The Mauryan Empire

The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 321 to 185 BCE. Historians have used a variety of sources to reconstruct the history of the Mauryan Empire. These include archaeological finds, especially sculpture.Also valuable are contemporary works, such as the account of Megasthenes (a Greek ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya), which survives in fragments.Another source that is often used is the Arthashastra, parts of which were probably composed by Kautilya or Chanakya, traditionally believed to be the minister of Chandragupta.Besides, the Mauryas are mentioned in later Buddhist, Jaina and Puranic literature, as well as in Sanskrit literary works.While these are useful, the inscriptions of Asoka (c. 272/268-231 BCE) on rocks and pillars are often regarded as amongst the most valuable sources.Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta describes how Chanakya won the diplomatic battle against the Nanda minister Rakshasa, how Rakshasa was compelled to work for Chandragupta and also how the Nandas were finally over thrown.

Sources of information about Mauryas are listed below :

Literary sources 

• Kautilya’s ‘Arthasastra’
• Megasthenese’s ‘Indica’
• Justin's 'Anepitome'
• Plutarch (1st century CE, Parallel Lives Ch Life of Alexander)
• Strabo (1st century BCE, Geographica)
• Appian (2nd century CE, Historia Romana book XI)  
• Visakha Datta’s ‘Mudra Rakshasa’: although it was written during Gupta Period, it describes how Chandragupta Maurya get Chanakya’s assistance to overthrow the Nandas.
• Puranas
• Buddhist text Jatakas potrays a general picture of socio-economic conditions of Mauryan Period.
• Buddhist chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa describe the part played by Ashoka in spreading Buddhism to Sri Lanka.
• Tibetan Buddhist text Divyavadana gives information about Ashoka and his efforts to spread Buddhism  

Archaeological Sources   

• Punch mark coins
•  Wooden palace of Chandragupta Maurya
•  Northen Black Polished Ware (NBPW)
•  Ashokan Edicts and Inscriptions: There are Rock Edicts, Pillar Edicts and Cave inscriptions located at several places in the Indian sub-continent.
•  Junagadh Rock Inscription of Rudradaman
•  Sohgaura Copper Plate Inscription in Gorakhpur district
•  Mahasthan Inscription in Bogara district of Bangladesh.
•  Inscription from Taxila informs about the officer name Romeodeto

 Important Rulers

Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the empire in 305 BC. His family is identified by some with the tribe of Moriya mentioned by Greeks. According to one tradition, the designation is derived from Mura, the mother or grandmother of Chandragupta, who was wife of a Nanda king.Buddhist writers represent Chandragupta as member of Kshatriya caste, belonging to the ruling clan of little republic of Pipphalivana, lying probably between Rummindei in the Nepalese Tarai and Kasai in the Gorakhpur district. Under Chandragupta Maurya, for the first time, the whole of northern India was united.Chandragupta became a Jain and went to Sravanbelgola with Bhadrabahu, where he died by slow starvation.Chandragupta was the protege of the Brahman, Kautilya or Chanakya, who was his guide and mentor, both in acquirnig a throne and in keeping it.Megasthenese was a Greek ambassador sent to the court of Chandragupta Maurya by Seleucus.

Bindusara

Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara in 297 B.C. To the Greeks, Bindusara was known as Amitrochates, perhaps the Greek translation of the Sanskrit Amitraghata, the destroyer of the foes.A Greek named Deimachos was received as Ambassador of Greece in Bindusara's court.Bindusara extended Mauryan control in Deccan as far south as Mysore.Bindusar patronized Ajivikas.

Asoka

According to the Buddhist tradition, Asoka usurped the throne alter killing his 99 brothers and spared Tissa, the youngest one. Radhagupta a Minister of Bindusar helped him in fratricidal struggle.During Bindusara's reign, Ashoka successively held the important viceroyalties of Taxila and Ujjain.Ashoka is referred to as Devanampiya (the beloved of gods) Piyadassi (of amiable appearance) in inscriptions.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 (ought 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.According to the Kashmir chronicle of Kalhana, Ashoka's favourite deity was Shiva. Ashoka claimed of spiritual conquest of the realms of his Hellenistic, Tamil and Ceylonese neighbours. Hellenistic neighbours of Ashoka were: Antiochos II (Theos of Syria), Ptolemy II (Philadelphos of Egypt), Antigonos (Gonatas of Macedonia), Magas (of Cyrene) and Alexander (of Epirus).

After making deep study of Buddhist scriptures Ashoka started undertaking dharam-yatras (tours of morality) in course of which he visited the people of his country and instructed them on Dharma (morality and piety).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.

During Ashok's reign the Buddhist church underwent reorganization, with the meeting of the third Buddhist Council at Patliputra in 250 B.C.Ashoka's son Prince Mahendra visited Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) as a Buddhist missionary and convinced the ruler of the island kingdom, Devanampiya Tissa to convert to Buddhism.

Ashoka ruled for 37 years and died in 232 B.C. With his death a political decline set in, and soon after the empire broke up.As per the Puranic texts, the immediate successor of Ashoka was his son Kunala. The Chronicals of Kashmir, however, mention Jalauka as the son and successor. Kunala was succeeded by his sons, one of whom, Bandhupalita, is known only in Puranas, and another, Sampadi, is mentioned by all traditional authorities. Then there was Dasratha who ruled Magadha shortly after Ashoka and has left three epigraphs in the Nagarjuni Hills in Bihar, recording the gift of caves to the Ajivikas.The last king of the Maurya dynasty was Brihadratha, who was overthrown by his commanderin- chief, Pushyamitra, who laid the foundation of the Sunga dynasty.

The Mauryan Administration

The establishment of elaborate bureaucracy appear to be a remarkable feature of the Mauryas.

Central Administration:

The Mauryan government was a centralised bureaucracy of which the nucleus was the king.The Arthshastra refers to the highest officers as the eighteen tirthas, the chief among them were the Mantrin (chief minister), Purohit (high priest), Yuvraja (heir-apparent) and Senapati (commander-in-chief).The head of the judiciary was the king himself, but there were special tribunals of justice, headed by Mahamatras and Rajukas.According to Arthshastra there are 34 departments headed by 'Adyakshas' to carry on the administration.(Ex:Akara-mining,Kupya-forests,Panya-Trade&Commerce,Lakshana-Minting,etc.) 

Provincial Administration:

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.

The terms used in the Ashokan edicts for provincial governors are Kumara and Aryaputra. The former may have been the title of the sons of the king and later may have referred to close relatives.

District Administration:

Provinces were sub-divided into districts(Aharas) for purposes of administration, and a group of officials worked in each district. In the inscriptions of Ashoka there are references to Rajukas and Pradesikas, charged with the welfare of Janapadas or country parts and Pradesas or districts. Mahamatras were charged with the administration of cities (Nagala Viyohalaka) and sundry other matters, and a host of minor officials, including clerks (Yuta), scribes (Lipikar) and reporters (Pativedaka).

Urban Administration:

Urban administration had its own hierarchy offcials. Kautilya lays down in detail the duties of the Nagaraka which included maintenance of law and order, supervision of sanitation arrangement and to take measures against outbreaks of fire. The Nagaraka has under him subordinate officials called sthanika and gopa who were placed in charge of the wards into which the town was divided.

Rural Administration:

The rural areas were governed by Gramika Head of a village. He was generally elected by the people. He was not a paid servant.

Military Administration:

The most striking feature of Mauryan military 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:

Army

Cavalry

Elephants

Chariots

Navy

Transport

Beside this Ashoka appointed Dhammamahamatra, the most important official entrusted with establishing and promoting Dhamma. Authorized to tour and alleviate the woes of people.

Arthashastra:

Arthashastra, written by Chandragupta Maurya’s Prime Minister Chanakya, primarily delves into the statecraft and administration.The Arthashastra has 15 adhikarnas or books. Of which, the first five deal with tantra or internal administration of the state, eight deal with avapa or its relations with neighboring stales, and the last two are miscellaneous in character.

Economy

In order to raise resources to meet the heavy expenditure on an ever increasing bureaucracy and huge standing army, the Mauryan state founded new settlements. The shudras for the first time were aided by the state in settling down as farmers in the settlements. In the newly- settled areas, which formed the crown land or crown village(sita), land was granted to retired village officials and priests.

The state controlled almost all economic activities.The chief sources of revenue were the bhaga and the bali. The bhaga was the king's share of the produce of the soil, which was normally fixed at one-sixth, though in special cases it was raised to one-fourth or reduced to one-eighth. Bali was an extra impost levied on special tracts for the subsistence of certain officials. Taxes on the land were collected by the Agronomoi who measured the land and superintended the irrigation works.

In urban areas the main sources of revenue were birth and death taxes, fines and tithes on sales. Arthshastra refers to certain high revenue functionaries styled the samaharti and the sannidharti.

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 slate enjoyed monopoly in mining, sale of liquor, manufacture of arms etc.

During Mauryan period, the punch marked coins were the common units of transactions.The copper coin of eighty ratis (146.4 grs) was known as Karshapana. The name was also applied to silver and gold coins, particularly in south.

Tamralipti m the Gangetic delta was the most prosperous port on the East Coast of India.Broach was a major port during the Mauryan period.

Society

Megasthenes had mentioned 7 castes in Mauryan society. They were philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsmen, artisans, magistrates and councilors.

Slavery was an established institution during the Maurya period.

Varna (caste) and ashram (periods of stages of religious discipline), the two characteristic institutions of the Hindu social polity, reached a definite stage in the Maurya period.

Art & Architecture

 The Mauryas were famous for their art and architecture.Mauryan art encompasses the arts produced during the period of the Mauryan Empire (4th to 2nd century BCE), which was the first empire to rule over most of the Indian subcontinent.

A few characteristic features of the Mauryan sculptural and architectural remains are: 

(i) They are all monumental in conception and design, inordinately fine and precise in execution.

(ii) Two types of stone were used for Mauryan pillars, the spotted red and white sandstone from the region around Mathura and the buff-coloured Chunar sandstone obtained from the region around Varanasi.Most of the monolithic pillars, were executed in hard sand stone mostly quarried at Chunar near Varanasi (U.P.). They were always very finely chiselled and very highly polished to glossiness "that has hardly any parallel in India and in the world except in ancient Iran".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.The most important art remains are animal capitals of the pillars, single Lion capital at Rampurva and Lauriya Nandangarh, single bull capital at Rampurva, four lion capital at Sarnath and Sanchi.

(iii) The Mauryan art was basically a royal or court art. The huge resources of the State made available to the artists rendered possible the conception, planning and execution in such large and gigantic proportions.

(iv) The Mauryas introduced stone masonry on large scale.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.

(v) Stupas were built throughout the empire to enshrine (the relics of Buddha). Of these, the most famous are at Sanchi and Bui hut.Ashoka is credited with the construction of a large number of stupas.

The well known art historian A.K.Coomaraswamy divides Mauryan art into two: indigenous/popular art and official or court art. Court art is represented by the pillars and their capitals and popular art by superb individual icons such as Yakshi of Besanagar, the Yaksha of Parkham and Chauri-bearer from Didar- ganj. It is difficult to say whether the evolution of the Mauryan art was the outcome of natural historical process or directly or indirectly conditioned by India's contact with the con- temporary west-Asiatic world. Many scholars have suggested that the Mauryan art, particularly the pillars and animal figures, were greatly influenced by the art of the Achaemenid dynasty of Iran.Wheeler has suggested that the Mauryan craftsmen employed by the State may have been Persians (Iranians) who had settled in India. A few other historians have pointed out the Hellenic (Greek) influence on the Mauryan art. Though clearly inspired by foreign models, the Mauryan art is clearly distinguishable from them and in some respects superior to them.

The sum total of the Mauryan treasure of art may be said to include:

(i) The remains of the royal palace and city of Pataliputra.The famous metropolis of Pataliputra, known to the Greek and Latin writers as Palibothra, Palibotra and Palimbothra, situated at the confluence of Sone and the Ganges, stretched in the form of a parallelogram. It was enclosed by a wooden wall pierced with loopholes for the discharge of arrows and crowned with 570 towers, apparently for keeping watch.The approaches to the city consisted of 64 gates. Sumptuous palaces adorned the city, which housed a large population including many foreigners. The Mauryan wooden palace survived till at least the end of the 4th century A.D. when Fahien visited India and found it so astounding that he considered it "a work of spirits". The palace seems to have been destroyed by fire as maybe inferred from the ashes and burnt fragments of wooden pillars found at Kumrahar near Patna.

(ii) The rock-cut Chaitya-halls or cave dwellings in the Barabar and Nagarjuni Hills of Gaya (Bihar)

(iii) The Edict-bearing and the non-Edict bearing Asokan pillars

(iv) The animal sculptures crowning the pillars with animal and vegetal reliefs decorating the abaci of the capitals

 (v) other individual Mauryan sculptures and the terracotta figures discovered from various sites.

Ashokan Inscriptions:

Ashoka used the medium of his edicts to expound the policy of Dhamma. These inscriptions are inscribed on rocks, pillars and cave.The Ashokan inscriptions were in local script. Those found in northwest, in the region of Peshawar, are in the Kharoshthi script (derived from Aramaic script used in Iran), near modern Kandhar, the extreme west of empire, these are in Greek and Aramaic, and elsewhere in India these are in the Brahmi script.

Major Rock Edicts

Manshera - Hazara, Pakistan

Shahbazgarhi - Peshawar, Pakistan

Girnar (Junagarh) - Gujarat

Sopara - Thana, Maharashtra

Yerragudi - Kurnool, A.P

Jaugarh or Jaugada - Ganjam, Orissa

Dhauli - Puri, Orissa

Kalsi - Dehradun, Uttrakhand

Minor Rock Edicts

Ahraura - U.P.

Sahasram - Bihar

Rupnath - M.P.

Gujjarra - M.P.

Panguraria (Budhni)- M.P.

Bhabru - Rajasthan

Bairat - Rajasthan

Yerragudi - Andhra Pradesh

Maski - Andhra Pradesh

Rajul-Mandagiri - Andhra Pradesh

Govimath - Karnataka

Palkigundu - Karnataka

Siddhapur - Karnataka

Jatinga-Rameshwar - Karnataka

Brahmagiri - Karnataka

Udayagolam - Karnataka

Mittur - Karnataka

Sannatai - Karnataka

New Delhi - Amarpuri colony of Lajpat Nagar

Bahapur - New Delhi.

Pillar Edicts

Delhi –Topara

Delhi – Meerut

Lauriya – Araraj – Bihar

Lauriya – Nandangarh – Bihar -Lion Capital

Rampurva -Bihar-Bull Capital

Prayag – Kaushmbi – U.P.

Minor Pillar Edicts :

Rummindei - Nepal border-Horse Capital

Nigliva-Sagar - Nepal, near Rummindei

Sanchi - M.P.

Sarnath - U.P - 4 lions standing back to back

Prayag - U.P. (Warning to monks)

Queen’s Edict - Prayag

Cave Edicts

Ashoka’s Edicts have been located in the caves in the Barabar Hills (old name Khallitak and Pravaragizi), which were donated to Ajivikas. These caves are called – Sudama, Karnachopar and Vishwajhonpadi.A cave of Lomash Rishi was also found here but with no inscriptions.

Dusharatha’s Cave Edicts: In the Ajivika caves in the Nagarjuni Hills which were called – Gopi, Vapi and Vadathik.

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