Mahajanapadas

In the later Vedic Age, a number of small kingdoms or city states had covered the subcontinent, many

mentioned in Vedic, early Buddhist and Jaina literature as far back as 1000 BCE. By 500 BCE, sixteen

monarchies and "republics" known as the Mahajanapadas — Kasi, Kosala, Anga, Magadha, Vajji (or

Vriji), Malla, Chedi, Vatsa (or Vamsa), Kuru, Panchala, Matsya (or Machcha), Surasena, Assaka,

Avanti, Gandhara, and Kamboja — stretched across the Indo-Gangetic Plain from modern-day Afghanistan

to Bengal and Maharastra. This period saw the second major rise of urbanism in India after the Indus

Valley Civilization.

Many smaller clans mentioned within early literature seem to have been present across the rest of the

subcontinent. Some of these kings were hereditary; other states elected their rulers. The educated

speech at that time was Sanskrit, while the languages of the general population of northern India are

referred to as Prakrits. Many of the sixteen kingdoms had coalesced to four major ones by 500/400

BCE, by the time of Gautama Buddha. These four were Vatsa, Avanti, Kosala, and Magadha.
The Brahmanical tradition was paralleled by the non-Vedic Shramana movement. The Buddha was a member

of this movement. Shramana also gave rise to Jainism, yoga, the concept of the cycle of birth and

death, the concept of samsara, and the concept of liberation. The Brahmanical ashrama system of life

was an attempt to institutionalize Shramana ideals within the Brahmanical social structure. The

Shramana movement also influenced the Aranyakas and Upanishads in the Brahmanical tradition.

The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.

Around the same time, Mahavira (the 24th Tirthankara in Jainism) propagated a theology that was to

later become Jainism. However, Jain orthodoxy believes the teachings of the Tirthankaras predates all

known time and scholars believe Parshva, accorded status as the 23rd Tirthankara, was a historical

figure. The Vedas are believed to have documented a few Tirthankaras and an ascetic order similar to

the shramana movement.

The Buddha's teachings and Jainism had doctrines inclined toward asceticism, and they were preached

in Prakrit, which helped them gain acceptance amongst the masses. They have profoundly influenced

practices that Hinduism and Indian spiritual orders are associated with, including vegetarianism,

prohibition of animal slaughter and ahimsa (non-violence). While the geographic impact of Jainism was

limited to India, Buddhist nuns and monks eventually spread the teachings of Buddha to Central Asia,

East Asia, Tibet, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.

Persian and Greek conquests

In 530 BCE Cyrus, King of the Persian Achaemenid Empire crossed the Hindu-Kush mountains to seek

tribute from the tribes of Kamboja, Gandhara and the trans-India region. By 520 BCE, during the reign

of Darius I of Persia, much of the northwestern subcontinent (present-day eastern Afghanistan and

Pakistan) came under the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The area remained under Persian

control for two centuries. During this time India supplied mercenaries to the Persian army then

fighting in Greece. Under Persian rule the famous city of Takshashila became a center where both

Vedic and Iranian learning were mingled. The impact of Persian ideas was felt in many areas of Indian

life. Persian coinage and rock inscriptions were copied by India. However, Persian ascendency in

northern India ended with Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia in 327 BCE.
By 326 BCE, Alexander the Great had conquered Asia Minor and the Achaemenid Empire and had reached

the northwest frontiers of the Indian subcontinent. There he defeated King Porus in the Battle of the

Hydaspes (near modern-day Jhelum, Pakistan) and conquered much of the Punjab. Alexander's march east

put him in confrontation with the Nanda Empire of Magadha and the Gangaridai Empire of Bengal. His

army, exhausted and frightened by the prospect of facing larger Indian armies at the Ganges River,

mutinied at the Hyphasis (modern Beas River) and refused to march further East. Alexander, after the

meeting with his officer, Coenus, and learning about the might of Nanda Empire, was convinced that it

was better to return.

The Persian and Greek invasions had important repercussions on Indian civilization. The political

systems of the Persians were to influence future forms of governance on the subcontinent, including

the administration of the Mauryan dynasty. In addition, the region of Gandhara, or present-day

eastern Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan, became a melting pot of Indian, Persian, Central Asian,

and Greek cultures and gave rise to a hybrid culture, Greco-Buddhism, which lasted until the 5th

century CE and influenced the artistic development of Mahayana Buddhism.

Maurya Empire

The Maurya Empire (322–185 BCE), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and

powerful political and military empire in ancient India. The empire was established by Chandragupta

Maurya in Magadha what is now Bihar. The empire flourished under the reign of Ashoka the Great. At

its greatest extent, it stretched to the north to the natural boundaries of the Himalayas and to the

east into what is now Assam. To the west, it reached beyond modern Pakistan, annexing Balochistan and

much of what is now Afghanistan, including the modern Herat and Kandahar provinces. The empire was

expanded into India's central and southern regions by the emperors Chandragupta and Bindusara, but it

excluded extensive unexplored tribal and forested regions near Kalinga which were subsequently taken

by Ashoka. Like every state, the Maurya Empire needed to have a unified administrative apparatus.

Ashoka ruled the Maurya Empire for 37 years from 268 BCE until he died in 232 BCE. During that time,

Ashoka pursued an active foreign policy aimed at setting up a unified state. However, Ashoka became

involved in a war with the state of Kalinga which is located on the western shore of the Bay of

Bengal. This war forced Ashoka to abandon his attempt at a foreign policy which would unify the

Maurya Empire.

Slavery had begun in India during the Vedic era. However, during the Mauryan Empire slavery developed

much more rapidly. The Mauryan Empire was based on a modern and efficient economy and society.

However, the sale of merchandise was closely regulated by the government. Although there was no

banking in the Mauryan society, usury was customary with loans made at the recognized interest rate

of 15% per annum.

Ashoka's reign propagated Buddhism. In this regard Ashoka established many Buddhist monuments.

Indeed, Ashoka put a strain on the economy and the government by his strong support of Buddhism.

towards the end of his reign he "bled the state coffers white with his generous gifts to promote the

promulation of Buddha's teaching. As might be expected, this policy caused considerable opposition

within the government. This opposition rallied around Sampadi, Ashoka's grandson and heir to the

throne. Religious opposition to Ashoka also arose among the orthodox Brahmanists and the adherents of

Jainism--a religion based on non-violence toward all living beings.
Chandragupta's minister Chanakya wrote the Arthashastra, one of the greatest treatises on economics,

politics, foreign affairs, administration, military arts, war, and religion produced in Asia.

Archaeologically, the period of Mauryan rule in South Asia falls into the era of Northern Black

Polished Ware (NBPW). The Arthashastra and the Edicts of Ashoka are primary written records of the

Mauryan times. The Lion Capital of Asoka at Sarnath, is the national emblem of India.

Early Middle Kingdoms — The Golden Age

Gupta Empire

The middle period was a time of cultural development. The Satavahana dynasty, also known as the

Andhras, ruled in southern and central India after around 230 BCE. Satakarni, the sixth ruler of the

Satvahana dynasty, defeated the Sunga Empire of north India. Afterwards, Kharavela, the warrior king

of Kalinga, ruled a vast empire and was responsible for the propagation of Jainism in the Indian

subcontinent. The Kharavelan Jain empire included a maritime empire with trading routes linking it to

Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra, and Java. Colonists from

Kalinga settled in Sri Lanka, Burma, as well as the Maldives and Maritime Southeast Asia. The Kuninda

Kingdom was a small Himalayan state that survived from around the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century

CE. The Kushanas migrated from Central Asia into northwestern India in the middle of the 1st century

CE and founded an empire that stretched from Tajikistan to the middle Ganges. The Western Satraps

(35-405 CE) were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India. They were the successors of

the Indo-Scythians and contemporaries of the Kushans who ruled the northern part of the Indian

subcontinent and the Satavahana (Andhra) who ruled in central and southern India. Different dynasties

such as the Pandyans, Cholas, Cheras, Kadambas, Western Gangas, Pallavas, and Chalukyas, dominated

the southern part of the Indian peninsula at different periods of time. Several southern kingdoms

formed overseas empires that stretched into Southeast Asia. The kingdoms warred with each other and

the Deccan states for domination of the south. The Kalabras, a Buddhist dynasty, briefly interrupted

the usual domination of the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas in the south.

Northwestern hybrid cultures

The northwestern hybrid cultures of the subcontinent included the Indo-Greeks, the Indo-Scythians,

the Indo-Parthians, and the Indo-Sassinids. The first of these, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, was founded

when the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius invaded the region in 180 BCE, extending his rule over various

parts of present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Lasting for almost two centuries, the kingdom was

ruled by a succession of more than 30 Greek kings, who were often in conflict with each other. The

Indo-Scythians were a branch of the Indo-European Sakas (Scythians) who migrated from southern

Siberia, first into Bactria, subsequently into Sogdiana, Kashmir, Arachosia, and Gandhara, and

finally into India. Their kingdom lasted from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century

BCE. Yet another kingdom, the Indo-Parthians (also known as the Pahlavas), came to control most of

present-day Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, after fighting many local rulers such as the Kushan

ruler Kujula Kadphises, in the Gandhara region. The Sassanid empire of Persia, who was

contemporaneous with the Gupta Empire, expanded into the region of present-day Balochistan in

Pakistan, where the mingling of Indian culture and the culture of Iran gave birth to a hybrid culture

under the Indo-Sassanids.

Kushan Empire

The Kushan Empire expanded out of what is now Afghanistan into the northwest of the subcontinent

under the leadership of their first emperor, Kujula Kadphises, about the middle of the 1st century

CE. By the time of his grandson, Kanishka, (whose era is thought to have begun c. 127 CE), they had

conquered most of northern India, at least as far as Saketa and Pataliputra, in the middle Ganges

Valley, and probably as far as the Bay of Bengal. They played an important role in the establishment

of Buddhism in India and its spread to Central Asia and China. By the 3rd century, their empire in

India was disintegrating; their last known great emperor being Vasudeva I (c. 190-225 CE).

Roman trade with India

Coin of the Roman emperor Augustus found at the Pudukottai, South India.
Roman trade with India started around 1 CE, during the reign of Augustus and following his conquest

of Egypt, which had been India's biggest trade partner in the West.
The trade started by Eudoxus of Cyzicus in 130 BCE kept increasing, and according to Strabo

(II.5.12.), by the time of Augustus, up to 120 ships set sail every year from Myos Hormos on the Red

Sea to India. So much gold was used for this trade, and apparently recycled by the Kushans for their

own coinage, that Pliny the Elder (NH VI.101) complained about the drain of specie to India:
"India, China and the Arabian peninsula take one hundred million sesterces from our empire per annum

at a conservative estimate: that is what our luxuries and women cost us. For what percentage of these

imports is intended for sacrifices to the gods or the spirits of the dead?"
—Pliny, Historia Naturae 12.41.84.
The maritime (but not the overland) trade routes, harbours, and trade items are described in detail

in the 1st century CE Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

Gupta rule

Gupta Empire (c. 320–550 CE). This period has been called the Golden Age of India and was marked by

extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, dialectic, literature, logic,

mathematics, astronomy, religion, and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally

known as Hindu culture. The decimal numeral system, including the concept of zero, was invented in

India during this period. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the

pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors in India.

The high points of this cultural creativity are magnificent architecture, sculpture, and painting.

The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, and

Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields. Science and political administration

reached new heights during the Gupta era. Strong trade ties also made the region an important

cultural center and established it as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in

Burma, Sri Lanka, Maritime Southeast Asia, and Indochina.

The Gupta period marked a watershed of Indian culture: the Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to

legitimize their rule, but they also patronized Buddhism, which continued to provide an alternative

to Brahmanical orthodoxy. The military exploits of the first three rulers—Chandragupta I (c. 319–

335), Samudragupta (c. 335–376), and Chandragupta II (c. 376–415) —brought much of India under their

leadership. They successfully resisted the northwestern kingdoms until the arrival of the Hunas, who

established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the 5th century, with their capital at

Bamiyan. However, much of the Deccan and southern India were largely unaffected by these events in

the north.

Brahmanical Expansion at the Expense of Buddhism

Ronald Inden notes:
"before the eighth century, the Buddha was accorded the position of universal deity and ceremonies by

which a king attained to imperial status were elaborate donative ceremonies entailing gifts to

Buddhist monks and the installation of a symbolic Buddha in a stupa....This pattern changed in the

eighth century. The Buddha was replaced as the supreme, imperial deity by one of the Hindu gods

(except under the Palas of eastern India, the Buddha's homeland)...Previously the Buddha had been

accorded imperial-style worship (puja). Now as one of the Hindu gods replaced the Buddha at the

imperial centre and pinnacle of the cosmo-political system, the image or symbol of the Hindu god

comes to be housed in a monumental temple and given increasingly elaborate imperial-style puja

worship."
The replacement of the Buddha as the "cosmic person" coincided with the same period of time that the

Buddha was incorporated and subordinated within the cult of Vishnu as an avatar. Although Buddhism

did not disappear from India for several centuries after the eighth, royal proclivities for the cults

of Vishnu and Shiva weakened Buddhism's position within the sociopolitical context and helped make

possible its decline.

Late Middle Kingdoms — The Classical Age

Badami Chalukya Empire

The "Classical Age" in India began with the Gupta Empire and the resurgence of the north during

Harsha's conquests around the 7th century CE, and ended with the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in

the south in the 13th century, due to pressure from the invaders to the north. This period produced

some of India's finest art, considered the epitome of classical development, and the development of

the main spiritual and philosophical systems which continued to be in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

King Harsha of Kannauj succeeded in reuniting northern India during his reign in the 7th century,

after the collapse of the Gupta dynasty. His kingdom collapsed after his death.

From the 7th to the 9th century, three dynasties contested for control of northern India: the Gurjara

Pratiharas of Malwa,the Eastern Ganga dynasty of Orissa, the Palas of Bengal, and the Rashtrakutas of

the Deccan. The Sena dynasty would later assume control of the Pala Empire, and the Gurjara

Pratiharas fragmented into various states. These were the first of the Rajput states, a series of

kingdoms which managed to survive in some form for almost a millennium, until Indian independence

from the British. The first recorded Rajput kingdoms emerged in Rajasthan in the 6th century, and

small Rajput dynasties later ruled much of northern India. One Gurjar Rajput of the Chauhan clan,

Prithvi Raj Chauhan, was known for bloody conflicts against the advancing Islamic sultanates. The

Shahi dynasty ruled portions of eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, and Kashmir from the mid-7th

century to the early 11th century.

The Chalukya dynasty ruled parts of southern and central India from Badami in Karnataka between 550

and 750, and then again from Kalyani between 970 and 1190. The Pallavas of Kanchipuram were their

contemporaries further to the south. With the decline of the Chalukya empire, their feudatories, the

Hoysalas of Halebidu, Kakatiyas of Warangal, Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, and a southern branch of the

Kalachuri, divided the vast Chalukya empire amongst themselves around the middle of 12th century.
The Chola Empire at its peak covered much of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Rajaraja

Chola I conquered all of peninsular south India and parts of Sri Lanka. Rajendra Chola I's navies

went even further, occupying coasts from Burma to Vietnam, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the

Lakshadweep (Laccadive) islands, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia and the Pegu

islands. Later during the middle period, the Pandyan Empire emerged in Tamil Nadu, as well as the

Chera Kingdom in parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. By 1343, last of these dynasties had ceased to

exist, giving rise to the Vijayanagar empire.

The ports of south India were engaged in the Indian Ocean trade, chiefly involving spices, with the

Roman Empire to the west and Southeast Asia to the east. Literature in local vernaculars and

spectacular architecture flourished until about the beginning of the 14th century, when southern

expeditions of the sultan of Delhi took their toll on these kingdoms. The Hindu Vijayanagar dynasty

came into conflict with the Islamic Bahmani Sultanate, and the clashing of the two systems caused a

mingling of the indigenous and foreign cultures that left lasting cultural influences on each other.

The Vijaynagar Empire eventually declined due to pressure from the first Delhi sultanates that had

managed to establish themselves in the north around the city of Delhi by that time......

To Be Continued...