Decline of the Mauryan Empire

Introduction

The Mauryan Empire was one of the significant empires in the Indian history. This empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya with the help of his teacher Chanakya. He dethroned the last king of the Nanda Dynasty and sat on the throne of Magadh. The eastern part of Afghanistan, the western sides of the Indus and Baluchistan were conquered by Chandragupta. The empire could not stand after the seven eras of Chandragupta because of various reasons.

The Mauryan Empire

Chandragupta Maurya established the empire of Mayuran after defeating Dhana Nanda, the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty. Nanda wasn’t people’s favorite due to his harsh tax rules. The Mayuran Empire was founded in around 321 B.C. and started to fall apart after the death of king Ashoka in the year 232 B.C.

This empire was completely destroyed in 185 B.C. by Pushyamitra Shunga. Three rules of this empire were popular for their reign. They were, Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Ashoka.

Rise of the Mauryan Empire

The Empire of Nanda was the ruler of most of India but the last ruler was not popular in his state because of his harsh rule. Chanakya was a minister of the Nanda dynasty and he played a vital role in the decline of the empire of Nanda.

He was the teacher of Chandragupta Maurya and trained him. He generated an army that fought against the army of Alexander. After building the strong root of the army, Chandragupta attacked Magadha and defeated Dhana Nanda. Chandragupta Maurya became the first ruler of the Mauryan dynasty.

Mauryan Empire: Important rulers

The Mauryan rulers ruled India from 324 to 185 B.C. and during this period three rulers captured the heart of the citizen with their ruling.

• Chandragupta Maurya − The founder of the Mauryan dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya was mentioned as Sandrokottos in the Greek accounts. The Greek ambassador Megasthenes was at the court of Chandragupta. He ruled the dynasty from 321 to 297 B.C.

• Bindusara − Bindusara was the son of Chandragupta Maurya and the second ruler of the Mauryan dynasty. He ruled the empire from 297 to 273 B.C. He was also familiar as Amitraghata and in his time Greek ambassador Deimachus came to his court.

• Ashoka − Ashoka was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya. His father and mother were Bindusara and Subhadrangi. Hew govern India from 268 to 232 B.C. After the war of Kalinga, Ashoka embraced Buddhism and spread the teaching of buddha.

Decline of the Mauryan Empire: Causes

The Mauryan Empire started to decline five generations after the death of Ashoka and there were different reasons behind the fall apart of the dynasty of Mauryan.

• Ashoka’s Weak Successors − Ashoka’s successors were weak and were unable to bear the burden of the kingdom. The empire was ruled over by six kings for merely 52 years after Ashoka. Mayura dynasty’s first three kings only had exceptional capability but their ancestors were no match for them. Brihadratha, the last king was overthrown by Pushyamitra, the army commander of Brihadratha.

• Empire’s Partition − The Mayuran kingdom was divided into two parts after Ashoka’s death and that decreased the strength of the empire. Jalauka, son of Ashoka independently ruled Kashmir and that led to the invasion from the side of the northwest.

• Provcinces’ Independence − The huge empire begins to disintegrate after the centre of the kingdom's holdover and therefore many kingdoms started to emerge. Kalinga and Kashmir became independent and Magadha and Vidarbha were divided. Gandhara was ruled by Virasena independently.

• Domestic Revolt −Pushyamitra Shunga, the army chief of Brihadratha led a domestic revolt around 185 BCE. Brihadratha was killed by Pushyamitra during a parade of the army and this was described in Bana’s Harshacharita.

• Invasion of Foreigners − The foreign power feared to attack from the northwest side because of the Mauryan army during the first three kings of the Mauryan ruling time. After the division of the kingdom, the foreigners started to attack the empire and began their kingdom.

• Policies of Ashoka − Many scholars thought that the pacifism and non-violence policy of Ashoka weakened the empire. Ashoka stopped to wage wars and that tempted the foreign power to attack the empire.

• Financial Crisis − Vast army maintenance and bureaucrats and officers' payments generated a financial crisis in the empire of Mauryan. Mayura's could not sustain the vast superstructure despite the taxes that were imposed on the common people. The tressure of royalty became empty after the grant of the monks of Buddhism that was made by Ashoka.

• Oppressive rule − The province’s harsh rule was the other reason behind the separation of the empire. The Taxila’s citizens complained against the bureaucrats for their misrule to Bindusara. Their wrongdoing was rectified after Ashoka became the Taxila’s viceroy but the same problem complained after Ashoka sat on the throne.

Conclusion

The ancient history of India stated various dynasties and the Mauryan Empire was one of them. The empire was built in 321 B.C. by Chandragupta Maurya but roughly 100 years later it fell apart. There were many reasons behind the decline of the empire but the main factor was the weak kings' succession.

The empire placed its mark in history during the reign of the three first kings through its literature, culture, architecture and art. Megasthenes wrote a book on the administration of the Mauryan Empire and named it Indica.

FAQs

Qns 1. What was the Kalinga war?

Ans. The war of Kalinga was the battle between the Kalinga state and the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka. It was the deadliest battle in Indian history and after this battle, Ashoka step back from the military conquests and took Buddhism.

Qns 2. Who was Alexander?

Ans. Alexander was the great king of Macedonia who conquered a huge part of the world. The empire of Alexander existed from Greece to the eastern fringes of ancient India. He was the son of King Philip II and Queen Olympias.

Qns 3. Who was Chanakya?

Ans. Chanakya was the teacher of Taxila and also the trainer of Chandragupta Maurya. He was also familiar with Kautilya and Vishnugupta.