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. It appears that the empire was divided up amongst his sons, each founding his own separate kingdom. The process of decay soon began setting in as once a strong central authority ceased to exist, many of the outlying provinces ceded away. By about 200 BC many former Mauryan provinces were independent kingdoms. The process was accelerated by the foreign invaders that began attacking the country, seeing an opportunity to seize control in the absence of any strong power. Antiochos III a greek conqueror who was the great great grandson of Seleukos, the general of Alexander, whom Chandragupta Maurya had defeated to found the Mauryan dynasty, is reported to have attacked and if some accounts are to be believed reached as far as Pataliputra.
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, he had ordered sweeping changes in the empire. Armed conquest was discontinued and even
the royal hunt was stopped. So for the twenty nine remaining years of his rule, the Mauryan army remained largely inactive. Mauryan kings that followed soon began to lose touch with the army, and eventually when the battles came they were no match for a more motivated army. The kings, unlike in the past, did not command the respect of the soldiers, and could not take the field and lead the army in war. Once an empire of its size was without a strong ruler or an army, the disintegration that took place could only be expected. The Mauryan dynasty finally came to an end when Brihadratha was assassinated in 187 BC by his general Pushyamitra Shunga, who went on to found the short lived Shunga dynasty. 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. 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. It appears that the empire was divided up amongst his sons, each founding his own separate kingdom. The process of decay soon began setting in as once a strong central authority ceased to exist, many of the outlying provinces ceded away. By about 200 BC many former Mauryan provinces were independent kingdoms. The process was accelerated by the foreign invaders that began attacking the country, seeing an opportunity to seize control in the absence of any strong power. Antiochos III a greek conqueror who was the great great grandson of Seleukos, the general of Alexander, whom Chandragupta Maurya had defeated to found the Mauryan dynasty, is reported to have attacked and if some accounts are to be believed reached as far as Pataliputra.
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, he had ordered sweeping changes in the empire. Armed conquest was discontinued and even the royal hunt was stopped. So for the twenty nine remaining years of his rule, the Mauryan army remained largely inactive. Mauryan kings that followed soon began to lose touch with the army, and eventually when the battles came they were no match for a more motivated army. The kings, unlike in the past, did not command the respect of the soldiers, and could not take the field and lead the army in war. Once an empire of its size was without a strong ruler or an army, the disintegration that took place could only be expected. The Mauryan dynasty finally came to an end when Brihadratha was assassinated in 187 BC by his general Pushyamitra Shunga, who went on to found the short lived Shunga dynasty. 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment