Maurya Empire

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Maurya Empire



326 BCE–180 BCE



Maurya Empire at its maximum extent
Capital Pataliputra
(Present-day Patna, Bihar)
Languages Old Indic Languages (e.g. Sanskrit, Magadhi Prakrit, Other Prakrits)
Religion Hinduism (Brahmanism)
Government Absolute monarchy as described in Chanakya's Arthashastra
 •  322–298 BCE Chandragupta
 •  298–272 BCE Bindusara
 •  268–232 BCE Ashoka
 •  232–224 BCE Dasharatha
 •  224–215 BCE Samprati
 •  215–202 BCE Shalishuka
 •  202–195 BCE Devavarman
 •  195–187 BCE Shatadhanvan
 •  187–180 BCE Brihadratha
Historical era Antiquity
 •  Established 326 BCE
 •  Disestablished 180 BCE
 •  250 BC[1] 5,000,000 km² (1,930,511 sq mi)
Currency Panas
Maurya Kings (322 BC – 180 BC)
Chandragupta (322–297 BC)
Bindusara (297–272/268 BC)
Ashoka (272/268–232 BC)
Dasharatha (232–224 BC)
Samprati (224–215 BC)
Shalishuka (215–202 BC)
Devavarman (202–195 BC)
Shatadhanvan (195–187 BC)
Brihadratha (187–180 BC)
(Shunga Empire)
(180–149 BC)
Part of a series on the
History of India
History of India

The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power founded by Chandragupta Maurya which dominated ancient India between c. 322 and 187 BCE. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the eastern side of the Indian subcontinent, the empire had its capital city at Pataliputra (modern Patna).[2][3] The empire was the largest to have ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, spanning over 5 million square kilometres at its zenith under Ashoka.

Chandragupta Maurya, raised an army and with the assistance of Chanakya (also known as Kauṭilya),[4] overthrew the Nanda Empire in c. 322 BCE and rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western India taking advantage of the disruptions caused by the withdrawal westward by Alexander the Great's armies. By 316 BCE the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander.[5][unreliable source?] Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Macedonian general from Alexander's army, gaining additional territory west of the Indus River.[6]

The Maurya Empire was one of the largest empires of the world in its time. At its greatest extent, the empire stretched to the north along the natural boundaries of the Himalayas, to the east into Assam, to the west into Balochistan (south west Pakistan and south east Iran) and the Hindu Kush mountains of what is now Afghanistan.[7] The Empire was expanded into India's central and southern regions[8][9] by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga (modern Odisha), until it was conquered by Ashoka.[10] It declined for about 50 years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 BCE with the foundation of the Shunga dynasty in Magadha.

Under Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India thanks to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced nearly half a century of peace and security under Ashoka. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across all of India. Ashoka sponsored the spreading of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia[11][unreliable source?] and Mediterranean Europe.[5][unreliable source?]



Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya

The Maurya Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, with help from Chanakya, at Takshashila. According to several legends, Chanakya travelled to Magadha, a kingdom that was large and militarily powerful and feared by its neighbors, but was insulted by its king Dhana Nanda, of the Nanda dynasty. Chanakya swore revenge and vowed to destroy the Nanda Empire.[15][unreliable source?] Meanwhile, the conquering armies of Alexander the Great refused to cross the Beas River and advance further eastward, deterred by the prospect of battling Magadha. Alexander returned to Babylon and re-deployed most of his troops west of the Indus River. Soon after Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BCE, his empire fragmented,[16] and local kings declared their independence, leaving several smaller disunited satraps.[citation needed]

The Greek generals Eudemus, and Peithon, ruled until around 317 BCE, when Chandragupta Maurya (with the help of Chanakya, who was now his advisor) utterly defeated the Macedonians and consolidated the region under the control of his new seat of power in Magadha.[5][unreliable source?]

Chandragupta Maurya's rise to power is shrouded in mystery and controversy. On one hand, a number of ancient Indian accounts, such as the drama Mudrarakshasa (Poem of RakshasaRakshasa was the prime minister of Magadha) by Vishakhadatta, describe his royal ancestry and even link him with the Nanda family. A kshatriya clan known as the Maurya's are referred to in the earliest Buddhist texts, Mahaparinibbana Sutta. However, any conclusions are hard to make without further historical evidence. Chandragupta first emerges in Greek accounts as "Sandrokottos". As a young man he is said to have met Alexander.[17] He is also said to have met the Nanda king, angered him, and made a narrow escape.[18] Chanakya's original intentions were to train a guerilla army under Chandragupta's command. The Mudrarakshasa of Vishakhadatta as well as the Jaina work Parishishtaparvan talk of Chandragupta's alliance with the Himalayan king Parvatka, sometimes identified with Porus (Sir John Marshall "Taxila", p18, and al.).[19][non-primary source needed][20][21]

Conquest of Magadha

Chanakya encouraged Chandragupta Maurya and his army to take over the throne of Magadha. Using his intelligence network, Chandragupta gathered many young men from across Magadha and other provinces, men upset over the corrupt and oppressive rule of king Dhana Nanda, plus the resources necessary for his army to fight a long series of battles. These men included the former general of Taxila, accomplished students of Chanakya, the representative of King Porus of Kakayee, his son Malayketu, and the rulers of small states. The Macedonians (described as Yona or Yavana in Indian sources) may then have participated, together with other groups, in the armed uprising of Chandragupta Maurya against the Nanda dynasty. The Mudrarakshasa of Visakhadutta as well as the Jaina work Parisishtaparvan talk of Chandragupta's alliance with the Himalayan king Parvatka, often identified with Porus.[22] This Himalayan alliance gave Chandragupta a composite and powerful army made up of Yavanas (Greeks), Kambojas, Shakas (Scythians), Kiratas (Nepalese), Parasikas (Persians) and Bahlikas (Bactrians) who took Pataliputra (also called Kusumapura, "The City of Flowers"):[23][24]


With the help of these elements from Central Asia, Chandragupta was apparently able to defeat the Nanda/Nandin rulers of Magadha so as to found the powerful Maurya Empire in northern India.


Chandragupta Maurya

The Pataliputra capital, showing Greek and Persian influence, early Maurya Empire period, 4th-3rd century BC.


Chandragupta established a strong centralized state with an administration at Pataliputra, which, according to Megasthenes, was "surrounded by a wooden wall pierced by 64 gates and 570 towers— (and) rivaled the splendors of contemporaneous Persian sites such as Susa and Ecbatana." Chandragupta's son Bindusara extended the rule of the Mauryan empire towards southern India. The famous Tamil poet Mamulanar of the Sangam literature described how the Deccan Plateau was invaded by the Maurya army.[28] He also had a Greek ambassador at his court, named Megasthenes.[29]




Bindusara was the son of the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya and his queen Durdhara. During his reign, the empire expanded southwards. According to the Rajavalikatha a Jain work, the original name of this emperor was Simhasena. According to a legend mentioned in the Jain texts, Chandragupta's Guru and advisor Chanakya used to feed the emperor with small doses of poison to build his immunity against possible poisoning attempts by the enemies.[30] One day, Chandragupta not knowing about poison, shared his food with his pregnant wife queen Durdhara who was 7 days away from delivery. The queen not immune to the poison collapsed and died within few minutes. Chanakya entered the room the very time she collapsed, and in order to save the child in the womb, he immediately cut open the dead queen's belly and took the baby out, by that time a drop of poison had already reached the baby and touched its head due to which the child got a permanent blueish spot (a "bindu") on his forehead. Thus, the newborn was named "Bindusara".[31]

Bindusara, just 22 years old, inherited a large empire that consisted of what is now, Northern, Central and Eastern parts of India along with parts of Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Bindusara extended this empire to the southern part of India, as far as what is now known as Karnataka. He brought sixteen states under the Mauryan Empire and thus conquered almost all of the Indian peninsula (he is said to have conquered the 'land between the two seas' – the peninsular region between the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea). Bindusara didn't conquer the friendly Tamil kingdoms of the Cholas, ruled by King Ilamcetcenni, the Pandyas, and Cheras. Apart from these southern states, Kalinga (modern Odisha) was the only kingdom in India that didn't form the part of Bindusara's empire. It was later conquered by his son Ashoka, who served as the viceroy of Ujjaini during his father's reign.[citation needed]

Bindusara's life has not been documented as well as that of his father Chandragupta or of his son Ashoka. Chanakya continued to serve as prime minister during his reign. According to the medieval Tibetan scholar Taranatha who visited India, Chanakya helped Bindusara "to destroy the nobles and kings of the sixteen kingdoms and thus to become absolute master of the territory between the eastern and western oceans."[32] During his rule, the citizens of Taxila revolted twice. The reason for the first revolt was the maladministration of Susima, his eldest son. The reason for the second revolt is unknown, but Bindusara could not suppress it in his lifetime. It was crushed by Ashoka after Bindusara's death.[citation needed]

Ambassadors from the Seleucid Empire (such as Deimachus) and Egypt visited his courts. He maintained good relations with the Hellenic World.[citation needed]

Unlike his father Chandragupta (who at a later stage converted to Jainism), Bindusara believed in the Ajivika sect. Bindusara's guru Pingalavatsa (alias Janasana) was a Brahmin[33] of the Ajivika sect. Bindusara's wife, Queen Subhadrangi (alias Queen Aggamahesi) was a Brahmin[34] also of the Ajivika sect from Champa (present Bhagalpur district). Bindusara is accredited with giving several grants to Brahmin monasteries (Brahmana-bhatto).[35]

Bindusara died in 272 BCE (some records say 268 BCE) and was succeeded by his son Ashoka.[citation needed]


Aśoka pillar at Sarnath. ca. 250 BCE.
Ashoka pillar at Vaishali.






Shunga coup (185 BCE)

Buddhist records such as the Ashokavadana write that the assassination of Brihadratha and the rise of the Shunga empire led to a wave of religious persecution for Buddhists,[38] and a resurgence of Hinduism. According to Sir John Marshall,[39] Pushyamitra may have been the main author of the persecutions, although later Shunga kings seem to have been more supportive of Buddhism. Other historians, such as Etienne Lamotte[40] and Romila Thapar,[41] among others, have argued that archaeological evidence in favour of the allegations of persecution of Buddhists are lacking, and that the extent and magnitude of the atrocities have been exaggerated.

Establishment of the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BCE)

The fall of the Mauryas left the Khyber Pass unguarded, and a wave of foreign invasion followed. The Greco-Bactrian king, Demetrius, capitalized on the break-up, and he conquered southern Afghanistan and parts of northwestern India around 180 BCE, forming the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The Indo-Greeks would maintain holdings on the trans-Indus region, and make forays into central India, for about a century. Under them, Buddhism flourished, and one of their kings Menander became a famous figure of Buddhism, he was to establish a new capital of Sagala, the modern city of Sialkot. However, the extent of their domains and the lengths of their rule are subject to much debate. Numismatic evidence indicates that they retained holdings in the subcontinent right up to the birth of Christ. Although the extent of their successes against indigenous powers such as the Shungas, Satavahanas, and Kalingas are unclear, what is clear is that Scythian tribes, renamed Indo-Scythians, brought about the demise of the Indo-Greeks from around 70 BCE and retained lands in the trans-Indus, the region of Mathura, and Gujarat.[citation needed]


Statuettes of the Mauryan era

The Empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at Pataliputra. From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals are Tosali (in the east), Ujjain (in the west), Suvarnagiri (in the south), and Taxila (in the north). The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative. The kumara was assisted by Mahamatyas and council of ministers. This organizational structure was reflected at the imperial level with the Emperor and his Mantriparishad (Council of Ministers).[citation needed]

Historians theorise that the organisation of the Empire was in line with the extensive bureaucracy described by Kautilya in the Arthashastra: a sophisticated civil service governed everything from municipal hygiene to international trade. The expansion and defense of the empire was made possible by what appears to have been one of the largest armies in the world during the Iron Age.[42] According to Megasthenes, the empire wielded a military of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants alone not including tributary state allies.[43] A vast espionage system collected intelligence for both internal and external security purposes. Having renounced offensive warfare and expansionism, Ashoka nevertheless continued to maintain this large army, to protect the Empire and instil stability and peace across West and South Asia.[citation needed]


Maurya statuette, 2nd century BCE.


File:Mauryan coin with arched hill symbol on reverse.jpg
Mauryan coin with arched hill symbol on reverse.

Under the Indo-Greek friendship treaty, and during Ashoka's reign, an international network of trade expanded. The Khyber Pass, on the modern boundary of Pakistan and Afghanistan, became a strategically important port of trade and intercourse with the outside world. Greek states and Hellenic kingdoms in West Asia became important trade partners of India. Trade also extended through the Malay peninsula into Southeast Asia. India's exports included silk goods and textiles, spices and exotic foods. The external world came across new scientific knowledge and technology with expanding trade with the Mauryan Empire. Ashoka also sponsored the construction of thousands of roads, waterways, canals, hospitals, rest-houses and other public works. The easing of many over-rigorous administrative practices, including those regarding taxation and crop collection, helped increase productivity and economic activity across the Empire.[citation needed]

In many ways, the economic situation in the Mauryan Empire is analogous to the Roman Empire of several centuries later. Both had extensive trade connections and both had organizations similar to corporations. While Rome had organizational entities which were largely used for public state-driven projects, Mauryan India had numerous private commercial entities. These existed purely for private commerce and developed before the Mauryan Empire itself.[44][unreliable source?] (See also Economic history of India.)



Hinduism was the major religion at the time of inception of the empire,[45][unreliable source?] Hindu priests and ministers used to be an important part of the emperor's court, e.g. Chanakya. James Hastings writes that they are devotees of Narayana (Vishnu), although Shilanka speaking of the Ekandandins in another connection identifies them as Shaivas (devotees of Shiva).[46] Scholar James Hastings identifies the name "Mankhaliputta" or "Mankhali" with the bamboo staff.[46] Scholar Jitendra N. Banerjea compares them to the Pasupatas Shaivas.[47] Another scholar, Charpentier, believes that the Ajivikas worshiped Shiva before Makkhali Goshala.[48] As Chanakya wrote in his text Chanakya Niti, "Humbly bowing down before the almighty Lord Sri Vishnu, the Lord of the three worlds, I recite maxims of the science of political ethics (niti) selected from the various satras (scriptures)".[49][unreliable source?]

Even after embracing Buddhism, Ashoka retained the membership of Hindu Brahmana priests and ministers in his court. Mauryan society began embracing the philosophy of ahimsa, and given the increased prosperity and improved law enforcement, crime and internal conflicts reduced dramatically. Also greatly discouraged was the caste system and orthodox discrimination, as Mauryans began to absorb the ideals and values of Jain and Buddhist teachings along with traditional Vedic Hindu teachings.[citation needed]



Magadha, the centre of the empire, was also the birthplace of Buddhism. Ashoka initially practised Hinduism but later embraced Buddhism; following the Kalinga War, he renounced expansionism and aggression, and the harsher injunctions of the Arthashastra on the use of force, intensive policing, and ruthless measures for tax collection and against rebels. Ashoka sent a mission led by his son Mahinda and daughter Sanghamitta to Sri Lanka, whose king Tissa was so charmed with Buddhist ideals that he adopted them himself and made Buddhism the state religion. Ashoka sent many Buddhist missions to West Asia, Greece and South East Asia, and commissioned the construction of monasteries, schools and publication of Buddhist literature across the empire. He is believed to have built as many as 84,000 stupas across India i.e. Sanchi and Mahabodhi Temple, and he increased the popularity of Buddhism in Afghanistan, Thailand and North Asia including Siberia. Ashoka helped convene the Third Buddhist Council of India and South Asia's Buddhist orders, near his capital, a council that undertook much work of reform and expansion of the Buddhist religion. Indian merchants embraced Buddhism and played a large role in spreading the religion across the Mauryan Empire.[50]


Bhadrabahu Cave, Shravanabelagola where Chandragupta is said to have died

Chandragupta Maurya embraced Jainism after retiring. At an older age, he renounced his throne and material possessions to join a wandering group of Jain monks. Chandragupta was a disciple of the Jain monk, Bhadrabahu. It is said that in his last days, he observed the rigorous but self-purifying Jain ritual of santhara i.e. fast unto death, at Shravana Belgola in Karnataka.[51][52][53][54] However, his successor, Bindusara, was a follower of another ascetic movement, Ājīvika,[55] and distanced himself from Jain and Buddhist movements.[citation needed] Samprati, the grandson of Ashoka also embraced Jainism. Samprati was influenced by the teachings of Jain monks and he is known to have built 125,000 derasars across India. Some of them are still found in towns of Ahmedabad, Viramgam, Ujjain & Palitana. It is also said that just like Ashoka, Samprati sent messengers & preachers to Greece, Persia & Middle East for the spread of Jainism. But to date no research has been done in this area.[56][57]

Thus, Jainism became a vital force under the Mauryan Rule. Chandragupta and Samprati are credited for the spread of Jainism in South India. Lakhs of temples and stupas were erected during their reign. But due to lack of royal patronage and its strict principles, along with the rise of Shankaracharya and Ramanuja, Jainism, once a major religion of southern India, began to decline.[citation needed]

Architectural remains

File:Barabar Caves 2.JPG
Mauryan architecture in the Barabar Mounts. Grottoe of Lomas Rishi. 3rd century BCE.

The greatest monument of this period, executed in the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, was the old palace at the site of Kumhrar. Excavations at the site of Kumhrar nearby have unearthed the remains of the palace. The palace is thought to have been an aggregate of buildings, the most important of which was an immense pillared hall supported on a high substratum of timbers. The pillars were set in regular rows, thus dividing the hall into a number of smaller square bays. The number of columns is 80, each about 7 meters high. According to the eyewitness account of Megasthenes, informs that the palace was chiefly constructed of timber, was considered to excel in splendour and magnificence palaces of Susa and Ekabatna, it's glided pillars, being adorned with golden vines and silver birds. The buildings, stood in an extensive park studded with fish ponds and furnished with a great variety of ornamental trees and shrubs.[58][better source needed] Kauṭilya's Arthashastra also gives method of palace construction from this period. Later Fragments of stone pillars, including one nearly complete, with their round tapering shafts and smooth polish indicate that Ashoka was responsible for the construction of the stone columns which replaced the earlier wooden ones.[citation needed]

File:Early stupa 6 meters in diameter with fallen umbrella on side in Chakpat near Chakdara.jpg
An early stupa, 6 meters in diameter, with fallen umbrella on side. Chakpat, near Chakdara. Probably Maurya empire, 3rd century BCE.

During Ashokan period stonework was highly diversified order and comprised lofty free-standing pillars, railings of stupas, lion thrones and other colossal figures. The use of stone had reached great perfection during this time that even small fragments of stone art was given a high lustrous polish resembling fine enamel. This period marked the beginning of the Buddhist school of architecture, Ashoka was responsible for the construction of several stupas, which were large halls, capped with domes and bore symbols of Buddha. The most important ones are located at Sanchi, Bharhut, Amaravati, Bodhgaya and Nagarjunakonda. Most widespread example of Mauryan architecture are the Pillars and edicts of Ashoka, often exquisitely decorated, with more than 40 spread throughout the Indian subcontinent.[59][better source needed]

Peacock was a dynastic symbol of Mauryans as depicted by Ashoka pillar at Nandangarh and Sanchi Stupa.[60]

Natural history in the times of the Mauryas

File:Patna Yakshas.jpg

The protection of animals in India became serious business by the time of the Maurya dynasty; being the first empire to provide a unified political entity in India, the attitude of the Mauryas towards forests, its denizens and fauna in general is of interest.[citation needed]


On the border of the forest, he should establish a forest for elephants guarded by foresters. The Office of the Chief Elephant Forester should with the help of guards protect the elephants in any terrain. The slaying of an elephant is punishable by death..

The Mauryas also designated separate forests to protect supplies of timber, as well as lions and tigers, for skins. Elsewhere the Protector of Animals also worked to eliminate thieves, tigers and other predators to render the woods safe for grazing cattle.[citation needed]

The Mauryas valued certain forest tracts in strategic or economic terms and instituted curbs and control measures over them. They regarded all forest tribes with distrust and controlled them with bribery and political subjugation. They employed some of them, the food-gatherers or aranyaca to guard borders and trap animals. The sometimes tense and conflict-ridden relationship nevertheless enabled the Mauryas to guard their vast empire.[62]


Our king killed very few animals.


Contacts with the Hellenistic world


Foundation of the Empire



Reconquest of the Northwest (c. 317–316 BCE)



Conflict and alliance with Seleucus (305 BCE)




Though no accounts of the conflict remain, it is clear that Seleucus fared poorly against the Indian Emperor as he failed in conquering any territory, and in fact, was forced to surrender much that was already his. Regardless, Seleucus and Chandragupta ultimately reached a settlement and through a treaty sealed in 305 BCE, Seleucus, according to Strabo, ceded a number of territories to Chandragupta, including large parts of what is now Afghanistan and parts of Balochistan.[citation needed]

Accordingly, Seleucus obtained five hundred war elephants, a military asset which would play a decisive role at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.[67]

Marital alliance

It is generally thought that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter, or a Greek Macedonian princess, a gift from Seleucus to formalise an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 war elephants,[26][68][69][70][71] a military asset which would play a decisive role at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.[67] In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes, to Chandragupta, and later Deimakos to his son Bindusara, at the Mauryan court at Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state). Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka, is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court.[72][better source needed]

Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received vast territory west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush, modern-day Afghanistan, and the Balochistan province of Pakistan.[73][74] Archaeologically, concrete indications of Mauryan rule, such as the inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka, are known as far as Kandahar in southern Afghanistan.


Exchange of ambassadors

Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes, to Chandragupta, and later Deimakos to his son Bindusara, at the Mauryan court at Pataliputra (Modern Patna in Bihar state).[75] Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka, is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Mauryan court.[72]

Exchange of presents



His son Bindusara 'Amitraghata' (Slayer of Enemies) also is recorded in Classical sources as having exchanged present with Antiochus I:[76]


Greek population in India

Greek population apparently remained in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent under Ashoka's rule. In his Edicts of Ashoka, set in stone, some of them written in Greek, Ashoka describes that Greek population within his realm were absorbed and integrated and they converted to Buddhism:


Fragments of Edict 13 have been found in Greek, and a full Edict, written in both Greek and Aramaic has been discovered in Kandahar. It is said to be written in excellent Classical Greek, using sophisticated philosophical terms. In this Edict, Ashoka uses the word Eusebeia ("Piety") as the Greek translation for the ubiquitous "Dharma" of his other Edicts written in Prakrit:[non-primary source needed]


Buddhist missions to the West (c. 250 BCE)

The distribution of the Edicts of Ashoka.[79]

Also, in the Edicts of Ashoka, Ashoka mentions the Hellenistic kings of the period as a recipient of his Buddhist proselytism, although no Western historical record of this event remain:




The Greeks in India even seem to have played an active role in the propagation of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as Dharmaraksita, are described in Pali sources as leading Greek ("Yona") Buddhist monks, active in Buddhist proselytism (the Mahavamsa, XII[80][non-primary source needed]).

Subhagasena and Antiochos III (206 BCE)




  6. 261 BCE : Ashoka conquers the kingdom of Kalinga.

In literature

According to Vicarasreni of Merutunga, Mauryans rose to power in 312 BC.[81]

See also


  2. Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (2004). A History of India. 4th edition. Routledge, Pp. xii, 448. pp. xii, 448. ISBN 0-415-32920-5.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  3. Thapar, Romila (1990). A History of India, Volume 1. Penguin Books. p. 384. ISBN 0-14-013835-8.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  4. Keay, John (2000). India: A History. Grove Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8021-3797-5.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Rajadhyaksha, Abhijit (2009-08-02). "The Mauryas: Chandragupta". Retrieved 2012-03-01.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  11. "Buddhism in Iran, Mehrak Golestan". 2004-12-15. Retrieved 2014-07-25.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  12. Boesche, Roger (2003-03-01). The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra. p. 11. ISBN 9780739106075.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  13. Demeny, Paul George; McNicoll, Geoffrey (May 2003). Encyclopedia of population. ISBN 9780028656793.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  15. Sugandhi, Namita Sanjay (2008). Between the Patterns of History: Rethinking Mauryan Imperial Interaction in the Southern Deccan. pp. 88–89. ISBN 9780549744412.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  16. Kosmin 2014, p. 31.
  19. "asti tava Shaka-Yavana-Kirata-Kamboja-Parasika-Bahlika parbhutibhih
    Chankyamatipragrahittaishcha Chandergupta Parvateshvara
    balairudidhibhiriva parchalitsalilaih samantaad uprudham Kusumpurama"
    (Sanskrit original, Mudrarakshasa 2).
  20. The Hunas mentioned in Mudrarakshasa play (II) of Vishakhadatta are same people as the Harahunas of the Mahabharata (II.32.12). They were located in Herat/Aria according to Dr Moti Chandra and were an earlier branch of the Hunas (See: Geographical and Economic Studies in the Mahābhārata: Upāyana Parva, 1945, p 66, Dr Moti Chandra; Also: Studies in the Geography of Ancient and Medieval India, 1971, p 33, Dr D. C. Sircar.)
  21. For Harahunas being a group of the Hunas, see also: Early History of Iranians and Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, p 118, Dr Michael Witzel, Harvard University.
  23. 23.0 23.1 Chandragupta Maurya and His Times, Radhakumud Mookerji, Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1966, p.27 [2]
  26. 26.0 26.1 Majumdar 2003, p. 105.
  27. Mookerji 1988, p. 39.
  29. Kosmin 2014, p. 32.
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External links

Preceded by
Nanda dynasty
Magadha dynasties Succeeded by
Shunga dynasty