Chandragupta, Ashoka and the Maurya Empire | World History | Khan Academy

We're now going to talk about the Moria Empire, which is not just one of the greatest empires in Indian history, and really the first truly great Empire. It's also one of the great empires of world history. Just for a little bit of context, we can see where it fits in in the large arc of ancient Indian history. In particular, we see here the life of Buddha. The actual dates of Buddha's life are under some debate, but we can see that his life and his teachings were roughly 150 to 200 years before the establishment of the Mora Empire, which lasts for another 150 or so years.

This is important to keep in mind, because as we'll see, Buddhism has a strong influence on the Moria Empire, and maybe just as important, the Moria Empire has a very large influence on spreading Buddhism in a very significant way. So let's zoom in on what the Indian subcontinent looked like near the end of the 4th century BC. In most of North India, you have control by the Nanda Empire, which had its capital at the city Pataliputra, located in the region or the kingdom of Magada. This is an ancient region that has been the seat of power in North India for some time.

You also have other kingdoms, like Kinga. You have several kingdoms in South India as well. There are accounts of a potentially quite powerful kingdom in Bengal named the Ganga RI. You also might remember, in our videos on Alexander the Great, that it was around this time, around 326, that Alexander came and conquered much of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan, and was at the borders of the Nand Empire in India.

You might also remember that that was about the time that Alexander the Great and his soldiers decided to stop. They were tired. Some accounts are that they were fearful of trying to conquer another empire, especially that far from home. So it was also around the time that Alexander the Great decided to turn back and leave the region under the control of some of his governors and generals. It was in that context that the Moria Empire emerges.

The actual events of how it emerges are still shrouded in history a little bit, but what eventually happens is a conqueror by the name of Chandra Gupta Moria is able to conquer the Nand Empire. Then, not just the Nand Empire, but as Alexander the Great retreats, he's able to conquer some of the territory formerly conquered by Alexander the Great. This here is a statue of what Chandra Gupta Moria may have looked like.

You can see that within a decade of establishing the Empire, it had conquered most of the Nand Empire and had even reclaimed a significant amount of land from the Greeks, from what would eventually become the Sald Empire. Remember, Sucus was one of Alexander's generals, who essentially sets up a dynasty in Persia and the Middle East after the death of Alexander. Chandra Gupta Moria actually fights several battles with Sucus and is victorious. He also marries one of Lucas's daughters. This essentially establishes the Moria, sometimes referred to as the Moran Empire.

Now, Chandra Gupta Moria, in 297, or roughly in 297, decides to become a more devout Jain. In other videos, we'll talk about Mahavira and the Jain religion, but he essentially becomes an ascetic and leaves the kingdom, or the Empire, in the hands of his son, Bindusar. Now, Bindusar is able to conquer more of India, in particular, he starts growing the empire into the South. But Bindusar is not able to conquer the kingdom of Kalinga. Bindusar dies in around 273 or 272 BCE, and then a civil war erupts for who should take charge.

The civil war is essentially amongst the sons of Bindusar, but the son who is victorious ends up being Ashoka. Now, Asoka is one of, if not the most significant historical characters in the history of India. Ashoka is able to take power roughly around 270 BCE. After, as legend has it, a fairly bloody civil war early in his life, he is viewed as a potentially cruel figure, killing many of his brothers in order to come to power. He is set on conquering the kingdom of Kalinga.

So, in 262-261, he has a significant war, and he's able to successfully conquer the kingdom of Kalinga, which is this area right over here. Now that ends up, according to historical records, and really Ashoka's own accounts, becoming a significant turning point in the life of Ashoka, and potentially in the life of India or the world. These are his direct accounts of his feelings about what happened in Kalinga, and we get this account from what are known as the Ashoka edicts.

As the Moria Empire expanded under Ashoka and had peace and prosperity, he put his edicts throughout the Empire, on what are often known as the Aoka, where he wrote what his beliefs and the things that he did. He would also write them on rocks and stone throughout the Empire. But this is the one where he talks about the conquering of Kalinga, and it's pretty interesting. "Beloved of the Gods", King Pedasi, refers to himself as "Beloved of the Gods", conquered the Kalingas eight years after his coronation.

So you see he was coronated roughly in 270; he conquers roughly in 262. 150,000 were deported, 100,000 were killed, and many more died from other causes after the Kalingas had been conquered. "Beloved of the Gods" came to feel—he's talking about himself—"Beloved of the Gods" came to feel a strong inclination towards the dharm.

Dharm is the same word that we use today, Dharma. You can view it as the cosmic order of things. It also, to a Buddhist, refers to the teachings of Buddha or the Buddhist religion. So, "Beloved of the Gods" came to feel a strong inclination towards the dharm, a love for the dharm and for the instruction in dharm. Now, "Beloved of the Gods" feels deep remorse for having conquered the Kalingas.

This is really interesting; you don't have a lot of conquerors, especially in ancient history, after killing several hundred thousand or maybe being responsible for the death of several hundred thousand, for feeling remorse about it and writing about it. So not only is this profound coming from a conqueror, but it also reminds us how bloody some of these ancient wars were.

But this is a turning point for him. He turns to Buddhism and becomes anti-violence, not just towards humans but even towards animals. He becomes a devoted Buddhist and sponsors Buddhist temples throughout his Empire. He sends Buddhist missionaries throughout the world and is viewed as one of the main people responsible for the spread of Buddhism from Europe all the way to the Far East. We already talked about his edicts of Ashoka.

He started doing a bunch of public works projects—digging of wells, hospitals, public gardens, education, including for women. During his reign, you have the maximum extent of any empire that ever ruled over India, 50% larger than the modern-day country of India. There were roughly 50 million people under the Moria Empire under his rule.

Now eventually, after his death, the Empire goes under weaker and weaker rulers, and by about 184-185 BCE, it falls to another less significant dynasty in the whole scope of history. But just to appreciate what a big deal Ashoka is in the scope of history, here is a quote by H.G. Wells from his Outline of History: "Ashoka worked for the real needs of men. Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, the name of Ashoka shines and shines almost alone, a star from the Vulga to Japan. His name is still honored a lot because of his spread of Buddhism. More living men cherish his memory today than have ever heard the name of Constantine or Charlemagne."

And just to appreciate the impact of Ashoka even on modern-day India, this right over here is called the Ashoka Chakra. If you look at the flag of India, the Ashoka Chakra sits at the center of it. This is actually part of the modern-day emblem of the Republic of India, because after his turn to becoming a more benevolent ruler, he's considered as the model ideal ruler in Indian history and by many historians in all of history.