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Ancient India
Chandragupta Maurya
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The Mauryan
empire was established under the leadership of Chandragupta Maurya (322 BC - 296
BC). The knowledge of this period is derived from the writings of the Greek,
Megasthenes,
who wrote the Indica. He wrote, not only about the capital city of
Pataliputra, but
also about the empire as a whole and about the splendour and order he saw. Chandragupta
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conspired with Chanakya, the minister of the Nandas, to overthrow the
Nandas. After that,
he negotiated with Seleucus Nicator, the Greek Viceroy of Alexander, who ceded
Eastern Afghanistan, Baluchistan and the area west of the Indus.
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Under Chandragupta
Maurya, the whole of northern India was united. Trade flourished,
agriculture was regulated, weights and measures were
standardised. Money first came into use. Taxation, sanitation and famine relief became the
concerns of the State. His son and successor, Bindusara (296 BC - 273 BC), extended the
kingdom further and conquered the south as far as Mysore. |
India, south of the Vindhya
mountains and the Narmada river, was known as the Deccan. Further south was the land of
the Dravidas . From ancient times, these lands were home to Indians of non-Aryan
origin.
Ellora Caves
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SatavahanasThe
Satavahanas (28 BC - 250 AD), also known as the Andhras, emerged as an independent power
in the Deccan in the first century BC. It was founded by Simuka (65 BC - |
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25 BC).
His son, Satakarni (25 BC - 20 AD), succeeded him. Under the
Satavahanas,
many Buddhist worshipping halls (Chaityas) and monasteries (Viharas) were cut out from
rocks. Some famous examples are Amravati and Nagarjuna Konda. Buddhist cave temples were
also cut at the now-famous sites of Ajanta and Ellora.
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With the
Satavahanas providing lines of communication between the north and the south, the
isolation of the southern kingdoms ended. Significantly, trade and exchange of ideas
increased. |
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