by the high society members of the royal family. The studies indicated a decentralized system of authority which continued in this period of the Gupta era municipal boards.

Chandragupta I – The First Ruler of the Gupta Empire

The first ruler of the Gupta Empire was Chandra Gupta I. They united the Guptas and the Licchavis by the ritual of marriage. The name of his son was Samudra Gupta Maurya who was the celebrated king of this Gupta clan. 

The clan’s campaigns extended to the Gupta power in the northern and the eastern part of India. They eliminated the minor kings of central India who resided in the Ganges valley.  

We see both these empires were greatly founded by these eminent who ruled over their respective clans for a long period of time. Like we have studied, the Mauryan Empire is one of the greatest empires in the world, this makes Indian history golden, while it makes us understand about these virtuous leaders who ruled in this land in ancient times.  

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