2011+India+6


 * Government in the Mauryan Empire**
 * Mauryan Empire created by Candra Gupta Maurya in 324 BCE after Alexander the Great left Northwestern India
 * India was broken into four general regions lead by a single viceroy
 * Each region was broken into further provinces, districts and villages. Each province was headed by a Governor, who eventually reported to Candra Gupta himself.
 * The Arthashastra was a book that dictated how the Mauryan government would be run.
 * Candra Gupta saught to enlarge his empire by taking over the regions of the Magadha and moving towards the center regions, then he proceeded the process with the Punjab, and then used his army to defeat Seleucus I Nicator.
 * When Gupta died in 298, the Indian emprie contained everything from central Afghanistan to the Bay of Bengal on the eastern coast of India.
 * After his death, Gupta's son Bindusara took control of India in 297 BCE, and continued his fathers autocracy.
 * Bindusara caused the Mauryan empire to extend southward into the Deccan Plateau.
 * Under Gupta, the Mauryan Empire tried to be a bureaucracy, mentioned in the Arthashastra, but ended up being autocratic in nature.
 * The golden age of the Mauryan Empire came between 269 and 232 BCE when Bindusara's son Asoka ruled.
 * During the year 260 Asoka followed his ancestors' lead and waged war in Kalinga, unfortunately hundreds of thousands of soldiers died. Asoka was devastated, and renounced his conquering ways to convert to Buddhism.
 * Instead of conquering other civilizations, Asoka decided to peacefully spread Buddhism.
 * When Asoka died, the Mauryan empire began to slowly fall apart because of the break up of the Arthashastra style states, and Asoka's division of the empire between his grandchildren.
 * The Mauryan Empire** **Army**
 * Mauryan India had a large population, and so had huge number of willing soldiers for conquests.
 * Six types of troops
 * 1) The Kshatriya were the center of the army, and consisted of soldiers who were born into their warrior positions.
 * 2) The Mercenaries, or hired soldiers.
 * 3) Soldiers who left the enemies of the Mauryan Empire to join them.
 * 4) Troops provided by guilds or private training groups.
 * 5) Troops gifted by allies of the Mauryan Empire.
 * 6) Wild tribesmen or hillmen.
 * The Mauryan army was organized similarly to the Chinese army, by training groups of combatants to fight together as a single unit, rather than a bunch of individuals.
 * The most common of these mixed units was called a Patti, consisting of one elephant ridden by three spearmen or archers, driven by a mahout (Elephant Driver) and three elephant attendants, with three cavalrymen with javelins and spears, and five infantry with swords or bows.
 * 3 Pattis formed a Senamukha, three Senamukha formed a Gulma, a Mauryan battalion.
 * The largest unit, an Aksuahini, consisted of 21,870 Patti.
 * The Mauryan Army used a wide array of siege weapons, including catapults, ballistae, and battering rams.
 * Indian siege weapons were heavy on incendiary devices, such as torches, flaming oil, or fire arrows.
 * The Mauryan Army followed Vedic battle cultures, such as marching in formation and agreeing with the enemy over where to battle.


 * Government in the Gupta Emprire**
 * Arose 500 years after the fall of the Mauryan Empire.
 * Before the Gupta Empire, what remained of the Mauryan Empire was lots of small independent states ruled by kings.
 * Candra Gupta I married the princess of the Licchavis family, combining their wealth and military power.
 * Using the strength of the combined family, Gupta was able to add many of the small states into his territory.
 * Candra Gupta's son, Samudra Gupta, continued to use this tactic until the Gupta Empire enveloped all of Northern India, as well as Nepal, the Eastern Coast of India, and the Ganges River Valley.
 * Samudra was Hindu, and as well as being a powerful millitary leader, he was a thoughtful and kind gentleman.
 * The golden age of the Gupta Empire came under Samudra's son, Candra Gupta II in 380 CE.
 * Candra Gupta II promoted overseas trade to boost the economy, as well as an increase of artists, poets, and writers.
 * Candra Gupta II is best known for his cultural acheivments.
 * While it was much smaller than the Mauryan Empire, the Gupta Empire united much of Northern India.
 * 320 CE to 550 CE
 * The Gupta empire relied on a strong central government to keep peace.
 * The decline of the Gupta Empire occured because of the peace they had tried to mantain.
 * A group called the Huns, or Hunas, started to attack small portions of the Gupta Empire.
 * In 480 CE, the Huns launched a full scale invasion, taking over all of Northern India, and proceeding to attack smaller Gupta leaders and regions, reducing the Empire to almost nothing in 550.

Quote: Come to India: We have War Elephants!
Summaries:

The Mauryan Empire was a militarily dominant, economically flourishing, and culturally influential powerhouse of a nation. The reign of the empire began as Alexander the Great pulled out of India, and Candra Gupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan empire, rose up to claim the lands that were once his. The Civilization grew rapidly, as autocratic leaders invaded smaller city-states and took them as their own. The Golden Age of the Mauryan Empire, under Asoka, resulted in the creation and adoption of three major worldly religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, as well as booming foreign trade in the areas of gold and metal, leading India to become one of the wealthiest empires at the time. These riches caused a flood of poets, artists, and writers to Pataliputra, the nation's capital, which soon became a cultural center for the world.

Even though the Gupta Empire was not as powerful or widespread as the Mauryans, it was stable, peaceful, and a nearly utopian society. The Gupta's had, for the most part, adopted Buddhism, and were completely at peace, lead by a strong and powerful central government to keep things in order. The land of the Gupta Empire was not won by military strength, but rather through diplomatic measures, particularly the marrying off leaders to the rulers of other lands to add them into the empire. Under the Gupta leader Candra Gupta II, the Gupta Empire thrived culturally and economically. Unlike the Mauryans before them, the Gupta Empire promoted low interest rate overseas trade helping them to grow. Like the Mauryans, the Guptas developed an abundance of cultural leaders who populated the nation's capital.

A coin with the face of Chandra Gupta, founder of the Mauryan Empire. An example of a typical War Elephant and its riders, under the Mauryan government. The copied manuscript from the original Arthashastra.

Citation [] "Mauryan Empire." //World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras//.ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 15 Sept. 2011. http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1483888?terms=Mauryan+army Gabriel, Richard A. "Mauryan Army." // World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras //. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2011 [] "The Gupta Empire (Overview)." //World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras//.ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 17 Sept. 2011. Images: [] [] []