Maurya Empire

Legacy

The Mauryas first unified most of the Indian subcontinent, and Ashoka's lion capital and wheel are now India's national emblem and the symbol on its flag.

Timeline of Maurya Empire

1. 321 BCE
   Chandragupta overthrows the Nandas; Pataliputra becomes the capital

   Alexander's invasion and early death left north-western India in turmoil. A young leader, Chandragupta Maurya, helped according to later tradition by his mentor Chanakya, rose against the unpopular Nanda dynasty of Magadha in the Ganges valley. He besieged and took the Nanda capital, Pataliputra (near modern Patna), and made it his own; the conquest is usually dated c. 322–319 BCE, though the order of events is debated. He also drove out the Greek garrisons Alexander had left in the Punjab, and by about 317 BCE his new empire reached from the Ganges basin to the Indus.

2. 305 BCE
   War with Seleucus I begins (305–303 BCE)

   Seleucus I, who had won the eastern half of Alexander's empire, wanted to recover the Indian provinces that Alexander had conquered. Sometime between 305 and 303 BCE he crossed the Indus to fight Chandragupta, whose army, it was said, could number hundreds of thousands of men and thousands of war elephants. Almost nothing is known about the fighting: the Greek writers name no clear victor, and no Indian source mentions the war at all. What is clear is that Seleucus did not win back the Indus lands, and chose to negotiate with his powerful neighbour instead.

3. 302 BCE
   Peace: Seleucus cedes eastern lands for 500 war elephants

   The war ended in a treaty, usually dated c. 303–302 BCE. Seleucus handed Chandragupta his easternmost satrapies, certainly Gandhara, the Paropamisadae and eastern Gedrosia, and possibly also Arachosia and Aria, and in return received 500 war elephants with their drivers. A marriage alliance was agreed as well, probably Chandragupta marrying a daughter of Seleucus, and the Greek envoy Megasthenes later lived at the Mauryan court. The Mauryan frontier moved west into what is now Afghanistan, while the elephants helped Seleucus win the battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.

4. 298 BCE
   Bindusara succeeds and extends rule into the Deccan

   After Chandragupta's reign ended c. 298 BCE, his son Bindusara inherited an empire stretching across northern India. Greek writers called him Amitrochates, probably from a Sanskrit title meaning 'slayer of enemies'. A 16th-century Tibetan author claims his minister destroyed the kings of 16 towns and made him master of the land between the eastern and western seas. Some historians read this as a conquest of the Deccan, while others think Bindusara only crushed revolts and kept what his father had won. He also kept up friendly ties with the Seleucids, whose ambassador Deimachos lived at his court.

5. 268 BCE
   Ashoka becomes emperor

   Before becoming emperor, Bindusara's son Ashoka served as a royal governor, at Ujjain or in Gandhara according to different traditions, and is said to have put down a revolt at Taxila. Buddhist legends claim that his succession was disputed and that he killed his eldest brother, even 99 half-brothers, to take the throne, but these stories cannot be confirmed. He became emperor around 269–268 BCE, ruling from Pataliputra. His empire covered most of the Indian subcontinent, from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east.

6. 261 BCE
   Kalinga War; its carnage turns Ashoka towards Buddhism

   Kalinga was an independent kingdom on India's east coast, in present-day Odisha, whose ports and navy controlled trade across the Bay of Bengal. In his eighth regnal year, c. 261 BCE (some date it to c. 260), Ashoka conquered it in one of the largest and deadliest wars in Indian history. His own edict records that 150,000 people were deported and 100,000 killed, with many more dying afterwards, and says he felt 'deep remorse'. Kalinga was added to the empire, but Ashoka turned away from conquest towards dhamma (righteous conduct) and, gradually, Buddhism.

7. 232 BCE
   Ashoka dies; a series of weaker rulers follows

   Ashoka spent the rest of his reign promoting dhamma through edicts carved on rocks and pillars across his empire, and sent envoys westward to the Hellenistic kingdoms. When he died in 232 BCE, none of his sons took the throne; his grandson Dasharatha succeeded him. For about 50 years a series of weaker emperors followed, and the empire may have been divided in two. Many territories were lost under Dasharatha and partly regained by Samprati, but after him the Mauryas slowly lost more and more land, and the empire on the map shrinks back towards Magadha.

8. 185 BCE
   Pushyamitra Shunga assassinates Brihadratha, ending the dynasty

   By the early 2nd century BCE the Mauryan realm had shrunk to its heartland around Pataliputra, while the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius was invading the north-west. Brihadratha, the last Maurya emperor, was assassinated by his own army commander, Pushyamitra Shunga, during a military parade, according to a later literary account. The killing is usually dated 185 BCE, though some put it as late as 180. Pushyamitra founded the Shunga Empire in the old Mauryan heartland of the Ganges valley, while the Indo-Greeks took over the north-west: the Maurya Empire had come to an end.

Periods and reigns

• Chandragupta Maurya 321–298 BCE
• Bindusara 298–272 BCE
• Ashoka 268–232 BCE
• Dasharatha 232–224 BCE
• Samprati 224–215 BCE
• Shalishuka 215–202 BCE
• Devavarman 202–195 BCE
• Shatadhanvan 195–187 BCE
• Brihadratha 187–185 BCE

Rulers

• Chandragupta Maurya c. 322 – 298 BCE

  Founder; overthrew the Nanda dynasty

• Bindusara c. 298 – 273 BCE

  Extended the empire south

• Ashoka c. 268 – 232 BCE

  Conquered Kalinga, then embraced Buddhism and non-violence

• Brihadratha c. 187 – 185 BCE

  Last emperor, killed by his general Pushyamitra Shunga

Realms on the map

• Maurya Empire 318–185 BCE

Chapters

• The world in 300 BCE: Heirs of Alexander
• The world in 200 BCE: Rome and Han Rise