Page 54 - SST Class 06
P. 54
The First Empire 8
q Establishment of the first empire q Rise of Chandragupta Maurya
q Ashoka the great q Administration of Mauryan empire
Introduction Maurya and trained him and led him to form the
first empire in India.
You have studied in the previous lessons that the
rule of Magadha passed into the hands of the
Info Bits
Nanda dynasty. When Alexander the Great invaded Info Bits
India, Dhana Nanda was the ruler of Magadha.
Alexander, the king of Macedonia (Greece) invaded Kautilya was a teacher of economics and wrote a
book the Arthashastra. This book deals with many
India in 326 BC. He defeated Taxila and other aspects of economics and politics.
smaller kingdoms, including the one ruled by King
Porus. He also decided to attack Magadha but his
soldiers had got tired after fighting a series of wars RISE OF CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA
or they were, perhaps, afraid of fighting the mighty (321 BC TO 297 BC)
army of Nandas, so he decided to return. He Chandragupta Maurya, under the guidance of
appointed his governors for the conquered Kautilya, gathered a small army and occupied
territories. His invasion weakened the kingdoms in territories in Punjab which had become weak due
Punjab and Afghanistan. So, the time was apt when to Alexander’s invasion. He consolidated his
a larger empire could be formed. position and attacked Magadha. The Nanda rulers
had become unpopular by then. This victory was
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE easy for him as the people cooperated with him.
With this victory in 321 BC, he earned the title of
You have read that when the Aryans came, they Emperor of Bharata . He was termed as the
lived in small villages, which gradually developed Liberator . Nothing much is known about
into towns and cities, and thus a number of Chandragupta’s early life. He was mentored and
janapadas were formed. Desire for more territory groomed by Kautilya.
led to the formation of sixteen mahajanapadas and Now the first task before Chandragupta was to
the ambitious rulers further reduced the number of
establish an empire. He turned towards the north-
mahajanapadas to four. Now, the time was west. This territory had been won by Alexander
suitable for some ambitious ruler to take the lead and at this time was being ruled by Selucus
and set up an empire which would be truly Indian
Nicator , a general of Alexander. Chandragupta
in both spirit and territory.
defeated Selucus squarely and made him to sign a
Kautilya also known as Chanakya, was a Brahmin humiliating treaty. Selucus was made to marry his
teacher whose real name was Vishnugupta . He daughter to Chandragupta, as well as send an
was insulted by a Nanda ruler, for which he ambassador named Megasthenes to his court.
vowed that he would eliminate the entire Nanda Let us tell you that Megasthenes was a scholar and
dynasty. He saw his chances in Chandragupta
he wrote a book—the Indica. This book, together
Contemporary Social Science-6
54
