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Name
Mala Saud
Chirag Save
Nehal Save
Mayur Sawant
Sanket Sawant
Bhavik Shah
Harsh Shah
Kajal Shah

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Golden Age of Maurya India

Business
Environment
The

Maurayan

Empire

Introduction To Mauryan
Empire
The Mauryan empire

in
Indian history was reigned
by the rulers from the
Mauryan dynasty.
According to the ancient
history of India, the
Mauryan empire happened
to be quite strong and
powerful in all respect
including
the
political
aspects and military aspects.
The Mauryan empire had a
duration of one hundred and
thirty seven years from 322
BCE to 185 BCE.

Introduction to Mauryan
Empire

Origins: Belonged to a Mauriya Tribe And Vaishya Caste

A time of great wealth but also a time of great violence.

India would become united under one ruler during this
empire's reign.
The Mauryan empire in Indian history originated from the
Magadha Kingdom that is located on the Indo- Gangetic
plains.
These are now form the major part of the states of West
Bengal and Bihar. The capital city was Patyliputra which is
now near to where Patna is located.
Chandragupta Maurya, Bindusara and Ashoka the Great
were the remarkable rulers from the Maurya dynasty.

Chandraguptas Rule
Around 323 B.C., a great empire emerged in
northern India.
First King of the empire was Chandragupta,
founder of Mauryan Empire.
He believed in absolute power over the people he
conquered
Under his reign India prospered and enjoyed great
success.
He conquered using a huge army and monies from
trade with places such as Greece, Rome, and China.

The Science of Material

Gain

Chandragupta believed The Science of Material Gain

gave him the right to rule over people with complete
control.

Kautilya
He was Chandraguptas advisor.
He was of Brahmin caste.
He was given the post of Mahamantri.
He Wrote The Treatise on Material Gain or the
Arthashastra, a pioneering text in the field of economics
Kautilya was a shrewd politician and an excellent strategist.
His policy of using spies to destroy enemies proved useful in
successful running of the kingdom.
Apart from politics and religion, he had an interest in
economics. He wrote 'Nitisashtra' to teach the ideal way of
life.

King Bindusara
Bindusara,
was the successor of
Chandragupta Maurya,
He expanded the area of the state that he
inherited from Chandragupta Maurya who
reigned for a fairly long period of 24 years.
The main targets of Bindusara were the
regions in the southern parts of India.
Because of the scarcity of information's about
Bindusara from the ancient Indian history,
little is known about this ruler from the
Maurya dynasty. Bindusara's mother was
Durdhara.
According to the information's in Puranas the
duration of the reign of Bindusara was for a
period of 25 years, almost same as his father.

Emperor Ashoka
Ashoka was one of the sons of the earlier Mauryan king,
Bindusara.
During the early years of his rule he was involved in the
policy of expansion and increased the size of the Mauryan
empire.
Ashoka would however gone through a major
transformation in his life, one that would completely
change his outlook and policies. It took place at the battle
of Kalinga, a bloody war in which thousands of soldiers
were killed.

Battle of Kalinga
Ashoka soon developed an interest
in the teaching of Buddhism, but
initially did not express much
enthusiasm for joining the faith. This
finally did happen, when he visited
Bodh Gaya (the place where Buddha
reached
enlightenment)
and
interacted with the monks over there.
The experience finally made up his
mind and Ashoka took up the
religion with tremendous zeal. He
soon began the process of travelling
across the country spreading the
ideas of Dharma and asking people
to live their life with strong moral
values.

Emperor Ashoka

Ashoka was one of the most

outstanding personalities in the
history of India. A person who
had great organizational skills and
truly excelled in whatever he did,
be it the expansion and
governance of his empire or his
incredible work in spreading
Buddhist teachings. He spent a
fantastic amount of energy
propagating his new ideas and
beliefs throughout the empire. As
a person, as a ruler and as a
preacher Ashoka has had few
equals in Indian history. He is
said to have died sometime
around 233 BC.

 Asoka and his laws are remembered in the modern

Indian flag.
The wheel of law, or Dharma Chakra, is on many of
Asoka's pillars and has been the focal point of India's
flag since 1947.

Art And Architecture

Some of the finest examples of Ashokan art, are the famous
Ashokan pillars that he erected across the country. These
columns were works of art, architecture and engineering. The
pillar was made out of a single stone which was cut, shaped
and polished.
Mauryan architecture is also reputed to have been fabulous.
The capital of Patlipatura had been described by many
travelers as one of the most amazing cities of the ancient
world. Unfortunately since the building material was
essentially wood, not much of this has survived.
Ashoka also constructed several stupas across the country,
with the most famous being the sanchi stupa.

Art And Architecture

An another example of Mauryan period is the great stupa at

Sanchi. It is perhaps the finest surviving relic of the Mauryan
Empire. This great stupa is constructed as 54 feet in height and it is
surrounded by exquisitely carved stone railings. But it is famous
and notable due to the four gateways.
Before this there was no such tradition of carving gateways. So,
construction of gateways can be said as the unique architectural
technique used by Mauryans.
These gateways are elaborately carved and depicts various scenes
from the life of Buddha and also about the lifestyle of people in
that era.
But among these, the most famous Lion-Capital (pillar of showing
four-lions) in sandstone realistically represents the artistic
achievements of Indian artists and patronage of their masters.

Famous Ashokan Pillars

The Lion-Capital
erected by Ashoka at
Sarnath in Madhya
Pradesh has become
the National
Emblem of republic
India.
All the coins and
currency notes of
modern India have a
four-lion symbol on
it, is the same
symbol.

Pillar At Delhi

Pillar At Vaishali

Pillar At Allahabad

Economy During Mauryan

Empire

The Indian economy was by this time a settled agrarian

economy.
Animal rearing continued to be an important occupation.
Industry and business also flourished .
With agriculture being the backbone of the economy it was
quickly realized that land revenue was going to be a major
source of income from the government.
Industries and enterprises were also taxed, using a vast mix of
techniques, all of which were derived from the original land
revenue tax system.
This entire system was the brainchild of Kautalya,

Economy During Mauryan

Empire
The existence of a stable centralized government, and the
unity of the sub-continent that it created resulted in the rapid
development of industry.
The Mauryan economy was fairly developed for its time. For
instance all manufactured goods came stamped with a date,
which would then be used by consumers to determine the age
of the product.
Prices were monitored to ensure that a merchant was not
making too great a profit.
The Mauryan kings used to import wines, figs, clothes and
beautiful vessels made out of silver.
The Mauryan exports were chiefly items of luxury like fine
muslin cloth.

Mauryan EmpireAdministration

The Mauryan Empire had smooth administration and

efficient rulers. The gvt. was centralized with lot of staff to
make sure that work was carried on smoothly.
Taxes were collected regularly, trade and commerce was
carried on smoothly, citizens were taken care of & the army
was always ready for any sort of external aggression or
threat.
Every province had its own officials who managed
administration at the grassroot levels. The main economic
activity of the people was agriculture.
The capital city of Pataliputra was beautifully decorated and
had all facilities that any modern city would have.

Society During Mauryan Empire

Mauryan society was divided into seven categories namely the
philosophers, farmers, soldiers, herdsman, artisans, magistrates and
councilors.
These divisions were referred as castes because the members of a
particular division were not allowed to marry outside their group and
were also not allowed to change their professions.
The seven divisions of the society were not identical with each other
and differed in terms of rules and regulations.
The caste system was strongly prevalent in the Mauryan society. The
twice-born that is the Brahmans and the kshatriyas enjoyed a special
privilege in the society because of their status of being twice born.
The Vaisyas though theoretically were twice born but they were not
able to enjoy a privileged position similar to the Brahmans and the
kshatriyas.

Collapse Of Mauryan Empire

After Ashoka's death the Mauryan empire began to decline.
Unfortunately the later Mauryan rulers did not leave behind
much recorded material for us to draw a clear picture of exactly
what happened.
The disintegration of the Mauryan empire was perhaps inevitable,
Ashoka's complete move away from violence was perhaps what
weakened the empire. After the famous Kalinga war which
changed Ashoka completely,
Once an empire of its size was without a strong ruler or an army,
the disintegration that took place could only be expected.
India once again disintegrated into a series of smaller kingdoms
and it was not until 320 AD, almost five hundred years later when
the Gupta dynasty founded India's next major empire.

Impact Of Mauryan Empire

During the Mauryan Empire culture flourished.
Cities grew as commerce boomed. (The Mauryan
Empire traded with Rome and China.)
Unfortunately, after Ashoka's death in about 232
B.C.E., the Mauryan Empire crumbled.
A battle for succession ensured, with no clear winner,
and in 183 B.C.E. the last Mauryan ruler was defeated.
However, the legacy of the Mauryan Empire lives on
in the Indian people today.

THANK YOU