CLASSICAL
INDIA
Mauryan Empire (321–185 B.C.E.)
Ashoka (273–232 B.C.E.)
Gupta Empire (320–550 C.E.)
III. Intermittent Empire: The Case of India
A.
The Aryan Controversy: After the decline of the Indus civilization, a wave of IndoEuropeans came into India. There is still much debate on the nature of their history. Did they
invade suddenly? Peacefully and slowly migrate? Were they always there?
B.
Political fragmentation and cultural diversity, but a distinctive religious tradition:
Despite the numerous small states and meager imperial tradition and despite the numerous
languages and cultural traditions, there were several distinct and significant religious
traditions that formed a common core that outsiders would come to call “Hinduism.”
C.
Mauryan Empire (321–185 B.C.E.): This first Indian empire may have been inspired by
contact with Persia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. While impressive in size and power (50
million subjects and 600,000 infantry soldiers, 30,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 9,000 war
elephants), this empire was not as long lived as Rome or Han.
D.
Ashoka (r. 273–232 B.C.E.): The most famous Indian emperor of the age was at first a great
conqueror but later converted to Buddhism, adopting a moralistic tone and erecting numerous
pillars and rocks carved with his edicts.
E.
Gupta Empire (320–550 C.E.): It was well over half a millennium before another state
equaled the first empire. The Gupta Empire saw a flourishing of art, architecture, and
literature, as well as commerce and the sciences.
F.
Great civilizational achievements without a central state: Despite a significant imperial
tradition due to political fragmentation and conflict, South Asia was home to the growth of a
significant long-distance trade network, major spiritual movements, and recorded impressive
work in astronomy.
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RISE OF MAURYAN EMPIRE
The “Golden Age”
Ganges Republics
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Prior to Alexander, kshatriyan republics
dominated, vied for power
Magadha was one of the most dominant
Western Intrusions
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Intrusions of Persians (520 B.C.E.) and
Alexander (327 B.C.E.)
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Persians established Indus satrapy
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Alexander’s withdrawal left a political
vacuum
Magadha kingdom filled the vacuum
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 Chandragupta Maurya
The founder of the Mauryan
empire overthrew the Magadha
kingdom in 321 B.C.E.
• Conquered the Greek state in
Bactria, Selecuid control of
Indus
• Chandragupta's empire
embraced all of northern
India
 Chandragupta's government
Government procedures devised
by Kautalya, the advisor of the
empire
• The political handbook,
Arthashastra, outlined
administrative methods
MAURYAN EMPIRE: ASHOKA
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Ashoka Maurya (reigned
273-232 B.C.E.)
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Chandragupta's grandson,
The high point of the
Mauryan empire
Conquered the kingdom of
Kalinga, 260 B.C.E.
Ruled through tightly
organized bureaucracy
Established capital at
Pataliputra
Policies of encouraging
agriculture and trade
Converted to Buddhism
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Established a tolerant rule of
righteousness
Sent out missionaries to Sri
Lanka, SE Asia, Central Asia
Like other Ashokan pillars this is inscribed
with accounts of Ashoka's political
achievements and instructions to his
subjects on proper behavior. These pillars
are the earliest extant examples of Indian
writing and a major historical source for
the Mauryan period.
The most famous Mauryan emperor
is Ashoka ( 273–232 b.c.e.).
Ashoka was shaken by the carnage in
a brutal war of expansion in the
south so he converted to Buddhism.
His Buddhist policies of government
are preserved in edicts that were
inscribed on rocks and pillars at
various points throughout his empire.
(Pg 153-154 – The Rock Edicts)
Decline of the Mauryan Empire
 Ashoka
died in 232 B.C.E.
 Suffered from acute financial and
economic difficulties
High cost for maintaining army
and bureaucrats
Debasing the currency, not an
effective resolution
 The empire collapsed by 185 B.C.E.
THE GUPTAS
320 – 550 C.E.
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The Gupta Dynasty
 After Mauryans, India was controlled by regional kingdoms
 The Gupta state rose to power in Magadha
 Chandra Gupta founded the new dynasty
 Gupta dynasty was relatively decentralized
 Officially supported revival of Hinduism as state faith
 Era seen as the Golden Age of Hinduism
Like the Mauryan rulers, the Guptas controlled iron deposits,
established state monopolies, and collected a 25 percent
agricultural tax.
However, they were never as strong as the Mauryan Empire.
Gupta Government Power
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The Guptas used their army to control the
core of their empire, but provincial
administration was left to governors who
often made their posts into hereditary and
subordinate kingdoms and kinship groups.
The Gupta Empire had a king that was the
center of the administration. The different
groups were divided into several provinces
and each were sub-divided into several series
of districs. The villiages were organized
under rural bodies and consisted of the
headman and villiage elders. In the cities,
there was a council that had several offices
like the president of city corperation and
chief representative of guild merchants.
- The Gupta Empire had a Monarchy
government.
Gupta Decline
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Because the Gupta did not have sufficient
military force, they exercised power as a
“theater-state,” redistributing profits and luxury
goods from trade and dazzling its dependents
with elaborate ceremonies in return for gifts and
other favors.
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Invasion of White Huns weakened the empire
After 5th century C.E., Gupta dynasty ruled in name only
Lack of Gupta Evidence
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We have very little archaeological data and few
contemporary accounts from which to learn about the
politics, society, and culture of the Gupta period.
We know that the court supported mathematics and
astronomy and that Gupta mathematicians invented
our “Arabic” numerals and the concept of “zero.”
We also have the Chinese monk Faxian’s description of
his journey through Gupta India.
Gupta Religion
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The Gupta period, while dominated by
Hinduism, was characterized by religious
toleration and saw the development of the
classic form of Hindu temples with exterior
courtyard, inner shrine, and wall decorations.
Gupta Decline
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During the Gupta period, women lost the right to
inherit and own property and to participate in key
rituals, and were treated like the lowest varna (Shudra).
They were married very young, and in some places a
widow was required to burn herself on her husband’s
funeral pyre.
Among the few ways to escape this low status was to
join a religious community, to be a member of an
extremely wealthy family, or to be a courtesan.
ECONOMICS
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In 550 c.e the Gupta empire collapsed under the
financial burden of defense against the Huns.
Harsha (r. 606–647 c.e), whose kingdom is
described by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang,
briefly reunited northern India.
After Harsha, northern India again fell into
political fragmentation.
ECONOMICS
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Gupta India was linked to the outside world by extensive trade
networks. Trade with southeast and east Asia was particularly
flourishing.
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Towns and manufacturing
 Towns dotted the India countryside after 600 B.C.E.
 Towns provided manufactured products and luxury goods
Long-distance trade
 Invasions by Persian empires helped to build extensive trade
networks
 Trade with China through the silk roads of central Asia
 Trade in the Indian Ocean basin, Indonesia, Southeast Asia,
Mediterranean basin
 Spread Buddhism and Hinduism throughout Indian Ocean
basin
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SOCIETY
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Social and gender relations
 Strong patriarchal families; subordination of
women to men
 Child marriage placed women under control of
old men
Development of caste system
 Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras (part
of Hinduism)
 New social groups of artisans, craftsmen, and
merchants appeared
 Individuals of same trade or craft formed a
guild; guilds were subcastes, jatis
 Functions of guilds: social security and welfare
systems
Wealth and social order
 Trade and industry brought prosperity to many
vaishyas and shudras
 Old beliefs and values of early Aryan society
became increasingly irrelevant
Caste
System
of both
Empires
IV. Reflections: Enduring Legacies of Second-Wave Empires
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A. Mao Zedong and Qin Shihuangdi: Leader of Communist China
in the twentieth century idealized the first emperor’s brutal path to
state building as a revolutionary triumph for progress.
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B. Ashoka in modern India: Seeking to promote an image of a
peaceful and tolerant India, the leaders of the new nation adopted
symbols of Ashoka’s reign in 1947.
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C. British imperial and Italian fascist uses of Rome: Both the
British colonial empire and Mussolini’s Italy used the Roman Empire
as a crucial precedent for rationalizing their rule.