Paper I · 3 History of India & AP · APPSC Paper I

3.1.6 Mauryan empire notes

7 notes, in reading order.

  1. 3.1.6.1Sources for Mauryan history: Arthashastra, Indica and inscriptions

    Mauryan history is reconstructed from a text of statecraft (the Arthashastra), a lost Greek account (Indica), the edicts of Ashoka, Buddhist, Jain and Puranic traditions, and archaeology.

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
  2. 3.1.6.2Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara

    Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nandas with Chanakya's help, defeated Seleucus Nicator and built India's first large empire; his son Bindusara kept it together and extended it south.

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
  3. 3.1.6.3Ashoka: Kalinga war and the policy of dhamma

    After the bloody conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka gave up wars of conquest and spent his reign teaching dhamma, a code of ethical conduct, which he carved on rocks and pillars for his subjects.

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
  4. 3.1.6.4Ashokan inscriptions: rock edicts, pillar edicts and sites

    Ashoka's edicts, carved on rocks and polished pillars from the north-west to the south, are the earliest datable royal inscriptions of India and our best evidence for his policy.

    Standard · 6 min · Full course
  5. 3.1.6.5Mauryan administration and economy

    The Mauryan empire was run by a highly centralised bureaucracy under the king, with provincial governors, a large paid army, a network of spies, and an economy in which the state controlled agriculture, mines, trade and taxation.

    Standard · 6 min · Full course
  6. 3.1.6.6Mauryan art: pillars, stupas and the Barabar caves

    Mauryan art has two strands: court art (polished stone pillars, rock-cut caves, palace halls) under royal patronage, and popular art (yaksha and yakshi figures, terracotta, stupas).

    Standard · 5 min · Full course
  7. 3.1.6.7Later Mauryas and the decline of the empire

    The Mauryan empire lasted about 137 years and ended in c. 185 BCE when the last king, Brihadratha, was killed by his commander Pushyamitra Shunga; historians give several overlapping reasons for the decline.

    Standard · 5 min · Full course

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