Finding Out About the Mauryas

There are so many resources on which it was possible to reconstruct the different facts and the history of the Maurya Empire. These resources played a major role in knowing about the whole empire.

• There were so many sculptures like Yaksha and Yakshi, Lion Capita, Elephant sculpture, Whisk-bearer. These sculptures helped the archeologists to find out the different facts about the empire.
• There were so many contemporary written works that helped historians to understand the context of the Maurya Empire. These written works include the Indika and Arthashastra.
• Chanakys’s Arthashastra was a major text that talks about the legal and administrative framework of the Maurya Empire.
• Mudrarakshasa was a drama that was written by the Visakadata at this time. It gives us an idea about the social and economic landscape of the empire.
• Indika was written by the Greek ambassador Megasthenes. The book depicts the condition and administration of the Pataliputra.
• Samrat Ashoka was the first ruler who inscribed his religious thoughts on the stone surfaces. These were known as the polished pillars that talk about the view of dhamma through its inscriptions.

An Early Empire is a subpart of the Class 12 History Chapter “Kings, Farmers and Towns”. It gives us a detailed view of the Early Empire of ancient India which was well known as the Maurya Empire. The Great Maurya Empire (322 BCE – 185 BCE) was the first empire that covered almost the Indian subcontinent joining some parts of present Iran. Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of this kingdom and Chanakya was the king maker.

In this article, we are going to discuss the subpart “An Early Empire” of the Class 12 History Chapter “Kings, Farmers and Towns” in detail.