History of India: ancient and medieval / Mahajanapadas, Magadha and the Mauryas
Mauryan empire: rulers, sources and administration
Practise 2 PYQsConcepts to cover
- Arthashastra, Megasthenes' Indica, Mudrarakshasa, Buddhist and Jain traditions, inscriptions
- Chandragupta Maurya, Chanakya, Seleucus treaty, Bindusara Amitraghata and the Deccan
- King, mantriparishad, amatyas, adhyakshas; provinces at Taxila, Ujjain, Suvarnagiri, Tosali
- Pradeshika, rajuka and yukta as district-level officers; gopa and sthanika below them
- Arthashastra rules on slaves (dasa), the son of a master by a slave woman, state farms, sita land
- Decline: Brahmanical reaction, financial strain, weak successors, Pushyamitra's coup