The Mauryan Empire - The History of Chandragupta and Ashoka Maurya

The history of the Maurya kingdom illustrates that in the late 4th century BCE, the Chandragupta Maurya Empire conquered most of North India. Chandragupta’s son Bindusara was also called Amitraghāta or Amitrakhāda or Amitrochates. Bindusara was the second Mauryan emperor of India who continued the conquest into the south. 

The name Chandragupta Maurya Empire is so-called because the Mauryan Dynasty was founded by Chandragupta. He conquered the kingdom of Magadha to discover the Maurya Empire in 231 BCE, at the age of 21.

However, Bindusara's son Ashoka (Asoka) took control over the empire to its furthest extent but then started to follow the noble principles of Buddhism and nonviolence.

So, the rise of empires in India shows the violent and peaceful ends of a coin that led to rule the Mauryan Empire for a prolonged time.

Here, on this page, we will learn about the history of the rise of the Chandragupta Mauryan Empire and Ashoka Mauryan empire in detail along with interesting facts. 

Chandragupta Maurya Empire: The Seleucid-Mauryan War

In 305 BCE, Emperor Chandragupta Maurya led a series of campaigns to win over the satrapies left behind by Alexander the Great when he returned westward. Seleucus I fought to guard these territories. However, each side made peace in 303 BCE.

Seleucus, one of Alexander’s generals, acquired Babylonia and, from there, increased his dominions to encompass much of Alexander’s near jap territories. Seleucus set himself up in Babylon in 312 BC, and the year used as the foundation date of the Seleucid Empire. He dominated not only Babylonia but the whole vast eastern part of Alexander’s empire. The Seleucid Empire became a chief centre of Hellenistic culture. In the regions where a Greek-Macedonian political elite dominated (ordinarily urban), it maintained the preeminence of Greek customs.

In 305 BCE, Seleucus-I attempted tconquerst the northwestern Indian parts to claim them for the growing Seleucid Empire. Little is known of the campaign in which Chandragupta fought with Seleucus over the Indus Valley and the vicinity of Gandhara - a very rich kingdom that had submitted decades earlier to Alexander the Great.

However, Seleucus could not win the Seleucid-Mauryan War, and the two rulers reconciled with a peace treaty. The Greeks provided a Macedonian princess for marriage to Chandragupta, and numerous territories, such as the satrapies of Paropamisade (present-day Kamboja and Gandhara), Arachosia (modern Kandahar), and Gedrosia (present-day Balochistan). 

In return, Chandragupta released 500 warfare elephants, an army asset that would play a decisive function in Seleucus’ victory in opposition to western Hellenistic kings at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.

In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched  Greek ambassadors, Megasthenes and, later, Deimakos, to the Mauryan court at Pataliputra. Later, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, dispatched an envoy named Dionysius to the Mauryan court. Thus, preserving ties between the Hellenistic world and the Mauryan Empire.

About The Mauryan Empire

The Maurya Empire became a geographically widespread Iron Age historic energy in South Asia based in Magadha, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and eisted in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE.

The Maurya Empire became centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and its capital city was positioned at Pataliputra (modern Patna). Outside this imperial centre, the empire's geographical quantity became dependent on the loyalty of military commanders who managed the armed towns sprinkling it. 

During Ashoka's rule (ca. 268–232 BCE) the empire, in short, managed the preeminent city hubs and arteries of the Indian subcontinent accepting the deep south. 

It declined for approximately 50 years after Ashoka's rule and dissolved in 185 BCE with the assassination of Brihadratha by Pushyamitra Shunga and the basis of the Shunga dynasty in Magadha.

Mauryan Empire - Expansion Under Bindusara

Chandragupta Maurya dominated from 322 BCE till his voluntary retirement and abdication, in desire of his son, Bindusara, in 298 BCE. Bindusara (320-272 BCE) was the son of Maurya and his queen, Durdhara. During his reign, Bindusara elevated the Maurya Empire southward, with Chanakya as his advisor. 

(Image will be Uploaded soon)

He added sixteen states beneath the Maurya Empire and,, as a result, conquered almost all the Indian peninsula. Bindusara ignored the friendly Dravidian kingdoms of the Cholas, dominated by King Ilamcetcenni, the Pandyas, and Cheras. Except for those southern states, Kalinga (present-day Odisha) was the only nation in India to be unbiased of Bindusara’s empire.

Ashoka Maurya Empire - The Great Emperor Ashoka 

Bindusara died in 272 BCE and was succeeded by his son, Ashoka the Great (304-232 BCE). As a younger prince, Ashoka (272-232 BCE) was a brilliant commander who crushed revolts in Ujjain and Taxila. As monarch, he was bold and aggressive, reasserting the Empire’s superiority in southern and western India. But it was his war of Kalinga (262-261 BCE) that proved to be the pivotal event of his life. Although Ashoka’s army succeeded in winning over Kalinga forces of royal soldiers and civilian units, an anticipated 100,000 soldiers and civilians were killed in the furious warfare, including over 10,000 of Ashoka’s own men. 

Hundreds of hundreds of people were adversely tormented by the destruction and fallout of war. When he personally witnessed the devastation, Ashoka began feeling remorse. Although the seizure of Kalinga was finished, Ashoka embraced the teachings of Buddhism and renounced war and violence. He dispatched missionaries to travel around Asia and spread Buddhism to different countries.

As a ruler, Ashoka implemented ideas of ahimsa (the precept of “to not injure”) by banning hunting and violent sports activities and ending indentured and forced labour (many hundreds of people in war-ravaged Kalinga were compelled into hard labour and servitude). While he maintained a huge and powerful army to hold the peace, Ashoka improved friendly relations with states throughout Asia and Europe and subsidized Buddhist missions. He undertook big public works constructing campaigns throughout the country. 

Among these works, he led the development of stupas, or Buddhist religious structures, containing relics. One extraordinary stupa made during the reign of Ashoka was The Great Stupa, which stands in Sanchi, India. 

Over 40 years of peace, harmony, and prosperity made Ashoka one of the most victorious and well-known monarchs in Indian history. He remains an idealised resolute of inspiration in present-day India.

The Edicts Of Ashoka -  Mauryan Dynasty

Perhaps one of the well-known accomplishments of Ashoka was the building of his edicts, which stood between 269 BCE and 232 BCE. The Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, are located throughout the Subcontinent. 

Ashoka’s edicts cite his policies and accoladestretching from as far west as Afghanistan, and as far south as Andhra (Nellore District), Ashoka’s edicts cite his policies and accolades. 

Although prominently written in Prakrit,  of them were written in Greek, and one in each Greek and Aramaic. Ashoka’s edicts refer to the Greeks, Kambojas, and Gandharas as peoples forming a frontier region of his empire. 

(Image will be Uploaded soon)

They additionally attest to Ashoka’s envoys’ travels to the Greek rulers withinside the west at some distance because of the Mediterranean. Additionally, these edicts cited social and cultural attributes of his empire, emphasizing Buddhism, though not condemning other religions. For this, the Edicts of Ashoka are called an ancient document that promoted religious tolerance.

So, we understand from the above text that the period of the Mauryan empire was between 320 and 185 B.C.E. This empire was the first major historical and the largest Indian empire created by an Indian dynasty. The empire arose as a result of a state merger in northern India that led to one state, Magadha, in today’s Bihar, dominating the Ganges plain. In the wake of Alexander the Great’s attack on northwest India, Chandragupta Maurya won over Magadha and created the Mauryan Empire.

Facts About The Mauryan Empire

• Ashoka, the Great, was the third king of the Mauryan Empire. He is nicely remembered for his repudiation of war, improvement of the conquest of dhamma (principles of right life), and promotion of Buddhism.

• He dominated the Mauryan Empire at the peak of its power. Ashoka confronted hostility and violence at the beginning of his reign. This led him to support Buddhism and spread the message of tolerance in his empire.

• Ashoka the Great had pillars mounted near Buddhist monasteries. He did this to mark Buddha’s journey. These pillars were made with red and white stone.

• Chandragupta found the Mauryan empire at the age of 20.