Today in this article we are going to tell you about the history of Maurya dynasty (321-184 BC).
History of Maurya Dynasty (321-184 BC)
Chandragupta Maurya established the Maurya Empire in 323 – 321 BC by destroying the last emperor of the Nanda dynasty, Ghanananda, from the throne of Magadha. Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka were the great rulers of this dynasty. Along with the expansion of the kingdom, he established an empire with public welfare. Political integration during the Maurya period encouraged safe trade and commerce and led to all-round economic development.
Chandragupta Maurya (321-298 BC)
There are conflicting details in Brahmin and Jain texts about the birth of Chandragupta Maurya. According to the argument which is determined after critical review of various evidences, Chandragupta was a Kshatriya of the Maurya dynasty. Chandragupta's Brishal has been said in Mudrarakshas. According to some scholars Vrishala is called Shudra.
Chandragupta was born in an ordinary family. Despite this, all the signs of a bright future were present in it since childhood. When Chandragupta was in his mother's womb, his father died in a frontier war and his mother was taken by his brothers to Pataliputra for the purpose of protection. Chandragupta was born in Pataliputra itself. After birth, it was handed over to a cow rearer. The cow keeper raised him like his own son in the cowshed.
When Chandragupta grew up, Gopalak sold him to a hunter. His childhood was spent with Mayur Pal, with the parents, among the shepherds etc. Chandragupta was very talented since childhood. He gained prominence among the boys from his counterpart. He often used to solve the disputes arising between the boys' troupe like a king.
One day when he was busy in a game called Rajkeelam, while going through that road, Chanakya guessed the future of the child Chandragupta with his subtle vision. Taxila was a famous center of education at that time. There, Chandragupta became proficient in all the disciplines by getting proper education of all the necessary arts and disciplines. Here he got a better education in martial arts.
Alexander died prematurely in 323 – 322 BC in Babylon. Philip II, the chief Greek satrap of the Upper Indus Valley, was assassinated in 325 BC, at the same time Chandragupta made elaborate plans to fulfill his purpose.
The task for which Chanakya had prepared Chandragupta had two objectives - first to free the country from the foreign rule of the Greeks, secondly to end the tyrannical rule of Nando. Chandragupta first prepared an army, made Shivam the king and after that started the struggle against Alexander's satrap.
Departure to Magadha
After this Chandragupta Chanakya left for Magadha to destroy Ghanananda. According to Buddhist and Jain beliefs, Chandragupta first attacked the central part of the Nanda Empire but he did not get success.
Realizing his mistake, he attacked the capital of the Nandas, conquering the frontier region for the second time. A fierce battle ensued, Ghananand was killed. Till now, Magadha became the ruler of a vast empire of India. After the death of Alexander, his commander Seleucus Nicator succeeded his eastern territories.
Seleucus again invaded India around 305 BC to retake the territories of India conquered by Alexander. Seleucus fought Chandragupta by crossing the Indus river. In which he was defeated by Chandragupta. After this there was a treaty between the two and a matrimonial relationship was established.
Chandragupta's soldier is under the treaty signed between him
Seleucus gave Chandragupta the provinces of Arkosiriya and Peropnisdai (Kabul) and parts of the area satrapies. Chandragupta gifted 500 Indian elephants to Seleucus. According to some scholars, Seleucus married one of his daughters to Chandragupta Maurya under a treaty to establish a matrimonial relationship between the two kings.
Seleucus sent an ambassador named Megasthenes to Pataliputra in the court of Chandragupta Maurya (in 305 BC) who stayed in Pataliputra for a long time. Megasthenes wrote a book on India called Indica.
Now the empire of Chandragupta Maurya started touching the border of the Parsik Empire and a large part of Afghanistan was also included under it. Chandragupta's suzerainty over Kandahar is confirmed by Ashoka's inscription received from there. From this time political relations started between India and Greece, which continued even in the time of Bindusara and Ashoka.
Conquest of West India
Chandragupta Maurya conquered Saurashtra in western India and included it under his direct rule. According to the Girnar inscription (150 BC) of Rudradaman, Pushya Gupta was the governor of Chandragupta Maurya, who had built the Sudarshan lake there. Sopara in the south of Saurashtra was conquered and ruled by Chandragupta Maurya.
South Victory
In the south, Chandragupta Maurya conquered as far as northern Karnataka. According to Jain sources, Chandragupta accepted Jainism in the last days of his life and went for penance at the same place (near Mysore) which was in his empire. This proves that he had the right till Shravanabelagola.
expansion of empire
The tradition of the rise of the Magadha Empire, which started during the period of Bimbisara, reached its climax during the time of Chandragupta. His vast empire, from the border of Iran in the north-west to present-day Karnataka in the south, and from Magadha in the east to Saurashtra and Sopara in the west, was under his empire.
The Hindukush mountain was the scientific frontier of India. Greek writers have called Hindukunsh as Indian Caucasus. It was here that Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus. The capital of the entire vast Magadha Empire was Pataliputra.
Evaluation of Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya (321 – 298 BC), the founder of the Maurya Empire, is also called the liberator of India, as he liberated India from the domination of the Greeks. According to Kautilya's Arthashastra, Chandragupta Maurya also created the administrative system, which was the first nationwide system of governance developed in the Indian subcontinent. The administration was centralized and rigid. Taxes were plentiful and registration of the general public was mandatory.
Ashoka gave this administrative system a liberal and welfare form. In the Indica of Megasthenes, along with a detailed discussion of the city administration of Rajasthani Patliputra, there is also a discussion of 6 committees to look after the city administration.
At the end of his reign there was a severe famine of 12 years in Magadha. According to Jain traditions, he became a Jain in the last days of his life and took the discipleship of Bhadrabahu. A small hill of Shravanabelagola is still called Chandragiri and there is also a temple named Chandragupta Basti. Bhadrabahu and Chandragupta Muni are also mentioned in many later writings.
Chanakya
Chanakya, the guru and prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, was a great scholar and pundit. He was also known as Vishnugupta or Kotilya. Chanakya was born in a Brahmin clan named Kuthil of Taxila and was the chief teacher of the education center of Taxila.
He was a great knower of Vedas, Shastras, politics and diplomacy. In the Puranas, he has been called the best Brahmin. Once King Nanda of Magadha humiliated him in the yagyashala, who got angry and vowed to destroy the Nanda dynasty completely.
When Chandragupta Maurya became the sole emperor of the vast Magadha Empire or India, Kautilya rose to the position of prime minister and chief priest. According to Jain texts, after the death of Chandragupta, his son Bindusara ascended the throne, while Kautilya remained the Prime Minister for some time during his period.
Chanakya's Arthashastra is the oldest available book on Hindu Rajshasan.
Economics
It is a creation of the Maurya period, in which the ideas of Kautilya, the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya, have been presented by him himself. Later, some passages were added by other authors in the Arthashastra, which changed the nature of the original book. The original text (Arthashastra) can be considered to be a composition of the 4th century BC.
There are 15 tribunals and 180 cases in economics. In this book, the number of its verses has been given as 4000. The Maurya Empire remained the pride of Chandragupta's successor Bindusara. Foreign relations also developed and the Greek envoy Democlus remained in his court.