Sources for the Study of the Mauryan Empire

At a Glance

• Political treatise Arthashastra of Kautilya
• Foreign account Indica of Megasthenes
• Epigraphic source Ashokan edicts
• Literary Mudrarakshasa, Puranas, Buddhist and Jaina works
• Material Pataliputra, coins, pillars
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Mauryan Empire

Where Does It Fit?

This is the first topic of the category on the Mauryan Empire. The previous topic covered Alexander’s invasion, and this one surveys the evidence for Mauryan history. The next topic covers Chandragupta Maurya. Previous topic: Alexander’s Invasion and its Effects.

Why Are the Sources for the Mauryas Scattered?

In short: there are hardly any complete contemporary accounts, so historians combine literary, foreign, epigraphic and archaeological evidence.

The names of Chandragupta and his two successors are well known now, but reconstructing their careers was a laborious task for earlier historians. There are hardly any comprehensive contemporary accounts or literary works that refer to the Mauryan emperors, though they are mentioned in Buddhist and Jaina texts and in some Hindu works such as the Brahmanas and Puranas. The Mahavamsa and the Dipavamsa, the Pali chronicles of Sri Lanka, are important additional sources. The scattered information has been corroborated by accounts of Greek historians who wrote about India after Alexander’s campaign. Epigraphy and archaeology supply the rest. The Mauryan reconstruction therefore rests on four kinds of evidence, as the table shows.

What Do Kautilya’s Arthashastra and Megasthenes’ Indica Offer?

Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador sent by Seleucus to the court of Chandragupta Maurya, and he lived at Pataliputra. His account does not survive in full, but quotations occur in the works of later Greek writers, and these fragments have been collected as the Indica. It throws valuable light on administration, society and economy, though the Greek accounts of India sometimes contain exaggeration. The Arthashastra of Kautilya, also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, is a treatise on political strategy and governance. It was finally compiled a few centuries after Mauryan rule, yet some of its books contain material that provides authentic information about Mauryan administration and economy. It is a prescriptive work, laying down guidelines for good administration, so it must be read together with the edicts and the Indica. The administrative picture drawn from both is in Mauryan Administration (Arthashastra and Megasthenes’ Indica).

How Do Inscriptions and Literature Help?

The most widely known epigraphic sources are the edicts of Ashoka, found in many parts of the country. All the edicts began with a reference to a great king, “Thus spoke devanampiya piyadasi”, and the geographical spread showed that this king ruled a vast empire. Puranic and Buddhist texts named a chakravartin called Ashoka, and the decisive identification of devanampiya piyadasi with Ashoka was made in 1915, when an edict calling him devanampiya Ashoka was deciphered. The reconstruction of the period became possible largely after the Brahmi script of the inscriptions at Sanchi was deciphered by James Prinsep in 1837. One account counts 39 inscriptions at 47 places, with 182 versions including two considered spurious; another lists 33 edicts, comprising 14 Major Rock Edicts, two Kalinga edicts, seven Pillar Edicts and some minor inscriptions. The edicts are discussed in Ashokan Inscriptions.

Two later sources throw light on Chandragupta. The Junagadh rock inscription near Girnar in Gujarat was carved during the reign of Rudradaman and dates to 130 to 150 AD. It mentions Pushyagupta, the provincial governor of Chandragupta, which shows the extent of the empire as far west as Gujarat and that Chandragupta’s name was remembered more than four centuries after his death. The play Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadatta was written after the fourth century AD, in the Gupta period, and narrates Chandragupta’s accession and the strategies of Chanakya. Another account dates it to the ninth century. It is cited as a corroborative source, and the survival of Chandragupta’s fame in lore also attests to the value of oral tradition. The Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri near Bhubaneswar records an aqueduct built by a Nanda king three hundred years earlier, which indicates the geographical extent of the Nanda empire.

What Does Archaeology Add?

Archaeology reveals the layout of cities and the metals, materials and tools in use. Excavations show that a large number of towns relate to Mauryan times, with Pataliputra, Kaushambi, Ujjain and Taxila the most important. At Pataliputra, the ditch, timber palisades and wooden houses described by Megasthenes have been found. Fragments of polished stone pillars at Kumrahar in Patna indicate an 84-pillared hall. Weights of Mauryan times have been found in several places in Bihar, and punch-marked silver coins with the peacock and crescented hill symbols were the imperial currency. Archaeology also shows how the Gangetic material culture spread to Bengal, Kalinga, Andhra and Karnataka, as described in Mauryan Economy and State Control.

As an analytical point, no single source is sufficient: the Arthashastra is prescriptive and late, the Indica survives only in fragments, the edicts are royal statements, and the play is later literature. Students should therefore cross-check, for example by comparing the Indica’s account of Pataliputra with excavation. The general survey of ancient sources is in Literary Sources of Ancient Indian History and Inscriptions as a Source of Ancient Indian History.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Source questions Frequent in Prelims
• Critical thinking Prescriptive versus descriptive evidence
• Foundation For all later Mauryan topics

What Came Next?

The next topic describes Chandragupta Maurya and the founding of the Mauryan Empire. Next topic: Chandragupta Maurya and the Founding of the Mauryan Empire.

Key People and Terms

• Arthashastra Treatise of Kautilya on statecraft
• Indica Fragments of Megasthenes
• Mudrarakshasa Play by Vishakhadatta
• Junagadh inscription Rudradaman’s record
• Mahavamsa Sri Lankan Pali chronicle
• Devanampiya piyadasi Title used in the edicts

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for a critical survey of sources. These points add depth.

• Range Literary, foreign, epigraphic, material
• Limits Late, prescriptive, fragmentary
• Method Cross-checking