Magadh and Mauryans Empire
Mauryans Empire
Period – 6th century BC to 4th century BC.
- Its geographical location near rich iron source which helps them to make high quality weapons
- Ganga fertile land near the place suitable for agriculture.
- Also elephants were first used in wars.
Haryaka Dynasty (545-412 B.C)
- Originally it was founded by the grand father of the Bimbasar but the actual foundation laid by the Bimbsar.
Bimbsar (544 BC to 492 BC)-
- Contemporary of Buddha.
- His capital was Rajgrihi
- He strengthened his position by matrimonial alliances with the ruling families of Kosala, Vaishali and Modra (3 wives)
- He was killed by his son Ajatshatru.
Ajatshatru(493-460 B.C)
- Son of Bimbsar (patricide).
- Buddha died in his reign
- Arranged first Buddhist counsel
- He was killed by his son Udayin
UDAYIN (460-444 B.C)
- He found new capital =Patliputra.
- Situated at the confluence of Ganga
Shishu Nag Dynasty
Shishunag(412 B.C – 394 B.C)
▪ He was founder of dynasty and minister of the Udayin
▪ Dynasty lasted for two generation only
▪ He made Vaishali as capital
Kalasoka (394 to 366 B.C)
▪ He made capital Patliputra again
▪ 2nd Buddhist counsel in his reign
▪Last king of dynasty was Nandivardhan
Nand vansh(344 to 322 B.C)
▪ Founder of this dynasty was Mahapadam Nand.
▪ Dhanand was his son.
▪ Dhanand was contemporary of Alexander.
▪ Chandragupt Maurya killed Dhananad and established Mauryan empire
ALEXENDER INVASION
▪ Alexander was the son of Philip of Macedonia (Greece) who invade INDIA in 326B.C
▪ He fought famous battle of Hydaspa on the bank of Jhelum with Porus who was king of Punjab
▪ He remained 19 months in India.
▪ He died in 323 B.C at Babylon.
MAURYANS EMPIRE (322 TO 185 B.C)
Chandragupt Maurya (322 to 298 B.C)
▪ He is also called Sandrocottus
▪ He defeated Selucus Necater in 305 B.C
▪ Megasthenis Greek ambassador sents by Selucus necater
▪ He wrote about Chandragupt Maurya in his book Indica.
▪ Kautilya(minister of Chandragupt Maury) written arthshatra in this reign.
▪ He adopted Jainism
▪ Vishkdatt wrote drama Mudrarakshas was related chandragupt maurya
▪ Under Chandragupta Maurya, for the first time, the whole of northern India was united.
Bindusara(298 to 269B.C)
▪ Bindusara extended the kingdom further and conquered the south as far as Mysore.
▪ Bindusar asked Antiochus I of Syria to send some sweet wine, dried figs, and a Sophist.
▪ Antiocus I sent wine and figs but politely replied that Greek philosophers are not for sale. Bindusar
▪ Patronized Ajivikus.
Asoka (269 to 232 B.C)
▪ According to the Buddhist text “DIPSAMBHAV”, Asoka usurped the throne alter killing his 99 brothers and spared Tissa, the youngest one.
▪ Ashoka is called ‘Buddhashakya in Maski edict and ‘Dharmasoka’ in Sarnath inscription. He was also known as ‘Devampriya’ i.e. beloved of the Gods and ‘Piyadassi’ i.e. of pleasing appearance.
▪ Radhagupta a Minister of Bindusar helped him in fratricidal struggle.
▪ Under Asoka, the Mauryan Empire reached its climax. For the first time, the whole of the subcontinent, leaving out the extreme south, was under imperial control.
▪ Asoka fought the Kalinga war in 261 BC in the 9th years of his coronation. The king was moved by massacre in this war and therefore abandoned the policy of physical occupation in favour of policy of cultural conquest.
▪ In oilier words, Bherighosha was replaced by Dhammaghosha.
▪ Asoka was not an extreme pacifist. He did not pursue the policy of peace for sake of peace under all conditions.
▪ Thus he retained Kalinga after its conquest and incorporated it into his empire.
Asoka’s Dhamma
▪ Asoka‘s Dhamma cannot be regarded as sectarian faith. Its broad objective was to preserve the social order it ordained that people should obey their parents, pay respect to Brahmanas and Buddhist monks and show mercy to slave and servants.
▪ He held that if people behaved well they would attain Swarga (heaven). He never said that they would attain Nirvana, which was goal of Buddhist Teaching.
The Empire
▪ The empire was divided into a number of provinces. Probably, five.
▪ The Northern Province, called Uttarapatha had Taxila as its capital.
▪ Western province, known as Avantipatha had its capital in Ujjain.
▪ Prachyapatha with its capital Toshali (Kalinga) formed the Eastern province while Dakshinapatha with its capital Surarnagiri was the southernmost province.
▪ Central province. Magdha, with its capital at Pataliputra, was the headquarters of the entire kingdom. Arthashastra.
Army
▪ The most striking feature of Mauryan administration was maintanence of a huge army. They also maintained a Navy.
▪ According to Megasthenes the administration of Army was carried by a board of 30 officers divided into six committees, each committee consisting of 5 members. They are:
(i) Army (ii) Cavalry (iii) Elephants (iv) Chariots (v) Navy (vi) Transport
▪ The state controlled almost all economic activities.
▪ Tax collected from peasants varied from ¼ to 1/6 of Tolls was also levied on commodities brought to town for sale and they were collected at gate.
▪ The slate enjoyed monopoly in mining, sale of liquor, manufacture of arms etched Produce.
▪ The state also provided irrigation facilities and charged water-tax.
▪ Tolls were also levied on commodities brought to town for sale and they were collected at gate.
The Mauryan Administration
The King
The Mauryan government was a centralised bureaucracy of which the nucleus was the king.
The Mantri Parishad
The king was assisted by Mantri Parishad, whose members included –
(i) The Yuvaraj= the crown prince
(ii) The Purohita= the chief priest
(iii) The Senapati=The commander-in-chief of the army a few other ministers.
▪ Espionage = Sanstha and Sanchari
Socail conditions
▪ Megasthenes in his Indies had mentioned 7 castes in Mauryan society. They were philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates and councilors.
▪ He noticed absence of slavery
▪ Kautilya recommends Sudra and vaishya to recruit in the army
▪ Sudra condition improved now they work in agriculture and can own land.
Art & Architecture
▪ The Mauryas introduced stone masonry on large scale.
▪ Fragments of stone pillars and slumps indicating the existence of an 80-pillared hall have been discovered at Kumarhar on outskirts of Patna.
▪ The pillars represent the Masterpiece of Mauryan sculpture. Each pillar is made of single piece of sandstone. Only their capitals which are beautiful pieces of sculpture in form of lion or bulls are joined with pillar on the top.
▪ Single Lion capital at Rampurva and Lauriya Nandangarh.
▪ Single bull capital at Rampurva.
▪ Four lion capital at Sarnath and Sanchi.
▪ A carved elephant at Dhauli and engraved elephant at Kalsi.
▪ The Mauryan artisans also started the practice of hewing out caves from rocks for monks to live in. the earliest example are Barabar caves in Gaya.
▪ Stupas were built throughout the empire to enshrine (he relics of Buddha. Of these, the most famous are at Sanchi and Bui hut)
▪ During Mauryan period, the punch marked coins (mostly of silver) were the common units of transactions.
Decline of Mauryans
Causes of decline of the Mauryan Empire:
1. Brahmanical reaction
2. Financial crisis
3. Oppressive rule
4. Neglect of north-west frontier.
5. Weak successors
6. Pacific policy of Asoka
7. New knowledge in outlying areas-Dissemination of knowledge of manufacturing Iron