Class 5 Lecture 3 - The Maurya Empire - The King Asoka

THE MAURYA EMPIRE
• The Indian subcontinent was disjointed by hundreds of kingdoms that

were ruled by powerful regional chiefs who were engaged in warfare
using their small armies.
• The kingdoms of Pundra, Magadha, Vanga, Samatata, and Harikela
being prominent ones.
• Remains of an ancient city Pundranagara found in the territory of
Pundravardhana still bears the testimony at village Mahasthan in
Shibganj thana of Bogra district. it is one of the earliest urban
archaeological sites in Bangladesh after Wari-Bateshwar.
THE MAURYA EMPIRE – CONT.
• The Greek aggressor Alexander and his troops had overrun the existing
kingdoms in the Punjab region in 327 BC.
• The great invader fell into malaria fever that compelled him to quit his expedition
within two years.
• It allowed the regional chiefs to regroup and seize control over the territories.
• The kingdom of Magadha was one of such creations that established control
over the trade routes through the Ganges valley as well as the sea routes of the
Bay of Bengal.
• Emerging from a military background, Chandragupta Maurya, at the inspiration
of his teacher Kautilya / Chanakya rose to power by overthrowing the Nanda
king.
• Emerging from the Magadha kingdom in the Indo-Gangetic
plains, the emperor brought Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, and
Central India under his control and founded Pataliputra the
capital city in modern Patna.
• Chandragupta Maurya successfully unified the Indian
subcontinent under an empire system by capturing the
territories left by Alexander’s army.
• Chandragupta kept control of his empire by maintaining a
strong army equipped by enormous intelligence network.
• Chandragupta embraced Jainism and allowed social
and religious harmony and reform across society.
• Chandragupta ruled from 324 to 297 BC before
voluntarily giving the throne up to his son Bindusara,
who reigned until his death in 272 BC.
• Under his rule, almost the entire subcontinent (as far
as Karnataka) was under the Mauryan empire.
THE FIRST INDIAN RULER OF SOUTH ASIA -ASHOKA
• ASHOKA was the first Indian ruler of south Asia to have established
imperial control over the greater part of the sub-continent including
Pundravardhana (modern Bogra in North Bengal).
• Considered to be a province or an administrative unit of the maurya
Empire.
• After Bindusara led to an internal feud in which Asoka killed his
brother and rose to the throne in 268 BC and eventually became the
most successful and powerful ruler of the Maurya dynasty.
• During his father’s reign, ASOKA was the governor of Ujjain and
Taxila.
ASHOKA– CONT.
• Indian civilization blossomed during the reign of Asoka.
• Asoka, by dint of his talent managed to become the emperor and ruled
the subcontinent until 232 BC as one of most illustrious rulers.
• Ashoka ruled his vast empire from Pataliputra (a place in and
around modern Patna) which served as the centralized hub of the
empire.
• His rule began with fierce battles and conquests and ended by
conquering nearly the entire subcontinent, reaching out the border of
Central Asia.
• His armies swept across the region, searching and killing their
enemies.
ASHOKA– CONT.
• By the PURANA literature - Ashoka appeared as an inconspicuous ruler of the maurya
dynasty.
• However, in 1837 James Princep deciphered some of Ashoka's rock edicts and came to
the conclusion that Ashoka was much greater king than narrated in the PURANA
literature.
• Prinsep informed us for the first time that Ashoka became a Buddhist and preached
Buddhism in the name of Dhamma.
• Studying some more inscriptions of the time of Ashoka Prinsep came to a further
conclusion that Ashoka abandoned the policy of conquests after the Kalinga War.
• the Kalinga War taught him how destructive could be the impact of wars on human
organisations, welfare and peace. he argued that war could not be supported on any
ground, religious, moral and political.
ASHOKA– CONT.
• After witnessing the brutalities of the Kalinga War, whereby Asoka’s army slaughtered
almost 80,000 soldiers in retaliation of their 20,000 losses, the emperor became horrified
and changed his life and attitude.
• Determined never again to rule by force and terror, Asoka renounced war and became a
man of peace.
• He became a Buddhist and assumed a religio-royal title devanampiya piyadassi (the
beloved of the gods, Piyadassi) dedicating him to the cause of promoting peace and
welfare of the mankind.
• Ashoka reflected on the evil effects of warfare both at social and individual levels and
came to believe that people's love and support and general welfare could be established
by abandoning the path of warfare and undertaking the responsibilities of establishing
peace and social harmony based on love and responsibilities.
ASHOKA– CONT.
• Ashoka expounded his Dhamma through numerous rock and pillar edicts
addressed to state officials and people.
• He now transformed his polity from one of military conquest to one of
Dharmavijaya – achieving victory over people’s minds by righteousness and
truth
• Asoka provided royal patronage for the propagation of Buddhism both within
and beyond his empire and helped promote the Buddhist faith into a world
religion spreading peacefully across the regions of Asia. Asoka patronized the
spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and
Mediterranean Europe.
• As a result of his new policies, the empire experienced half a century of peace
and security under Asoka.
MAURYA EMPIRE & ADMINISTRATION
• Asoka maintained a centralized administration to deal with trade and farming efficiently.
• Chandragupta Maurya established a single currency across India, a network of regional
governors and administrators, and civil service to provide justice and security for
merchants, farmers, and traders.
• Through the disciplined central authority of the Mauryan empire, farmers were freed of
regional kings’ tax and crop collection burdens.
• Instead, they paid through a nationally administered system of taxation.
• The system operated under the principles of the Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise
that included advice on how to collect taxes, administer trade and agricultural resources,
manage diplomacy, and even how to wage war!
• The Mauryan empire was strict in revenue collection, but it also funded numerous public
works projects to enhance productivity.
OTHER CONTRIBUTION OF ASHOKA
• Ashoka sponsored the construction of thousands of roads, waterways,
canals, rest houses, hospitals, and other types of infrastructure.
• He provided free hospitals and veterinary clinics, built roads, and rest
houses and planted trees for the traveler’s comfort.
• During his reign, India was a prosperous and stable empire of great
economic and military power whose political influence and trade
extended across Western and Central Asia and Europe.
• Asoka built an empire that covered the entire subcontinent; never did it
happen until 14th century.
CONCLUSION
• Under the leadership of the three successive kings, the Mauryan empire experienced as
one of the most significant periods in Indian history. geographically, it was an extensive
and powerful empire in ancient India.
• The empire was expanded into India’s Central and Southern regions by Chandragupta
and his son Bindusara, but it excluded a small portion of tribal and forested regions of
Kalinga in modern Orissa.
• Under chandragupta and his successors, both internal and external trade, and
agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across india.
• The Maurya empire’s political unity and internal peace encouraged the expansion of
trade in india.
CONCLUSION –CONT.
• During Asoka’s reign, the mauryan international network of
trade expanded and export items included silk, textiles, and
spices.
• Creation of a single and efficient system of finance,
administration, and security, Maurya Empire also enjoyed an
era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion
of trade and commerce and scientific knowledge.
• The Maurya Empire began to dissolve with Asoka’s death.
THANK YOU

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THE MAURYA EMPIRE

• The Indian subcontinent was disjointed by hundreds of kingdoms that

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