0- Chandragupta’s origins are shrouded in mystery. The Greek sources (which are the oldest) mention him to be of non-warrior lineage. The Hindu sources also say he was a student of Kautilya of humble birth (probably born to a Shudra woman). Most Buddhist sources say he was a Kshatriya.
- It is generally accepted that he was an orphaned boy born into a humble family who was trained by Kautilya.
- Greek accounts mention him as Sandrokottos.
- Alexander had abandoned his India conquest in 324 BC and within a year, Chandragupta had defeated some of the Greek-ruled cities in the north-western part of the country.
- Kautilya provided the strategy while Chandragupta executed it. They had raised a mercenary army of their own.
- Then, they moved eastward into Magadha.
- In a series of battles, he defeated Dhana Nanda and laid the foundations of the Maurya Empire in about 321 BC.
- In 305 BC, he entered into a treaty with Seleucus Nicator in which Chandragupta acquired Baluchistan, eastern Afghanistan and the region to the west of Indus. He also married Seleucus Nicator’s daughter. In return, Seleucus Nicator got 500 elephants. Seleucus Nicator avoided a full-scale war with the mighty Chandragupta and in return got war assets that would lead him to victory against his rivals in the Battle of Ipsus, fought in 301 BC
- Megasthenes was the Greek ambassador at Chandragupta’s court.
- Chandragupta led a policy of expansion and brought under one control almost the whole of present India barring a few places like Kalinga and the extreme South.
- His reign lasted from 321 BC to 297 BC.
- He abdicated the throne in favour of his son, Bindusara, and went to Karnataka with Jain monk Bhadrabahu. He had embraced Jainism and is said to have starved himself to death according to the Jain tradition at Shravanabelagola.
Second Ruler of the Mauryan Empire – Bindusara
- Son of Chandragupta.
- He ruled from 297 BC to 273 BC.
- Also called Amitraghata (Slayer of foes) or Amitrochates in Greek sources.
- Deimachus was a Greek ambassador at his court.
- He had appointed his son, Ashoka as the governor of Ujjain.
- Bindusara is believed to have extended the Mauryan Empire to Mysore as well.
Chanakya
- Teacher of Chandragupta Maurya, who was also his Chief Minister.
- He was a teacher and scholar at Taxila. Other names are Vishnugupta and Kautilya.
- He was also a minister in the court of Bindusara.
- He is credited to be the master strategist behind the usurping of the Nanda throne and the rise of the Mauryan Empire through his student, Chandragupta.
- He wrote Arthashastra which is a treatise on statecraft, economics, and military strategy.
- Arthashastra was rediscovered by R Shamasastry in 1905 after it had disappeared in the 12th century.
- The work contains 15 books and 180 chapters. The main theme is divided into:
- King, Council of Ministers and Departments of the Government
- Civil and criminal law
- Diplomacy of war
- It also contains information on trade and markets, a method to screen ministers, spies, duties of a king, ethics, social welfare, agriculture, mining, metallurgy, medicine, forests, etc.
- Bindusara (297 – 273 BCE)
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- Also known as Amitrochates (destroyer of foes) by the Greek scholars while the Mahabhasya refers to him as Amitraghata (killer of enemies). The Ajivika sect mentions a fortune-teller who prophesied to Bindusara about his son Ashoka’s future greatness.
- Bindusara conquered the land between the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal. The Tibetan monk who wrote a 17th-century history of Buddhism, Taranatha, states that one of Binduasara’s lords, Chanakya, destroyed the nobles and kings of 16 towns and made him master of all the territory between the eastern and western seas.
- As per the Greek source, he had diplomatic ties with western kings. According to Strabo, Antiochus (Syrian king) sent Deimachus as an ambassador to Bindusara’s court.
- It is believed that Bindusara joined the Ajivika sect.
- Under his rule, almost the entire subcontinent (as far as Karnataka) was under the Mauryan empire.
Ashoka (268 – 232 BCE)
- There was a four-year succession conflict after the death of Bindusara in 273 BCE. Bindusara wanted his son Susima to succeed him. With the help of a minister named Radhagupta and after killing 99 brothers, Ashoka (son of Bindusara) acquired the throne. Ashoka had been the Viceroy of Taxila and Ujjain (cities that mainly handled commercial activities) during the reign of Bindusara.
- Ashoka was one of the greatest kings of all times, and is regarded as the first ruler to maintain direct contact with his people through his inscriptions. The other names of the emperor include Buddhashakya (in the Maski edict), Dharmasoka (Sarnath inscription), Devanampiya (meaning beloved of the gods) and Piyadassi (meaning of pleasing appearance) given in the Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa.
- The Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa give a detailed account of his queens. He was married to Mahadevi (daughter of a merchant of Vidisha) who was the mother of Mahendra and Sanghamitra, the celebrated children of Ashoka who helped in the propagation of Buddhism. The Buddhist texts also mention queens Asandhimitta, Padmavati, Tissarakhita (who tried to cut the Bodhi tree) and Karuvaki (the only queen to be mentioned in the queen’s edict, where she is described as the mother of prince Tivara, the only son of Ashoka to be mentioned by name in inscriptions).
- During Ashoka’s reign, the Mauryan empire covered the whole territory from Hindukush to Bengal, and extended over Afghanistan, Baluchistan and the whole of India including Kashmir and the valleys of Nepal, except a small portion in the far south, which was occupied by Cholas and Pandyas according to the rock edict 13 and by Keralaputras and Satyaputras as per the rock edict 2.
- He developed diplomatic relations with his contemporaries in Syria, Egypt, Macedonia, Cyrenaica (Libya) and Alexander of Epirus, all these are mentioned in the Edicts of Ashoka.
- Ashoka was a great proponent of Buddhism. He converted to Buddhism and during his reign, Buddhism went outside India. His children Mahendra (son) and Sanghamitra (daughter) were sent to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) to propagate Buddhism.
- Ashoka appointed Dharma Mahamattas to propagate dharma among various social groups including women (in the 14th year of his reign).
- During his second Dharmayatra tour (in the 21st year of his reign), he visited Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.
- He banned animal sacrifice, regulated the slaughter of animals for food and established dharmashalas, hospitals and sarais throughout his kingdom.
Brihadratha
- The Mauryan empire declined after Ashoka’s reign and later kings ruled for only short periods.
- The empire weakened and came to an end when the last Mauryan king, Brihadratha was assassinated by his military commander, Pushyamitra Sunga (in 187 BCE).
