Why was the mauryan Empire not called a Kingdom
Answers
To know that first we have to know what those two words mean.
Kingdom is an independent or a dependent principality ruled by a king or a queen.
An empire is an aggregate of nations or people ruled by an emperor or other powerful sovereign or government.
Usually,empires had a greater extent than a kingdom.
Magadha was a kingdom,because it was ruled by a king(e.g Ajatashatru,Dhana Nanda).
But Roman empire,Ottoman empire,Persian empire and many empires are called as empires because they had the authority over more than one nation,usually on people with different culture,language and ethnicity.
In the same way,Mauryan empire at it's peak had it's direct authority over many nations,cultures and ethnicities. It had 5 client states in the south.
Mauryans empire stretched from Gandhar and Kambhoja in the north to the southern borders of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the south. It included 16 Mahajanapadas,many kshatriya clans in the weastern India,and many tribes in extreme south and in Vindhyas,people of Andhra and Karnataka and so on.
Mauryan empire was called as ‘pan-Indian empire’ for the very same reason.
Looking at the vastness and diversity which existed within,we can easily call Mauryan principality as an empire.
An empire is an aggregate of nations or people ruled by an emperor or other powerful sovereign or government. Usually,empires had a greater extent than a kingdom. Magadha was a kingdom,because it was ruled by a king(e.g Ajatashatru,Dhana Nanda). ... Mauryan empire was called as 'pan-Indian empire' for the very same reason.