Completed B.Com from DAVV, Indore
Cleared CS, CWA (CMA) and CA Final (Group I)


Abhyudaya Kelkar

The Mauryan Empire saw the first real political unification of the Indian Sub-continent (South Asia). Many changes, apart from the political integration, took place during this period of the Indian Iron Age.

Administration, Economy, Art, Architecture, Religion, Literature, in every field, the Mauryan Empire distinguished itself from its predecessors. It is not only one of the three Golden Eras of Indian History, but among the greatest contributors to the human civilization. Its study cannot be concluded without the discussion about the Achaemenid Persians and Alexander’s invasion.

Therefore, in this course, we will cover the following aspects of this period:
Lesson 1: Persian Invasion and Alexander
Lesson 2: Alexander’s Invasion
Lesson 3: The Aftermaths of Alexander’s Invasion
Lesson 4: Origins of the Mauryans
Lesson 5: Chandragupta and Bindusara
Lesson 6: Ashoka and his Dhamma
Lesson 7: Ashokan Edicts and other Mauryan Sites
Lesson 8: Later Mauryas and Decline
Lesson 9: Mauryan Art and Culture
Lesson 10: Mauryan Administration and Arthashastra
Lesson 11: Mauryan Society, Economy and Megasthenes

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Ancient History: The Mauryan Period

General Awareness

Indian History

Significance of Maurya Rule

Ancient History

History

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 Significance of Maurya Rule

Overview

The Persian invasion of the Indus Valley is a very rarely discussed topic while studying the Ancient India. It is extremely necessary to know about the Persian Achaemenid Empire to understand the world history. But it also almost impossible to understand the possible Persian influences in future, coupled by the scale of changes brought in by Alexander’s invasions. 

To begin the lesson, we have to take into account the first multi-national empire of the Old World, the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, created by Cyrus the Great and expanded greatly by his succesors, including Darius I, who also invaded the Indus Valley c.515 BC. We will see how he did that.

Alexander was an outstanding figure, a warlord and one of the few figures in the world history who changed the lives on the planet enormously through their deeds and doings. In this lesson, I have put an introductory slide about Alexander ‘the Great’.

It will be helpful to you to develop an insight about the world history. So let us begin with this first lesson, about the great Persian Empire, the Achaemenid Empire.

Persian Invasion and Alexander

Alexander was an entirely new chapter in the world history. Although he was a warlord, but his campaign and ambition to conquer the world made him the master of a quarter of the then known world. 

He defeated the Persian Achaemenid Empire and then the whole middle east was a cake walk for him. The greatness of his conquests lie in subduing the central Asian tribes who refused to pay tribute tohim. Before coming to India, he dealt with them during 329 and 328 BC. So, Alexander was on the gates of India in 327 BC.

We will see how he came and conquered the lands never seen by his forefathers, Greek explorers and his countrymen.

This lesson will show how Alexander journeyed through Persia to India, how he faced and fought the Indians, how his soldiers forced him to retreat and finally, how he made a smart exit from India.

Alexander's Invasion

The invasion of Alexander was a massive one, beyond any doubt. So were the consequences of it. It affected virtually every aspect of life of the Middle East and later, India too. There were many dimensions of the trails of his campaign.

As I already mentioned in the description to the last lesson, this invasion affected the politics, demographics, art, literature, architecture, society, perhaps every facet of life.
The empire could last hardly for a few years after Alexander’s death in 323 BC. It broke up into several warring kingdoms – Diadochi. 

In this lesson we will learn through maps the location of various successor states to the Alexander’s Empire. Why it was known as ‘Hellenistic Empire’, how it changed the life in the third century BC, these all topics will be discussed in it. So it is more of a World History topic than that of Indian History. 

It will be helpful to you to visualize the world history properly and understanding Indian History better and in context of changes in the then existing global conditions.

The Aftermaths of Alexander's Invasion

The origin of Mauryans is a matter of controversy and shrouded in deep mystery. It is an open ended topic with wide estimates and ambiguous ‘conclusions’. Perhaps there is no concrete evidence. Yet, we try to reconstruct that starting point of this clan, which was unreported before Chandragupta’s rise to power.

Equally fascinating was the story of his coup and rise to power, which also gives birth to numerous theories. In fact, it may be said that any guess allied with some logic will hold to justify the possible origin of the Mauryas, in particular, Chandragupta.

So we will be discussing various origin theories associated with the Mauryas, the details of his campaign and the possible progress of his invasion of Patliputra.

The Origin of the Mauryans

The Mauryan Empire saw the first real political unification of the Indian Sub-continent (South Asia). Many changes, apart from the political integration, took place during this period of the Indian Iron Age.

Administration, Economy, Art, Architecture, Religion, Literature, in every field, the Mauryan Empire distinguished itself from its predecessors. It is not only one of the three Golden Eras of Indian History, but among the greatest contributors to the human civilization

Chandragupta Maurya founded the Mauryan Empire and the Dynasty and laid foundation for all this. His reign was an important chapter in international history. His successor Bindusara, too was a capable ruler. In this lesson we will discuss about the personalities of these two rulers and the details of their reign.

We are also going to talk about the lesser known facts about Chandragupta viz. his conversion to Jainism, manner of death, etc.

Although we know a great deal about Ashoka and to a large extent, Chandragupta too, Bindusara is often overshadowed by these two personalities. So we will discuss as many facts about Bindusara as possible.

In all, this lesson will revolve around Chandragupta, the first Mauryan Emperor and his son and successor, Bindusara, the second Mauryan Emperor.

Chandragupta and Bindusara

After Bindusara comes Ashoka the Great. He is considered one of the greatest rulers ever due to his might and policy of ‘Dhamma’. We can see Buddhism as a world religion due to a few notable factors, among which Ashoka’s patronage is the greatest. 

In this lesson we will discuss the following :
Ashoka’s early life before accession to the throne
Ashoka’s coronation and period before the Kalinga War
The Kalinga War and its aftermaths
Ashoka’s conversion to Buddhism
Ashoka’s patronage to Buddhism
Ashoka’s later reign i.e. after his conversion to Buddhism
Ashoka’s inscriptions and edicts , pillars and rocks, itself is a detailed topic that will be discussed in the next lesson.

Ashoka and his Dhamma

Ashoka’s inscriptions and edicts , pillars and rocks, itself is a detailed topic that we are going to discuss in this lesson.

Ashoka’s inscriptions are spread across most of India, Pakistan and some parts of Afghanistan.

Many scripts and languages were used to make them publicly understandable.
There is a wide confusion between edicts and inscriptions. Not only we are going to solve it forever but talk about the various edicts chronologically.

Apart from all this, Ashoka’s pillars carried capitals (emblems) of four types – bull, elephant, horse, single lion and four lions. Different pillars found at different locations carried different capitals. We will talk in detail about these pillar capitals.

Ashokan Pillars and Edicts

Ashoka’s successors were weak and incompetent beyond any doubt. They are not worth mentioning except for the academic purposes. So this lesson focuses on later Mauryas and decline of the Maurya Empire.

Ashoka was followed by his grandson Dashratha, Samprati and so on, until the last Mauryan Emperor Brihadratha, who was killed by his Brahmin commander Pushyamitra Shunga.

Certain important developments during this time include invasion of Seleucids and Bactrian Greeks from the north-west, Mauryan patronage to Ajivikas and Jainism, rise of Kalinga as a rival political entity, most of which will be discussed in the next course.
The only topics discussed in this lesson are:
Who followed Ashoka as the emperors

How the Mauryan Empire collapsed after the death of Ashoka.

The Later Mauryas and Decline

Mauryan Art was perhaps the most striking feature of the Mauryan Period. Particularly the sculpture from this period is noteworthy.

Ashokan Pillars and capitals were artistically created. The national emblem of India is one of the best preserved Mauryan sculptures. It was unearthed at Sarnath. 

There were certain indigenous as well as foreign influences on the Mauryan art, which can be explained only through visual aid. Therefore, we will discuss the Mauryan art through pictures and illustrations.

Moreover, we will come to a particular conclusion after in-depth analysis of the Mauryan art.

Not much has survived of the Mauryan architecture to this day. But few glimpses and examples are helpful to form a picture of the same.
Then, we will have a brief discussion about the development of Brahmi Script, the resurrection of writing in India after the 1000 years’ gap, i.e. after the IVC.

Mauryan Art and Culture

So much is talked about Chankya and Chanakyaneeti but both of them are irrelevant as far as Mauryan politics and administration are concerned. These are systematically emphasized and elaborated through another lesser popular but immensely useful treatise – Arthashastra.

It was authored by Kautilya, probably the other name of Chanakya or Vishnugupta. Kautilya Arthashastra throws light upon the administration, statecraft and organization of the state because it deals in detail about these aspects.

So if we study Arthashastra, we can assume that we have also studied about the Mauryan state and polity and basics of economy and society of that period.
Students are advised to pause the slide in which officers and their names are mentioned.

Similarly as Arthashastra is helpful in reconstructing the Mauryan Polity, Megasthenes’ ‘Indica’ is helpful in reconstructing the social structure of India during the Mauryan period. Megasthenes was the ambassador of Seleucus Nicator, a Hellenistic emperor, appointed to the court of Chandragupta Maurya after Seleucus’ defeat at the hands of Chandragupta c.305 BC.

Mauryan Administration and Arthashastra

Megasthenes wrote ‘Indica’, which is mostly lost and available in fragments and in the form of derivative works of later Roman historians. Nevertheless, many details can be extracted out of it, particularly about the caste structure, economy and general philosophy of people and the state.

Although many later historians did not rely on it, rather discredited it, it is still helpful in understanding the life of a common man during the Mauryan period. So, most of this lesson will be based on Indica and some remaining portions of Arthashastra that could not be covered in the previous lesson.  

With this lesson, we will conclude this part, Part-IV – The Mauryan Period.

Mauryan Society and Culture and Megasthenes

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Lessons

12 lessons • 2h 11m

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Overview

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Persian Invasion and Alexander

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Alexander's Invasion

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The Aftermaths of Alexander's Invasion

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The Origin of the Mauryans

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Chandragupta and Bindusara

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Ashoka and his Dhamma

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Ashokan Pillars and Edicts

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The Later Mauryas and Decline

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Mauryan Art and Culture

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