Mauryan Age

 

Introduction

• The Maurya Empire (322 – 185 B.C.E.), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India.
• Chandragupta Maurya founded the Empire in 322 B.C.E., after overthrowing the Nanda Dynasty.

 

Origin and Expansion

• In the wake of the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, conquered the Punjab region from the south-eastern edges of Alexander’s former empire.
• Now enjoying peace along the western border, Chandragupta was free to focus his military exploits to the east and to the south.
  • By the end of his reign, he had extended his empire across northern India.
• His son, Bindusara, continued the empire’s expansion well into the Deccan, stopping around the region known today as Karnataka.
• Bindusara’s son, Ashoka (reigned c. 265–238 BCE or c. 273–232 BCE), added Kalinga to the already vast empire.
  • That addition would be the last, however, as the brutal conquest of that region led Ashoka to abandon military conquest.
  • Rather, he embraced Buddhism and instituted dharma as the state ideology.
• After Ashoka’s death the empire shrank because of invasions, defections by southern princes, and quarrels over ascension.
• The last ruler, Brihadratha, was killed in 185 BCE by his Brahman commander in chief, Pushyamitra, who then founded the Shunga dynasty, which ruled in central India for about a century.

 

Achievements

Chandragupta Maurya (322BC-298BC)

• Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of Mauryan empire, succeeded to the Nanda throne in about 321 B.C. at the age of twenty five.
• The historical texts has it that the Brahmana Kautilya, was his mentor and guide
• His Political Achievements Include:
  • Victory over Nandas
    • Chandragupta took advantage of the growing unpopularity of the Nandas in the last years of their rule .
    • He overthrew the Nandas and established the rule of Mauryan empire
  • Victory over the Greeks
    • The Seleucids, a contending dynasty for Alexander’s legacy, attempted to advance into India in 305 BCE.
      • However, they were defeated and, after the conclusion of a treaty, the Seleucids and the Mauryans maintained friendly relations.
    • Victory over Southern India
      • The victory of Chandragupta Maurya over Southern India is mentioned in Ashoka‟a inscriptions, Jain texts and Sangam literature. He gained control over the area of Northern Karnataka
    • According to Jain sources, Chandragupta embraced Jainism towards the end of his life and stepped down from the throne in the favour if his son.
      • Accompanied by Bhadrabahu, a Jain saint, and several other monks, he is said to have gone to Sravana Belgola in Karnataka.
    • Chandragupta Maurya was a great warrior, empire builder and a skilled administrator.
      • He became the first great historical emperor of India.
      • He is regarded as the first ruler of the integrated India

 

Ashoka (273BC – 232BC)

• He was the son of Bindusara. Right from his childhood Ashoka showed great promise in the field of administration.
  • Bindusara, impressed by his skill and knowledge appointed him as the governor of Ujjain/Avanti.
• After becoming a ruler Ashoka fought a single battle that was the battle of Kalinga
  • This war is mentioned in the 13th Major Rock Edict.
  • Ashoka fought this battle in the 8th year of his reign in 261BC
  • The bloodshed in this war, had a deep impact on Ashoka which ultimately changed his personality from a warrior, to a saint as a result of which he gave up the policy of Digvajaya and adopted the policy of Dhammavijaya.
• Ashoka’s Dhamma
  • Initially Ashoka followed Brahmin religion. . But after the Kalinga war he converted himself to Buddhism
  • After embracing Buddhism he remained a simple adorer for 2.5years. Then he entered Buddhist sangha and became a Bhikshu Gatik (those who lived for sometime in viharas are known as Bhikshu Gatik).
  • But he never became a Buddhist monk rather always remained an adorer.
  • The definition of Dhamma is produced by Ashoka in his 2nd and 7th pillar edict.
  • Ashoka mentioned a few good points of Dhamma in his inscriptions such as:
    • No killing of humans.
    • No destruction of properties.
    • To serve and respect parents and adults.
    • To respect the mentors and teachers.
    • Good behavior with the slaves and servants.
    • To spend less.
    • To preserve less.
  • In the 13th Major Rock Edict Ashoka considers Dhammavijaya to be the greatest victory.
  • Ashoka was the first ruler in the world history carried out this policy of Dhamma imperialiste victory without violence.
  • For the propagation of Dhamma Ashoka appointed a new category of ministers named ”Dhammamahamatra”.
    • In his 5th Major Rock Edict Ashoka mentions about the appointment of royal officials in the 13th year of his reign (256BC).
    • Besides Dhammamahamatras other officials such as Yukta, Rajukka, Pradeshika etc., too were given the responsibility of propagating the principles of Dhamma.
  • Thus, Ashoka is always remembered among the great rulers of Indian history.

Mauryan Society

• Varna system
  • Varna system had completely developed during the time of Mauryas.
    • There were four types of Varna i.e Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra and their work was decided according to their Varna .
  • Apart from these four Varnas Kautilya in his Arthashastra talked about Varnashankaras such as Nishad, Magadh, Sut, Veg, Chandals, etc. Kautilya considered them to be Shudras.
• Sati system
  • Kautilya has not given any information about sati system.
  • But Strabo mentioned that sati system was prevalent among the Kath tribes of Punjab.

• Entertainment / Amusement
  • There were several ways of entertainment such as hunting, acting, magic, drama, painting, etc. Citizens use to entertain themselves through Vihara-yatra, Samaj and Pravahana.
  • Pravahana was a social function which included a gathering when organized

 

Mauryan Art and Architecture

• Court Art
  • Royal Buildings
    • The Greek historian Megasthenes described the palaces of the Mauryan empire as one of the greatest creation of mankind and Chinese traveller Fa-Hian called Mauryan palaces as god gifted monuments or the monuments built by god not by humans.
    • About Patliputra Megasthenese mentions, it had 64 entrances and 570 towns.
  • Pillars
    • The majestic free standing Ashokan pillars symbolize the axis of the world that separated heaven and earth.
    • Ashoka mainly used these pillars for the propagation of Dhamma
    • Ashoka’s first pillar was found from Vaishali known as Koluha pillar.
    • In terms of art and architecture Sarnath pillar of Ashoka is the best example of it
    • Motifs associated with pillars:
      • One Lion– It appears on the pillars of Vaishali, Lauriya Nandangarh and Rampurva pillars.
      • Elephant – An elephant capital was found at Sankisha.
      • Bull– It was found on the Rampurva pillars.
      • Four Lions– On Sarnath and Sanchi pillars.

 

Sarnath Pillar

• Caves
  • The Mauryan period saw the beginning of rock cut cave architecture.
  • The Barabar and Nagarjuni hills contain several caves which are built by Ashoka and Dasharatha.
  • The caves are simple but have highly polished interiors.
  • The only sculpture ornamentation is a relief carving on the doorway of a cave known as Lomas Rishi Cave.
  • These caves were dedicated by Ashoka and Dashratha to the Ajivakas.

Lomas Rishi Cave

• Stupas
  • Stupas were burial mounds prevalent in India from Vedic period
  • Stupas consist of a cylindrical drum with a circular dome and a Harmika and a Chhatra on the top.
    • A circular terrace(medhi) enclosed by a railing, surrounds the dome, on which the faithful are to circumnutate in a clockwise direction and this gallery is known as
    • The entire structure is enclosed by a low wall called Vedika, which is punctuated at the four cardinal points by Toranas(gateways).
  • Sanchi stupa in Madhya Pradesh is the most famous of the Ashokan stupas.
  • Piprahwa stupa in Uttar Pradesh is the oldest one.
  • There are several important stupas which were built by Ashoka for example: Bharhut stupa, Sanchi stupa, Dharmarajjika stupa at Sarnath and Taxila, Bodhgaya stupa and Bairat stupa.
  • Ashoka reign marked an important stage in the history of Buddhist stupa

Sanchi Stupa

• Viharas
  • The Viharas in India were originally constructed to shelter the monks during the rainy season, when it became difficult for them to lead the wanderer’s life.
  • In Patliputra Ashoka built Ashokaram vihara and Kakuttaram

Vihara.

• Folk Art
  • Stone Sculpture
    • Several large stone sculptures have been found at various sites in and around Patna , Mathura , Madhya Pradesh and other places.
    • Many of them represent Yaksha and Yakshi.
  • Terracotta
    • They flourished with the expansion of the urban centres.
    • They include male and female figurines, animals and carts.

• Pottery pf the Mauryan period is generally referred to as Northern Black Polished Ware(NBPW).
• Kosambi and Patliputra were the centres of NBPW pottery.

 

Mauryan Economy

• Revenue System and Taxation
  • The primary source of revenue for the state was land revenue.
  • The royal share of the produce of the soil is known as Bhaga, generally amounted to one-sixth.
  • There were  two types of lands:
    • State land/ Rajkiya Bhoomi- the income derived from this land was known as Sita. Those farmers who used their own seeds and farming tools for doing agriculture use to keep half of the produce to themselves and those farmers who were provided with seeds and farming by the state were allowed to keep one-third or one-fourth with themselves and rest part was sent to the state.
    • Private land/ Niji Bhoomi– the income derived from this land was known as Bhaga. This land belonged to the

farmers . They had to pay one-fourth or one-sixth as tax.

• Tax was collected both in cash and kind.
• Rajukka did the measurement of land.
• Tax free villages were known as Pariharaka and tax free land was known as Udwalik or Parihar.
• There was also a concept of emergency tax known as Pranay tax .
• According to Kautilya this tax could only be imposed once during the reign of a king.
• These were various other sources of income of the state. The state charged toll tax and trade tax on the article sold. There was forest tax, tax on intoxicants, mine tax, irrigation tax,etc.
• Under the Mauryas, some groups of the people were exempted from taxes. Brahmanas , students, women, blind, deaf,etc were exempted from taxation.
• Agriculture
  • Most important feature of the economy was agriculture.
  • Kautilya mentioned about three crops in a year whereas Megasthenese mentions about two types of crops.
  • The economy of the state was based on agriculture, animal husbandry and trade. These three were all together known as Varta.
  • It was during the Mauryan period that the transition to agriculture was completed in India and agriculture became the basic economic activity of the people.
  • The principal crops were rice, barley, millet and wheat. There are also references to sugarcane, fruits and vegetables.
• Industries
  • The prime industry during the Mauryas were spinning and weaving
    • Madura, Aparant, Kalinga, Kashi, Vatsa and Mahishmati are mentioned as important cotton textile centre in Kautilya’s Arthashastra .
  • In the same context, Kautilya mentions linen fabrics of Kasi and Pundra
  • As regards to costlier textiles, there were references to silk cloth. Kautilya mentions Kauseya along with Chinese fabric of Chinese manufacture
  • The manufacture of wool was an old and indigenous industry. Kautilya refers to varieties of fabrics of sheep’s wool.
• Communication and Transport
  • Roads and ports were important ways of communication. There were mainly four roads:
    • Uttarapath– Purushpur to Tamralipti. According to Megasthenese this road was 1300 miles long. It was

constructed by Chandragupta Maurya and during the reign of Sher Shah Suri this road was known as Sadak-iazam. During the time of Lord Auckland it was known as Grand Trunk Road.

• Dakshinapath– Shravasti to Pratishthan.
• The third road connected Bhrigukacch to Mathura.
• The fourth road began from Champa to Kaushambi
• Ports
  • Barbairikam- It was located in Sindh , Bhrigukacch(Bharoach)- Greeks called it Berigaja, sopra, these three ports were situated in the western parts of the empire. Tamralipti was the important port on the eastern side
  • Kautilya in his Arthashastra mentioned about the import duties which was 10% on the imported goods.
  • State also participated directly in trade and commerce. State had monopoly over some products such as wine, salt, mine, ships, forest,etc.
  • The highest authority of trade was known as
• Trade and Commerce
  • External trade was carried on with Syria, Egypt, Greece,etc. in the west
  • After the conquest of Kalinga with its sea port on the eastern coast of India. It was carried on with the countries of South-East Asia and China.

• The chief articles of export were spices, pearls, diamonds, sandalwoods, ivory, cotton cloth, silk yarn, muslin, etc.
• The principal imports were linen, silver, gold, dry fruits, etc
• Further, an important aspect of Mauryan economy was the state monopoly of mining and metallurgy. It was a source of great income.
  • The superintendent of mining was Akradhyaksha whose duty was to prospect for new mines and reopen old and disused ones
• Coins
  • In Arthashastra coins were called as Roop.
  • Other types of coins were:
    • Nishaka/Suvarna- Gold coins.
    • Karshapan/ Dharan/ Pann- silver coin
    • Mashak/ kakini- there were copper coins.
  • In Arthashastra it is mentioned that there were state minting factories also and its head was known as Lakshanadhyaksha.
  • Rupdarshaka was known as the examiner of coins.
  • The economic month of Mauryas started from July
  • Apart from these, there were also called punch marked coins.
    • Several images such as of snakes, peacock, trees were punched on these coins.
    • The coins had only images and did have any information or inscription written on it.

 

The Mauryan Administration

• The Mauryas organized a huge administrative system. A detailed account of it is produced in the Indica of Megasthenes and Arthashastra of Kautilya.
• King
  • The king was the pivotal head of the state. He had legislative, executive and judicial power.
  • He was the supreme commander of the army and planned military operations with Commander-in-chief
  • King was assisted by his council of ministers which were headed by

Mantriparishadadhyaksha.

• The Mantriparishada was also head of the civil servants called Adhyakshas or Amatyas who kept in touch with all sections of the society and made a highly skilled secretariat divided into several departments.
• Some of these departments and their Adhyakshas are listed below:
  • Sannidhata(Royal Treasury)
  • Akaradhyaksha( Mines superintendent)
  • Suvarnaadhyaksha(gold superintendent)
  • Panyaadhyaksha(commerce superintendent)
  • Kupyadhyaksha(forest officer)
  • Lavanadhyaksha(Salt department)
  • Sitadhyaksha(Agriculture)
• Ministers
  • The council of ministers is called Parishad.
  • Kautilya refers to two kinds of ministers i.e the Mantrins and the Amatyas.
  • The Mantrins constituted the inner circle of the Parishad which corresponded to the modern cabinet.
  • Policies were framed by the cabinet while the Amaytas carried them out.
• The ministers were no doubt directly responsible to the king for the due discharge of their duties.
• Paura-Janapada
  • The Paura Janapada was the assembly of the people of the town and the country.
  • This assembly could demand Anguttaras or favours from the king in times of crisis.
  • This assembly could undertake social work and give relief to the poor and helpless.

The Paura Janapada acted as a powerful check on royal authority

• Governor
  • In each province there was a governor or viceroy who was sometimes a prince of royal blood.
  • The princes, when appointed as viceroys were called Kumar Mahamatras while the rest of the viceroys were simply designated as Mahamatras.
• Provinces were further divided into mandals (commissionaires) and its head was known as Pradeshta
• District Administration/ Aahar/ Vishay
  • Each was administered by officers i.e Pradeshika, Yukta and Rajukka.
  • Pradeshika was senior and Rajukka was subordinate. Yukta was subordinate to both of them.
  • It was duty of Pradeshika to tour the kingdom every five year

and collect details of the administration.

• The revenue and general administration was carried on in the districts by Sthanikas and Gopas with their own staffs of officials.
  • The Gopa had charge of five to ten villages in which he supervised the maintenance of boundaries, registered gifts, sales and mortgages and kept an accurate census of the people and their material resources.
  • The Sthanika had similar duties in the district under his charge and the Gopa necessarily functioned under him.
• The Sthanikas were responsible to Samaharta who commanded the services of Pradeshtris who were identical with the Pradeshikas of the Ashoka inscription for the supervision of local administration.
• Village Administration
  • The village was the smallest unit of administration incharge of an official called Gramika
  • Also, village elders(gram-viddhas) are often mentioned in the Arthshastra and they had a share in guiding and assisting the people generally and assisting the officials of the government in disposing of petty disputes arising in the village.
• Municipal Administration
  • According to Megasthenese, Patliputra was controlled by a municipal commission of 30 members who were divide into 6 boards of five members each.
• All the municipal commissioners in their collective capacity were required to control all the affairs of the city and keep in order the markets, temples, harbours and public works.
• Judicial Administration
  • The Mauryan state had very efficient judicial system.
  • The king was the fountain head of justice.
  • There were two classes of courts.
    • Dharmasthiya(diwani) were civil courts which decided cases relating to contract, gift, aggrement, sales, marriages,etc.
    • Kantakshodhan(faujdari) courts were criminal courts which dealt with the cases of theft, robbery, murder, sex offences,etc
  • The Supreme Court was at the capital and was presided by the king as the chief justice.
  • There were subordinate courts at the headquarters of the provinces, divisions and districts.
  • Villages had in addition popular courts consisting of village elders who tried minor case
• Espionage
  • Kautilya had put a great emphasis on the espionage system which was intended to promote progress, efficiency and stability in the state.
  • Mahamatyapasharpa was the head of the spies.
  • Mainly there were two types of spies:
    • Sanstha- they were stationed at one place.
    • Sanchara- they used to wander in the empire

 

Military Organisation

• The Mauryas maintained a large well equipped army which was three times larger than the Nandas.
• The Mauryan army consisted of four wings i.e the infantry, the cavalry, the elephants and chariots
• The Arthashastra refers to camel and as corps as well
• The administration of the army was looked after by a war office consisting of 30 members who were divided six boards of 5 members each.

 

Decline and Disintegration of the Mauryan Empire

• The Mauryan Empire was the first empire in the history of India.
• The empire turned unfortunate in its last few years and began to decline due to the following reasons:
  • The neutral policies of Ashoka failed to support supremacy of the Brahmins
    • Ashoka’s policies agitated the Brahmins which led to their anti-reactions and ultimately to the Brahmanic revolution.
    • This is proved by the murder of Brihadratha the last Mauryan emperor by his Brahmin commander-in-chief Pushyamitra Sunga

• Exploitative rule of provincial Amatyas
  • There are evidences of local revolts during the time of Bindusara as well as Ashoka at Taxila.
  • This depicts that the Amatyas were turning despotic gradually.
• Extreme centralization of administration and power
  • There was a lack of sovereignty among all the administrative units as right from centre to the lowest unit of administration was intervened by the state.
  • A strong network of bureaucrats and spies established in every nooks and corners of the empire.
  • This complicated the whole system.
  • After the death of Ashoka the weak successors led to the weakening of the state which led to the transformation of administration from centralized to decentralized and ultimately contributed to the decline of the empire
• Weak successors and disintegration of the empire
  • This was the most important factor behind the success of the Magadha imperialism was the rise of strong rulers one after another but after Ashoka the graph declined and weak successors succeeded him one after another