History of India: The Mauryan Empire

 The first Empire of India was founded by Chandragupta Maurya. The empire covered a most part of India which included Bihar, Odisha, Bengal, Western and North-Western parts of India and parts of Deccan. Infact, they excluded most of Southern part India and parts of North-Eastern india, Mauryans ruled over the whole of Indian subcontinent. And the capital of such a vast empire was Pataliputra.    

   

Source of Information,

The account of Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador of Seleucus Nicator in the court of Chandragupta Maurya, their are many other books like 'Arthasahastra'. Kautaliya or Chanakya was the chief advisor of Chandragupta Maur

The another unique source of information of the Mauryans are the inscriptions of the king Ashoka- the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. Through these inscriptions carved on rocks and pillars, Ashoka tried to communicate with his subjects and tried to spread his ideas of peace and harmony among them.

Chandragupta Maurya - The Empire Builder,

When Alexander, the world famous Greek conqueror, attacked India in 326 BC, the nandas were ruling Magadha. Their rule had before unpopular; taking advantage of this, an ambitious youth named Chandragupta Maurya succeeded in overthrowing the Nandas and founding the Mauryan Dynasty. His guide and mentor was a Brahmana named kautilya.

Ashoka,

Chandragupta Maurya was succeeded by Bindusara. Bindusara's son Ashoka, who succeeded him in 273 Bc, was the greatest of all Mauryan rulers. The stone pillars of Ashoka  were carved out of rock and polished like metal. They had beautifully carved animal figures on the top called the capital. 

Ashoka's inscriptions,

Ashoka was the first Indian king and perhaps the first king in the world to speak directly to his subjects, through his inscriptions, engraved on the rocks and pillars are found all over his vast empire. They were generally placed on the highways so that people could read them. These  inscriptions seem to to indicate the Ashoka was genuinely interested in reaching out to his subjects. The inscriptions tell us about the policies of Ashoka.

The Kalinga war (261 BC)

Ashoka fought only one major war during his reign with Kalinga. His war with Kalinga (morden day Odisha ) proved to be a turning point of his life.It seems that he was shocked to see the death and destruction caused by the war. So, he gave up wars and decided to spread the message of love, peace and brotherhood. He is the only king in the history of the world 'who' had the moral courage to give up war. It is because of this that the historians gave him the title --"Ashoka the great".