Mauryan Empire
Chandragupta Maurya
The Buddhist tradition tells us that, the death of Chandragupta's father left his mother destitute, and she took shelter at Pataliputra. There she gave birth to a child, who was deposited for safety with a cowherd. The Cowherd sold him to a hunter, who employed him to tend cattle. It is stated that, the boy was always found playing the game of king-making in the village with his companions.
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| Chandragupta Maurya |
He also showed that, he was giving justice to the people in the mock court. Once, when Chanakya passed that way where young Chandragupta was playing the king and administering justice in the court, he was struck with the personality of Chandragupta and he bought him from the hunter. Chanakya took him away to Taxila and gave him all the necessary education. Chandragupta spent his youth at Taxila.
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It is stated that, Chanakya went to Pataliputra for learning and disputation. There he found 'Dhananand' reigning. Dhananand was giving a lot of money in charities through a 'dansala' with a governing body, whose president was to be a Brahmana. Chanakya was elected as president of Dansala.
But, he was dismissed by Dhananand on account of his manners and features. That was too much for Chanakya and he took a vow that he would ruin Nanda dynasty. While he was busy finding out ways and means to destroy
Nanda dynasty, he came across the Young Chandragupta.
Overthrow Of The Nandas
Chandragupta played an important part in the liberation of India from the Greek rule. When this work was over, Chandragupta started preparations for an attack against the Nandas, whose rule was oppressive to the people in many ways. There are many stories regarding the strategy employed by Chandragupta and Kautilya against Nanda empire. It is stated that, the first strategy of Chandragupta was a failure. Chandragupta tried another another strategy, but that also failed.
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It is stated that, he started many operations from the frontiers and conquered many Rashtras and Janapadas on the way.It was found that, he committed the mistake of not posting garrisons in the conquered areas and consequently, his defence became impossible as people in the rear created problems.
After the failure of 2 strategies, Chandragupta hit up on the right strategy. He not only started conquering Rashtras and Janapadas on the frontiers, but also appointed garrisons to keep them under control. It was in this way that after conquering all the frontiers, Chandragupta reached Pataliputra, beseiged the capital and ultimately captured the city.
Extent Of His Empire
Chandragupta undoubtedly ruled over a vast empire. His dominance included the country now called as Afghanistan, the ancient Ariana, as far as the Hindu kush range: The Punjab, the teritorries now known as Uttar pradesh, Bihar and penninsula of Kathiawar in the west. When his reign terminated about 298BC, he was the master of all India. North of Narmada as well as of Afghanistan.
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| Mauryan Empire |
Chandragupta was a pivotal figure in the history of India. Prior to his consolidation of power, Alexander the great had invaded the north-west Indian sub-continent, leaving a legacy of Indian sub-continental region, ruled by Indo-Greek and local rulers. The region was divided into Mahajanapadas, while the Nanda empire dominated the Indo-gangetic plain.
Chandragupta, with the advice of his chief minister, Chanakya, created a new empire, applied the principles of state-craft, built a large army and continued expanding the boundaries of his empire. Chandragupta's empire extended from Bengal to most of the Indian sub-continent, except the southern-most regions and Kalinga. It was the largest ancient empire documented in the Indian history ranging from 54 milillion sq. km. to 11.8 sq. km.
After unifying much of India, Chandragupta and Chanakya passed a series of major political and economic reforms. He established a strong central administration from Pataliputra, patterned after Chanakya's text on governance and politics- the 'Arthashastra'. Chandragupta's India was characterised by an efficient and highly organised structure.
The empire built infrastructure such as irrigation temples, mines and roads leading to a strong economy. The internal and external trade and agriculture flourished. The empire built a large and trained permanent army to help expand and protect it's boundaries. Chandragupta's dynasty was an era when many religions thrived in India, with Buddhism ad Jainism gaining prominence along with Brahmanism tradition.
The Mauryan rule was a structured administration where, Chandragupta had a council of ministers, the empire was organised into territories(Janapadas), centres pf regional powers were protected with forts, state operations were funded with treasury.
Mauryan Administration
The main sources for the study of Mauryan administration are the Arthashastra of Kautilya, the Indica of Megasthenes and the inscriptions of Ashoka. The Raja was the head of the state. He had judicial, legislative and executive powers. He was the war lord and military operations were looked after the 'senapati'. It was the duty of the king to see that, justice was administered to he people.
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| Indika Of Megasthenes |
The king has been described by Kautilya as 'Dharma pravartaka'. The king issued ordinances. It was also the duty of the king to appoint ministers, superintendents and priests, attend to receipts and expenditures of the stste, carry on correspondence with the Mantriparishad, appoint spies to collect secret information etc.
The Mauryan kings were not despots, there were certain limitations on their powers. They could not do whatever they pleased. They could not go against the laws of the country, they have to be governed according to the customs of the land.
The king employed 'Sachivas' and acted according to their advice. It was the duty of the Mantris to advice the king on all matters of the state. The mantris were selected from those 'Amatyas' who were found to be temptations. The mantri accompanied the king to the battle field. They exercised some control over the princess. In addition to the mantris, there was also mantri-parishad. The mantri-parishad was not consulted all the time, but had to consulted at the time of emergency.
The Amatya were employed in civil and criminal courts. They were also the minister of high treasurer, keeper of stores etc. They were incharge of affairs of the state.
The Mauryan empire was divided into a number of provinces. It cannot be stated with certainity as to what was the number of provinces in the time of Chandragupta. But, in the time of Ashoka, there were Taxila, Ujjain,Tosali and Suvarnagri. The provincial governors were put under the control of princess of royal blood, known as 'Kumaras'. There is reference to certain officers in state- Rajukas- their duty was to measure land by means of chord or 'Rajju' and also fix their boundaries.
Yuktas- They were the sub-ordinate officer incharge of the revenues of the king. They manage property of the king for him.
Pradesikas- Their duty was to collect revenue and also perform police functions. A pradesika was superior to a Rajjuka.
Purushas- They knew the wishes of the king and directed the rajukas to act according to them.
Dharma Mahamantras- The institution of the Dharma mahamantras was started by Ashoka. Their duty was to bring about the material and spiritual good of people.
The inspectors of the cities employed the courtesans who helped them in their work.
Village Administration
Village was a unit of administration and 'Gramika' was it's head. He was helped by 'Grama-vridhas' or village elders.
Army
Megasthenes refers to the war office, which consisted of thirty members. This thirty members were divided into six board of five members each. The first board was incharge of the navy. Th second board was concerned with transport, communication and army service. The third board dealt with the infantry. The fourth board was concerned with the cavalry. The fifth board was incharge of war chariots. And sixth board was incharge of the people of the elephants.
Justice
As regards to the administration of the justice, the king was it's head. However, as he could not dispose off all the cases himself, he applied a large number of judicial officers to decide cases according to the law.
According to Megathenes, the Mauryan penal code was very severe, and crimes were extremely rare. In the time of Ashoka, justice was tempered with kindness. he ordered his 'Mahamantras' to avoid causeless imprisonment and harrassement of people.
Sources Of Revenue
As regards the revenue of the state, taxes were levied both, in cash ad kind. Those were collected by local officers. The land revenue was the chief source of income of the state. The government also made some money from royalties on mines and fisheries, revenue from forests, fines, taxes on professions etc.
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