MAURYAN AND GUPTA’S DYNASTY |History| L-4|

The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power on the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The Maurya Empire was centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and its capital city was located at Pataliputra, modern Patna. Outside this imperial center, the empire’s geographical extent depended on the loyalty of military commanders who controlled the armed cities that sprinkled it. During Ashoka’s rule (c. 268 – c. 232 BCE) the empire briefly controlled the major urban hubs and arteries of the Indian subcontinent except those in the deep south. It declined for about 50 years after Ashoka’s rule, and dissolved in 185 BCE with the assassination of Brihadratha by Pushyamitra Shunga and the foundation of the Shunga Empire in Magadh.

The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire which existed from the early 4th century CE to early 6th century CE. At its zenith, from approximately 319 to 467 CE, it covered much of the Indian subcontinent.This period is considered as the Golden Age of India by historians. The ruling dynasty of the empire was founded by Gupta, and the most notable rulers of the dynasty were Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Skandagupta. The 5th-century CE Sanskrit poet Kalidasa credits the Guptas with having conquered about twenty-one kingdoms, both in and outside India, including the kingdoms of Parasikas, the Hunas, the Kambojas, tribes located in the west and east Oxus valleys, the Kinnaras, Kiratas, and others.