Changing Political Formations

Changing political formations

Subject: History

Lesson: Changing political formations

Course Developers :
7.1: Gana/sanghas and early monarchical states

Dr. Devika Rangachari
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of
Delhi, and writer
7.2.1: Nature and bases of the Mauryan empire

Dr. Snigdha Singh
Associate Professor, Miranda House, University of Delhi
7.2.2: Ashoka's dhamma

Meera Visvanathan
Ph.D Scholar, Jawaharlal Nehru University
7.3: Post-Mauryan polities with special reference to the

Satavahanas and Kushanas
Dr. Shonaleeka Kaul
Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of
Delhi
Language Editors: Naina Dayal and Bharati Jagannathan
Production Editor: Ashutosh Kumar

Assistant Professor, Lady Shri Ram College, University of
Delhi
Institute of Lifelong Learning, University of Delhi

NOTE:
The dates in modern historical writings are generally given according to the
Christian calendar. In recent years, the use of AD (Anno Domini) and BC (Before
Christ) has to some extent been replaced by BCE (Before Common Era) and CE
(Common Era). Both usages are acceptable, and both sets of abbreviations have
been used in these e-lessons.

Table of contents
Chapter 7: Changing political formations (circa 600 BC to AD 300)

 7.1: Ganas/sanghas and early monarchical states
 7.2.1: Nature and bases of the Mauryan empire
 7.2.2: Ashoka‘s dhamma
 7.3: Post-Mauryan polities with special reference to the Kushanas and the
Satavahanas
 Summary
 Exercises
 Glossary
 Further readings

7.1: Ganas/sanghas and the early monarchical states
The 6th century BC witnessed the transition to a new phase of history in north India with the
establishment of kingdoms, oligarchies and chiefdoms, and the emergence of towns. From
this period, the outlines of the political history of north India become clearer. Kings and
dynasties mentioned in different literary traditions can now be identified as real, historical
figures and entities. Prior to this, there is no way of verifying and corroborating their details.
State polities emerged in the 6th/ 5th century BC in an area stretching from Gandhara in the
north-west to Anga in eastern India, and including the Malwa region as well. The rise of
these political entities should be seen in the context of the social and economic changes that
were taking place at this time. A similar process was also underway in parts of trans-
Vindhyan India as indicated by the inclusion of Assaka (Ashmaka) in the upper Godavari
valley in lists of the great states of the time. The counterpart of the early historical phase in
south India is dated to the 3rd century BC, although archaeological and epigraphic evidence
indicate that the date can be pushed back to the 4th century BC or even earlier.
Sixteen powerful states or solasa-mahajanapada are known to have flourished in the early
6th century BC and their names are listed by contemporary Buddhist and Jaina texts. Two
kinds of states are included in this list of mahajanapadas - monarchies or rajyas and non-
monarchical states or ganas/ sanghas.

Figure 7.1.1: Map of the sixteen mahajanapadas

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahajanapada
Apart from these, smaller states, chiefdoms and tribal principalities must have existed.
While the kingdoms occupied the fertile alluvial tracts of the Ganga valley, most of the
politically important ganas were located around the periphery of these kingdoms, in the
Himalayan foothills, in north-west India, Punjab and Sind, and in central and western India.
The ganas or sanghas
The terms gana and sangha are used as synonymous political terms in some literary sources
like Panini‘s Ashtadhyayi and the Majjhima Nikaya. The term gana-sangha or gana-rajya has
the connotation of gana, referring to a collective of men of equal status, and sangha,
meaning an assembly, or rajya, meaning governance. These political entities were
5

oligarchies, where power was exercised by a few. There is a fundamental difference

between the political structure and functioning of the rajyas and the ganas/sanghas. In the
latter, power was diffused, the stratification of society was limited, and coercive authority
was not extensive.
The connection between the ganas/sanghas and the growth of various ideologies and belief
systems, particularly Buddhist and Jaina, was due to many of these being rooted in the
ganas/ sanghas. Of the mahajanapadas, two - the Vajji and Malla - were sanghas. Other
prominent ganas, some of whom are mentioned in Buddhist texts, were the Sakyas of
Kapilavastu, the Lichchhavis of Vaishali, the Koliyas of Devadaha and Ramagrama (to the
east of the Sakyas), the Bulis of Alakappa, the Kalamas of Kesaputta, the Moriyas of
Pipphalivana, and the Bhaggas (or Bhargas in the Vindhyan region).
Value addition: what the sources say

Ganas in literary texts and other sources
Panini‘s Ashtadhyayi mentions several ganas such as the Kshudrakas, Malavas,
Ambashthas, Hastinayanas, Prakanvas, Madras, Madhumantas, Apritas, Vasatis,
Bhaggas, Shibis, Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas. Later references indicate that the
Vrishnis, Andhakas and other allied clans in the Mathura region were part of a
sangha. Vasudeva Krishna of the Vrishni clan is described as a sanghamukhya (the
head of a sangha). Non-monarchical states are also mentioned in the Mahabharata,
Megasthenes‘ Indica and in Greek accounts of Alexander‘s invasion.
Names of ganas such as the Malavas, Uddehikas and Arjunayanas occur on coins of
the early centuries AD, and some are also mentioned in inscriptions. In the 4 th
century AD, Chandragupta I of the Gupta dynasty married a Lichchhavi princess,
Kumaradevi, and this marriage was commemorated on gold coins. Their son,
Samudragupta, is called Lichchhavi-dauhitra (grandson of the Lichchhavis) in
inscriptions. The Lichchhavis, therefore, were still a political force worth making an
alliance with in this period.
Source: Original
The ganas had more elements of a tribal organization than the monarchies. In fact, some
may have evolved into more complex political forms of older tribal formations. Interestingly,
some monarchies transformed themselves into ganas in course of time, examples being the
Videhas, that became a gana by the 6th century BC, and the Kurus that followed a similar
process a few centuries later.

There were two types of ganas - those that comprised all or a section of one clan (the
Sakyas and Koliyas, for instance), and those that comprised a confederation of several
clans (the Vajjis and Yadavas).
It must be noted that these ancient Indian ganas were not democratic. Power was vested in
an aristocracy, comprising the heads of leading kshatriya families. Instead of a hereditary
monarch, there was a chief called the ganapati, ganaraja or sanghamukhya who met the
aristocratic council in a hall called the santhagara. The day-to-day political management,
however, must have been in the hands of a smaller group.
The Sakyas, one of the most prominent ganas, had their capital at Kapilavastu (modern
Piprahwa-Ganwaria). As the Buddha belonged to this clan, its details are well documented in
Buddhist texts which, additionally, give significant information on the meetings convened by
the Sakya assembly to discuss matters of war, alliances and peace measures. The Sakyas
had matrimonial ties with the kingdom of Kosala.
The Lichchhavis of Vaishali had, according to the Ekapana Jataka, 7707 rajas to govern the
realm, and a similar number of uparajas (subordinate kings), senapatis (military
commanders) and bhandagarikas (treasurers). The Mahavastu, however, puts the number
at 168,000 rajas in Vaishali. These figures should not be taken literally but they definitely
suggest that the Lichchhavis had a large assembly, comprising the heads of kshatriya
families who called themselves rajas. They usually met once a year to transact public
business and elect their leader, who had a fixed tenure. The Lichchhavi assembly had
sovereign power and could pronounce death or exile punishments. Daily administrative
matters were dealt with by a smaller council of nine men. Thus, this corporate aspect of
government was held to be the major strength of the ganas. Women, significantly, were not
included in the assembly.
Unlike the monarchies, standing armies might not have existed in the ganas. The
Lichchhavis had a strong army but, when not engaged in battle, the soldiers probably
retired to their lands.
It should be noted that more details on ganas are provided by Buddhist and Jaina texts than
Brahmanical ones. This is because kingship was central to the Brahmanical social and
political ideology, and kinglessness was equated with anarchy. Ganas were closely
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associated with kshatriyas, who were their political elite and their largest landowners, and
hence, brahmanas and purohitas (priests) may not have enjoyed the same prestige here as
in the rajyas.
The history of the ganas of ancient India spanned a thousand years or so. They were
eventually defeated by the monarchical states. Their greatest asset - governance through
discussion - proved to be their greatest weakness as well because it paved the way for
internal dissension, particularly when threatened by the aggressive monarchies.
Kautilya‘s Arthashastra, a treatise on statecraft, outlines the special strategies that a would-
be conqueror could use to vanquish the ganas and these were directed towards creating
dissension among their ranks. Empire building and universal rule, the ambitions of
monarchical states, spurred their military victories over the ganas, whose system of
governance and military organization were unable to meet these challenges.
However, the persistence of the ganas/sanghas in Indian history was quite remarkable,
especially in the northern and western regions. Though they were conquered periodically,
they continued to reappear. The Arjunayanas, Malavas and Yaudheyas, for instance, appear
on coins of the 2nd and 1st century BC. Subsequently, nine of what were earlier ganas in
Rajasthan, including the age-old Malavas and Yaudheyas, were forced to accept Gupta
suzerainty in the 4th century AD as a result of Samudragupta‘s military campaigns.
The monarchical states
In contrast to the ganas/sanghas, the kingdoms had a central government with the king as
sovereign. Power was concentrated in the ruling family, which became a dynasty, whereby
succession to kingship became hereditary. Loyalty was focused on the king, who symbolized
political power and was assisted by ministers, advisory councils like the parishad and sabha,
and the administration.
Some of the mahajanapadas conformed to the definition of a state. The list of the sixteen
states comprises the following: Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji, Malla, Chetiya, Vamsa,
Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Shurasena, Ashmaka, Avanti, Gandhara and Kamboja.


Mahajanapadas in literary texts
There are certain differences in the lists of the sixteen states provided by various
literary sources. For example, the Anguttara Nikaya refers to Kasi, Kosala, Vajji,
Chetiya, Vamsa, Machchha and Assaka along with the other states, and these names
stand for Kashi, Koshala, Vrijji, Chedi, Vatsa, Matsya and Ashmaka, respectively.
The Mahavastu has a similar list but substitutes Shibi (in Punjab) and Dasharna (in
central India) for the north-western states of Gandhara and Kamboja. The Bhagavati
Sutra, on the other hand, gives a somewhat different list: Anga, Banga (Vanga),
Magaha (Magadha), Malaya, Malava, Achchha, Vachchha (Vatsa), Kochchha, Ladha
(Lata or Radha), Padha (Pandya or Paundra, Bajji (Vajji), Moli (Malla), Kasi (Kashi),
Kosala, Avaha and Sambhuttara. While some names are common between the lists,
the one provided by the Bhagavati Sutra seems to be later and less reliable.
Source: Original
Of these, the most powerful states in the 6th century BC were Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and
Avanti. The outlines of their political history can be discerned by using the various literary
sources of this period as well as those of subsequent ones.
Relations between the states seemed to have fluctuated over time, influenced by factors
such as warfare, truce, and military or matrimonial alliances.
One can now take a closer look at each of the sixteen mahajanapadas. The kingdom of
Kashi had its capital at Varanasi (modern Benares). The Jatakas indicate that several Kashi
kings were involved in a struggle for political supremacy with the kingdoms of Kosala, Anga
and Magadha. Kashi was eventually absorbed into the Kosalan kingdom.
The kingdom of Kosala had two capitals: Shravasti (modern Saheth-Maheth) of north Kosala
and Kushavati of south Kosala. Saketa and Ayodhya were important towns of this powerful
kingdom. Kosala conquered Kashi and extended its power over the Sakyas of Kapilavastu.
One of Kosala‘s kings, Pasenadi (Prasenajit), was a contemporary of the Buddha and is
frequently mentioned in Pali texts. During his time, Kosala was linked to Magadha (under
king Bimbisara) through matrimonial ties but relations deteriorated thereafter.

Figure 7.1.2: Coins of the Kosala kingdom

Source: http://www.nupam.com/ancient1.html
Anga (roughly the present-day Bhagalpur and Monghyr districts of Bihar) had its capital at
Champa (modern Champanagara near Bhagalpur), which was one of the greatest cities and
an important commercial centre of the 6th century BC. Merchants are described as sailing
overseas from here to Suvarnabhumi (probably in south-east Asia).
The kingdom of Magadha (roughly the modern Patna and Gaya districts of Bihar) lay to the
west of Anga. Its capital was Girivraja or Rajagriha (near modern Rajgir), which was an
impressive city surrounded by five hills that formed a natural defence. Lists of the
Magadhan kings, starting with Brihadratha, are provided by the Puranas. The history of
Magadha up to the coming of the Mauryas will be dealt with in detail below.
The principality of the Vajji (Vrijji) was in eastern India and is considered to have been a
confederacy of eight or nine clans, the most important ones being the Vajjis, Lichchhavis,
Videhas and Nayas/ Jnatrikas. Vaishali (modern Basarh in north Bihar) was the capital of
both the Lichchhavis and the Vajji confederacy. The Lichchhavis, who had sour relations
with Magadha, are often mentioned in Buddhist texts.
The Malla principality, located to the west of the Vajjis, consisted of a confederacy of nine
clans and had two political centres - Kusinara and Pava. The Chedi kingdom in the eastern
part of Bundelkhand in central India had its capital at Sotthivatinagara. Vatsa, whose capital
was Kaushambi (modern Kosam village on the Yamuna‘s right bank), was noted for its fine
cotton textiles.
The Kuru kingdom had its capital at Indapatta (Indraprastha) and established matrimonial
relations with the Yadavas, Bhojas and Panchalas. The kingdom of Panchala included the
Rohilkhand area and part of the central doab region. It had two capitals: Ahichchhatra
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(modern Ramnagar in Bareilly district, UP) of north Panchala and Kampilya (modern Kampil
in Farukkhabad district, UP) of south Panchala. The famous city of Kanyakubja or Kanauj
formed a part of this kingdom.
The Matsya principality was located in the Jaipur area in Rajasthan, extending into Alwar
and Bharatpur as well. Its capital was Viratanagara (modern Bairat). The Shurasenas, with
whom the Matsyas are usually associated in Buddhist texts, had their capital at Mathura/
Madura on the Yamuna. The Mahabharata and the Puranas refer to the rulers of this region
as the Yadu or Yadavas, who included the Vrishnis.
The Ashmaka kingdom was on the Godavari river and its capital was Potana (modern
Bodhan). The Godavari separated Ashmaka from its neighbouring kingdom of Mulaka with
its capital at Pratishthana (modern Paithan). Avanti, in the Malwa region of central India,
had two commercially important towns, Mahishmati (modern Maheshwar) and Ujjayini
(modern Ujjain), both of which are mentioned in ancient texts as its capital. Under
Pradyota, the kingdom was involved in conflicts with Vatsa, Magadha and Kosala.
Figure 7.1.3: Coin of the Ashmaka kingdom

Source: http://www.nupam.com/ancient1.html
The kingdom of Gandhara (modern Peshawar and Rawalpindi districts of Pakistan, and the
Kashmir valley) had its capital at Takshashila (Taxila), which was a major centre of trade
and learning.
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Figure 7.1.4: Coins of early Gandhara (Taxila-Gandhara region)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gandhara1.JPG
The Behistun inscription of the Achaemenid emperor Darius indicates that Gandhara was
conquered by the Persians in the latter part of the 6 th century BC. The kingdom of Kamboja
(the area around Rajaori, including the Hazara district of the North West Frontier Province of
Pakistan) is usually associated with Gandhara by ancient texts and inscriptions.
The powerful monarchies developed a standing army - permanent troops that were
recruited and maintained by the state.
The rise of Magadha
One can now turn to a detailed discussion on the rise of Magadha to political supremacy.
The outlines of its growth to an empire can be discerned from Puranic, Buddhist and Jaina
texts, although there are differences in the dynastic sequences they provide. Magadha‘s
gradual rise to political supremacy began with Bimbisara. According to Ashvaghosha‘s
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Buddhacharita, Bimbisara (c.545-493 BC) belonged to the Haryanka kula (family) but there
are varying theories regarding his origin.

Literary texts on Bimbisara’s background
The Mahavamsa states that Bimbisara was anointed king by his father at the age of
15, thereby suggesting that he was not the founder of the dynasty. It is also
believed that the title seniya (or shrenika) given to him in Buddhist texts indicates
that he was initially a senapati (commander-in-chief), probably of the Vajjis.
However, this theory is not supported by the Mahavamsa. Incidentally, the
Mahavagga, a Buddhist text, speaks of Bimbisara‘s 500 wives.
Source: Original
Bimbisara is known to have strengthened Magadha‘s position by making several

matrimonial alliances. For instance, by marrying Mahakosala, the sister of Prasenajit of
Kosala, he got a village in Kashi as dowry. Bimbisara also married a Videhan princess and
Khema, the daughter of the Madra ruler of central Punjab. He established his capital at
Girivraja and led a successful military campaign against Anga. After its annexation, prince
Kunika (Ajatashatru) was appointed its governor.
The Mahavagga suggests that Bimbisara had a very large kingdom consisting of thousands
of prosperous villages. Villages were governed by assemblies under village headmen
(gramakas). High-ranking officials known as mahamatras probably had executive, judicial
and military functions. It is very likely that Bimbisara maintained a standing army
maintained through state revenues.
Value addition: did you know?

Bimbisara’s retinue
According to Buddhist texts, Bimbisara‘s attendants included a person called Sona
Kolivisa; a flower gatherer named Sumana who provided him with jasmine flowers
daily; a minister called Koliya; a treasurer, Kumbhaghosaka; and the physician,
Jivaka. A story of Bimbisara sending Jivaka to attend to the ailing Pradyota of Avanti
suggests cordial relations between the two kingdoms.
Source: Original
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Jaina texts claim that Bimbisara was a follower of Mahavira. Buddhist texts, however, claim
that he was a follower of the Buddha and, in fact, was instrumental in getting new rules
made for the monks by raising some issues with the Buddha. He is considered an important
figure in the early Buddhist tradition.
According to Buddhist sources, Bimbisara was killed by his son, Ajatashatru (c.493-462 BC),
who continued the expansion of Magadha after he took over the throne. His reign was
marked by a conflict with Kosala whose ruler, Prasenajit, was furious at Ajatashatru‘s
patricide. Revoking the gift of the Kashi village, he embarked on a war with Ajatashatru,
which eventually concluded with the village being returned to the latter, who also married a
Kosalan princess, Vajira.
Ajatashatru also obtained a major victory over the powerful Lichchhavis, who were
supported by some other ganas and by Kosala. According to Buddhist tradition, the
Lichchhavis broke their promise to share the contents of a jewel mine discovered at the foot
of a hill at a Ganga port with Ajatashatru, thereby incurring his wrath. Dissension within the
Lichchhavi ranks fomented by Ajatashatru‘s minister, Vassakara, paved the way for their
defeat after a protracted campaign of around twenty years. Incidentally, Ajatashatru
ordered fortifications constructed at Pataligrama on the Ganga to make his war campaign
more effective. This later became the famous town of Pataliputra. Ajatashatru also defeated
Chanda Pradyota of Avanti.

Ajatashatru’s religion
As with Bimbisara, Ajatashatru is depicted, alternately, as a follower of Jainism and
Buddhism. Jaina texts describe his frequent visits to Mahavira and their
conversations. However, Buddhist texts describe Ajatashatru as approaching the
Buddha to express remorse for killing Bimbisara. He is also credited with building
relic stupas and repairing monasteries in and around Rajagriha, as also hosting the
first Buddhist council there after the Buddha‘s death.
Ajatashatru‘s visit to the Buddha forms an important event in the Buddhist tradition.
It is depicted in a 2nd century BC relief panel on one of the railing pillars of the
western gateway that originally stood at the central Indian Buddhist site of Bharhut.
It depicts the king with his procession paying obeisance to the Buddha, as
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corroborated by a Prakrit inscription on the side which reads Ajatasatu Bhagavato

vandate (Ajatashatru worships the Lord [Buddha]). The panel also reiterates the fact
that royal patronage was an important source of prestige for ancient Indian religious
sects.
Source: Original
Figure 7.1.5: Bharhut panel of Ajatashatru‘s visit to the Buddha

Source: ASI
Ajatashatru, according to Buddhist tradition, was succeeded by four kings who ruled for 56
years in all. There is some uncertainty regarding his immediate successor - Buddhist texts
talk of Udayibhadda who killed his father, while Jaina texts talk of Udayin who was a
devoted son and a devout Jaina. According to the Puranas, Udayin was succeeded by
Nandivardhana and Mahanandin.
Sources indicate that the people of Magadha drove out the ruling family and elected an
amatya (a high-ranking official) named Shishunaga as king. Shishunaga destroyed the
Pradyota dynasty of Avanti, and also probably annexed the kingdoms of Vatsa and Kosala.
15

The capital was shifted to Pataliputra during the reign of his son and successor, Kalashoka.
The Shishunaga dynasty came to a bloody end with the king and his sons being murdered,
thereby making way for the Nanda dynasty.
There is, once again, some uncertainty regarding the origins of this dynasty. The Puranas
call the founder of the Nanda dynasty Mahapadma, who was apparently the son of a king of
the Shishunaga dynasty by a shudra woman, and therefore refer to the Nanda kings as
adharmika (those who do not follow the rules of dharma). Buddhist texts, on the other
hand, call the founder Ugrasena (who apparently became the leader of a robber gang) and
describe the Nandas as ‗of unknown lineage‘ (annatakula).
There were nine Nanda kings in all. Possible indications of Nanda military victories in Kalinga
are given by the later Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela which mentions a king named
Nanda building a canal and either conquering a place or taking away a Jaina shrine/image
from Kalinga. Some scholars feel that Nau Nand Dehra (Nanded) on the Godavari reflects
Nanda rule over the Deccan.
Alexander‘s invasion (327-326 BC) took place at the time of Dhana Nanda‘s rule. Greek
accounts call him Agrammes/Xandrames and he is described as a powerful king who ruled
over the Prasii (Prachya or the eastern people) and the Gangaridae (the people of the lower
Ganga valley). They also provide rather exaggerated figures for Dhana Nanda‘s cavalry,
which, however, indicate that the Greeks had heard about the large and powerful army of
the Nandas.

Alexander’s invasion
Greek historians provide a detailed but somewhat exaggerated account of the
invasion of Alexander of Macedonia (Greece). After defeating the Persian army led by
Darius, Alexander turned towards the former‘s eastern provinces. India (i.e., the
Indus valley) was apparently the twentieth and most prosperous satrapy (province)
of the erstwhile Persian empire. Alexander established a series of outposts in
Afghanistan before entering the subcontinent. He found the north-west full of
warring principalities.
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In 326 BC, he crossed the Indus and defeated Porus (Paurava), who ruled the area
between the Jhelum and Chenab. This battle has been dealt with in several poems
that stress Paurava‘s bravery and Alexander‘s magnanimity in returning the former‘s
kingdom to him. Michael Madhusudan Dutt‘s poem, ‗King Porus - A Legend of Old‘, is
a very good example. The treachery of Ambhi, the ruler of Taxila, is also highlighted
in this work.
Alexander also captured the region between the Chenab and Ravi but could not
proceed beyond the Beas due to his war-weary army. Leaving the areas west of the
Punjab to satraps (governors), he turned back, skirmishing with ganas such as the
Malloi (Mallas), Oxydrakai (Kshudrakas) and Sibae (Shibi) on the way. Alexander
finally reached the Indus delta from where he took the land route towards Babylon.
He died two years later.
Alexander‘s invasion resulted in the creation of a Seleucid principality in the north-

west, and the establishment of several Greek settlements like Boukephala and Nikaia
in the area.
Source: Original
Other sources refer to Dhana Nanda‘s fabulous wealth, and his unpopularity among his
people whom he exploited for more riches. The Nandas are sometimes described as the first
dynasty with imperial ambitions, a statement hinted at in the Puranas.
There were many factors that contributed to Magadha‘s political success. Apart from its
secure and favourable geographical position, encompassing several mineral resources (it
had access to ivory as well as local iron and copper deposits), it also controlled nodal points
in the Ganges river system that gave it access to the river trade. Magadha‘s rulers, who
devised successful military and matrimonial alliances, played a crucial role in building its
strength. Their military success was based on the extraction and deployment of resources
by the state and the creation of a strong military force on this foundation. There are no
details, however, of the administrative, revenue or military organization of the early
Magadhan dynasties.
The growth of the Magadhan empire, however, involved the defeat and marginalization of
other states. The Nandas were eventually replaced by the Mauryas (c.324-187 BC) whose
empire extended over almost the entire subcontinent.
7.2.1: Nature and bases of the Mauryan empire
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Sources/beginning of the historical period
The Mauryan period is characterized by an abundance and variety of source materials,

especially in comparison to earlier times. Whereas with earlier periods there is a frantic
search for evidence from sources far removed and scattered, the sources for the Mauryan
period are contemporary or written at a later date. Therefore, we have evidence from
literary texts, inscriptions/ edicts, numismatics, artefacts and art remains. Earlier
inscriptions, such as those found on the seals of the Harappan civilization, remain
undeciphered to date. In contrast to this, we know the languages and scripts used in the
edicts issued by Ashoka, the most famous ruler of the Mauryan empire.
When we examine the sources, we find that there are 14 major rock-edicts, 7 pillar-edicts,
several minor rock-edicts including one schism edict, pillar edicts and cave inscriptions
which were issued during the reign of Ashoka. There are also the inscriptions from Sohgaura
and Mahasthan which throw light on the times of Chandragupta Maurya, the first ruler of the
dynasty. Both these inscriptions are composed in Ashokan Prakrit and deal with relief
measures to be adopted during a famine. The inscriptions issued during the reign of Ashoka
were generally in the local script, Brahmi (deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837) and the
language used was Prakrit. Those found in the north-west, in the region near Peshawar, are
in the Kharoshthi script, which was derived from Aramaic used in Iran (Thapar 2002, 182).
Further west, near Kandahar in Afghanistan, the inscriptions were in Greek and Aramaic.
Whereas in the north-west a concession was made to both the local language and script, in
the southern part of peninsula where people did not speak Prakrit—the more widely used
language being Tamil—such a concession was not made (Thapar 2002, 182-3). It is possible
that Tamil did not have a script. It is also likely that these regions were still chiefdoms and
therefore were not given the same status as the kingdoms of the north-west (Thapar 2002,
183). Prakrit may have been used extensively in the edicts to establish cultural uniformity
within the empire. The edicts are unique as they were intended as a means of direct
communication between the king and the people. This method of articulation of royal power
was unique to Ashoka. One can say that Ashoka, through his edicts, was able to articulate
and project his image/ idea of kingship.
The other archaeological sources are art remains and pillars with capitals, some of which are
inscribed. There is evidence of other art forms such as yaksha and yakshi figures, cave
architecture etc (to be discussed in section X). We have punch-marked coins in copper and
silver. There are also silver bar coins, coins issued by guilds etc., which attest that metallic
currency was used for transactions. It must be remembered that the currency used at this
time was not royal currency though the symbols issued on them were official marks. What is
of importance is that these coins are the earliest surviving examples of coinage in India.
Different types of pottery were used; the most impressive is the northern black polished
ware.
18

One of the most important literary texts is Kautilya‘s Arthashastra, an important text on
statecraft for a king which discusses a potential and not an actual state. It should be
pointed out that authorship is only attributed to Kautilya. While it is doubtful that it existed
in its present shape during Chandragupta Maurya‘s time, it may have existed before the 2 nd
century CE (Raychaudhuri 1997, 246). Thus, the precise date of the text remains uncertain.
The Arthshastra can be used as a source for a reconstruction of certain aspects of
governance of the said time-period.
There are, besides, the Sri Lankan chronicles, the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa which give us
insight into spread of Buddhism to Sri Lanka. The Indica of Megasthenes (which survives
only in fragments cited by later authors such as Strabo and Arrian) throws light on the
society and economy. Megasthenes was the envoy of Seleucus who spent time in the court
of Chandragupta Maurya and left his account in the book titled Indica. Unfortunately, the
original account has been lost. What we can retrieve of the text is references in the works of
Diodorus, Strabo and Arrian who wrote for a Greek audience. Megasthenes‘ Indica describes
the administration, society etc.

Who is Kautilya?
Kautilya was the author of the Arthshastra which is an important political treatise. He
is said to have been the mentor and guide of Chandragupta Maurya. It is said that
Kautilya helped him to acquire and keep the throne. It is believed that it was edited
and commented upon by various later writers until the 4 th century CE. Vishnugupta
worked over the entire text and probably made additions to it, and today the text is
in this later form of Vishnugupta‘s.
Source: Thapar, R. 2002. Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. Delhi:
Penguin Press, 176; Thapar, R. 1998. The Mauryas Revisited. Calcutta: K.P.
Bagachi & Co., 224-5.
Origin of the Mauryas
There are various theories regarding the origin of the Mauryas. The Buddhist texts,
Mahavamsa and Divyavadana, speak of the Mauryas as kshatriyas while the Puranas
describe the Nandas and Mauryas as shudras. Jaina tradition recorded in the
Parishistaparvan represents Chandragupta as the son of a daughter of the chief of a village
of peacock-tamers. According to Raychaudhuri (1996, 237), in the sixth century BCE, the
Moriyas were the ruling clan of the republic of Pipphalivana which must have been absorbed
in the Magadhan empire along with the other states of Eastern India.
Foundation of the Mauryan empire

19

Chandragupta Maurya was the ruler who laid the foundation of the Mauryan empire. He
defeated the last Nanda ruler who had lost touch with the common people and had imposed
heavy and arbitrary taxation.

Strategy of war adopted by Chandragupta Maurya
A story suggests that Chandragupta began by harassing the outlying areas of the
Nanda kingdom, gradually moving towards the centre: this strategy was based on
the moral drawn from the fact that the young emperor-to-be saw a young women
scolding her child for eating from the centre of a dish, since the centre was bound to
be much hotter than the sides.
Source: Thapar, R. 2002. Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. Delhi:
Penguin Press, 176.
According to later tradition, Chandragupta was aided by his mentor/minister Chanakya,

often identified with Kautilya. Chandragupta also fought a battle with Seleucus Nicator, the
successor of Alexander in parts of West Asia. This resulted in the incorporation into the
Mauryan empire of north-western areas like eastern Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and Makran.
A treaty was also signed between the two rulers. Besides, a matrimonial alliance was
established between Seleucus and Chandragupta Maurya wherein Seleucus gave his sister in
marriage to Chandragupta. Seleucus‘ envoy, Megasthenes, also stayed in the court of
Chandragupta.

Treaty between Chandragupta Maurya and Seleucus Nicator
According to the treaty, Chandragupta Maurya gave 500 elephants to Seleucus. This
was because the Hellenistic kings believed that an elephant wing was crucial to the
success of an army and since they were constantly at war, the availability of
elephants was regarded as necessary to gaining military edge over enemies.
Source: Thapar, R. (ed). 1995. ‘The First Millennium B.C. in Northern India’,
in Recent Perspectives of Early Indian History. Bombay: Popular Prakashan
Pvt Ltd., 122.

Indian elephant versus African elephant
20

Indian elephants were used in a war against Antigonus of Egypt who had African
elephants. As far as we know, this was the only occasion in history when the Indian
elephant faced the African elephant in battle. Indian elephants, though smaller in
size, were better trained and won the day for Seleucus.
Source: Diwedi, P.S. through communication
Administrative divisions
It is evident from the Ashokan inscriptions that there were four provincial centres apart
from the capital at Pataliputra. These were: Taxila, capital of the northern province;
Ujjayini, of the west; Tosali of the east; and Suvarnagiri of the south. These provinces were
administrative divisions governed by royal princes and served as training grounds for them.
The Arthashastra mentions a council of ministers called the mantri-parishad which aided the
king. Ministers are also mentioned in Ashokan inscriptions.
According to the Arthashastra, the ministers had to be of high birth, integrity and
intelligence. Thus, most ministers were probably recruited from the upper two varnas. The
council was an advisory body and even though Jayaswal (1955) attempts to show that the
ministers had overriding powers and could reject the policy of the king; we do not find such
an instance during the time of Ashoka.
The Arthashastra also mentions a number of special officials. These include the sannidhata,
the treasurer who was expected to keep accounts of the income, and the samaharta, the
chief collector who had to look into the income and expenditure. They were helped by an
accountant-general who kept accounts of the kingdom and of the royal household. It is
evident that, ideally, even the expenditure of the palace had to be accounted for. These
officials were assisted by karmikas, i.e., clerks, who helped to keep records.
In provincial administration, the council of ministers had more power than its counterpart at
the centre. They acted as checks on the prince if required and were in direct contact with
the king. There was a hierarchy of provincial officers headed by the pradeshika, assisted by
the rajuka and the yukta. Between the district and the village was an intermediate level, a
group of five to ten villages, under the control of the gopa assisted by the sthanika. At the
village level, i.e., the grama, was the village elder, the gramika, who was expected to look
after the administration and tax collection. The gramika reported to the gopa who in turn
reported to the pradeshika and so on. Thus, a link was established between the village and
centre in terms of tax collection.
Megasthenes, who visited Pataliputra during the reign of Chandragupta, mentions several
officials. These include the agronomoi, district officials who supervised land measurements,
irrigation facilities, industries connected with agriculture, forestry etc, and the astynomoi, in
charge of the municipal administration of cities like Pataliputra. Municipal administration was
grouped into six boards with five members each who were meant to take care of foreigners
21

and sick persons, to bury the dead, to register births and deaths etc. Another board
supervised industries, trade and commerce. Thus the administration established by
Chandragupta laid the foundation of a state which was concerned about its populace.
According to Megasthenes, the king was assisted by a war office which supervised the
infantry, cavalry, chariots, elephants, navy, and transport. The Arthashastra also discusses
how soldiers could be temporarily recruited from groups such as forest peoples, and other
categories.
Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusara. According to the Divyavadana, the
province of Taxila revolted because of the high-handedness of the officials. Ashoka was sent
by Bindusara to quell the revolt in which he was successful. Bindusara had adopted the
Ajivika faith unlike Chandragupta who had embraced Jainism. This is constructed on the
basis of a story of an Ajivika fortune-teller prophesying Ashoka‘s future greatness. Kalinga
seems to have been the only territory which needed to be added to the empire by Ashoka,
for strategic reasons. This meant that the reign of Ashoka was a period of consolidation
rather than aggrandizement. After Ashoka, the empire declined rapidly. It had become weak
and fragmented and the disintegration was accelerated by the invasions led by the Yavanas
referred to in the Gargi Samhita and the Mahabhashya of Patanjali. The final coup de grace
was given by Pushyamitra Shunga who eventually established the Shunga dynasty.
Ashoka, the ruler: innovator or strategist?
Ashokan inscriptions provide us with a wealth of information about the nature of the
administration. For example, in the 1st Rock Edict, he restricts festive gatherings which did
not conform to his ideas. Such gatherings may have been feared as providing occasions for
attacks on the king‘s new ideas (Thapar 1983, 152).
Ashoka also mentions several officers who were expected to report to him directly. These
included the pulisani, who were agents of the king, the pativedakas, who were special
reporters or spies and the dhamma-mahamattas, appointed to spread dhamma. There were
also the amta-mahamattas, who were appointed to take care of the frontier people and
itijhakha-mahamattas, who looked after women. These officials also acted as links between
the king and those living in different parts of the empire, provinces and frontier areas. Thus,
these officers along with the council of ministers at the centre were directly responsible to
the king.
The head of a province was often the arya-putra, a prince belonging to the royal family. It
was believed this was part of the training imparted to the prince. According to Buddhist
tradition, Ashoka, as a prince, was also in charge of Taxila, where he showed his skill in
subduing a revolt.
22

Within the provinces, Ashokan inscriptions mention the rajuka who assessed the land and
also helped in judicial matters. The yukta, who is mentioned in the 3rd Rock Edict, largely
did secretarial work and accounting. The work of the nagalaviyohaloka-mahamatta was
largely judicial; he worked under the general administration of the nagaraka, who was the
city-superintendent, and maintained law and order, cleanliness etc. in the urban centres.
It is evident that Ashoka tried to retain some of the features of the administration which he
had inherited from his grandfather and father, but also added new features. Perhaps the
most significant of these was the creation of an imperial ideology in the form of Dhamma.
One of the aspects of Dhamma which would have benefited his subjects in tangible terms
was the development of infrastructure such as roads, inns, hospitals, wells, and the planting
of medicinal herbs.
Empire: bureaucratic interlude or a federal state?
When we examine the nature of the Mauryan empire, we find a variety of views which
confront us. According to Dikshitar (1932, 75-80), the Mauryan state was a federal state
whose most essential feature was militarism. However, the edicts suggest that the
border/frontier areas had a relatively loose relationship with the centre. At the centre, we
find evidence of monarchy but it is possible that some tribes, which were within the empire
or on its border, maintained their political organization. The Arthashastra mentions certain
tribal republics like the Vrijjis, Licchavis etc. The presence of different political formations
within the empire implies that it cannot be defined as a federal state.
There seems to have been a hierarchy amongst the officials of the Mauryan empire. It is on
this basis that Sharma (1991) terms it a bureaucratic interlude. The reason for Sharma‘s
argument seems to be based on the so-called pyramidal structure which was created during
this time. According to him, there was a big gap between the highest and lowest class of
government officials. The impression of centralized bureaucratic control is consistent with
the vast empire, expanding economic activity and a well-organized military system.
However, this notion of a highly centralized, uniform system of administration extending to

every part of the empire has been reconsidered. The administration may have been
centralized in intent but this was not possible in practice. One of the problems pointed out
by Fussman (1987-88, 43-72) was the means of communication. The problems of conveying
orders from the capital to different parts of the empire and carrying them out are likely to
have compromised their viability and efficiency.
We know that the Mauryan empire controlled extensive territory. The degree of control over
certain areas has, however, been questioned (Bongard-Levin, 1985). It is likely that people
within the vast empire were politically, economically and culturally different. So the ways in
which they were administered or controlled may have differed. It is probable that some
areas were directly administered, whereas others were under indirect or even nominal
23

control. Therefore the degree and nature of control would vary depending on the economic
and political significance of a specific region. The nucleus of the empire was Magadha, which
has been described as the metropolitan state by Thapar (2002, 194-9). It is here that we
find the king exercising power along with his ministers. The administration over this area
was direct and uniform.
Away from the centre was the core area, i.e., the provinces which were economically well-
developed and were controlled through representatives with a back-up similar but not
identical with that of the metropolitan area. Core areas seem to coincide with closer clusters
of Ashokan edicts and the Major Rock Edicts, such as those in Gandhara, Karnataka, Kalinga
etc. If we look at these core areas, we find they were economically very important. For
example, Gandhara was important for commercial exchanges, Karnataka potentially
important for gold and Kalinga from the strategic point of view in terms of trade with
Southeast Asia. The economy of the core areas was restructured to meet the demands of
the metropolitan region. At the same time, administrative control was probably not as
intense in the core areas when compared with the heartland. After the collapse of the
Mauryan empire, some of these core areas became the nuclei of independent states.
When we look at the areas which were on the periphery of the empire, i.e., the
border/frontier areas, we find that control was minimal. Here, as mentioned earlier,
variations in political institutions, including non-monarchical forms of government, are in
evidence. Many of these areas also had diverse subsistence and production systems,
ranging from hunting-gathering to agricultural and craft production. Areas that were
primarily important for raw materials such as timber, elephants, semi-precious stones etc
were tapped for their resources, but with minimal administrative interference. It is likely, for
instance, that people living in the forests procured these resources more effectively than the
Mauryan administration. The latter, therefore, attempted to establish and maintain a
working relationship with such people in order to procure these resources with minimal
effort. This strategy would suggest that the Mauryan empire was not uniformly centralized.
While some areas were closely controlled, we also find a variety of flexible relationships
between the metropolitan region, core territories and the peripheral areas. There also
seems to be greater uniformity at the upper levels of the administration whereas local
administration seems to be more decentralized.
The Mauryan state may be characterized as an early empire. Its agrarian character was
unique, and it seems that the state spread horizontally and maintained its unitary character
through its bureaucracy and armed forces. This feature was not witnessed during the post-
Mauryan state formations, many of which were based on land-grant economies, with a focus
on vertical development within a region rather than across regions (Seneviratne 1981, 325-
32). Another feature of the Mauryan administration was the paternalistic attitude of the
ruler. The idea of paternalism was implicit in the Arthashastra and is found in the Ashokan
edicts as well, as for example in the 1st Separate Rock Edict located at Tosali. Ashoka‘s
notion of paternal rule included the conception of the king not only as the protector but also
24

as the controller of all spheres of life, when he says ―all men are my children‖. This ushered
in a new kind of relationship between the state, the king and the community.

Paternalistic attitude of Ashoka in Separate Kalinga Edict
‗All men are my children. Just as I desire for my children that they may enjoy every
kind of prosperity and happiness both in this world and in the next, so also do I
desire the same for all men‘.
Source: 1st Separate Edict at Tosali
Traditionally, the king was supposed to maintain the existing social order. The king needed
divine sanction for the performance of these tasks which was transmitted through the
purohita, who had to guide the king in spiritual and political matters. But during the time
of Ashoka and even in later times there is no reference to any such functionary. Secondly,
Ashoka‘s title, ‗Devanampiya‘ (beloved of the gods), suggests that he sought the support of
sacerdotal power, but did not claim that he was divine.
The political picture is, thus, relatively clear. The empire of the Mauryas encompassed a
large part of the subcontinent, the focus being on control by a single power. Attempts were
made to give the political system a degree of uniformity. However, like other vast empires
that attempt to control a number of different economic systems, the degree of uniformity
was qualified. In imperial structures, there are attempts to ensure cultural uniformity. To an
extent, this was also true of Ashoka, who used monumental architecture as a statement of
power and presence. Another aspect of uniformity was laws.
We also know that smaller states and kingdoms differ from empires. Kingdoms tend to draw
the maximum profit from existing resources and therefore do not restructure economies.
The pressures of an empire and its requirements are of a different order and require
restructuring of economies. But not every part of the empire has the same resources and
nor is the utilization identical. Therefore, we find evidence of diversity in both economy and
society, which were handled by diverse administrative methods. Acknowledging diversity
requires more than a single pattern of administration, and these patterns have been found
in various parts of the empire (Thapar 2002, 198). The restructuring in the Mauryan empire
was attempted through extension of agriculture, forced mobility of labour, and introduction
of wide-reaching commercial exchange. Cultural homogeneity is often sought by
propagating a new ideology, in this case Dhamma by Ashoka. We know that the empire
included multiple cultural and social systems. Ashoka, through Dhamma, was trying to
accommodate differences, discourage disharmony, and increase acceptability amidst
different religious sects. Thus Dhamma was a political tool used by Ashoka for ensuring
harmony, toleration and peace within his empire.
25

7.2.2: Ashoka‘s dhamma
An old inscription and a confusing title
In 1834, the stone pillar in the Allahabad fort lay in a state of ruin. Although copies had
been made of the inscription engraved upon it, James Prinsep, Secretary of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Bengal, lamented that steps had not been taken to preserve the monument from
the ravages of time. One of the key inscriptions on the pillar was identified as a eulogy of
the Gupta monarch Samudragupta, but the other remained undecipherable and Prinsep
could only guess how old this inscription must be.
In 1837, after his decipherment of the Brahmi script, Prinsep found that the inscription
began with the statement: ―Devanampiye piyadasi laja hevam aha‖ (‗Thus speaks King
Piyadassi, Beloved of the Gods‘). Identical opening statements were found to recur on rock
and pillar edicts across the country. Who was this Devanampiya piyadassi and what did his
statements signify?
The fact that these pronouncements were simple and formulaic, suggested that they were
public declarations. But they were also found scattered across the subcontinent. Who could
have exercised authority across such a vast domain? For a while, Prinsep thought the author
of these edicts might be the Buddha himself. But this could not be, for the Buddha had
never reigned as a king. In the Society‘s Journal, Prinsep wrote: ―In all the Hindu
genealogical tables with which I am acquainted, no prince can be discovered possessing this
very remarkable name.‖
Help arrived in the form of George Turnour, author of An Epitome of the History of Ceylon.
While cursorily reading the Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicle, the Dipavamsha, Turnour
chanced upon a passage which read:
"Two hundred and eighteen years after the beatitude of the Buddha, was the inauguration
of Piyadassi … who, the grandson of Chandragupta, and own son of Bindusara, was at that
time the Viceroy of Ujjayini."
Turnour was quick to contact Prinsep who readily acknowledged his error. Devanampiya
Piyadassi was established beyond doubt as Ashoka Maurya [272-232 BCE], ruler of one of
the greatest empires of ancient India. (Kejariwal 1999, 206-208)
This is an interesting story to begin with because it shows us the difficulties involved in
reconstructing the history of the Mauryan monarch. Ashoka was a remarkable individual in
more ways than one, and a wealth of mythic and legendary detail has come to surround
26

him. For historians, much of the interest relates to his concept of ‗dhamma‘, a moral and
philosophical code which he sought to implement across his empire.
The concept of Ashokan dhamma
Classifying the edicts
Ashoka set up his rock and pillar edicts so as to spread the message of his dhamma. The
vast majority of these edicts were composed in Prakrit, inscribed in Brahmi, and set up
across his empire. In the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, a smaller number
were composed in Prakrit but inscribed in the Kharoshthi script. Ashokan inscriptions in
Greek and Aramaic have been found from Afghanistan: the Greek inscriptions are
concentrated mainly around Kandahar, while the Aramaic inscriptions are more scattered
and appear along trade routes. A bilingual Greek and Aramaic inscription has also been
found at Shar-i-Kuna, the old city of Kandahar.
Value addition: common misconceptions

The difference between script and language
The difference between script and language is the difference between the medium
and the message. For instance, this lesson is written in the English language and the
Roman script. But the Roman script is also used to write languages such as French,
Italian or Spanish.
Thus, the language of the Ashokan edicts is largely Prakrit. But the scripts used for
them are Brahmi and Kharoshthi. In subsequent periods, these two scripts were used
to write all kinds of documents, not just imperial edicts. Eventually, Kharoshthi
declined. But Brahmi forms the basis of most of the script forms used by Indian
languages today.
Source: Original
Based upon their placement and content, the edicts can be classified as follows:
a) The Minor Rock Edicts (MRE) of Ashoka are found in different parts of his empire and
appear to be among his earliest pronouncements. Their occurrence in large numbers
in Karnataka has been linked to Mauryan intervention aimed at accessing the mineral
resources of the region.
b) The 14 Rock Edicts (RE) undertake a gradual expounding of the concept of dhamma.
Their distribution defines what is regarded as the extent of Ashoka‘s empire.
27

c) The 7 Pillar Edicts (PE) are of a later date and their distribution is confined to the
Gangetic valley.
d) The Greek and Aramaic inscriptions in the northwest frontier translate certain
concepts of dhamma for the local population. Their location indicates the importance
of this region for trade and contact with the western world.
e) Inscriptions possessing specific religious content include the Schism Edict at Sanchi,
Sarnath and Allahabad; the Bhabru Edict (which lists the names of seven Buddhist
texts) and the inscriptions in the Barabar Hills recording the gift of rock-cut caves to
Ajivika monks for residence during the rains.
Figure 7.2.2.1: Ashokan rock edicts at Girnar

Source: Photo by Benoy Behl
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=20070907505406400.htm&date
=fl2417/&prd=fline&
Features of the Ashokan dhamma
At the outset, let us outline the features constituting the Ashokan dhamma:
To begin with, there was dhamma-guna (moral virtue) and the edicts list the virtues that
made a righteous life. In Pillar Edict III, Ashoka stressed self-examination, asking people to
scrutinize their actions, sinful and virtuous, and rid themselves of violence, cruelty, vanity
and jealousy. An individual was directed to respect his parents, elders and relatives; honour
28

was to be offered to teachers; liberality to shramanas and brahmanas, and proper courtesy
to servants and slaves. Truthfulness, the performance of virtuous deeds and a great fear of
sin completed this list.
The edicts tell us that Ashoka had the highest regard for all living beings. Minor Rock Edict
II proclaimed the need to be ―steadfast in one‘s kindness towards living beings.‖
Consequently, Ashoka placed restraints upon the slaughter of animals for sacrifice and food.
He also arranged for the welfare of people and animals alike by providing medical
treatment, planting banyan trees and mango groves, excavating wells, and constructing rest
houses and watering sheds.

Provisions for animals and people in Rock Edict II
Rock Edict II says:
―King Priyadasi, the Beloved of the Gods, has arranged for medical treatment of both
men and animals all over his empire and in the territories beyond the borders as
those of the Choda, Pada, Satiyaputa, Ketalaputa, and Tambapani and upto those of
the Greek king Antiyoka and also his neighbours. He has arranged also for planting
medicinal herbs, roots and fruit-yielding trees. Wells have been dug and trees have
been planted on the roads for the enjoyment of animals and men.‖
Source: Krishnan, K.G.(ed.), Uttankita Sanskrit Vidya Aranya Epigraphs: Vol
II: Prakrit and Sanskrit Epigraphs (257 BC to 320 AD), Mysore: Uttankita
Vidya Aranya Trust, 1989,17.
In Rock Edict I, Ashoka opposed festive gatherings (samaja) as there is only ―manifold evil‖
in them. It has been suggested that along with sacrifices, he also did away with such festive
gatherings. He opposed the practice of certain auspicious rites, believing that their results
were meagre and their merit restricted to this world alone.
Generosity or charity (dana) was also important, and in Pillar Edict IV Ashoka argued that
one should ―bestow gifts in order to secure … happiness in the next world.‖ He himself
distributed gifts among men of all religious communities, householders and ascetics alike.
Additionally, he organized officials to deliver the gifts of his queens and sons. Yet Rock Edict
XII (which outlines his liberality) concludes with the note that in the absence of ―self
control, purity of thought and firm devotion", dana by itself was worthless.

Rock Edict VII in the Kharoshthi script
29

This is an estampage of the Ashokan Rock Edict VII in the Kharoshthi script, found
at Shahbazgarhi in Pakistan. The lines read, from right to left, as follows:
1. Devanampriyo Priyasi raja savratra ichhati savra

2. Prashamda vaseyu save hi te sayame bhavasudhi cha ichhamti
3. Jano chu uchavuchachhamdo uchavucharago te savram va ekadesam va
4. Pi kashamti vipule pi chu dane yasa nasti sayama bhava
5. Suchi kitranata dridhabhatita niche padam
Translated into English, this reads:
"King Priyadarshi, Beloved of the Gods, wishes that all religious sects should live
harmoniously in all parts of his dominions. In fact, all of them desire to achieve self-
control and purity of thought. People, however, are of diverse inclinations and
diverse passions. They will perform either the whole or only a part of their duty.
However, even if a person practises great liberality but does not possess self-control,
purity of thought, gratitude and firm devotion, he is quite worthless."
Source: Sircar, D. C. 1998. Inscriptions of Asoka. Delhi: Publications
Division, Government of India.
While accepting that ―there is no person who is not seriously devoted to a particular
religious sect,‖ Ashoka encouraged members of all sects to live in peace. Thus, the edicts
emphasized equal respect on his part towards brahmanas and shramanas and desired his
subjects to do the same. Rock Edict XII spoke of the necessity of self-control (sayamo) and
the guarding of speech (bacho guti) for the growth of dhamma.
30


Why equal respect is necessary towards all sects
―And the growth of the essentials of Dharma is possible in many ways. But its root
lies in restraint with regard to speech, which means there should be no extolment of
one‘s sect or disparagement of other sects on inappropriate occasions and that it
should be moderate in every case even on appropriate occasions. On the contrary,
other sects should be duly honoured in every way on all occasions.
If a person acts in this way, he not only promotes his own sect but also benefits
other sects. But, if a person acts otherwise, he not only injures his own sect but also
harms other sects. Truly, if a person extols his own sect and disparages other sects
with a view to glorifying his sect owing merely to his attachment to it, he injures his
own sect very severely by acting in that way. Therefore, restraint in regard to speech
is commendable, because people should learn and respect the fundamentals of one
another‘s Dharma.‖
Source: RE XII, Shahbazgarhi text, translated by Sircar, D. C. 1998.
Inscriptions of Asoka. Delhi: Publications Division, Government of India, 40-
41.
Rock Edict XIII described Ashoka‘s defeat of Kalinga where brutal conquest made him
realize the hidden costs of war. It details the numbers killed in action and those taken away
as slaves, but what is considered even more unbearable is that death and misery should
befall shramanas and brahmanas, and virtuous householders. So once he had completed
the conquest of Kalinga, Ashoka, repentant, took to the practice of dhamma, propagating it
among all his people.
The edict went on to say that the suffering caused by war led Ashoka to abjure military
conquest and take to dhamma vijaya or ‗conquest by righteousness‘. Although he did not
disband the imperial army, there are no further references to conquests in his reign. A
famous line, in Rock Edict IV, speaks of the transformation from bherighosa to
dhammaghosa; in place of the sound of kettle-drums, the dhamma now resounds. He even
asked his descendants to regard dhamma vijaya as the true conquest, hoping that even if
they were to take to war, they would be merciful in their punishments.
Ashoka’s efforts to propagate his dhamma
How could Ashoka propagate his dhamma in an era of limited literacy? Apart from the fact
that very few of his subjects were literate, very often the edicts were inscribed at such a
height that even those who could read would not have found it easy to do so. The answer to
this problem lies in references scattered throughout the edicts which stress the oral
propagation of the dhamma. Separate Rock Edicts I and II refer to their being read aloud
and listened to on days of the Tishya constellation as well as on ordinary days. Both
31

common people as well as officials were urged to seek inspiration from these readings.
Fussman suggests that these would have been public ceremonies or congregations where
the dhamma was expounded.(Fussman 1987-88)
Ashoka clearly wanted his dhamma to reach out to as many people as possible. In the
inscriptions, we see him leading by example, whether by ending animal slaughter or
conferring equal respect upon all sects. He also undertook dhamma yatas (pilgrimages in
the cause of dhamma), meeting people across his domains, giving alms and gifts, and
arousing interest in dhamma through debate and discussion.
A whole hierarchy of officials was appointed by Ashoka -- ―kumaras, yutas, lajukas,

padesikas, mahamattas, dhamma-mahamattas‖ -- and they undertook to spread his
dhamma. Eventually, most officials came to propagate the dhamma in the course of their
work, but the dhamma-mahamattas were specially entrusted with this task. Ashoka
stated that he gave his officials complete freedom with regard to rewards and punishments.
But he also emphasized the importance of just and impartial decisions and warned against
anger, laziness and fatigue.
So as to ensure that his dhamma spread far and wide, Ashoka instructed his officials to
engrave his proclamations on rock surfaces and stone pillars ―wherever an opportunity
presents itself.‖ (MRE I) This does suggest that while the emperor had a major say in the
placement of certain edicts, in other cases his officials had a free hand. Historians have also
suggested, on this basis, that he had his edicts inscribed on pre-existing stone pillars as
well. Often in the inscriptions, Ashoka orders his officials, saying, ―Thus you should order in
the words of the Beloved of the Gods.‖ This suggests that he may have conceived an
imperial sanctity to his words, desiring that they be repeated verbatim, like formulae. Of
course, it is unlikely that this occurred in practice.
Value addition: interesting details

‘The fault of the scribe’: who inscribed the Ashokan records?
The distinctive voice of the emperor indicates that he framed his edicts. Yet who
wrote them down? Who took down the words of the emperor and who then engraved
them on stone?
The presence of different engravers can be seen in the different hands that carved
the inscriptions as well as the differences and variations in the written texts of the
edicts, in the spelling of words and phrasing of statements. In RE XIV, Ashoka
accepts the existence of such variations, stating that:
"all items of a series have not been put together in all places. There are some topics
which have been repeated over and over again, according to their sweetness, so that
people may act accordingly. There may be some topics which have been written
32

incompletely either as the particular place of record was considered unsuitable for
them or as a special reason for abridgement was believed to exist, and also owing to
the fault of a scribe."
The name of one such engraver occurs on the Ashokan Minor Rock Edicts at
Brahmagiri, Siddhapur and Jatinga Rameshwar in Karnataka. Beneath each of these
records, he wrote down his name -- Chapada -- and his designation, ‗lipikara‘
(engraver). While the edict and the signature are in Brahmi, the term lipikarena is
inscribed in Kharoshthi, indicating that this artisan had travelled all the way from the
northwest.
Source: Settar, S. 2003. Footprints of Artisans in History: Some Reflections
on Early Artisans of India. Mysore: General President’s Address, 64th Session
of the Indian History Congress; and Sircar, D. C. 1998. Inscriptions of
Asoka. Delhi: Publications Division, Government of India, 45.
Yet the edicts represented more than the voice of the emperor. They were also symbols of
his power. Their monumental quality was meant to impress people not only with the gravity
of the emperor‘s message but also the need to follow it. The Ashokan edicts were not dead
letters. They were framed as an exhortation to practice.
In his edicts Ashoka stated that he regarded instruction in dhamma as his supreme duty. He
claimed that he desired neither fame nor glory, only that people should continue to adhere
to dhamma. But he understood also that the continuance of his dhamma was impaired by
his own mortality and by the failings of his subjects, which is why he sought to get his sons
and grandsons and great-grandsons to follow after him in the cause of dhamma. This,
however, did not happen: in the records of history, Ashoka‘s dhamma represents an
imperial obsession that did not endure.
Buddhism and the nature of Ashoka’s dhamma
Ashoka: the Buddhist king?
Many legends in the Buddhist tradition describe Ashoka‘s attachment to Buddhism. They
speak of a cruel, violent and pleasure-loving man suddenly converted to a life of piety.
Other stories describe how he became so devoted to the sangha that he gifted away the
entire earth! Tradition also speaks of a third Buddhist council held in the 17 th year of
Ashoka‘s reign to suppress heresy and compile the ‗true Buddhist doctrine'.
Value addition: life stories

Ashoka of the edicts vs. Ashoka of the legends
Legends about Ashoka in the Buddhist texts were written down many centuries after
33

his death. For instance, the Ashokavadana or the legendary biography of Ashoka
belongs to a genre of texts known as avadana which exalt the great deeds of
followers of Buddhism.
A famous story in this text tells of Ashoka‘s conversion to Buddhism. Having

ascended the throne, Ashoka is said to have unleashed great violence, killing all
those who stood in his way. Hence, he was referred to as Chandashoka or ‗Ashoka
the Fierce‘. He built a torture chamber approximating hell and appointed a fearful
executioner to perform his tasks. But one day, a monk named Samudra chanced to
enter the torture chamber. He was accosted by the executioner, who proclaimed that
he would now meet instant death. Samudra was thrown into a cauldron, but the
cauldron did not boil, and he remained seated cross-legged on a lotus. Thousands of
people gathered to witness the scene. Stunned by this miracle, Ashoka asked
Samudra to reveal the teachings of his doctrine. Following this, the legend tells us
that Chandashoka became Dharmashoka, the pious Buddhist king.
Clearly, the text has its own agenda, which is to prove that Ashoka was redeemed by
Buddhism. Searching for details about the historical Ashoka in these legendary texts
is no easy task.
Source: Strong, John S. (trans.) 2002. The Legend of King Asoka: A Study
and Translation of the Asokavadana. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
This portrayal of Ashoka in the Buddhist tradition influenced the work of many early
scholars. It led them to read the Ashokan edicts as evidence not only of his personal faith
in Buddhism, but also as attempts to propagate the faith. Hence, historians like Vincent
Smith suggested that Ashoka was a Buddhist monk for part of his life, while R.K. Mookerjee
and D.R. Bhandarkar held that he lived in a monastery for a short period of time. But all
these stories are legendary material, and it is difficult for historians to consider them as
‗facts‘.
The problem that confronts us is that we seem to be dealing with two entirely different
characters: the ‗Ashoka-of-the-edicts‘ versus the ‗Ashoka-of-the-legends‘. How is this
dichotomy to be resolved? This lesson would argue that rather than mine the legendary
texts for historical details, we need to use them to examine the ways in which the figure of
Ashoka was appropriated and abandoned over the centuries. Particularly within the Buddhist
tradition, the idea of Ashoka as an extraordinary patron and great devotee remained
paramount, while more specific historical details passed from memory. For the historian,
both memory as well as forgetting, accounts as well as silences, have their tale to tell.
Value addition: interesting details

A most mythical movie
34

Santosh Sivan‘s Asoka, released in 2001, and starring Shah Rukh Khan as the great
Indian emperor, is an indication of how Ashoka continues to be the subject of myth-
making. The only historical facts in the movie are that Ashoka captured Kalinga and
that he converted to Buddhism.
As Wendy Doniger rather cuttingly describes the basic plot of the movie, ―a youthful
Ashoka (Shah Rukh Khan) travelling incognito, meets the regulation heroine in a wet
sari under a waterfall (Kareena Kapoor). She is, unbeknownst to him, the queen of
Kalinga, also travelling incognita. So when he eventually massacres Kalinga and finds
her wandering in despair amid the wide-angle carnage, he is very, very sorry that he
has killed all those people. And so, after three hours of non-stop slaughter, in the
last two minutes of the film he converts to Buddhism." (!!!)
Source: http://www.indiabuzzing.com/wp-content/uploads/24asoka1.jpg;
Doniger, Wendy. 2009. The Hindus: An Alternative History. Delhi: Penguin,
258.
Buddhist content in the Ashokan edicts
No one doubts that Ashoka was a follower of Buddhism and his edicts show that he was well
acquainted with the Buddhist doctrine. In Minor Rock Edict I, Ashoka declared that although
he had been an upasaka for two years, it was but recently that he had grown close to the
sangha. The Ahraura version of the text has a line where Ashoka speaks of the relics of the
Buddha having ascended the platform, which may refer to their installation in a stupa for
35

worship. Similarly, the Nigali Sagar Pillar inscription records how he enlarged the stupa of
the Buddha Konakamuni, visiting and worshipping it at a later date. Rock Edict VIII records
his visit to Sambodhi, the site of the Buddha‘s enlightenment, while the Rummindei Pillar
inscription records his visit to Lumbini, the village where the Buddha was born.

Inscription in Ashokan Brahmi on the Rummindei pillar
This inscription in the Brahmi script is the text of Ashoka‘s inscription engraved on
the Rummindei pillar which records Ashoka‘s visit to the site of Lumbini, the place
where the Buddha was born. It states that he built a stone wall around the site and
also erected a stone pillar to commemorate his visit. He also exempted the village of
Lumbini from payment of land revenue and made them subject to pay only 1/8 th of
the produce as tax.
http://www.designinindia.net/design-thoughts/writings/history/india-history-type-
design1.html
A more ideological avowal of Ashoka‘s faith in Buddhism can be seen in the Bhabru Edict
where he proclaimed his ―faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha.‖ Here, he also
provided his own proposals for the propagation of dhamma, listing a number of Buddhist
texts as ―texts of dhamma.‖ The Schism Edict, found on the Sanchi, Sarnath and Allahabad
36

Kosam pillars is more severe: Ashoka orders the expulsion of heretical monks, declaring
that they should be made to wear white robes and banished from the sangha.

Ashoka’s Schism Edict
Ashoka‘s Schism Edict inscribed at Sanchi instructs his ministers as follows:
"You should act in such a way that the Sangha cannot be divided by any heretical
monk. Both the Sangha of monks and the Sangha of nuns have each been made by
me a united whole to last as long as my sons and great-grandsons shall reign and
the moon and sun shall shine.
The monk or nun who shall break up the Sangha should be made to put on white
robes and reside in what is not fit for the residence of a recluse.
For my desire is that the Sangha may remain united and flourish for a long time."
Division, Government of India, 51-52.
What link exists between Buddhism and Ashoka’s dhamma?
Just because Ashoka was a Buddhist, does it follow that the same holds true for the content
of his dhamma? Historians have spent many decades debating whether Ashoka‘s dhamma
was aimed at propagating Buddhism. Some have argued that since his patronage helped the
spread of Buddhism, his dhamma was identical to Buddhism. It is here that Romila Thapar
seeks to disagree, arguing that there exists a difference between those inscriptions that
reflect his personal beliefs and others where he propagates his dhamma. Thapar‘s thesis
sees in Ashoka a king torn between his spiritual longings and his sense of public
responsibility. What his dhamma offers is a compromise between the two: a doctrine that
incorporates elements of all religions and a tool of social and political organization. (Thapar
1997)
Thus, Thapar argues that regardless of his personal faith, Ashoka‘s dhamma was a secular
construct, unrelated to Buddhism or the propagation of its doctrine. Although she accepts
that Ashoka may have borrowed from Buddhist thought, she emphasizes that his edicts
refer not to specifically Buddhist concepts (like nibbana or the eight-fold path) but to ideas
that are common to the teachings of many religious sects. She also cites his call for amity
(RE XII) to prove that he did not favour any religion but was more interested in the
maintenance of public order.
37

This argument sees Ashoka‘s dhamma as an individual invention, an ethical concept aimed
at the extension of power. As an argument, this is not without its problems. To begin with,
there is no necessary contradiction between Ashoka‘s personal faith and his public persona.
The very fact that the emperor used the same rock and pillar edicts to inscribe both
personal and political pronouncements shows a clear unity in his communication
programme. This is evident in the Allahabad-Kosam Pillar which contains a personal
inscription (the Queen‘s Edict), a religious inscription (the Schism Edict), as well as the
standard six pillar edicts -- all on the same pillar.
That Ashoka‘s inscriptions do not directly refer to Buddhist concepts shows that his dhamma
was not an active propagation of Buddhism, but this does not change the fact that it had a
Buddhist core. The similarities between Ashoka‘s dhamma and the tenets of the upasaka (or
lay-follower‘s) dhamma in the Sigalavada Sutta of the Buddhist canon have been noted.
Linkages can also be drawn between Ashoka‘s dhamma and the Dhammapada, an early
Buddhist text which speaks of liberality towards ascetics and respect for all living beings. It
seems fair to argue that Ashoka‘s dhamma had a definite Buddhist core to it, but was set
within the larger contexts of harmonious existence.

The Lion Capital from Sarnath
The Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath must be familiar to you as India‘s National
emblem. But historians of art and ancient history have also interpreted the
symbolism of this capital in other ways. V.S. Agrawala, for instance, argued that the
38

sculpture on the capital represented the Anotatta lake of Buddhist tradition which
was guarded by four animals. The four adorsed lions are said to be a symbol of
royalty.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_Capital_of_Asoka
A further indication of this linkage can be seen by looking at the totality of the edicts, using
them as an integrated whole that would help explain his dhamma. (Singh 1996) The
animals portrayed on the pillar capitals are seen to have a Buddhist symbolism: the
elephant stands for the Buddha‘s conception, the bull presided over the nativity (birth), the
horse depicted the Great Departure, while the lion was the Buddha himself. At Kalsi, the
Ashokan rock edicts bear a carving of an elephant with a white trunk. The label inscription
alongside the carving reads: gajatame, ‗supreme elephant‘. While the elephant is a popular
symbol in ancient India, the label identifies the fact that this is no ordinary elephant, but is
a symbol for the Buddha who is said to have entered his mother‘s womb in a dream in the
form of a white elephant.
Figure 7.2.2.2: The Buddhist tradition describes the chakkavatti as a ruler who would put an
end to tyranny and establish a moral world.
This image of a chakkavatti comes from the stupa site of Amaravati.
Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44443634@N08/page3/
Another point of congruence between Buddhism and Ashoka‘s dhamma can be seen in the
idea of the chakkavatti or ‗World Ruler‘ of the Buddhist texts. Uma Chakravarti‘s study
shows how the chakkavatti was meant to be a ruler ―who would put an end to petty tyranny
and establish a universe where not only social order but also moral order would prevail.‖
(Chakravarti 1987, 164-166) The chakkavatti conquered by righteousness and the Ashokan
policy of dhamma vijaya finds an echo in the Buddhist text, the Chakkavatti Sihanada Sutta
which speaks of ―conquest not by the scourge, not by the sword, but by righteousness.‖
39

Although he maintains a four-fold army, the chakkavatti seeks not the conquest of territory
but the establishment of a just social order. Neighbouring rulers do not fear him, but invite
him to teach them. He patronizes shramanas and brahmanas, and also ensures that his
people‘s basic needs are met and cares for them as a father for his sons. Point by point, the
similarities of this conception with the Ashokan dhamma become apparent. But in response,
Thapar argues that this account of the chakkavatti may have been framed by the Buddhists
after Ashoka‘s reign, having been inspired by his vision of royal benevolence combined with
extensive power (Thapar 1997, 8).
And still, the debates continue….
Dhamma as politics and propaganda
In its vast subcontinental sweep, the Mauryan state is among the first empires in Indian
history. Within its domain, it brought together many different cultures, groups and
communities. But empires are not based on military strength alone. They also seek to
control the minds of people.
The distribution of the Ashokan edicts shows they were not put down at random. Invariably,
the edicts would have been placed at points where people gathered: near religious
complexes, at market places, along trade routes and pilgrimage sites. Clearly, it is not
enough just to read the texts of the edicts. We also need to understand the conditions from
which they arose.
A subtle tool of political consolidation
For all their moral and philosophical aims, the Ashokan edicts served as political
pronouncements. A study of Ashoka‘s dhamma in the context of his age shows how it was
motivated by the concerns of the time. While Rock Edict XIII records how the conquest of
Kalinga moved Ashoka to renounce war, Kalinga was still absorbed into the Mauryan
empire. An Ashokan Rock Edict has been found at Tosali in Orissa, indicating this was an
important administrative centre. Yet as interesting as the presence of this edict, is the
absence of another: Rock Edict XIII is not inscribed in this region, indicating that Ashoka
understood the selective value of propaganda!
As Thapar argues, the dhamma served a definite purpose: as a tool of economic and
political consolidation. Chandragupta Maurya‘s policy of conquest created the Mauryan
empire, setting in place an imperial state and bureaucracy. When Ashoka came to power, he
could have continued with this policy of conquest, but instead he used a more subtle but
equally elaborate system of propaganda. Dhamma was meant to create cultural and political
unity within the empire. (Thapar 1997, 144)
40

The proclamation of the edicts -- ―devanampiye piyadasi laja hevam aha‖ -- is similar to the
form of address used in inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings. Yet the two are fundamentally
different, for while the Persian rulers describe their military triumphs, Ashoka‘s inscriptions
speak instead of his desire to propagate the dhamma. His dhamma mahamattas were
instructed to occupy themselves with all sections of the people, from the brahmanas to the
destitute and the aged.
―My dominions are wide,‖ wrote Ashoka, ―and much has been written and I shall certainly
cause still more to be written.‖ (RE XIV) The edicts also refer to lands beyond his domain,
the neighbouring territories of the Yavanas, Kambojas, Nabakas, Andhras and Paulindas,
where he claimed that people also followed his dhamma. Throughout the Ashokan edicts
there resounds the emperor‘s conviction that his dictates applied universally across the
land. The practicality of these statements needs to be re-evaluated in light of recent
research that questions the extent to which the Mauryas wielded actual centralized control.
Expelling the lovers of ‘worthless work’: Ashoka and the forest

dwellers
However powerful a state, it meets resistance from groups which refuse to subscribe to its
norms. Such acts of resistance, in turn, are usually crushed by the state. We can see this in
Rock Edict XIII of Ashoka where he issues to the forest dwellers a thinly veiled threat. Such
a statement also finds echo in the Arthashastra which refers to the forest-dwelling tribes
(atavi, atavika and aranyachara) with the composite term ‗mlechhajati‘ or ‗those who are
outsiders‘.

Ashoka’s warning to the forest dwellers
An important section of Ashoka‘s Rock Edict XIII has him say:
―Now the Beloved of the Gods thinks that, even if a person should wrong him, the
offence would be forgiven if it was possible to forgive it. And the forest-folk who live
in the dominions of the Beloved of the Gods, even them he entreats and exhorts in
regard to their duty. It is hereby explained to them that, in spite of his repentance,
the Beloved of the Gods possesses power enough to punish them for their crimes, so
that they should turn from evil ways and would not be killed for their crimes. Verily
the Beloved of the Gods desires the following in respect of all creatures, viz., non-
injury to them, restraint in dealing with them, and impartiality in the case of crimes
committed by them.‖
Division, Government of India, 43.
41

The ‗hostile tribes‘ of the forest and settled agriculturalists are pitted against each other in
literary accounts from very early times. But we must remember that these accounts were
framed by agrarian societies and are a reflection of their interests. In practice, cities and
settlements would have been surrounded by areas of the forest that supplied them with
wood, fuel, meat and edible produce. The intervention of the state created a new axis of
power. As the state turned its acquisitive eye towards these regions, territorial expansion
went alongside the marginalization of the atavika way of life.
The states of pre-modern India were primarily revenue-extracting states. This meant that it
was in their interest to expand the reach of agriculture. The Arthashastra, for instance,
discusses the process of ‗shunyanivesha‘ or the extension of settlement upon waste and
unoccupied land. It also states that all those who were willing to bring unoccupied land
under cultivation could seek the help of the state which would provide them with seeds,
cattle and other resources.
But the resources of the state did not come from agriculture alone. Forests were also of
great value. The Arthashastra differentiates between two kinds of forest -- dravyavana
(‗material forests‘) and hastivana (‗elephant forests‘). From the dravyavana came resources
such as wood, metals, fish and game. From the hastivana came elephants for the army. To
maintain its control over these resources, Kautilya recommends that the state set up guards
to control these areas and special storehouses to stock their produce. (Parasher-Sen 1998,
180-181).
Sometimes the state‘s intervention could be at the cost of local livelihoods. Thus, the focus
on ahimsa in Ashoka‘s dhamma was detrimental to the livelihoods of hunters and fishermen.
In Pillar Edict V, he lists many animals whom he had declared inviolable, either permanently
or on certain days -- these include parrots, mainas, geese, bats, mango tree ants, boneless
fish and so on. Pregnant or milch animals were not to be slaughtered nor their young ones
sold away. The Greek and Aramaic edicts of Ashoka proclaim that he has prohibited groups
from indulging in such activities. At Laghman, the Aramaic inscription proclaims: ―In the
year 16, Priyadarshi scattered abundantly (i.e. dispersed) and pushed out (or expelled
from) the prosperous population the lovers of what is hunting of creatures and fishes and
what it worthless (or empty) work.‖
But should we take such proclamations entirely at face-value? What actually happened to
those groups residing at the margins and the forests? For all these grand proclamations, the
fact remains that even as the Mauryan state worked to expand its reach, many groups
within its domains continued to exercise a certain degree of autonomy.
The state‘s takeover of forest lands and the dispossession of its peoples is a process that
may have begun in the Mauryan period, but it did not stop there. As successive regimes
developed more complex polities, the tension between the two could only increase. As a
process, it reached its highest extent in the twentieth century. And it continues even today.
42

7.3: Post Mauryan polities with special reference to the Kushanas

and the Satavahanas
'Post-Mauryan' is the name given to the period extending from approximately 200 BC to 300
AD, that is, from the fall of the Mauryan dynasty to the rise of Gupta power. Though several
important new developments are seen in this phase, it is best viewed in terms of the
continuity and intensification of political, economic and social processes that started in the
post-Vedic (6th century BC) and matured in the Mauryan, culminating in the post-Mauryan.
In this lesson, we survey the chief features of the political formations of this period, with a
special emphasis on two major regimes: the Satavahanas and the Kushanas.
Our sources include literature (Brahmanical, Buddhist as well as foreign accounts),

archaeological excavations (cultures associated with the late Northern Black Polished
Ware and post-Northern Black Polished Ware), coins (of a large variety and number),
inscriptions (in Prakrit and, for the first time, Sanskrit), and architectural and art remains
from these five hundred years.
43

Figure 7.3.1: Map showing some of the post Mauryan dynasties.

Source: http://www215.pair.com/sacoins/public_html/maps_chronology_menudata.html
The Shungas and the Chedis
Subsequent to the collapse and breakup of the vast Mauryan empire (321 BC to 180 BC),
we see the rise of a number of smaller territorial powers in its place in different regions of
the subcontinent. These were under local rulers or local elites who rose to prominence after
the demise of Mauryan control. In the Ganga valley, for instance, the Mauryas were
immediately succeeded by the Shungas under Pushyamitra, the general of the Mauryan
44

army who is believed to have assassinated the last Mauryan king, Brihadratha. The Shungas
ruled for about a 100 years. They included in their kingdom Pataliputra (Magadha), Ayodhya
(central Uttar Pradesh) and Vidisha (eastern Malwa), and possibly reached up to Shakala
(Punjab). Viceroys seem to have been placed in some parts of the Shunga kingdom.
The Shungas are believed to have been a brahmana dynasty. Pushyamitra is associated
with the performance of the Vedic ashvamedha sacrifice and with a hostile attitude to the
Buddhist faith. From the Shunga period we get the famous Heliodorus pillar at Vidisha
(Besnagar). It is found in association with the remains of a temple which was probably
dedicated to the god Vishnu. The pillar once had atop it an image of Garuda, Vishnu‘s
mythical mount, the eagle. An inscription on this pillar tells us that it was erected by
Heliodorus, a Greek ambassador to the court of the fifth Shunga king, Bhagabhadra.
Interestingly, it describes the Greek as a Bhagavata or worshipper of bhagavan Vishnu.

The Heliodorus pillar
The remains of the Vishnu temple at Besnagar (Vidisha, Malwa), found in the
precincts of the Heliodorus pillar, belong to the earliest Brahmanical temple in stone
(150 BC) to be so far discovered. Archaeology tells us that the temple was first built
in Mauryan times and added to or rebuilt after that. However, only the floor plan
from that time survives now. Historians have conjectured that the Garuda pillar must
have been dedicated to this temple and so the temple must have been Vaishnava.
Source: Original
Figure 7.3.2: The Heliodorus Pillar at Vidisha.

45

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Heliodorus-Pillar2.jpg
The Shungas were replaced by the Kanvas who quickly made way for the Mitras in the
Ganga valley.
In Kalinga (south Orissa), Mahameghavahana Chedis set up a kingdom towards the end of
the first century BC. We know this from the Hathigumpha inscription of King Kharavela who
belonged to this dynasty.The rise of a regular monarchy in Orissa represents the spread of
state polity and society to new areas in this period. This is illustrated also by the
Satavahana kingdom that, with its capital at Pratishthana (modern Paithan on the Godavari
river), covered Maharashtra and Andhra and, at times, parts of north Karnataka, south and
east Madhya Pradesh and Saurashtra.

The Hathigumpha inscription
King Kharavela‘s Hathigumpha inscription in Prakrit is a rare example of a pure
prashasti or eulogy. This means that it was inscribed only to praise the king and
record his achievements and not for any additional purpose like recording a donation
or marking the establishment of a shrine, which is normally the case with Indian
inscriptions. Here is an extract from the inscription, which details the king‘s doings in
a year by year format, much like a biography:
‗Obeisance to the arahants! Obeisance to all the siddhas! The noble maharaja of the
Mahameghavahana family, who enhanced the fame of the Chedi royal lineage, who is
generously endowed with all the auspicious signs, whose qualities create a stir in the
four quarters, the ruler of Kalinga, Shri Kharavela, whose body was beautifully tawny
[in colour], who played princely games till 15 years [of age]; thereafter, expert in
writing, assessing the value of coins, counting, and law, acquainted with all branches
of learning, he ruled as crown prince for nine years; … after his consecration in the
twenty-fourth year, in the first year he undertook repair of wind-ravaged gateways,
enclosures and buildings of Kalinga city, binding embankments of reservoirs and
restoring parks, spending 35,00,000 [kahapanas] to please the people. In the
second year, heedless of Satakarni, he sent a huge force of horses, elephants,
chariots and men to the west, … and strikes terror in Asika city. In the third year,
himself expert in Gandharva Veda (music), he organized festivals and gatherings
displaying wrestling, dancing, singing, and entertained the city….‘
Source: Sircar, D. C. 1965. Select Inscriptions Bearing on Indian History
and Civilization. Vol. I. Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 213-219.
The Satavahanas
46

The Satavahanas were a major ruling dynasty of the post-Mauryan period. They held sway
from the first century BC to the early third century AD, though some scholars date their
origins from the third century BC. There is uncertainty about who the Satavahanas were
and where they came from. In their inscriptions they claim to be exalted brahmanas
(ekabahmana) who performed Vedic yajnas. But the Vishnu, Matsya and Brahmanda
Puranas call them Andhras, which are described as lowly social groups. It seems likely that
they adopted the claim to brahmanahood, as well as to the performance of Vedic yajnas, to
elevate their actual status. Or perhaps they were the result of the union of a local social
group with a brahmana.
Similarly, apart from the name 'Andhra', the discovery of early Satavahana coins at sites in
Andhra Pradesh led some historians to believe that the Satavahanas began their rule in the
eastern Deccan and then spread westwards. On the other hand, their early inscriptions in
the Nasik and Nanaghat caves point to the western Deccan as the original power centre of
the Satavahanas. At any rate, the Satavahanas adopted the title of 'Lord of
Dakshinapatha' which shows they enjoyed sway over a vast area in the Deccan. Pliny, the
Roman chronicler, too says that the Andhras had many villages and thirty walled towns and
a large army of 100,000 infantry, 2000 cavalry and 1000 elephants.
The Satavahana territories were divided into a number of administrative divisions known as
aharas. We hear of different sorts of officials such as amatyas, mahamatras,
mahasenapatis, and of scribes and record keepers. However, the basic organization of the
empire was feudatory which means that there existed a number of local rulers or
subordinate chiefs in the realm, known as the maharathis and mahabhojas, whom the
Satavahanas exercised political paramountcy over but did not eliminate. Scholars have
recently emphasized that this meant the Satavahanas, despite their claim to great power,
did not administratively integrate their empire. Coins of the local rulers found in different
localities attest the presence of these co-sharers in power who existed before the rise of the
Satavahanas. They had matrimonial links with the Satavahanas and with one another.
Located in central India as they were, the Satavahanas appear as something of a bridge
between southern and northern political and cultural traditions.
The Satavahanas were involved in a prolonged conflict with other powers bordering their
realm, such as the Shakas and Kshaharatas of western India. They clashed particularly over
control of the important ports of Bhrigukaccha (Broach), Kalyan and Surparaka (Sopara).
Territories often changed hands between these dynasties.
Some of the major Satavahana kings were Gautamiputra Satakarni (c. 106-130 AD) during
whose reign the empire seems to have territorially reached its peak, his son Vashishthiputra
Pulumavi (130-154 AD), and Yajnashri Satakarni (165-194 AD) whose coins have ships
depicted on them. A later Satavahana king was Hala, believed to be the author of the
Prakrit work of poetry called Gathasattasai. The use of metronyms (name deriving from
the mother's name) by Satavahana kings in their inscriptions and the fact that their queens,
like Gautami Balashri, also issued inscriptions are interesting features. They may derive
from local Deccan kinship traditions and may suggest that Satavahana women played an
47

active role in some public affairs. Another remarkable aspect about this dynasty is that they
issued coins made of lead and its alloy, potin.
Another important feature of the Satavahana period is that the earliest examples of the
issue of royal grants of land that carried tax exemptions with them are from this period. The
Nanaghat (first century BC) and Nasik (second century AD) inscriptions refer to the grant of
fields or entire villages to priests as dakshina for officiating at a yajna and for the upkeep
of Buddhist monks dwelling in a cave, respectively. Such land was not to be entered by
royal troops (apraveshya), was free from the control of the king‘s officers, and was exempt
from tax (akaradayi). Such land grants from a slightly later period (Gupta and post-Gupta)
have been associated with the onset of Indian feudalism.
When the Satavahanas declined, their place was taken by different dynasties, like the
Vakatakas, Kadambas, and Ikshvakus, in different parts of their empire at about the time
that the Guptas were setting themselves up further north.
The Indo-Greeks, the Shakas and the Parthians
In the post-Mauryan period the north-west and west-central parts of the subcontinent
witnessed the rule of not one but several dynasties of external origin, often simultaneously,
as a result of tribal incursions from central Asia. This slowly transformed the character of
the north-west into a cultural crossroads, where influences and peoples from central Asia
and the Indian subcontinent mingled and created a pluralistic society. The first to come
were the Indo-Greeks or Indo-Bactrians who were from the area north-west of the
Hindukush mountains, corresponding to north Afghanistan. They expanded into the Indus
valley and the Punjab and founded an empire there, occasionally making inroads as far as
the Ganga-Yamuna doab, between the second century BC and the first century AD. They are
known for and by their coins which not only included the earliest gold coins recovered
archaeologically in India but bore legends and portraits of individual kings, thus facilitating
their identification. Indo-Greek rule in the region was also responsible for the growth of
Hellenistic cultural influences seen in town planning, on the one hand, and sculpture, on the
other. The most famous Indo-Greek king is Menander (165-145 BC) who seems to have
embraced Buddhism after an extensive dialogue with a monk named Nagasena. The
dialogue is captured in the Pali text Milindapanho or The Questions of Milinda (Menander's
Indianized name).
The next to invade were the central Asian Scythians or Shakas (as they came to be known
here). They are described as vratya kshatriyas or degraded kshatriyas in the
Dharmashastras, an attempt to assimilate into the indigenous social system a foreign group
which had nonetheless come into power. Different branches of the Shakas took over
different parts of north and central India, establishing their rule at Taxila, for instance, and
at Mathura. Shaka chiefs were known as kshatrapas. The strongest and longest lasting
Shaka presence was in Malwa where it continued till the fourth century AD. The best
48

remembered kshatrapa of this line is Rudradaman I (c.130-150 AD) of the Kardamaka

family who extended his hold over Saurashtra, Kathiawar, Konkan and Sindh, apart from
Malwa. This brought him into prolonged, fluctuating conflict with the Satavahanas. This is
something that both the Satavahana Nasik inscription and Rudradaman's Junagadh
inscription tell us about. Significantly, Rudradaman's inscription is the first long epigraph in
chaste Sanskrit that we get from early India. Considering that Rudradaman was a Shaka,
his use of Sanskrit, the exalted language of the land, suggests an attempt to identify with
local traditions and draw on their legitimizing power.
Close on the heels of the Shakas were the Parthians or Pehlavas, originally from Iran. They
occupied a relatively minor principality in the north-west, their best known king being
Gondophernes.
The Kushanas
The last major central Asian force to enter the subcontinent in post-Mauryan times were the
Kushanas. The Kushanas were a branch of a tribe bordering China known as the Yueh chi.
This tribe, as a result of pressure from other tribes in their homeland, moved out to other
regions. A section known as the Little Yueh chi settled in north Tibet while the Great Yueh
chi occupied five principalities in the valley of the Oxus river in central Asia, displacing the
Shakas on their way. Then around the beginning of the first century AD, a chief by the
name of Kujula Kadphises and his son Vima brought together the five areas and laid the
foundations of a unified Kushana empire that extended from the Oxus river in the north to
the Indus valley in the south, and from Khorasan in the west to Punjab in the east.
Kushana power entered the subcontinent proper, and reached its height under a king
named Kanishka. His reign started in 78 AD, the date from which a new era, later
erroneously called Shakasamvat, was inaugurated. Under him the Kushana empire
extended further eastwards into the Ganga valley reaching right up to Varanasi, and
southwards into the Malwa region. A vast expanse spanning diverse cultures – Indic, Greek,
west and central Asian – was thus brought under one umbrella, leading to the commingling
of peoples and practices. This vast empire also played a strategic role in facilitating trade
from China to west Asia and beyond, through India. The famous Great Silk Route passed
through its northern fringes.

Shakasamvat
At independence, the Shakasamvat was accepted as the official calendar of the
modern–day government of India!
Source: Original
49

Kanishka and his successors, like Huvishka, Kanishka II and Vasudeva I, ruled till circa 230
AD. The heart of the Kushana empire was Bactria in central Asia; their Indian territories had
twin capitals, at Purushapura (Peshawar) and at Mathura. The Kushanas adopted grand
titles like devaputra (son of god), kaiser (emperor) and shahanushahi (king of kings).
However, the Kushana kings did not exercise direct and absolute control over the whole
empire. Large parts were under subordinate rulers (like the Shakas) with the title of
kshatrapa or mahakshatrapa. Kushana coins and inscriptions are mostly in the Bactrian
language.

The Rabatak inscription and Kushana kingship
A very interesting aspect of Kushana kingship is revealed by the remains of temples
at Surkh Kotal in Afghanistan and Mat near Mathura. Here stone statues of Kushana
kings have been found, leading scholars to wonder whether the images of Kushana
kings were also worshipped, like those of gods. Or were these only royal portraits,
though even that would show the close connection with divinity that the Kushanas
asserted for themselves. More recently, the discovery of Kanishka‘s Rabatak
inscription in Afghanistan, along with the ruins of a temple dedicated to Zoroastrian
deities like Nana, suggests something similar. In the inscription Kanishka asks his
officers to build a temple where images of these gods were to be installed, and also
to make images of his great-grandfather, grandfather, father and himself. The
inscription also outlines the extent of Kanishka‘s empire, which seems to have
extended to Pataliputra and Champa in the east, and enumerates all his grand titles
like ‗the great deliverer‘, ‗the righteous and the just‘, ‗the autocrat‘, ‗one who is
worthy of worship‘ etc.
Source: Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India:
From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. New Delhi: Pearson Education,
378.
The Kushanas introduced new military and cultural features to the Indian subcontinent, such
as an improved cavalry with the use of reins and saddle or the trouser-tunic-and-coat style
of dressing. At the same time, they vigorously embraced elements of indigenous cultures as
reflected in their patronage of Buddhism and Shaivism and of Sanskrit literature. Thus the
fourth great Buddhist council was held in Kashmir under Kanishka and Ashvaghosha, the
great Buddhist poet who composed the first full Sanskrit kavyas, the Buddhacharita and
the Saundarananda, was at Kanishka‘s court. The coins issued by Kanishka‘s predecessors
like Vima declare them to have been devotees of Shiva.
50

Figure 7.3.3: Headless image of Kanishka

Source: http://www.ensyklopedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Kanishkas-Headless-
Statue.jpg
As the power of the Kushanas declined, various local dynasties subdued by them resurfaced
all over north and central India. These included the Shakas of Malwa and a number of Naga,
Mitra and Datta kings, as well as non-monarchical ‗tribal‘ ganas like the Arjunayanas,
Malavas and Yaudheyas who are known from their coins, seals and inscriptions. These were
the conditions in which a new phase started with the rise to power of the Guptas in the early
fourth century AD.
7.1: Exercises
Essay questions
1) Discuss the political structure of the rajyas and the ganas/sanghas. Was there
any difference in their functioning?
51

Objective questions
Question Number Type of question LOD
1 True or False 1
Question
More details on ganas are provided by Buddhist and Jaina texts than
Brahmanical ones.
Correct Answer /
True
Option(s)
Justification/ Feedback for the correct answer
Kingship was central to the Brahmanical social and political ideology, and
kinglessness was equated with anarchy. However, ganas were oligarchies
where power was exercised by a group of people rather than by a single
sovereign/king. Kshatriyas were the political elite and the largest
landowners, and hence, brahmanas and purohitas (priests) may not have
enjoyed the same prestige here as in the monarchical states. Moreover,
the connection between the ganas and the growth of various ideologies
and belief systems, particularly Buddhist and Jaina, was due to many of
these being rooted in the ganas/ sanghas. Hence, more details on ganas
are provided by Buddhist and Jaina texts than Brahmanical ones.
Resource/Hints/Feedback for the wrong answer
More details on ganas were not provided by Brahmanical texts because

their form and structure was the very antithesis of the Brahmanical social
and political ideology. For the latter, kingship was central to any political
system and kinglessness was equated with anarchy. Ganas, on the other
52

hand, were oligarchies where power was exercised by a group of people,

essentially Kshatriyas, rather than by a single sovereign/ king. It is for his
reason that more details on ganas are provided by Buddhist and Jaina
texts than Brahmanical ones.
Reviewer‘s Comment:
2 Match the following 2
Question
Match the following:
a) Sakyas i) santhagara
b) Ganas ii) Magadha
c) Parishad/ sabha iii) monarchical states
d) Girivraja/ Rajagriha iv) Kapilavastu
Correct Answer /
a) and iv), b) and i), c) and iii), d) and ii)
Option(s)
a) The Sakyas, one of the most prominent ganas, had their capital at
Kapilavastu (modern Piprahwa-Ganwaria). As the Buddha belonged to this
clan, it is well documented in Buddhist texts which, additionally, give
53

significant information on the meetings convened by the Sakya assembly

to discuss matters of war, alliances and peace measures.
b) In the ganas/ sanghas, there was a chief called the ganapati/ganaraja

who met the aristocratic council in a hall called the santhagara.
c) In the monarchical states, loyalty was focused on the king who

symbolized political power. He was assisted by ministers, advisory
councils like the parishad and sabha, and the administration.
d) The kingdom of Magadha (roughly the modern Patna and Gaya districts
of Bihar) lay to the west of Anga. Its capital was Girivraja or Rajagriha
(near modern Rajgir), which was an impressive city surrounded by five
hills that formed a natural defence.
a) The Sakyas were a prominent gana whereas the santhagara was a hall
where the gana chiefs met. Hence, the two do not match.
b) Ganas were non-monarchical states whereas Magadha was a kingdom

with its capital at Rajagriha. Hence, the two do not match.
c) Parishad matches with monarchical states. It was an advisory council

that assisted the king.
d) Girivraja/Rajagriha was the capital of the prominent kingdom of

Magadha whereas Kapilavastu was the capital of the Sakyas, one of the
most prominent ganas. Hence, the two do not match.
54

3 Multiple choice question 3
Question
Sixteen powerful states or solasa-mahajanapada are known to have
flourished in the:
a) early 6th century BC
b) 8th century BC
c) 10th century BC.
Correct Answer / Sixteen powerful states or solasa-mahajanapada are

Option(s) known to have flourished in the early 6th century BC.
Sixteen powerful states or solasa-mahajanapada are known to have

flourished in the early 6th century BC and their names are listed by
contemporary Buddhist and Jaina texts. This period witnessed the
transition to a new phase of history in north India with the establishment
of kingdoms, oligarchies and chiefdoms, and the emergence of towns.
Prior to the 6th century BC, there is no way of verifying and corroborating
their details.
From the 6th century BC, the outlines of the political history of north India
become clearer. Kings and dynasties mentioned in different literary
traditions can now be identified as real, historical figures and entities.
State polities emerged in an area stretching from Gandhara in the north-west to

Anga in eastern India, and including the Malwa region as well. A similar process was
also taking place in parts of trans-Vindhyan India as indicated by the inclusion of
55

Assaka (Ashmaka) in the upper Godavari valley in lists of the great states of the
time.
7.2.1: Exercises
Essay questions
1) Analyze the main character of the Mauryan State. Do you agree it was an empire?
2) What is the difference between a state and empire?
3) Dhamma brought about changes in the administration. Do you agree with the said
statement?
Objective questions
1 True or False 1
Question
a) Kautilya‘s Arthashastra refers to an ideal state.
b) The account of Megasthenes has been lost and we only get references in the
works of other fellow travellers.
c) Ashoka‘s empire can be characterized as an early empire.
d) Pillar edicts were written in Sanskrit.
56

e) The decision of the council of ministers was binding on the king.
f) Nagaraka was in-charge of law and administration of the village.
Correct Answer /
a) True b) True c) True d)False e) False f) False
Option(s)

a) The Arthashastra is a treatise on statecraft which gives the ideal picture of a
state.
b) It is from the texts written by Strabo, Diodorus and Arrian that we get to know
about the accounts of Megasthenes.
c) The Ashokan empire can be characterized as an early empire as it had

differentiated economic and political systems (monarchy and gana-sangha).
d) Pillar edicts were written in Prakrit, the language of the people.
e) The council of ministers was only an advisory body.
f) Nagaraka was in charge of the law and administration of the urban centres.
Question
a) Devanampiya i) village administration
57

b) Rajuka ii) beloved of gods
c) Dhamma mahammattas iii) judicial functionary
d) Gramika iv) to spread Dhamma
Correct Answer /
a) and ii), b)and iii), c) and iv), d) and i)
Option(s)

a) Devanampiya, meaning ‗beloved of the gods‘ was a title used by Ashoka.
b) Rajuka was the backbone of rural administration. His functions included

measurement of land and judicial functions.
c) The dhamma-mahamattas were a special cadre of officials created by Ashoka to

spread Dhamma in the empire.
d) Gramika was the head of village administration.
Question
The Mauryan empire was a pyramidal structure because:
a) Ashoka said, ―All men are my children‖.
b) Ashoka tried to give importance to public works.
c) Ashoka used the title Devanampiya.
58

d) Because there is a gap between the highest and lowest officials.
Correct Answer /
d)
Option(s)

According to R. S. Sharma, there was a big gap between the highest and lowest
class of government officials. The impression of centralized, bureaucratic control is
consistent with the vast empire, expanding economic activity and a well-organized
military system.
7.2.2: Exercises
Essay questions
1) What are the various kinds of information that inscriptions contribute to our
understanding of history? Discuss with reference to the Ashokan edicts.
2) Outline the main features of Ashoka‘s dhamma? To what extent do you think his
moral code was free of religious orientations?
3) What kinds of political imperatives led Ashoka to propagate his dhamma? Would he
have been successful in achieving these aims?
Objective questions
1 True or False 1
Question
59

Of the following, which are essential constituents of Ashoka‘s dhamma? Mark as True
or False:
a) Promoting the sacrifice of animals and their slaughter for meat.
b) Respect towards parents, elders and relatives.
c) Giving gifts in order to secure merit.
d) The practise of digvijaya or military conquest.
Correct Answer / a) False

Option(s) b) True
c) True
d) False

a) Ashoka spoke against the sacrifice of animals and their slaughter for meat.
b) Ashoka‘s dhamma emphasized respect towards parents, elders and realtives.
c) He held that giving gifts in order to secure merit was beneficial.
d) Ashoka rejected military conquest and instead called for dhamma vijaya or
conquest by dhamma.
Question
The Ashokan inscriptions and the Brahmi script were first deciphered by:
a) Mortimer Wheeler
b) James Prinsep
60

c) Michael Ventris
d) Alexander Cunningham
Correct Answer /
b)
Option(s)

James Prinsep is credited with the decipherment of the Brahmi script.
Question
The inscriptions of Ashoka found at Kandahar were written in which of the following
scripts:
a) Aramaic
b) Greek
c) Kharosthi
d) Both a) and b)
Correct Answer /
d)
Option(s)

The Ashokan edicts at Kandahar were bilingual, being inscribed in both Greek and
Aramaic.
61

Question
In which of the following edicts does Ashoka order:‖The monk or nun who shall break
up the Sangha should be made to put on white robes and reside in what is not fit for
the residence of a recluse.‖
a) Schism Edict
b) Queens Edict
c) Nyagrodha cave inscription
d) Rock Edict XIII
Correct Answer /
a)
Option(s)

These directives to the Buddhist sangha are taken from the Schism Edict.
7.3: Exercises
Essay questions
1) How would you explain the spread of state society between 200 BC and 300 AD?
62

2) What was the cultural impact of the series of invasions from central Asia in the post
Mauryan period?
Objective questions
Question
1) Pratishthana a) Kushanas
2) Purushapura b) Satavahanas
3) Junagadh c) Chedis
4) Kalinga d) Shakas
5) Taxila e) Indo-Greeks
Correct Answer /
1) and b), 2) and a), 3) and d), 4) and c), 5) and e)
Option(s)

1) Pratishthana, on the banks of the river Godavari, was the capital of
the Satavahana kingdom.
2) Purushapura or modern Peshawar was the capital of the Kushanas.

They seem to have had an eastern capital as well in Mathura.
3) Junagadh is where the famous Girnar inscription of Rudradaman, the

great Shaka king, has been found.
63

4) The Mahameghavahana Chedi dynasty of Orissa ruled in Kalinga. We

know this from King Kharavela‘s Hathigumpha inscription.
5) Taxila was one of the seats of Indo-Greek rule in north-western India.
Glossary
anarchy: disorder, political/social confusion
confederation: body or alliance of states
diffused: spread out, not concentrated
dissension: discord arising from difference of opinion
monarchical: (state) under a supreme ruler
oligarchies: states governed by a small group of persons
Glossary
Brahmi: an ancient Indian script

Dhamma: the Pali word for dharma
Devanampiya: beloved of the gods
Kharoshthi: an ancient script prevalent in the north-west
Purohita: a royal priest
Glossary
Ajivika: a renunciant sect of ancient India which followed the teachings of Makkhali Gosala,
a contemporary of the Buddha.
Aramaic: refers to both a language and the script used to write that language. The script
was used by the Assyrian, Babylonian and Achaemenid empires. The Ashokan inscriptions
use it to reach out to people living in the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent.
Dhamma-mahamattas: while the mahamattas were a class of high officials in the
Mauryan administration, the category of dhamma-mahamattas was created specially by
Ashoka. They were put in charge of all affairs relating to the proper conduct of people and
the propagation of Ashoka‘s moral code of dhamma.
64

Estampage: the first step in decoding an inscription is to make a copy of it. This copy is
known as the estampage. Only after such a copy is made can the epigraphist move to
deciphering the script.
Yavanas: this term was initially used for the Ionian Greeks, but eventually came to apply
to all westerners. In the Ashokan edicts, the Yavanas are described as living in the
northwestern region of the empire. Mention is also made of embassies sent to the court of
the Yavana ruler Antiyoka who is identified with Antiochus II Theos (161-246 BCE), ruler of
the Seleucid dynasty in Western Asia.
Glossary
Akaradayi: exempt from paying tax

Apraveshya: no entry
Dakshina: fees paid to a priest for performing rituals
Dakshinapatha: a major southern trade route running through the Deccan
Garuda: an eagle, Vishnu‘s mythical mount
Kavya: poems, plays and tales composed in Sanskrit from the first century AD onwards
Metronym: name deriving from the mother‘s name
Northern Black Polished Ware: a shiny black pottery type used as deluxe ware from circa
7th to 2nd century BC.
Potin: an alloy made of lead and tin
Viceroy: a governor or representative of the king ruling on his behalf
Further readings
Lal, Makkhan. 1984. Settlement History and Rise of Civilization in Ganga-Yamuna Doab
(from 1500 BC to 300 AD). Delhi: B.R. Publishing Corporation.
Sarao, K. T. S. [1990] 2007. Urban Centres and Urbanization as Reflected in the Pali Vinaya
and Sutta Pitaka. 2nd rev. edn. Delhi: Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi.
Sharma, J. P. 1968. Republics in Ancient India c.1500 BC-500 BC. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to
the 12th Century. New Delhi: Pearson Education.
Thapar, Romila. 2002. Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300. New Delhi: Penguin Books.
Wagle, Narendra. 1963. Society at the Time of the Buddha. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.
Further readings
65

Bongard-Levin, G. 1985. Mauryan India. Delhi: Sterling.
Dikshitar, V. R., 1932. Mauryan Polity. Madras: University of Madras.
Fussman, G. 1987-88. Central and Provincial Administration in Ancient India: The Problem
of the Mauryan Empire. Indian Historical Review, Vol.14, Nos. 1-2, 43-72.
Jayaswal, K. P., [1918] 1955. Hindu Polity. Bangalore: Bangalore Printing and Publishing
Co.
Raychaudhuri, H. C. 1997. Political History of Ancient India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
(revised edition).
Seneviratne, S. 1981. ‗Kalinga and Andhra: The Process of Secondary State Formation in
Early India‘, in Claessen, H. and Skalnik, P. (eds.) The Study of the State. The Hague:
Mouton, 317-338.
Sharma, R. S. 1991. Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Singh, U. 1996. Texts on Stone: Understanding Asoka‘s Epigraph-Monuments and their

Changing Contexts. Indian Historical Review 24 (1-2), 1-19.
Singh, U. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India. New Delhi: Pearson
Education.
Sircar, D. C. 1998. Inscriptions of Asoka. Delhi: Publications Division, Government of India.
Thapar, R. 1983. Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Thapar, R. (ed). 1995. ‗The First Millennium B.C. in Northern India‘, in Recent Perspectives
of Early Indian History. Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt Ltd., 80-141.
Thapar, R. 1998. The Mauryas Revisited. Calcutta: K.P. Bagachi & Co.
Thapar, R. 2002. Early India: From the Origins to AD1300. Delhi: Penguin Press.
Further readings
Fussman, Gerard. 1987-88. Central and Provincial Administration in Ancient India: The
Problem of the Mauryan Empire. Indian Historical Review, Vol.14, Nos. 1-2, 43-72.
66

Chakravarti, Uma. 1987. The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism. Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
Kejariwal, O. P. 1999. The Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Discovery of India’s Past. Delhi:
Oxford University Press.
Parasher-Sen, Aloka. 1998. Of Tribes, Hunters and Barbarians: Forest Dwellers in the
Mauryan period. Studies in History, Vol. 14, No. 2, 173-191.
Settar, S. 2003. Footprints of Artisans in History: Some Reflections on Early Artisans of

India. Mysore: General President‘s Address, 64 th Session of the Indian History Congress.
Singh, Upinder. 1996. Texts on Stone: Understanding Asoka‘s Epigraph-Monuments and

their Changing Contexts. Indian Historical Review, 24 (1-2), 1-19.
Sircar, D. C. 1998. Inscriptions of Asoka. Delhi: Publications Division, Government of India.
Strong, John S. (trans.) 2002. The Legend of King Asoka: A Study and Translation of the
Asokavadana. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Thapar, Romila. 1997. Asoka and the Decline of the Mauryas. Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
Thapar, Romila. 2002. Reading History from Inscriptions: Prof. D.C. Sircar Memorial
Endowment Lecture. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi.
Further readings
Mukherji B. N. 2004. Kushana Studies: New Perspectives. Kolkata: Firma K. L.

Mukhopadhyaya.
Singh, Upinder. 2008. A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to
the 12th Century. New Delhi: Pearson Education, Chapter 8.
Shastri, A. M. ed. 1999. The Age of the Satavahanas. 2 vols. New Delhi: Aryan Books
International.
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Changing Political Formations

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Changing political formations

Lesson: Changing political formations

7.1: Gana/sanghas and early monarchical states

7.2.1: Nature and bases of the Mauryan empire

7.2.2: Ashoka's dhamma

7.3: Post-Mauryan polities with special reference to the

Language Editors: Naina Dayal and Bharati Jagannathan

Production Editor: Ashutosh Kumar

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Chapter 7: Changing political formations (circa 600 BC to AD 300)

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7.1: Ganas/sanghas and the early monarchical states

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Figure 7.1.1: Map of the sixteen mahajanapadas

The ganas or sanghas

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oligarchies, where power was exercised by a few. There is a fundamental difference

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The monarchical states

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Figure 7.1.2: Coins of the Kosala kingdom

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Figure 7.1.3: Coin of the Ashmaka kingdom

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Figure 7.1.4: Coins of early Gandhara (Taxila-Gandhara region)

The rise of Magadha

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Bimbisara is known to have strengthened Magadha‘s position by making several

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corroborated by a Prakrit inscription on the side which reads Ajatasatu Bhagavato

Figure 7.1.5: Bharhut panel of Ajatashatru‘s visit to the Buddha

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Alexander‘s invasion resulted in the creation of a Seleucid principality in the north-

7.2.1: Nature and bases of the Mauryan empire

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Sources/beginning of the historical period

The Mauryan period is characterized by an abundance and variety of source materials,

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Origin of the Mauryas

Foundation of the Mauryan empire

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According to later tradition, Chandragupta was aided by his mentor/minister Chanakya,

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