State, society and the

quest for salvation in

India
 Before the rise of
empires in India
• Aryans arrived in India in 1500 BCE and established small
kingdoms; engaged in wars of expansion; others were
consolidated into a number of large regional kingdoms but none
of them established hegemony over others, over a large area, not
until the rise of the Maurya [322-184 BCE] and Gupta [320-
550CE] Empires
The conquest of
India in 327 BCE and
its cessation in 325
BCE by Alexander
the Great gave
opportunity for
groups to seize
control and
eventually build an
empire

Victory of Alexander the Great over the Indian prince Porus

at
the Battle of the Hydaspes, 326 BCE
 Maurya
Empire (321-
185 BCE)
• Chandragupta Maurya [r.321-
297BCE]
• Chandragupta used marriage
alliances,
diplomacy, trickery, and war
to extend
his kingdom.

• Kautilya, sometimes called

Chanakya,
his political adviser, wrote a
treatise
about leadership and
government called
Arthashastra. It recommends
the king to
have large networks o
informants
(spies) to work as a
surveillance force
for the ruler

• According to tradition,
famine and
starvation badly hit his
empire and he
felt bad about it. He
abdicated his
throne to live an ascetic
life, a devout
https://www.worldhistory.org/Chandragupta_Maurya/ Jain, and eventually died
• Ashoka [r 268-232 BCE]
• He killed many of his brothers to
usurp the empire When he
became the emperor, only
Kalinga remained independent of
the Maurya Empire
• In 260 BCE, he conquered
Kalinga in a bloody battle where
about 100,000 Kalingas died;
150,000 were driven away from
their homes
• He felt deep remorse after;
eventually turned into Buddhism
and its tenets of non-violence.
• Conquest by dharma (supported
Buddhist missionaries)
• Encouraged agricultural
expansion and trade; built
hospitals, public garden,
education for both men and
women

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/ashoka
 • financial and economic
Decline of difficulties
Mauryan • weaker rulers
Empire

Gupta decimal system
A coin depicting Chandragupta and
Kumaradevi.
Gupta Empire
(c240-550 CE)
• Founded by Sri Gupta
• Chandragupta I
• Most notable ruler of the empire;
built the empire not through
conquest but through marriage with
the princess Kumaradevi; received
northeast India as a dowry.
• Unified most of India under one
administration
• Capital was in Pataliputra
• Forged alliances who administered
local government and administration
 • Fa Xian, a Buddhist monk from China,
Golden travelled across India in 13 years. He
described it as a prosperous land, with
Age of little crimes, and safe to travel
• Trade and industry brought wealth
India • Kalidasa [Sanskrit Literature],
Aryabhata [mathematics]
• Family life
• Patriarchal
• Child marriage
• jatis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faxian
 Decline

• The White Huns from Central Asia invaded northwestern

India. Gupta continued to exist but only in name.