Maurya Dynasty (321-184 BC) - Politics
After two centuries of the Persian invasion, Alexander from Macedonia invaded India. On the eve of his invasion, there were a number of small kingdoms in northwestern India. The leading kings were Ambhi of Taxila, the ruler of Abhisara and Porus who ruled the region between the rivers of Jhelum and Chenab. There were many republican states like Nysa. In short, the northwestern India remained the most disunited part of India and the rulers were fighting with one another. They never come together against common enemy. Yet, it was not easy for Alexander to overcome so many sources of opposition.
A rapid review some of the great Hindu kingdoms which flourished in the fourth century BC provides an idea of the spread of Hindu influence and power. Foremost among them was Magadha or South Behar, which became the first power in India. To the east, the whole of Bengal and Orissa were brought under Hindu influence, and formed the sister kingdoms of Anga (West Bengal), Vanga (East Bengal), and Kalinga (Orissa). Avanti (Malwa) in Central India, and Saurashtra (Gujrat) in the west, were similarly formed into Hindu kingdoms; and the tableland of the Deccan was the seat of a mighty nation, the Andhras, who became soon known for their power and civilisation, their schools of learning and their laws. And farther away, Southern India was parcelled off into three sister kingdoms, viz., those of the Cholas on the Coromandel coast, the Cheras on the Malabar coast, and the Pandyas in the extreme south near Cape Comorin. These ten great kingdoms outshone the older kingdoms of the Gangetic valley, as the Gangetic kingdoms had outshone the still older states of the Punjab.
The writings of Greek authors like Herodotus about the fabulous wealth of India attracted Alexander the Great to invade the Indus valley [modern Pakistan] during 327-325 BC). Alexander seems to have intended a permanent annexation of the Indus valley and the Punjab; but when, after his death (323 BC), his vast empire was broken up, all his garrisons in India were destroyed or driven back. The immediate effect of Alexander’s invasion was that it encouraged political unification of north India under the Mauryas. The system of small independent states came to an end. Alexander’s invasion had also paved the way for direct contact between India and Greece. The routes opened by him and his naval explorations increased the existing facilities for trade between India and West Asia. However, his aim of annexing the northwestern India to his empire was not fulfilled due his premature death. His authority in the Indus valley was a short-lived one because of the expansion of Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya.
Chandragupta Maurya (322 – 298 BC)
In the late fourth century BC India moved toward unification owing to the conquests of the warlord Chandragupta Maurya. The Maurya dynasty (321-184 BC) was contemporary with the Hellenistic kingdoms to the west and had diplomatic and commercial relations with them. Prince Chandragupta, then an exile from Pataliputra, but subsequently founder of the Mauryan dynasty of Magadha. He seems to have been the first supreme sovereign of Hindustan, his dominions extending from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea and reaching southwards probably as far as the Narbada. Seleukus, one of Alexander's generals, had made himself king of western and central Asia. But in 305 BC Chandragupta, after a successful campaign, forced him not only to give up all thought of conquest in India but also to cede the provinces of Parapamisadai, Aria, Arachosia, and probably Qedrosia. Thus the Hindu Kush mountains became the frontier of the first Indian Empire. Its capital was Pataliputra (now Patna). Chandragupta died in 297 BC and was succeeded by his son Bindusura (f 272 BC) and his grandson, the renowned Asoka (272-232).
Bindusara (298 – 273 BC)
Bindusara was called by the Greeks as “Amitragatha” meaning slayer of enemies. Unfortunately nothing definite is recorded concerning him except a trivial anecdote showing that he maintained friendly correspondence with Antiochos Soter, whose ambassador, Deimachos, replaced Megasthenes. An envoy named Dionysios sent by Ptolemy Philadelphos of Egypt (285—247 B. C.) to the court of Pataliputra must have presented his credentials to either Bindusara or his son Asoka. A tradition recorded by Taranath represents Bindusara as having conquered the country between the eastern and the western seas. He is said to have conquered the Deccan up to Mysore. Taranatha, the Tibetan monk states that Bindusara conquered 16 states comprising ‘the land between the two seas’. The Sangam Tamil literature also confirms the Mauryan invasion of the far south. Therefore, it can be said that the Mauryan Empire under Bindusara extended up to Mysore.
Bindusara received Deimachus as ambassador from the Syrian king Antiochus I. Bindusara wrote to Antiochus I asking for sweet wine, dried figs and a sophist. The latter sent all but a sophist because the Greek law prohibited sending a sophist. Bindusara supported the Ajivikas, a religious sect. Bindusara appointed his son Asoka as the governor of Ujjain.
Ashoka (268-232)
The Maurya empire reached its peak under the rule of Ashoka (268-232), who unified nearly all of India. Asoka's Empire extended in the north-west to the Hindu Kush, and included most of the territory now called Afghanistan, the greater part of Baluchistan, and all Sindh. Northwards his dominions stretched to the foot of the Himalayas and seem to have comprised the districts round Srinagar (which was built by him) and the territory round Lalita Patan in Nepal, two and a half miles south-east of Katmandu (also built by him). The whole of Bengal acknowledged his sway, and the kingdom of Kalinga (i.e., the strip of country extending along the coast of the Bay of Bengal from the Mahanadi to the Godaveri) was subjugated in 261 BC. The Dekkan had already been conquered either by Chandragupta or by Bindusura. The Andhra kingdom, between the Godaveri and the Kistna, was administered by its own raja, but seems to have been a protected state. The southern frontier of the empire must have coincided closely with the 13th degree of northern latitude. The southern Tamil kingdoms of Chola, Pandya, Satiya, and Chera remained independent. The hill tribes within the limits of the empire seem also to have enjoyed a certain amount of independence.
Asoka is noted for his rock- and pillar-edicts, which are scattered all over India and tell us much of his principles of government and of his ethical system. Embracing Buddhism, he became active in its propagation, despatching missionaries not only over the whole of his empire, but also to Syria, Egypt and Macedonia. Unlike most other ancient rulers, he aimed to govern on the basis of moral and ethical principles. Grounding his approach in the teachings of Buddhism, he instructed his subjects to commit themselves to nonviolence, family harmony, and tolerance.
The empire comprised the countries now known as Afghanistan, as far as the Hindu Kush ; Balochistan and Makran, Sind, Cutch (Kachchh) ; the Swat (Suwat) Valley, with adjoining tribal territories, Kashmir, Nepal, and the whole of India proper, excepting Assam, as far south as the northern districts of Mysore. The Tamil states of the extreme south were independent. It is possible, but not clearly proved, or perhaps probable, that the emperor also exercised jurisdiction in Khotan, now in Chinese Turkistan. The empire thus defined was not all under the direct imperial rule. It necessarily comprehended numerous autonomous states, owing more or less obedience or paying some sort of homage to the sovereign power. It also included many wild or half-wild tribes in the hills and forests who cared little for any government, and ordinarily lived their own life in their own way.
Later Mauryas
After the death of Asoka, his successors were not able to keep the vast Mauryan Empire intact. Asoka’s death in 232 B.C. was followed by the division of the Mauryan Empire into two parts – western and eastern. The western part was ruled by Kunala, son of Asoka and the eastern part by Dasaratha, one of the grand sons of Asoka. The provinces started declaring their independence. The northwest India slipped out of the control of the Mauryas and a series of foreign invasions affected this region. Due to the Bactrian invasions, the western part of the empire collapsed. The eastern part was intact under Samprati successor of Dasaratha. Kalinga declared its independence and in the further south the Satavahanas established their independent rule. As a result, the Mauryan rule was confined to the Gangetic valley and it was soon replaced by the Sunga dynasty. The last Mauryan king was Brihatratha, who was assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga.
The causes for the decline of the Mauryan empire have been widely debated by scholars. The traditional approach attributes the decline to Asoka’s policies and his weak successors. Another approach holds the inadequate political and economic institutions to sustain such a vast empire.
It was said that Asoka’s pro-Buddhist policies antagonized the Brahmins who brought about a revolution led by Pushyamitra Sunga. But Asoka was never acted against Brahmins. That Asoka’s policy of non-violence reduced the fighting spirit of his army was another charge against him. But Asoka had never slackened his control over his empire despite following a pacifist policy. Therefore solely blaming Asoka for the decline of the Mauryan empire may not be correct because Asoka was more a pragmatist than an idealist.
There are multiple causes for the decline of the Mauryan empire such as weak successors, partition of empire and administrative abuses after Asoka’s reign. The combination of these factors speeded up the breakup of the Mauryan empire and facilitated Pushyamitra Sunga to drive away the Mauryan power and establish the Sunga dynasty.
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