The defeat of Dhana nanda and loosing kingdom of Magadha at the hands of Chandra Gupta Maurya & the the rebellion of Alexander's soldiers, which stopped him from penetrating further into the Indian sub-continent & compelled him to continue his homeward journey and weak territories that he had left after him, Helped Chandra Gupta in establishing for a first time a unified India in history under the reign of the 'Great Mauryas'. The Glory of the history of Indian Kingdoms had actually started from the reign of Mauryans.
Chandra Gupta Maurya (Reigned from 322 B.C. to 298 B.C.) took advantage of weaknesses in the leftover regions by Alexander in north west (now, Pakistan) & the growing unpopularity of Nandas among the mass and overthrew the Nandas and established a vast empire including modern day India, Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan, But all of this wasn't done by him alone, it was a cunning and a clever mind that was behind him. The person bearing that mind was known as Chanakya* or Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta(370 B.C.-283 B.C.) in the history. He was regarded as the architect of Chandra Gupta's rise. He helped Chandra Gupta in campaigning against Dhana nanda and in the conquest of the areas in the north west front. Chandra Gupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I nicator, the appointed satrap(general) of Alexander and conquered some of his territories, but later both of them declared peace and Seleucus ceded his territories including Baluchistan and east Afghanistan. Seleucus even sent his ambassador Megasthenes* to the court of Chandra Gupta Maurya at Patliputra.
According to Jain tradition, after being able to unite India under his rule for a long time, Chandra Gupta became a Jain monk under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu, abdicated his throne in favour of his son, Bindusara and went to Sravana Belgola near Mysore(Karnataka). There he fasted till death in 298 B.C.
Bindusara, the son and successor of Chandra Gupta Maurya (reigned from probably 300 B.C. to 272 B.C.) was too a successful ruler as his father. His two well-known sons were, Susima (viceroy of Takshashila) and Ashoka (viceroy of Ujjain). He was well known as 'Amitraghata' {(Slayer of enemies)Sanskrit meaning of his Greek name Amitrochates}. He expanded his territories towards southwards in India. His empire included the whole of India except the region of Kalinga & the tamil regions. He had a good relations with the syrian king Antiochus I. He died in 272 B.C. (268 B.C., according to some sources). He was succeeded by his able son Ashoka who went on to become 'Ashoka the Great'.
Ashoka the Great (reigned from 268 B.C. to 232 B.C.) captured the left Kalinga region by his father in the famous Kalinga war (fought in 261 B.C.), that left him changed forever. He was grief-stricken and vowed not to wage war in future. He changed the Dig Vijaya (Conquest by war) to Dharma Vijaya (Conquest by peace) and visited Bodh gaya after this and became a buddhist.
To communicate with the people, he set up Rock pillar edicts in different parts of his empire. The edicts were written in the Brahmi script (except the capital region, where the Pali and Prakrit scripts were used and the north-west region where kharosthi and greek scripts were used.). He emphasized on religious tolerance, he himself was a buddhist but never thrusted his own religion on anyone else. He took the title of Dharmasoka, due to these policies his name shines with unique brilliance.
The unity of this great empire abruptly disintegrated after Ashoka's reign. Last and the tenth mauryan ruler was, Brihadratha, who was murdered by his general (senapati) Pushyamitra Sunga, who thereafter established the Sunga Dynasty. With the death of Brihadratha, the great mauryan rule ended 137 years after its formation.
With the end of the Mauryan era, India again got disintegrated & many kingdoms were established. we will discuss about those Kingdoms & their relevance in the ancient India in later posts.
*Chanakya- the 'Arthashastra' is a great source of information of administration under Chandra Gupta.
*Megasthenes- The 'Indica' written by megasthenes is a rich source of the history of Mauryas in the Contemporary India.
Chandra Gupta Maurya (Reigned from 322 B.C. to 298 B.C.) took advantage of weaknesses in the leftover regions by Alexander in north west (now, Pakistan) & the growing unpopularity of Nandas among the mass and overthrew the Nandas and established a vast empire including modern day India, Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan, But all of this wasn't done by him alone, it was a cunning and a clever mind that was behind him. The person bearing that mind was known as Chanakya* or Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta(370 B.C.-283 B.C.) in the history. He was regarded as the architect of Chandra Gupta's rise. He helped Chandra Gupta in campaigning against Dhana nanda and in the conquest of the areas in the north west front. Chandra Gupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I nicator, the appointed satrap(general) of Alexander and conquered some of his territories, but later both of them declared peace and Seleucus ceded his territories including Baluchistan and east Afghanistan. Seleucus even sent his ambassador Megasthenes* to the court of Chandra Gupta Maurya at Patliputra.
According to Jain tradition, after being able to unite India under his rule for a long time, Chandra Gupta became a Jain monk under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu, abdicated his throne in favour of his son, Bindusara and went to Sravana Belgola near Mysore(Karnataka). There he fasted till death in 298 B.C.
*India Under Chandra Gupta Maurya*
Bindusara, the son and successor of Chandra Gupta Maurya (reigned from probably 300 B.C. to 272 B.C.) was too a successful ruler as his father. His two well-known sons were, Susima (viceroy of Takshashila) and Ashoka (viceroy of Ujjain). He was well known as 'Amitraghata' {(Slayer of enemies)Sanskrit meaning of his Greek name Amitrochates}. He expanded his territories towards southwards in India. His empire included the whole of India except the region of Kalinga & the tamil regions. He had a good relations with the syrian king Antiochus I. He died in 272 B.C. (268 B.C., according to some sources). He was succeeded by his able son Ashoka who went on to become 'Ashoka the Great'.
Ashoka the Great (reigned from 268 B.C. to 232 B.C.) captured the left Kalinga region by his father in the famous Kalinga war (fought in 261 B.C.), that left him changed forever. He was grief-stricken and vowed not to wage war in future. He changed the Dig Vijaya (Conquest by war) to Dharma Vijaya (Conquest by peace) and visited Bodh gaya after this and became a buddhist.
*Ashoka the Great*
To communicate with the people, he set up Rock pillar edicts in different parts of his empire. The edicts were written in the Brahmi script (except the capital region, where the Pali and Prakrit scripts were used and the north-west region where kharosthi and greek scripts were used.). He emphasized on religious tolerance, he himself was a buddhist but never thrusted his own religion on anyone else. He took the title of Dharmasoka, due to these policies his name shines with unique brilliance.
*India Under Ashoka the Great*
The unity of this great empire abruptly disintegrated after Ashoka's reign. Last and the tenth mauryan ruler was, Brihadratha, who was murdered by his general (senapati) Pushyamitra Sunga, who thereafter established the Sunga Dynasty. With the death of Brihadratha, the great mauryan rule ended 137 years after its formation.
With the end of the Mauryan era, India again got disintegrated & many kingdoms were established. we will discuss about those Kingdoms & their relevance in the ancient India in later posts.
*Chanakya- the 'Arthashastra' is a great source of information of administration under Chandra Gupta.
*Megasthenes- The 'Indica' written by megasthenes is a rich source of the history of Mauryas in the Contemporary India.
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