The Obituary
Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nanda dynasty and, advised by the strategist Chanakya, built the first empire to control most of the Indian subcontinent. His grandson Ashoka extended it further, then after the bloody conquest of Kalinga embraced Buddhism and promoted non-violence, dispatching missionaries as far as the Mediterranean. After Ashoka’s death the empire weakened under less able successors and provincial revolts. In 185 BCE the last Mauryan emperor was assassinated by his own army commander, Pushyamitra Shunga, who founded a new dynasty and ended Mauryan rule.
Worth remembering
- Emperor Ashoka, sickened by the slaughter at Kalinga, converted to Buddhism and spread it across Asia.
- Ashoka's edicts, carved on pillars and rocks, are among India's earliest decipherable writing.
Sources
- Maurya Empire founded c. 322 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya Wikipedia
- Last Mauryan emperor killed in 185 BCE by his commander Pushyamitra Shunga Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.