Question

greatness of mauryan empire?

Answer 1

The Maurya Empire (322 – 185 B.C.E.), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India. Originating from the kingdom ofMagadha in the Indo-Gangetic plains of modern Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bengal, the empire's capital city was at Pataliputra near modern Patna.Chandragupta Maurya founded the Empire in 322 B.C.E. after overthrowing the Nanda Dynasty. He began rapidly expanding his power westward across central and western India. Local powers had been disrupted by the westward withdrawal of Alexander the Great's and his Macedonian and Persian armies. By 316 B.C.E. the empire had fully occupied Northwestern India, defeating and conquering the satraps left by Alexander.At its zenith, the Empire stretched to the northern natural boundaries of the Himalaya Mountains, and to the east into Assam. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan and significant portions of Afghanistan, including the modern Herat and Kandahar provinces and Balochistan. Emperor Bindusara expanded the Empire into India's central and southern regions, but it excluded a small portion of unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga, India.The Mauryan Empire was arguably the largest empire to rule the Indian subcontinent. Its decline began fifty years after Ashoka's rule ended, and it dissolved in 185 B.C.E. with the rise of the Sunga Dynasty in Magadha. Under Chandragupta, the Mauryan Empire conquered the trans-Indus region, defeating its Macedonian rulers. Chandragupta then defeated the invasion led by Seleucus I, a Greek general from Alexander's army. Under Chandragupta and his successors internal and external trade, and agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across India. Chadragupta created a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The Mauryan empire stands as one of the most significant periods in Indian history.After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced a half century of peace and security under Ashoka. India was a prosperous and stable empire of great economic and military power. Its political and trade influence extended across Western and Central Asia into Europe. During that time Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of learning and the sciences. Chandragupta Maurya's embrace ofJainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society. Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism was the foundation of social and political peace and non-violence across all of India. The era fostered the spread of Buddhist ideals into Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Mediterranean Europe.