The First Empire and Ashoka (1).pdf

It is related to the ancient indian history, class 6 cbse history

1. The First Empire and Ashoka
Class - 6 History Unit-8 Ch-8
Presented by - Vikas Solanki

2. Introduction
This chapter deals with :
●Mauryan Empire- first empire of India.
●Sources of Mauryan empire.
●Mauryan Emperors
○Chandragupta Maurya
○Bindusara
○Ashoka
●Kalinga war
●Ashoka’s Dhamma
●Welfare Measures
●Administration
●The Decline

3. TIMELINE OF MAURYAN EMPIRE

4. Empire Vs Kingdom
Empire
●Large area
●Can be considered as country
or group of countries.
●Ruled by Emperor
●Eg: Mauryan empire
Kingdom
●Small area
●Can be considered as state
●Ruled by King
●Eg: Kalinga

5. Sources for Mauryan Empire
Literary Sources
●Arthashashtra
○a book written by Kautilya
○gives information about administration
●Indika
○a book written by Megasthenes ( the Greek
ambassador)
○gives information about city administration,
social, political and economic conditions.
Archeological Sources
●Rock and pillar edicts of Emperor
Ashoka.
●Coins
●Can be considered as authentic
source of information.

6. MAURYAN EMPERORS

7. Chandragupta Maurya (321- 297 BCE )
●Founder
●Empire includes Bihar, parts of Orissa, central
India and Bengal.
●Supported by Chanakya.
●Defeated Seleucus Nicator (Governor of Alexander)
●Add Afghanistan, Baluchistan, area west of river
Indus.
●First unifier of India.
●Gave up throne and became ascetic.
●Migrated to south at Shravanabelagola with jain
saint ,Acharya Bhadrabahu.

8. Bindusara ( 297- 273 BCE )
●Son of Chandragupta Maurya
●Empire spread across the Indian subcontinent upto Karnataka.
●Only Kalinga and southernmost parts were outside his territory.
●Had friendly relationship with Hellenic west.
●Ambassadors from Syria and Egypt visited his court.
●Believed in Ajivika philosophy.

9. Ashoka ( 273-232 BCE )
●Most famous Mauryan ruler.
●First ruler who uses inscriptions to convey his messages.
●Gave up war for peace and tolerance.
●Area covered under Ashoka’s rule:
○Most parts of present day India including Kalinga
○Pakistan
○Afghanistan
○Bangladesh
●Adopt Buddhism after seeing deaths
and bloodshed during Kalinga war.

11. Kalinga War ( 261 BCE )
●Only kingdom that was not under the control of Mauryan Empire till
Ashoka became the ruler.
●Independent kingdom
●Had flourishing trade
○As it controlled land and sea routes to south India and southeast Asia.
●Kalinga had no king, culturally run without king
●Ashoka faught a war and conquer Kalinga.

12. Ashoka’s Dhamma
●Dhamma refers to Dharma which means religious duty .
●No worship of god.
●Inspired by the teachings of Buddha.
●Appointed officials called Dhamma mahamatta to spread dhamma.
●Principles of dhamma engraved on rock and pillar edicts in prakrit
language ( Bhrami lipi )
●Envoys travelled with his messages to Egypt, Greece, Sri Lanka and
Turkey.

13. Teachings of Buddha
●Follow the path of ahimsa.
●Speak the truth.
●Respect other religions.
●Obey the elders.
●Practise charity towards the poor.
●Be kind to all, including servants and slaves.
●Live together peacefully.

14. Welfare Measures
●Deeply concerned about welfare of the people.
●Built roads and planted trees on both sides.
●Constructed rest houses and hospitals.
●Wells were also dug.
●Regularly visited his subjects and ensures their happiness.

15. Administration ( from Arthashastra by Kautilya )
●Divided into four divisions with capital city Pataliputra had its own
administration
1.Central :
a.Emperor most powerful
b.Important decisions taken by Emperor
c.Ashoka frequently visited his citizens
d.Always consults his ministers or advisors
2.Provincial:
a.Divided into 4 provinces
b.Prince ruled as representative of Emperor
c.Assisted by many officers

16. Administration- Continue……
3. District:
a. Head - Pradeshta
b. Assisted by yuktas and rajukas
c. Collect taxes, worked as judges & maintained law and order.
4. Villages :
a. Important person - headman
b. Villagers assisted govt. officials marking
boundaries, maintaining land records and
collecting taxes.

17. The City of Pataliputra (own administration)
●According to Indika, Pataliputra was large, beautiful and impressive.
●Surrounded by wooden wall ,had 64 gates & 570 towers.
●Have moat around the city to get it safe from enemy.
●Houses made from bricks and wood but palaces were from stones.
●Administration divided into 6 boards having 5 members in each.
●Each board had separate duty-
○Collection of taxes
○Inspection of manufactured goods
○Industry
○Trade and commerce
○Registration of births and deaths
○Comfort and security of foreigners

18. Mauryan Army
●One of the best army of that time
●Foot soldiers, horses, elephants, and
chariots
●Head of the army- Senapati
●Espionage system to bring information
from distant places
●Separate department to look after
weapons

19. Revenue system
●Expensive to maintain
●Land revenue was main source of income
●Fixed between 1/4th and 1/6th of produce
●Important trading centres- Pataliputra, Broach, Ujjain and Taxila
●Forest, mine and water tax
●All money collected spent on public welfare activities and to govern
the empire.

20. The decline
●After Ashoka’s death in 232 BCE, mauryan empire became weak.
●Entire system collapsed leads to disintegration of empire.
●The last mauryan ruler, Brihadratha was killed by his chief of army, Pushyamitra Sunga
in 185 BCE.
●This was the end of mauryan dynasty and opened the gates for Sunga Dynasty.

21. Thank you