In the 6th century BCE, a king
named Cyrus had established a vast
empire in Iran. This empire extended
from Northwest India to Rome and to
Egypt in Africa. Around 518 BCE, an
Iranian Emperor named Daryush had
conquered the region to the northwest
of India up to Punjab. Daryush had
recruited some soldiers from this area
into his army. We learn about this
from the writings of Greek historians.
Political relations between India and
Iran were established during the reign
of Emperor Daryush. This led to
greater exchanges in the fields of
trade and art. Emperor Daryush had
introduced a uniform currency called
‘Darik’ in all parts of his empire. This
made trading easier. The capital city
of Persepolis was built during his
reign. Persepolis is in Iran.
326 BCE. Crossing the Indus (Sindhu)
river, he reached Takshashila. On the
way, he met with forceful opposition
from the local Indian kings. He defeated
them all and successfully reached the
Punjab. However, in this invasion, his
army had to suffer severe hardships. The
soldiers were eager to go back home.
They rebelled against Alexander and he
was forced to turn back. He, therefore,
appointed Greek officers to administer
the conquered territories. They were
called satraps. He started his return
journey but died on the way back in
323 BCE at Babylon. Today, Babylon
is in Iraq.
Alexander’s campaign led to an
increase in the trade between India and
the western world. The historians who
accompanied Alexander introduced India
to the western world through their
writings. Greek sculpture influenced
Indian art, giving rise to the Gandhara
school of art. The Greek kings minted
characteristic coins. On one side, the
coin had a picture of the king who had
minted the coin and on the other side, a
picture of a Greek god. The name of the
king was also written on the coin.
Alexander’s coins were of the same type.
7.1 The Greek Emperor Alexander’s
invasion
Alexander, the Greek emperor,
invaded India’s northwestern frontier in
Later, Indian kings also started minting
similar coins.
7.2 The Maurya Empire
Chandragupta Maurya :
Chandragupta Maurya founded the
Maurya Empire. People were tired of the
tyrannical rule of the Nanda king of
Magadha, Dhanananda. Chandragupta
Maurya brought it to an end and
established his own rule in Magadha
around 325 BCE. He won Avanti and
Saurashtra and began to extend the
boundaries of his empire. After
Alexander’s death, a struggle for power
began among the satraps he had
appointed. Seleucus Nicator was
Alexander’s General. He became the
King of Babylon after Alexander’s death.
He invaded the northwest frontier region
of India and the Punjab. Chandragupta
Maurya successfully resisted his
aggression. The defeat of Seleucus
Nicator led to the inclusion of the
northwest region of Kabul, Kandahar
and Herat in the Maurya Empire.
Vishakhadatta, the Sanskrit
playwright, wrote a play called
‘Mudrarakshasa’. It relates how
Chandragupta Maurya defeated
Dhanananda and established an
independent power. The plot gives
special importance to the contribution of
Arya Chanakya, also known as Kautilya.
Megasthenes, Seleucus Nicator’s
ambassador stayed back at Chandragupta
Maurya’s court. His book ‘Indica’ is an
important source for the study of India
during the Maurya period.
There is an inscription stating that
Emperor Chandragupta Maurya had built
a dam called ‘Sudarshan’ near Junagadh
Alexander’s silver coin - both sides in Gujarat State.
Emperor Ashoka : After
Chandragupta renounced the throne, he
was succeeded by his son Bindusara.
After Bindusara’s death, his son, Ashoka
succeeded to the throne in 273 BCE.
Ashoka had been appointed the Governor
of Takshashila and Ujjain before
he came to the throne. As the Governor,
he had successfully crushed the revolt at
Takshashila. After becoming the Emperor
of Magadha, he launched a campaign
against the State of Kalinga. Kalinga
occupied the region of today’s Odisha
State. Emperor Ashoka conquered
Kalinga.
Ashoka’s empire extended from
Afghanistan in the northwest and Nepal
in the north to Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh in the south, and from Bengal
in the east to Saurashtra in the west.
The Kalinga War : Ashoka was
deeply moved by the bloodshed of the
Kalinga war. He decided never to wage
a war again. He came to believe that
truth, non-violence, compassion and
forgiveness were the important values.
Ashoka wanted to spread these teachings
among the common people and therefore,
he had pillar edicts and stone inscriptions
engraved throughout his kingdom. These
writings are in the Brahmi script. In
these inscriptions, he is referred to as
‘Devanampiyo Piyadasi’ (Beloved-of theGods and He who Looks on with
Affection). Another inscription states that
eight years after he ascended the throne,
he made the conquest of Kalinga and
had a change of heart on seeing the
devastation it caused.
An inscription of Emperor Ashoka at
Delhi-Topda shows that he had put strict
restrictions on the hunting of bats,
monkeys, rhinoceroses and on setting fire
to forests.
Sri Lanka for the spread of Buddhism.
He also sent Bauddha bhikkhus to West
Asia and Central Asia for spreading
Buddhism. He also built many stupas
and viharas.
Emperor Ashoka
Emperor Ashoka’s work for the
spread of religion : Ashoka had
embraced Buddhism. He had convened
the Third Religious Council on Buddhism
at Pataliputra. Ashoka sent his own son
Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to
Public welfare activities : Emperor
Ashoka laid stress on the creation of
facilities for the welfare of the people.
For example, he made provisions for free
medicines and medical treatment for
people as well as for animals. He built
many roads and planted trees for shade
on both sides of the roads. He dug wells
and built dharmashalas.
Administration during the Maurya
period : Pataliputra was the capital of
the Maurya empire. For the sake of
administrative convenience, the empire
was divided into four regions, each with
its own capital.
1. Eastern region - Toshali (Odisha)
2. Western region - Ujjayani
(Madhya Pradesh)
3. Southern region - Suvarnagiri
(Kanakgiri in Karnataka)
4. Northern region - Takshashila
(Pakistan)
There was a Council of Ministers
which advised the King in matters of
administration. There were many officers
working at different levels. There was an
efficient intelligence service which kept
an eye on the administration and on the
movements of enemies.
Life of the people during the
Maurya period : During the Maurya
period, agricultural production had great
importance. Trade and other occupations had also prospered well. There were
many occupations like carving and
engraving on ivory, weaving and dyeing
cloth, and metal work. Black, glazed
pottery was also produced. Ship building
was carried out on a large scale. In
metal work, the technology of making
articles of other metals as well as those
of iron had developed.
Different festivals and functions were
celebrated in villages and towns. Dance
and music concerts were a part of
entertainment. Wrestling bouts and chariot
races were popular and so were board
games and chess. Chess was called
Ashtapad.
Art and Literature : During the period
of Emperor Ashoka, the art of rock cut
sculpture was promoted. The pillars erected
by Ashoka are excellent specimens of
Indian sculpture. There are excellent
carvings of animals like the lion, elephant,
bull on these pillars. The chakra or wheel
on the Ashoka pillar at Sarnath has a place of honour on the Indian national flag. The
pillar has lions on all four sides but only
three are visible from the front. This is the
official seal of the Government of India.
The cave sculptures at Barabar Hills carved
during the period of Ashoka are wellknown. These caves are in Bihar. They are
the oldest cave sculptures in India.After the death of Emperor Ashoka, the
Maurya Empire began to decline. After the
Mauryas, many new States and some
empires also emerged in India. The Maurya
Empire was the largest empire in ancient
India. In the next chapter, we shall discuss
the political and cultural happenings in the
post-Maurya period.
0 Comments