Ancient India had a glorious history, the Mauryan Empire. For many people, the name may be familiar, but the story behind it may be little known. Ancient India is not the same as present-day India, which is only a part of ancient India. The Mauryan Empire and the Great Qin Empire were both two great empires that rose to prominence on the Asian continent in the 3rd century BC. The Mauryan Empire was the first unified empire in the history of India, while the Qin Dynasty was the first unified empire in the history of China. The historical coincidence is that there is a certain overlap in the timing of the rise of the two empires. We are familiar with the history of the Qin Dynasty, so let's explore how the neighbor of the Qin Dynasty, the Mauryan Empire, wrote its glorious chapter.
The Mauryan Empire (c. 324 BC – c. 188 BC) was a famous slave dynasty in Magadha in ancient India, born during the Zhou Dynasty of China and the dethroned emperor of the Western Han Dynasty. Chandragupta, also known as the Moon Protector, was the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty in India. The name of this dynasty is due to the fact that its founder, Chandragupta, was born into a family that was known for breeding peacocks. In 325 BC, Alexander the Great withdrew his troops stationed in the Indus Valley, leaving behind a satrap and setting up a occupied army. Chandragupta organized a strong army locally, and they stepped forward to drive the Greeks (the remnants of Alexander the Great's Macedonian kingdom) out of the Punjab. Under his leadership, this army grew stronger and conquered most of North India. In 321 BCE, Chandragupta proclaimed himself King Magadha (Moon Protector) and successfully repelled the invasion of the Seleucid kingdom and gained control over Afghanistan. In the 3rd century B.C., Emperor Ashoka ascended the throne, during which the country was strong and the power continued to grow, and the territory of the Mauryan Empire once reached its largest size, almost comparable to the powerful Qin Dynasty at that time. Ashoka was the third and most famous monarch of the Mauryan Empire. According to Buddhist legend, after the death of his father, he brutally murdered dozens of his brothers in order to seize the throne. Emperor Ashoka was a monarch known for his "brutality" who set up a "hell on earth" to mutilate the people. Under his rule, Buddhism flourished and was made the state religion. Emperor Ashoka declared Buddhism the state religion of India, convened a large number of Buddhist monks to compile Buddhist scriptures, and built a large number of Buddhist temples in various places. At the beh of Emperor Ashoka, thousands of stupas were built across the country. Under the advocacy of Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism took root in India and quickly spread to the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. However, after the death of Emperor Ashoka, the Mauryan Empire went into decline. The dynasty's rule in the Ganges Valley lasted only about 50 years. Around 187 BCE, the last king of the Mauryan Empire was killed by his minister Pushamidoro Sunga, proclaiming the end of the Mauryan Empire. This dynasty, which was once the basic unification of India, has finally become a page in history.
Between the Qin Dynasty and the Mauryan Dynasty was the "Roof of the World", the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. If there is no plateau, will the two sides become prisoners of the other?