Maurya Empire

Origins

The Maurya Empire (322-185 BCE) was the first political entity to unify most of the Indian subcontinent under a single administration, creating governance structures and political traditions that would influence South Asian history for millennia. At its height under Emperor Ashoka, the empire encompassed virtually the entire subcontinent along with parts of modern Afghanistan and Iran, making it one of the largest empires of the ancient world.

The empire’s founder, Chandragupta Maurya, rose to power in the chaotic aftermath of Alexander the Great’s Indian campaign. With guidance from his advisor Chanakya (also known as Kautilya), Chandragupta overthrew the Nanda Dynasty, which had controlled the Gangetic plain, and established his capital at Pataliputra (modern Patna). The Arthashastra, attributed to Chanakya, provides a detailed treatise on statecraft, economics, and military strategy that offers invaluable insight into Mauryan governance—though scholars debate how much of it reflects actual practice versus idealized theory.

Chandragupta expanded westward, eventually confronting Seleucus Nicator, who had inherited Alexander’s eastern territories. A war and subsequent treaty gave Chandragupta control of regions encompassing eastern Afghanistan and Balochistan in exchange for 500 war elephants. The marriage alliance between the dynasties and exchange of ambassadors established diplomatic relations between India and the Hellenistic world—Megasthenes, Seleucus’s ambassador, wrote a detailed account of Mauryan India that survives in fragments.

Structure & Function

The Mauryan administrative system represented unprecedented centralization for the Indian subcontinent. The emperor stood at the apex, assisted by a council of ministers (mantriparishad). Below them, a sophisticated bureaucracy administered the empire through a hierarchy of officials with specialized responsibilities: revenue collection, judicial functions, military affairs, public works, and intelligence gathering.

The empire was divided into provinces governed by princes or appointed officials, with further subdivisions down to the village level. Tax collection was systematic, with a significant portion of agricultural output (sources suggest one-quarter to one-sixth) going to the state. The state also controlled mines, forests, and strategic industries. An extensive network of spies (gudhapurushas) monitored both external threats and internal dissent, as detailed in the Arthashastra.

Infrastructure investment supported both economic activity and imperial control. The Mauryans maintained a network of roads, with the Grand Trunk Road from Pataliputra to the northwest provinces being most famous. Rest houses, wells, and trees provided for travelers. Irrigation works expanded agricultural production. The state maintained a large standing army—Megasthenes reported 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants, though these numbers may be exaggerated. This professional military enabled both conquest and the maintenance of internal order.

Historical Significance

The Maurya Empire established the ideal of subcontinental unity that would inspire later Indian rulers. While subsequent empires rarely achieved Mauryan extent, the aspiration to universal rule (chakravartin) and the administrative model the Mauryans created became reference points for Indian political thought. The empire demonstrated that the subcontinent could be governed as a single entity, an idea that Persian, Greek, and later British observers would also engage with.

Emperor Ashoka’s reign (268-232 BCE) proved particularly influential. After the devastating Kalinga war, Ashoka famously converted to Buddhism and attempted to govern according to Buddhist principles of non-violence (ahimsa) and righteous rule (dhamma). His rock and pillar edicts, scattered across the subcontinent, proclaimed his policies and values in multiple languages. These edicts represent the earliest substantial surviving Indian inscriptions and provide unique contemporary evidence for Mauryan administration.

Ashoka’s patronage helped transform Buddhism from a regional movement into a world religion. He supported monastic communities, convened the Third Buddhist Council, and dispatched missionaries to Sri Lanka, Central Asia, and the Hellenistic world. The lion capital from his pillar at Sarnath became the national emblem of modern India. While the empire declined rapidly after Ashoka’s death—fragmenting and eventually falling to the Shunga coup in 185 BCE—its legacy endured in Indian political imagination and administrative practice.