1. Alexander the Great in India<br />N. & S. India was composed of many rival states<br />ruled by petty Aryan kings<br />campaigns against these small kingdoms, forged agreements<br />Aimed at unifying East & West: fusion of cultures<br />Encouraged Greek & Macedonian soldiers to take Indian wives<br />Indian with Greek blood: diversity in population<br />Historical Context<br />Timeline:Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Neo-Babylonians/Chaldeans (Nebuchadnezzar II), Persians<br />Persian Empire fell because of Alexander<br />Sacred Band of Thebes (responsible for the Fall of Sparta, defeated an army 3x its size) was annihilated because of Alexander<br />Macedonians: perceived by Greeks as semi-barbarian; admired Greek culture; spoke Greek dialect<br />Alexander & The Persians<br />Darius III <br />Bessus proclaimed himself as the successor of Darius III<br />gave Darius III a royal burial<br />Pursuit of Bessus led Alexander to India<br />Bactrian/Afghan Princess Roxane as wife<br />Alexander’s army: complain about tropical, rainy climate, mosquitoes<br />Persian territories in India, ex. Taxila (near Islamabad, Pakistan)<br />Photo:Persepolis<br />Alexander in India<br />powerful Porus, King of West Punjab large army, war elephants<br />defeated by Alexander<br />Alexander & Porus = allies<br />took a young prince under his tutelage: Chandragupta Maurya<br />unexpected death in 323 BC: malaria/high fever; age 33<br />all direct members of Macedonian Royal Line murdered: including Roxane & son<br />What’s left of Alexander’s Empire?<br />Surviving Governors/Generals proclaimed themselves as Kings & founded dynasties<br />Ptolemy I, Governor then King of Egypt, Ptolemaic Dynasty of Pharaohs (Cleopatra VII,last)<br />Seleukus Nikator I, Seleucid Dynasty in Syria, much of Persia<br />Antigonius, Antigonid Dynasty in Macedonia<br />Attalus I from Pergamum, Attalid Dynasty in Western Asia Minor; successor bequeathed his kingdom to Rome<br />Seleucid Greeks slowly lost their foothold on India because Chandragupta Maurya was already on the rise...<br />Imperial Unification<br />Maurya Dynasty<br />Sources<br />little is known; no records<br />Buddhist sources: 16 major kingdoms & tribal oligarchies in N. India from Afghanistan to Bengal<br />most powerful was Magadha of Nanda dynasty <br />economic power= imperial dominance<br />Greek Sources (ex. actual descriptions of Maurya from the diary of Greek Ambassador of Seleukus Nikator, Megasthenes: The Book of Megasthenes) <br />Herodotus in his account of The Persian Wars: info on Taxila (near Islamabad) falling under Persian control<br />Chandragupta Maurya<br />context: warfare & struggle for power (rivalries) broke up the institutions & values of earlier age<br />reign 324-301 BC: India’s first great unifier <br />conflicting accounts on parentage:<br />father as herdsman; mother: royal harem of the Nandas<br />the dynasty he founded outlived him= dynasty lasted for 140 yrs<br />Maurya from the word peacock, clan’s orginal totem<br />aimed to transform Magadha as the “Macedonia of South Asia”<br />ousted last of Nanda Monarchs of Magadha=>Pataliputra as new Capital<br />Chandragupta’s Pact with the Greeks<br />treaty with Seleukus Nikator to secure western border of the Mauryan Empire<br />Greek withdrawal of forces<br />“cryptic marriage” = Seleucus’ daughter<br />trade was fostered: luxuries, spices, jewels<br />The Game of Empire-Building<br />Brahman Prime Minister Kautilya, author of Arthashastras (“Science of Material Gain”)<br />completed in 250 AD: author of now-lost original version<br />“India’s Kingmaker”: originally to guide the temper & impulsive actions of a youthful conqueror<br />a handbook for rulers: advice on how to seize, hold, manipulate power<br />wise & humane administration of justice<br />Ch.1: education & training of a king, must be “energetic” and “ever wakeful”<br />“A Raja must be accessible to his people, lest confusion in business and cause public disaffection”<br />The Arthashastras of Kautilya<br />Monarch must control his senses: “6 enemies”<br />lust<br />anger<br />greed<br />vanity<br />haughtiness<br />exuberance<br />control his subjects:<br />ministers<br />wealthy merchants<br />brahmans<br />beautiful women (queens)<br />SPYING<br />householder<br />pseudostudents<br />people meditating<br />“artful persons”<br />Officials to “work without either dispute or unity among themselves, for if they work united, they consume state revenues but if they work in discord, they damage the work”<br />Mauryan Power<br />3rd C BC: population in South Asia: 50 million<br />army, spies,etc: more than 1 million men<br />“The King owned all land & wealth (Wolpert, p. 58)”<br />exceptions<br />Monarch’s share of taxes: 1/4-1/2 of the value of all crops raised<br />trade<br />gold<br />herds<br />centralized administration<br />weights & measures<br />currencies: silver pana<br />operated all mines, spinning, weaving<br />tax remissions for clearing of forests<br />Punishments<br />ex. doctors: patients died of neglect or carelessness<br />Salary scale:<br />King’s Councillor: 48k/yr pana<br />Military Officers, Engineers: 1,000/yr<br />Chandragupta’s Successors<br />301 BC: abdicated his throne<br />became a Jain Monk<br />starved himself to death<br />his son, Bindusara controlled Pataliputra<br />little is known<br />expanded to the south<br />maintained Greek diplomatic relations<br />Bindusara’s son, ASHOKA (269-232 BC)<br />Sources: Edicts carved into 18 rocks & 30 pillars<br />India’s “most enlightened Emperor”<br />paternalistic reign: addressed all India as “my children”<br />a king always “on duty”<br />toured his empire personally<br />“Ashoka became the living symbol of imperial unity”<br />India’s God-King-Father<br />Ashoka’s Death<br />232 BC: died<br />economic/spiritual decline<br />sons contested the throne<br />Indian sources has no rule as to who will succeed<br />fragmentation <br />local assertion of independence<br />interregional rivalries<br />invasions<br />Maurya dynasty continued until 184 BC:<br />Brihadratha, last of Mauryan rulers killed by his Brahman general, Pushyamitra Shunga<br />new line of rajas until 72 BC<br />