Mauryan Empire

Source: Simeon Netchev CC BY-NC-SA

Origin of the term ‘Maurya’

The origin of Maurya term itself has been a debate amongst historians. Though the name doesn’t occur in the Greek sources of Megasthanese or contemporary Ashoka inscription there are many instances where the name appears in Junagadh Rock Inscriptions of Rudradaman, Puranas followed by Buddhists, and Jain texts carrying the inscription of Moriyas as they connect them with the peacock emblem in the stupas built by them- thus considering them as Mauryas. Tamil works also name them as Moriyar and Kuntala inscription also has Maurya who once ruled that region.

According to Mudrarakshasha by Vishakadatta the Maurya name came from Chandragupta Maurya’s mother, Mura Devi. Though there is still some doubt regarding these terms and the origin of the dynasty name is still a topic of debate.

Establishment and extent of the Mauryan Empire

The beginning of the empire coincided with the Alexander’s invasion of India. The most commonly accepted point of origin is that the Prime Minister of Nanda Dynasty Dana Nanda acharya. Chanakya was insulted by Dana Nanda. Thus, Chanakaya left the capital of Dana Nanda Pataliputra and on his way he found kids playing and enacting a scene from the Royal Court. Here he found Chandragupta Maurya to be the brightest and took him under his wings, training him in various skills related to politics, administration, and military science. He essentially prepared him for the future. In the meantime, Alexander's invasion of Northwestern India and him facing the local rulers of the Paurava Kingdom ruled by Porus/Purushottama, Malav, and Sudrak republics literally caused panic amongst Alexander’s forces, and Alexander’s retreat was declared. Later Chandragupta Maurya gathered soldiers from many powerful chiefs of the Northwest and proceeded towards Pataliputra where there is speculation about the failure of the Chandragupta's army. However, later they slowly defeated the soldiers on all frontiers, finally laying siege to the capital of Nandas. Even though these accounts from various Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist sources clearly record the details of invasion, the forces used are not clearly mentioned or explained in the tales of the conquest of Chandragupta Maurya in Patliputra. In certain texts it mentions the exile of Dana Nanda while other texts claim he was killed. This event in 322 BC marked the Beginning of the Mauryan empire. Later with the Selucid Mauryan war which also extended to the defeat of Selucid army in 306-305BC by the Mauryan empire, Chandra gupta Maurya annexed the territory of Selucid empire upto Kandhar in present day Afghanistan. In Greek sources he was called as "Sandrakottus". After Selucid wars Chandragupta Maurya also defeated rulers south of Vindhya and Satpura.

Thus, he established a great and centralised empire from Pataliputra and ruled till 298BC. He ultimately crowned his son Bindusara to throne by becoming a monk under Jain Perceptor Bhadrabahu. Maurya took monkhood and died in Shravanabelagola in 295BC.

Succession of Bindusara

Bindusara the Amitrakhada the successor and son of Chandragupta Maurya and Durdhara was another great ruler. However, his records remain patchy as most records focus mostly on Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka while the contemporary records from Greek sources are major elements with reference to his time frame. His faith is questioned amongst historians as major Buddhists and Jain sources are silent about his faith while some claim that he follows Ajivika and others say he follows Hinduism. He got married to Dharma/Shubhadrangi. His rule was marked with crushing revolt in Vidarbha and he had three sons Suseema, Vitashoka, and Ashoka. There have been debates amongst historians about his conquest of Deccan on whether he conquered or just retained the territory inherited from his father. Finally, after his demise he was succeeded by Samrat Ashoka in 268 BC while Bindusara died in 273 BC. Ashoka came to power in 269/8 BC. According to Ashokavandhana or Divyavandhana, this might have happened because of family feuds. It's also said that he embraced Buddhism before the Kalinga war according to some sect of historians while others believe he embraced Buddhism after the Kalinga war around 261/0 BC. After observing the disaster that war caused to the common people and the suffering they faced, he took the path of non-violent methods. He built many stupas like Stupa of Sanchi, Lion capital of Saranath, and many others in his territory. It is said that he got married to Karuvaki in his inscription and Devi according to other sources. He followed Dhamma and established hospitals for both humans and animals. He organised Third Buddhist Sangha and he sent his Son Mahinda and Sangamitra to Srilanka to spread Buddhism. There have been controversies about the punishment that he gave to people after he embraced Buddhism. He was succeeded by his grandson Dasaratha after his demise in 232BC. It was after his demise, that due to weak successors, the Mauryan empire faced a rapid decline and shrunk in territory. Finally, the last ruler of Mauryan empire Brihadratha was assassinated by Pushyamitra Shunga of Shunga Empire who was the commander in chief of the Mauryan empire.

The empire had a great mode of administration from the time of its founder Chandragupta Maurya as it was a centralised empire and it reached both the Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea. To maintain such a huge empire regional governors and other posts were established and many administration reforms were carried out. The administration was classified according to territories; village known as gramin and administered by gramika, Nagarika had its own council. The Gramika council focussed on maintaining the village and building infrastructure necessary for the village welfare while Nagarika focussed on maintenance of trade guilds, standards, and issuing permits. Army administration was another arm which focussed solely on maintenance of the strong standing Army and its training. There were special bureaus for crime and punishment. King was advised and assisted by Amatyaparishad council of ministers. Being a centralised empire, it focussed on development of internal trade and commerce along with external trade. They also focussed on building irrigation and waterways as a means of transportation within the empire and this increased flow of trade and development in agricultural practice. To train elephants for Army Mauryan empire maintained forests and they designated forests officials for its upkeep and to measure the resources. Thus, the empire had bureaucracy which kept the things accountable. Many bandits and thievery on highways were promptly punished. Overall development of issuing single currency simplified the trade. The merchant guilds were empowered to train the craftsman and were employed based on their credentials. The Empire had an intelligence system in place to keep away threats from both external and internal enemies.

The Mauryan empire overall had a greater impact in Indian history for the ages that came after them.