Maurya Empire

Chandragutpa Maurya

Asoka is most remembered for his drastic change of heart after seeing the bloodshed of the fight for Kalinga.

The Maurya Empire first gained power in the Ganges River Valley, later conquering most of northern India all the way to the Deccan Plateau. The capital city was Pataliputra, and the rest of the empire was divided into 4 provinces whose capitals were Tosali in the east, Ujjain in the west, Savarn in the south, and Taxila in the north.

Asoka the Great

Chandragupta was the first ruler of the Maurya Dynasty. He collected taxes, built roads and harbors for trade, and set up a bureaucracy. However, he was a harsh ruler. Chandragupta had a secret police in charge of reporting crime, corruption, and dissent. He feared assassination so much that he had food tasters and even slept in different rooms every night.

321 B.C.-185 B.C.

The Maurya Empire had united India for the first time. Its rich capitals had schools and libraries for education. Thanks to Asoka's horrified reaction to the slaughter in the fight for Kalinga, Buddhism began to spread. A major contribution was Asoka's Laws. These laws were constructed as pillars and a total of 10 rock edicts placed in more than thirty places, past India to Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. They gave moral advice and contributed to the spread of Buddhist principles.

Contributions

Pillar containing Asoka's Laws

Chandragupta Maurya

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