Maurya Empire Timeline

Chandragupta's Time in Charge

324 BCE

While Chandragupta Maurya was in charge of the empire, toward the start of his rule in 324, before his empire became bigger from Alexander's death. one of the first secret services started. Chandragupta had a large network of spies that were used as surveillance to collect information from both in and outside the government. He got this idea from the book Arthashastra which was full of teachings on how the government should be run by Kautily, one of Chandragupta's advisors.

Empire Grows

323 BCE

After Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C.E. it left large areas of land with no control and Chandragupta Maurya took advantage of that. Chandragupta Maurya put together an army and took over the Nanda power in Eastern India. Leading to the start of the Maurya Empire where Chandragupta Maurya made himself king and started forcefully taking additional land.

Chandragupta’s Fall

297 BCE

During the end of Chandragupta's rule the Indian subcontinent was hit with a big wave of starvation. Chandrgupta guilt for his people started and gave up the throne to his son Bindusara, and he chandragupta started a fast. Chandrugupta eventually died from his fast in 297.

Bindusara's Time in Charge

272 BCE

After taking over the throne Bindusara who ruled from 297 - 272 used his power to expand the Mayuran empire southward. He took control of almost all of the Indian peninsula by bringing 16 additional states under his control. After his conquest the only kingdoms not under his power were the Kalinga kingdom in East India and the Dravidian kingdoms in South India.

The Beginning of Ashoka's Rule

272 BCE

Ashoka was known as ambitious and aggressive as a monarch at the start of his rule, he was a very smart commander of the military and destroyed revolts in Ujjain and Taxila. Ashoka was good at reasserting the empire's superiority in India with his conquest for the parts of India not under his power. One of his biggest conquests was the Kalinga kingdom.

Bindusara's Sons

268 BCE

After Bindusara died in 272 his 3 sons Ashoka, Vitashoka, and Susima had a civil war over who would be the next leader. Susima was the oldest of the three so the throne was supposed to go to him but his brother Ashoka killed both of his brothers for the throne. Ashoka rose to power in 268 and later became the most successful and also powerful leader of the Mauryan Empire.

Ashoka's conquest of Kalinga

261 BCE

The Kalinga War in 261 and was one of the biggest wars in Indian history, and was between the Mauryan Empire and Kalinga kingdom. In the end the Mauryan Empire won the war but nearly 100,000 lives were lost with 10,000 of the lives being his own men. The war destroyed the Kalinga empire and left lots of people suffering. After this war, all the damage led to a big change of the Mauryan empire because it showed Ashoka the kind of damage that he could do.

Ashoka's Switch to Buddhism

261 BCE

After the Kalinga War Ashoka saw the devastation of the kingdom first hand which led to him feeling guilt. Although Kalinga was now already annexed into the Mauryan Empire Ashoka began to start following Buddhism in 263 which changed his ways, leaving war and violence in his past. He also started the spread of Buddhism to the people of India with missionaries, but also spread it to other countries by sending missionaries to Asia.

Ashoka's Development of Dhamma

260 BCE

One of Ashoka's biggest policies was Dhamma or Dharma which made the foundation of his generous and tolerant administration that made this Empire so peaceful and successful. Dhamma was a way of life with a set of ideals that he told his people to follow to live in peace. Dhamma was initiated around 260 when he converted to Buddhism after the Kalinga War. Some of the principles of Dhamma are: uphold a high moral standard, to be gentle and kind, and to practise non-violence.

Ashoka's Economic Advancements

260 BCE

Ashoka was able to use his big influence to create an efficient money system used across India and South Asia called the Punch-marked Silver Coins which made trade external and internal easier. Ashoka also created a royal road, Grand Trunk Road from Patliputra to Taxila which also allowed trade to grow and flow easier. The economic growth from all the trade is also what made Ashoka be considered very successful. Both of these economic advancements happened after the Kalinga war around 260.

Dasharatha Maurya

232 BCE

Dasharatha Maurya became Ashoka's grandson and emperor after his death. None of Ashoka's sons could become emperor after him for many reasons: Mahinda, his oldest son, had become a Buddhist monk, Kunala had become blind, Tivala had died earlier than Ashoka, and his last son Jalauka is unknown of. Dashartha was emperor from 232 - 224.

The Edicts of Ashoka Meaning

232 BCE

The edicts were to spread Ashoka's policies and accomplishments to promote peace during his rule (272-232). His edicts show cultural and social aspects of his empire and promote Buddhism but also don't put down other religions, being one of the earliest documents to promote religious tolerance. They were used for a daily reminder to people that peace is good and should be in the policies people are under.

The Edicts of Ashoka Creation

232 BCE

One of the most known accomplishments of Ashoka was his Edictis which were created between 269 and 232. The edicts were placed all over from as far west as Afghanistan, and as far south as Andhra. The edicts were stone carvings of his policies, most of them were written in Prakrit, but two of them were written in Greek, and one in both Greek and Aramaic.

Ashoka's Death

232 BCE

After ruling the Mauryan Empire for 40 years, and being the reason for the Empire's reason for its golden age and all its success. Ashoka died in 232 in Pataliputra from natural causes. After Ashoka's death leaving his empire very strong it lasted for about 50 years after he died but got much weaker and had weaker emperors.

Dasharatha Maurya Accomplishment

232 BCE

Dasharatha Maurya is known for being a much weaker leader than Ashoka but he also did a few things for the empire. He played a big part in the construction of Stupas. Stupas is a very sacred Buddhist architecture that is a place of burial and is very important for people who practice Buddhism. Stupas consist of a cylindrical drum with a circular anda and a harmika and a chhatra on the top, sometimes there were circumambulatory pathways and gateways.

Mauryan Decline

224 BCE

Before Dasharatha Maurya died in 224 several territories broke away from the empire including Saurashtra, Maharashtra, Andhra and Mysore. Dasharatha Maurya had kept the social and religious policies of Ashoka but couldn't keep the huge centralized power that Ashoka had. After Dasharatha Maurya died his son Samprati took over as emperor.

Samprati

215 BCE

Samprati was the emperor of the Mauryan from 224 - 215 and was known for religious tolerance and his promotion of Jainism. Jainism teaches that the path to enlightenment is nonviolence and reducing harm to living things. After Samprati's death in 215 his son Salisuka became emperor.

Emperors Before the Last

187 BCE

The Mauryan empire had 3 emperors between Samprati and the last emperor who was Brihadratha who was emperor when the empire collapsed. First there was Salisuka 215-202 who was known for his military campaigns against the Bactrian Greeks. After him was Devadharma 202-195 who was known for his patronage of Buddhism and his construction of stupas. Then there was Satadhanvan 195-187 who was known for his military campaigns against the Shunga dynasty.

Brihadratha

185 BCE

Brihadratha was the last emperor of the Mauryan empire from 187 to 185 and He was overthrown by Pushyamitra Shunga who was his commander in chief, the founder of the Shunga dynasty. By the time Brihadratha had come to the throne the empire had shrunk a ton and was not a huge power in India anymore. The empire had gone from 5,000,000 square kilometers and being the largest empire in the world to nothing.

Pushyamitra Shunga

149 BCE

Pushyamitra Shunga was the commander in chief of the Mauryan Empire that killed Brihadratha to end the Mauryan Empire in 187. After he killed Brihadratha he used that power to start the Shunga Empire, which was established from 187 to 75. Pushyamitra Shunga ruled his empire from 187 to 149 until he died. His empire followed Hinduism and actually cruelly persecuted the Buddhists in his empire making that are not religiously tolerable anymore.