Maurya Period

Maurya Period

Maurya Empire

Rise of the Mauryan Empire

The rise of  the Mauryan Empire in the 4th century BC is a landmark event in the history of India. The Mauryan Empire was the first single political power to established a monopoly in the Indian subcontinent.

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Chadragupta Maurya (324-300 BC) :

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• The Mauryan dynasty was founded by Chandragupta Maurya with the help of Chanakya or kautilya.
• He was the first sovereign king.
• Chandragupta Maurya advised Alexander to attack Magadha.
• Seleucus sent an ambassador Megasthenes to the Mauryan court.
• He defeated Seleucus in 305 BC.
• Seleucus surrendered a vast territory including Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, in return Chandragupta gifted 500 elephants to the Seleucus.
• Chandragupta Maurya passed his last days at Sravanbelagola near Mysore.

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Bindusara (300-273 BC):

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• Bindusara succeeded Chandragupta Maurya.
• During his reign, the king of Syria, Antiochus1 sent Deimachus as an ambassador.
• Bindusara was a follower of Ajivika sect.
• He was known as Amitraghata.

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Ashoka (273-232 BC):

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• Ashoka succeeded Bindusara.
• He used to call himself 'Devanamapriya' and 'Priyadarshi'.
• According to a Buddhist text he usurped the throne after killing his 99 brothers.
• Ashoka fought Kalinga war in 261 BC in the 9th year of his coronation.
• The reverberation of the war drum (Bheri Ghosha) was to be come the reverberation of the law (Dhamma Ghosha).
• Ashoka organised the third Buddhist council in the 18th year of his reign at Pataliputra in 250 BC.
• He sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sanghamitra to Sinhal (present Sri-Lanka) for preaching Buddhism.
• He sent missionsries to the kingdoms of Chola and Pandyas and five states ruled by kings.
• Ashoka banned animal sacrifice and set up a national charitable clinic for animals.
• Sanchi Sthupa, Sarnath and Asokan Pillars are the best art specimens of the Maurya Period. There are four lion statues at the top the pillar of Sarnath, which is currently the national emblem of India.

Ashokan Pillar

• There are four types of animals at the top of the Sarnath pillar - Elephant, Horse, Bull and Lion.
• Ashoka died in 232 BC.

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The last emperor of the Maurya dynasty was Brihadratha. Pushyamitra Sunga, the commander of Brihadratha, killed Brihadratha and established the Sunga dynasty in Magadha.

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