The Mauryan and Gupta empires
321 B.C.E.-550 C.E.
India Before the Mauryan
Dynasty
• 520 BCE Persian Emperor Darius
conquers north-west India
• Introduces Persian ruling pattern
• 327 Alexander of Macedon destroys
Persian Empire in India
• Troops mutiny, departs after 2 years
– Political power vacuum
Kingdom of Magadha
• Most significant remaining kingdom after
Alexander’s departure
• Central Ganges plain
• Economic strength
– Agriculture
– Trade in Ganges valley, Bay of Bengal
• Dominated surrounding regions in northeastern India
Chandragupta Maurya
• Took advantage of power vacuum left by
Alexander
• Overthrew Magadha rulers
• Founder of Maurya Empire - creates 1st
unified Indian empire
The Maurya Empire
321 BCE – 185 BCE
Chandragupta: 321 BCE-298 BCE
 Founder of Mauryan Empire
 Unified northern India.
 Defeated the Persian
general Seleucus.
 Divided his empire into
provinces, then districts
for tax assessments and law
enforcement.
 He feared assassination  food tasters,
slept in different
rooms, etc.
 301 BCE  gave up his throne & became
a Jain.
Kautilya (or Chanakya)
 Chandragupta’s advisor.
 Brahmin caste.
 Wrote The Treatise on
Material Gain or the
Arthashastra (advice manual).
 A guide for the king and his ministers:

Supports royal power.

The great evil in society is anarchy.

Therefore, a single authority is
needed to employ force when
necessary!
Chandragupta’s Government
• Like Persia & China, built a bureaucratic
administrative system.
• Domestic policies
– Network of spies
• Legend: Chandragupta retires to become
a monk, starves himself to death
Ashoka (304 – 232 BCE)
• Grandson of Chandragupta
• Represents high point of Mauryan
Empire, r. 268-232 BCE
• Expanded empire to include all of
Indian subcontinent except for south
• Positive leadership integrated Indian
society
• Est. capital @ Pataliputra
• Better known as a governor
than conqueror
Ashoka
 Religious conversion
after the gruesome
battle of Kalinga in
262 BCE.
 Dedicated his life to
Buddhism.
 Built extensive roads.
 Conflict  how to balance Kautilya’s
methods of keeping power
and Buddha’s demands to
become a selfless person?
Ashoka’s law code
 Wrote law code on rocks or pillars
(Stupas)
Edicts scattered in
more than 30 places
in India, Nepal,
Pakistan, & Afghanistan.
 Written mostly in
Sanskrit, but one was in
Greek and Aramaic.
 10 rock edicts.
 Buddhist principles dominate his laws.
Women
Under an
Asoka
tree
Decline of the Mauryan Empire
• Economic crisis follows death of Ashoka
• High costs of bureaucracy, military not
supported by tax revenue
• Frequent devaluations of currency to
pay salaries
• Regions begin to abandon Mauryan
Empire
– Disappears by 185 BCE
Regional Kingdom: Bactria
• Northwestern India
• Ruled by Greek-speaking descendants of
Alexander’s campaigns
• Intense cultural activity accompanies
active trade
Turmoil & a Power Vacuum:
220 BCE – 320 CE
The Maurya Empire is divided into many kingdoms.
Regional Kingdom: Kush
•
•
•
•
Nomads of Central Asia
Ruled C. 1-300 CE
Maintained silk road trade network
High point under the rule of Kashika,
empire expands thruout So. Asia.
The Gupta Dynasty
• Based in Magadha
• Founded by Chandra Gupta (no relation to
Chandragupta Maurya), c. 320 CE
• Slightly smaller than Mauryan Empire
• Highly decentralized leadership
• Foundations for studies in natural sciences
and mathematics
Gupta Empire:
CE
320 CE – 647
Gupta Rulers
 Chandra Gupta I

r. 320 – 335 CE

“Great King of Kings”
 Chandra Gupta II

r. 375 - 415 CE

Profitable trade with
the Mediterranean
world!
 Hindu revival.
 Huns invade – 450 CE
Fa-Hsien: Life in Gupta India
 Chinese Buddhist monk traveled along the
Silk Road and visited India in the 5c.
 He was following the path
of the Buddha.
 He reported the people to
be happy, relatively free of
government oppression, and
inclined towards courtesy and
charity. Other references in
the journal, however, indicate
that the caste system was
rapidly assuming its basic features, including
"untouchability," the social isolation of a lowest
class that is doomed to menial labor.
International Trade
Routes during the
Guptas
Extensive Trade:
4c
spices
gold & ivory
Gupta
Art
Greatly influenced
Southeast Asian art & architecture.
Kalidasa
 The greatest of Indian poets.
 His most famous play was Shakuntala.
 During the reign of Chandra Gupta II.
500 healing
plants identified
1000 diseases
classified
Printed
medicinal guides
Plastic
Surgery
Gupta
Achievements
Kalidasa
Literature
Medicine
Inoculations
C-sections
performed
Decimal
System
Gupta
India
Mathematics
Concept
of Zero
PI = 3.1416
Solar
Calendar
Astronomy
The earth
is round
Gupta Decline
• Frequent invasions of White Huns, 5th c.
CE
• Gupta Dynasty disintegrates along
regional fault lines
• Smaller local kingdoms dominate until
Mughal Empire founded in 16th c.
Economy: Towns and Manufacturing
• Manufactured goods in big demand
• Developed in dense network of small
workshops
• Trade intense, capitalizes on trade routes
across India
Long-Distance Trade
• Persian connection since Cyrus, Darius
• Massive road-building projects under
Persian rule
• Alexander extends trade west to Macedon
• Trade routes through Kush mountains, the
silk roads
Trade in the Indian Ocean Basin
• Seasonal sea trade expands
– Spring/winter winds blow from south-west,
fall/winter winds blow from north-west
• Trade from Asia to Persian Gulf and Red
Sea, Mediterranean
Society: Gender Relations
• Patriarchy entrenched
• Child marriage common (8 year old girls
married to men in 20s)
• Women encouraged to remain in private
sphere
• Mahabharata & Ramayana portrayed
women as weak-willed and overly
emotional
Social Order
• Caste system from
Aryan times
– Brahmins (priests)
– Kshatriyas (warriors,
aristocrats)
– Vaishyas (Peasants,
merchants)
– Shudras (serfs)
Castes and Guilds
• Increasing economic diversification
challenges simplistic caste system
• Jatis formed: guilds that acted as subcastes
• Enforced social order
– “outcastes” forced into low-status
employment
Wealth and the Social Order
• Upward social mobility possible for
Vaishyas, Shudras
• Wealth challenges varna for status as
lower castes often accumulated more
wealth than their brahmin & kshatriya
contemporaries
Religions of Salvation in Classical India
• Social change generated resentment of
caste privilege
– e.g. Brahmins free from taxation
• 6th-5th c. BCE new religions and
philosophies challenge status quo
• Charvakas: atheists whose beliefs
reflected the increasingly materialistic
character of Indian society and economy
Jainism
• Vardhamana Mahavira, 540-468 BCE
• Abandoned privileged family to lead
ascetic life
• Promotes 7th c. movement based on
Upanishads
• Emphasis on selfless living, concern for all
beings
Ahimsa
• Principle of extreme non-violence
• Jainists sweep earth, strain water, use
slow movements to avoid killing insects
• Ahimsa continues to inspire modern
movements (Ghandi, Martin Luther King
Jr.)
Appeal of Jainism
• Rejected caste, jati distinctions
• Obvious appeal to underprivileged groups
• But asceticism too extreme to become a
mass movement
• 2 million Jainist Indians today
Early Buddhism
• Siddhartha Gautama, c. 563-483 BCE
• Encountered age, sickness, death, then
monastic life
• Abandoned comfortable life to become a
monk
Gautama’s Search for
Enlightenment
• Intense meditation, extreme asceticism
• 49 days of meditation under bo tree to
finally achieve enlightenment
• Attained title Buddha: “the enlightened
one”
The Buddha and his Followers
•
•
•
•
Begins teaching new doctrine c. 528 BCE
Followers owned only robes, food bowls
Life of wandering, begging, meditation
Establishment of monastic communities
Buddha and his Disciples
Buddhist Doctrine: The Dharma
• The Four Noble Truths
– all life is suffering
– there is an end to suffering
– removing desire removes suffering
– this may be done through the eight-fold path
– (right views, intention, speech, action,
livelihood, effort, mindfulness, concentration)
The Eightfold Path
• Right views
• Right intention
• Right speech
• Right conduct
• Right livelihood
• Right effort
• Right mindfulness
• Right meditation
Appeal of Buddhism
• Less dependence on Brahmins for ritual
activities
• No recognition of caste, jati status
• Philosophy of moderate consumption
• Public service through lay teaching
• Use of vernacular, not Sanskrit
• Monasteries became important institutions
in Indian society.
A Buddhist Monastery
Stupas
• A stupa (from Sanskrit literally meaning
"heap") is a mound-like structure
containing Buddhist relics, typically the
remains of a Buddha or saint.
Ashoka’s Support of Buddhism
• Personal conversion to Buddhism
• Saddened after violent war with Kalinga
• Banned animal sacrifices, mandated
vegetarianism in court
• Material support for Buddhist institutions,
missionary activities
Changes in Buddhist thought
• 3rd c. BCE – 1st c. CE
– Buddha considered divine
– Institution of Boddhisatvas (“saints”)
– Charitable donations to monasteries regarded
as pious activity
Spread of Mahayana Buddhism
• Mahayana (“greater vehicle”), newer
development
– India, China, Japan, Korea, central Asia
• Hinayana (“lesser vehicle,” also
Theravada), earlier version
– Ceylon, Burma, Thailand
Nalanda
• Buddhist Monastery
• Quasi-university: Buddhism, Hindu texts,
philosophy, astronomy, medicine
• Peak at end of Gupta dynasty
• Helped spread Indian thought
– e.g. mathematical number zero
Emergence of Popular Hinduism
• Composition of epics from older oral
traditions
– Mahabharata
– Ramayana
• Promotes Rama and Sita as the ideal Hindu
couple, devoted to each other though hardship
• Emphasis on god Vishnu and his
incarnations
The Bhagavad Gita
• “Song of the Lord”
• Centuries of revisions, final form c. 400 CE
• Dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna
during civil war
Hindu Ethics
• Emphasis on meeting class obligations
(dharma)
• Pursuit of economic well-being and
honesty (artha)
• Enjoyment of social, physical and sexual
pleasure (kama)
• Salvation of the soul (moksha)
Popularity of Hinduism
• Gradually replaced Buddhism in India
• Gupta dynastic leaders extend
considerable support