mention any three things that reduces the importance of the mauryan Empire
Answers
Answer:
Since Ashoka banned animal sacrifice it stopped the income of Brahmins who received gifts in form of various kinds of sacrifices made to them.
Huge Expenditure on army and bureaucracy. ...
Oppressive rule in provinces. ...
Neglect of North-West frontier
Answer:
1. Weak Successors of Asoka:
The first three Maurya Emperors were men of exceptional abilities. As heroes, conquerors, and administrators, they were indeed great. But, heredity in succession does not guarantee ability in character for all time or all successors to follow. Asoka’s sons and grandsons did not prove themselves worthy of the Great Mauryas.
Asoka’s sceptre, it is said, was like the bow of Ulysses which could not be drawn by weaker hands. It is also said that he was succeeded by a progeny of pygmies whose “shoulders were not fit to bear the weight of his mighty monarchy.” As long that great Emperor ruled, the empire having risen from glory to glory, maintained its vitality to its best. But no sooner he closed his eyes, his weak successors showed no ability to preserve the fabric of the empire.
The weakness of the later Mauryas is established by the fact that the Puranic and other literary sources do not show agreement regarding the order of succession or the names of Asoka’s successors. Different sources, Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina, give confusing accounts of these rulers. While the Vayu Purana says that Kunala ruled for eight years, the Jaina and Buddhist sources say that it was Samprati, the son of Kunala, who succeeded to the throne immediately after Asoka. If Asoka’s son Kunala was blind, he was clearly incapable of ruling, and that might have created a difficult situation. Monarchy always suffered from dynastic tragedy whenever a weak or invalid son stood on the line of succession.
If Asoka’s another son Jalauka ruled over Kashmir, as described in the Kashmir Chronicle, it clearly indicates that no single son of Asoka was capable of ruling over the entire Maurya Empire. That proves the weakness of the later Mauryas. It is not known what happened to Asoka’s another son by Queen Karuvaki, Tivara, and if he was strong or weak to succeed to the Maurya throne.
2. Independence of the Provinces:
Though the Maurya administration from the days of Chandragupta was strong enough to control the distant provinces bound to a centralised system, it was also necessary for the provincial governments to enjoy sufficient power. When the centre declined and its authority became weak, the provinces assumed independent character.
3.Internal Revolt:
When the Maurya rule was thus weakening and the empire was breaking up within the half century after Asoka’s death, there finally came a death blow to it by an internal revolt. This revolt was led by the chief of the Maurya army, General Pushyamitra in about 185 or 186 B.C. when the Maurya King Brihadratha ruled in Magadha.
It was a military coup d’etal. General Pushyamitra was a Brahmin, though in army profession. The Puranas state that “Pushpamitra (Pushyamitra) the Senapati will rule the kingdom by assassinating his own master.” Bana, the famous author of Harsha-Charita describes the incident saying that Pushyamitra held a parade of the army to which he invited the King to witness, and thus created an occasion to kill him on the spot with the support of the army.