SocietySouth Asia

The Mauryan empire

323 BCE – 186 BCE

India unified for the first time, with a manual of statecraft

In depth

The Arthashastra was rediscovered in 1905 and shocked its readers with its coolness; Max Weber thought it made Machiavelli look harmless. It describes a thoroughly organised bureaucracy responsible for irrigation, mining and prostitution. Chandragupta is said to have ended his life as a Jain monk, fasting to death — the empire passed to his grandson Ashoka.

For children

Chandragupta built the first empire covering nearly all of India. His adviser wrote the Arthashastra, a book on how to run a state — with spies, taxes and secret police. It is brutally frank about how power works.

Connects to

Alexander the Great332 BCE – 324 BCE
Ashoka269 BCE – 233 BCE
Jainism600 BCE – 528 BCE
The Gupta empire320 – 550

Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org