The Mauryan Empire
Founded by Chandragupta Maurya, the Mauryas built India's first great empire, reaching its height under Ashoka.
The big idea
Think first
A king won the bloodiest war of his life, and then swore never to fight again. What did Ashoka see at Kalinga that changed the course of an empire?
Out of the powerful kingdom of Magadha grew India's first great empire, the Mauryan Empire. For the first time, most of the subcontinent came under a single rule, governed from the city of Pataliputra. Its most famous ruler, Ashoka, is remembered across the world as a king who, after a terrible war, chose peace. The Mauryas are one of the most important and heavily tested topics in ancient history.
Chandragupta and Chanakya
The stage was set by a foreign invasion. In 326 BCE, Alexander of Macedon invaded north-west India. At that time the Nanda dynasty still ruled Magadha. Alexander soon turned back, and the power vacuum he left in the north-west helped an ambitious young man seize his chance.
That man was Chandragupta Maurya. He overthrew the Nandas and founded the empire around 321 BCE. Keep the order straight: Alexander's invasion came first, under Nanda rule, and Chandragupta's rise followed about five years later. He was guided by his clever minister Chanakya (also called Kautilya). Chanakya's famous book, the Arthashastra, set out the principles of statecraft, economics and war.
Chandragupta built a large empire stretching across northern India and into the north-west. In his last years he is said to have given up his throne and become a Jain monk. Centuries later, the playwright Visakhadatta dramatised this founding story in his Sanskrit play Mudrarakshasa. The play depicts the court intrigues around Chandragupta's rise and Chanakya's scheming role in it.
What the Arthashastra says about slavery
The Arthashastra was not only a manual of war and taxes. It also laid down rules that softened slavery:
- Freedom through motherhood: a female slave who bore her master a son became legally free.
- Status of the child: such a son held the legal status of the master's own son.
- Limits on enslavement: judicial punishment was not a recognised cause of slavery.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2022UPSCAccording to Kautilya's Arthashastra, which of the following are correct?
- A person could be a slave as a result of a judicial punishment.
- If a female slave bore her master a son, she was legally free.
- If a son born to a female slave was fathered by her master, the son was entitled to the legal status of the master's son.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Previous-year question
2002UPSCThe ancient Indian play Mudrarakshasa of Visakhadatta has its subject on: a) A conflict between Gods and Demons of ancient Hindu lore b) A romantic story of an Aryan prince and a tribal woman c) The story of the power struggle between two Aryan tribes d) The court intrigues at the time of Chandragupta Maurya
Previous-year question
2000UPSCWhich one of the following dynasties was ruling over North India at the time of Alexander's invasion?
Mauryan administration
The Mauryas ruled a vast territory from their grand capital at Pataliputra. To hold it together they built a strong administration:
- The empire was divided into provinces, each governed by a prince or governor.
- A large body of officials collected taxes, ran the cities and maintained roads.
- A network of spies kept the ruler informed.
- A huge standing army of infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephants defended and expanded the empire.
Below the provinces came the districts. Ashoka's inscriptions name three district-level officers, and examiners love to test the trio:
- Pradeshika: the head of district administration.
- Rajuka: an officer responsible for land measurement and rural justice.
- Yukta: a junior officer who handled accounts and records.
The Greek ambassador Megasthenes, who visited the court, left a vivid account of Pataliputra and its government.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2025UPSCAshokan inscriptions suggest that the 'Pradeshika', 'Rajuka' and 'Yukta' were important officers at the:
Ashoka and the Kalinga war
The greatest Mauryan ruler was Ashoka, Chandragupta's grandson. Early in his reign he fought a fierce war to conquer Kalinga (modern Odisha).
Why Kalinga? The motive was strategic. Kalinga controlled the land and sea routes to South India. An empire that wanted to dominate trade and movement down the eastern coast could not leave it independent. The war and its aftermath are described in Ashoka's own Rock Edict XIII.
The war was won, but at a terrible cost. Over a hundred thousand were killed and many more taken captive. Sickened by the bloodshed, Ashoka was filled with remorse. He resolved never to wage war again. He embraced Buddhism and devoted the rest of his reign to the welfare of his people and the spread of peace.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2000UPSCAssertion (A): Ashoka annexed Kalinga to the Mauryan Empire. Reason (R): Kalinga controlled the land and sea routes to South India.
Previous-year question
1998UPSCThe given map relates to:
Ashoka's dhamma
After Kalinga, Ashoka taught a moral code he called dhamma (not a religion but a set of principles for right living):
- Respect for elders, and kindness to servants, slaves and the poor.
- Tolerance of all religions and sects.
- Non-violence and concern for all living beings.
To spread these ideas, Ashoka had his messages carved on rocks and pillars across the empire. These are the famous Ashokan edicts, written in Prakrit, mostly in the Brahmi script. Edict sites stretch from Shahbazgarhi in the north-west (where the Kharosthi script was used) to Sohgaura in Uttar Pradesh, known for a Mauryan copper-plate inscription. The script itself was long forgotten. It was James Prinsep who first deciphered the Brahmi of Ashoka's edicts in 1837, restoring the king to history. Ashoka also built hospitals, roads and rest-houses. He sent missionaries to spread Buddhism abroad. The Lion Capital of his pillar at Sarnath is today India's national emblem.
The king's face in stone
In the edicts Ashoka calls himself Devanampiya (beloved of the gods), rarely his own name. One sculpture, though, names and shows him. At Kanganahalli in Karnataka, a relief sculpture carries the inscription "Ranyo Ashoka" (King Ashoka). It is the only known stone portrait of Ashoka. Do not confuse it with Sanchi, the famous stupa site in Madhya Pradesh, which has Ashokan links but no labelled portrait of the king.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2020UPSCWho among the following rulers advised his subjects through this inscription? "Whosoever praises his religious sect or blames other sects out of excessive devotion to his own sect, with the view of glorifying his own sect, he rather injures his own sect very severely."
Previous-year question
2019UPSCIn which of the following relief sculpture inscriptions is 'Ranyo Ashoka' (King Ashoka) mentioned along with the stone portrait of Ashoka?
Previous-year question
2016UPSCWho of the following had first deciphered the edicts of Emperor Ashoka?
Previous-year question
1998UPSCAssertion (A): According to Asoka's edicts social harmony among the people was more important than religious devotion. Reason (R): He spread ideas of equity instead of promotion of religion.
Decline of the Mauryas
After Ashoka's death around 232 BCE, the empire weakened quickly. His successors were feeble rulers. Provinces broke away, the treasury shrank and the huge army became hard to maintain. Within about fifty years the dynasty came to a violent end.
The end of Mauryan rule opened a chain of short-lived dynasties in Magadha. Each fell to a usurper from within or to a rising power from outside. The sequence of these transfers of power is frequently tested:
- Brihadratha: the last Mauryan ruler, assassinated around 185 BCE by his own commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Sunga, who founded the Sunga dynasty.
- Devabhuti: the last Sunga king, assassinated by his Brahmana minister Vasudeva Kanva, who usurped the throne and founded the Kanva dynasty.
- The last Kanva ruler: deposed by the Andhras, better known as the Satavahanas, a power that rose in the Deccan.
Remember the order of succession in Magadha: Mauryas, then Sungas, then Kanvas, then the Satavahanas (Andhras). In each case the founder of the new line was the killer or conqueror of the old.
Previous-year questions
Previous-year question
2003UPSCConsider the following statements:
- The last Mauryan ruler, Brihadratha was assassinated by his commander in chief, Pushyamitra Sunga.
- The last Sunga king, Devabhuti was assassinated by his Brahmana minister Vasudeva Kanva who usurped the throne.
- The last ruler of the Kanva dynasty was deposed by the Andhras. Which of these statements is/are correct?
Key takeaways
- India's first great empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya around 321 BCE, guided by Chanakya (Kautilya, the Arthashastra)
- Ruled from Pataliputra through provinces, officials, spies and a large army, as described by Megasthenes
- Ashoka (Chandragupta's grandson) fought the bloody Kalinga war, then gave up conquest and embraced Buddhism
- Ashoka's dhamma = respect, tolerance and non-violence, spread through rock and pillar edicts
- The Sarnath Lion Capital is India's national emblem
- Last Maurya Brihadratha killed by Pushyamitra Sunga, c. 185 BCE
- Succession in Magadha: Mauryas, Sungas, Kanvas, Satavahanas (Andhras)
- Alexander invaded north-west India 326 BCE, under Nanda rule
- Visakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa dramatises Chandragupta's rise
- District officers in Ashokan inscriptions: Pradeshika, Rajuka, Yukta
- Kalinga annexed for its land and sea routes south
- James Prinsep deciphered Brahmi of the edicts, 1837
- Kanganahalli relief "Ranyo Ashoka": only stone portrait of Ashoka
- Arthashastra: slave mother of master's son became free
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