Chandragupta Maurya
In 305 BC Chandragupta defeated Seleucus Nikator, who surrendered a vast territory. Megasthenese was a Greek ambassador sent to the court of Chandragupta Maurya by Seleucus. Chandragupta became a Jain and went to Sravanbelgola with Bhadrabahu, where he died by slow starvation (Sale/than). Under Chandragupta Maurya, for the first time, the whole of northern India was united. Trade flourished, agriculture was regulated, weights and measures were standardized and money came into use.Taxation, sanitation and famine relief became the concerns of the State.
Bindusara
Bindusara extended the kingdom further and conquered the south as far as Mysore. Bindusar asked Antiochus I of Syria to send some sweet wine, dried figs, and a Sophist. Antiocus I sent wine and figs but politely replied that Greek philosophers are not for sale. Bindusar patronized Ajivikus.
Asoka
According to the Buddhist tradition, Asoka usurped the throne alter killing his 99 brothers and spared Tissa, the youngest one. Radhagupta a Minister of Bindusar helped him in fratricidal struggle. Under Asoka. the Mauryan Empire reached its climax. For the first time, the whole of the subcontinent, leaving out the extreme south, was under imperial control. Asoka (ought the Kalinga war in 261 BC in the 9th years of his coronation. The king was moved by massacre in this war and therefore abandoned the policy of physical occupation in favour of policy of cultural conquest. In oilier words, Bherighosha was replaced by Dhammaghosha. Asoka was not an extreme pacifist. He did not pursue the policy of peace for sake of peace under all conditions. Thus he retained Kalinga after its conquest and incorporated it into his empire. Asoka sent missionaries to the kingdoms of the Cholas and the Pandyas, and five States ruled by Greek kings. We also know that he sent missionaries to Ceylon and Suvarnabhumi (Burma) and also parts of South East Asia.
Arthashastra
Arthashastra, written by Chandragupta Maurya’s Prime Minister Chanakya, primarily delves into
the statecraft and administration. The treatise lays down various rules that should be formulated for
a ruling monarch. It laid down strategies for a well-planned state economy. The Arthashastra has 15
adhikarnas or books. Of which, the first five deal with tantra or internal administration of the state,
eight deal with avapa or its relations with neighboring stales, and the last two are miscellaneous in
character. The work is concerned with all the topics that deal with the internal administration and
foreign relations.
the statecraft and administration. The treatise lays down various rules that should be formulated for
a ruling monarch. It laid down strategies for a well-planned state economy. The Arthashastra has 15
adhikarnas or books. Of which, the first five deal with tantra or internal administration of the state,
eight deal with avapa or its relations with neighboring stales, and the last two are miscellaneous in
character. The work is concerned with all the topics that deal with the internal administration and
foreign relations.
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