Sources for Reconstruction of the History of Mauryan Period

Historians consider Mauryan Empire as the greatest empire of early India. In order to reconstruct the history of the Mauryas, historians depend on many sources, which are of various kinds and also belong to a large time bracket. The two major categories of sources are literary sources and archaeological sources i.e., Ashokan inscriptions . Some of the greatest literary works of this period are Arthashastra and Megasthenes’ Indica. Apart from that other literary works include Puranas, Dharmasutras, Buddhist texts, Panini’s Astadhyayi and few Jaina texts. We also have some archaeological as well as numismatic evidences for this period.

Literary Sources:

Kautilya’s Arthashastra: Vishnugupta’s or Chanakya’s Arthashashtra is considered as the most important text for the reconstruction of the Mauryan history which broadly focuses on science of statecraft. It is a practical guidebook for governing an inhabited territory by a monarchy, in the continuation of which management of finance (artha) plays a major role. Arthashashtra consists of 15 books (Adhikaranas): the first 5 deal with internal administration (tantra); the next 8 with inter-state relations (avapa); and the last two with miscellaneous topics.

Earlier it was accepted that this manual was contemporary to the Mauryan times, but according to T. Trautmann, the time period was vast and the present content was not written earlier than first or second century CE. Also it was not work of a single author but had been contribution of many authors over a long stretch of time. The text is important because it gives complete detail on the kind of political and economic system prevalent during the Mauryan period.

Megasthenes’ Indica: The next major text of this period is Megasthenes’ Indica. Megasthenes was the representative of Seleucus Nikator at the court of Sibyrtios. After a treaty between Chandragupta and Seleucus, he was sent as an ambassador to the Mauryan court, but we lack information regarding the frequency and duration of his visits. H. C. Raychaudhuri says that the most important information provided by Megasthenes was the description of Pataliputra, which Arrian quotes in chapter X of his Indica: “The largest city in India, named Palimbothra, in the land of the Prasians, where the confluence of the river Erannobaos and the Ganges, which is the greatest of rivers. The Erannobaos would be third of the Indian rivers.” The book also talks about the Mauryan administration and social divisions in detail, and presents Megasthenes’ understandings of the Mauryan Empire in comparison with the Greek administrative structure.

Vishakhadatta’s Mudrarakshasa: It is a historical play written around 500 CE that talks about how Chanakya or Kautilya makes a plot to dupe Rakshasa, the minister of the former Nanda king.

Patanjali’s Mahabhasya: Though this text is a second century CE Sanskrit grammar text, it has references to Amritakhada who is identified as Bindusara.

The other literary works include Puranas, which gives information about the chronology of the Mauryas and it is the only text which describes relationship of Chanakya and Chandragupta; the Ceylon chronicles, Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa describe at great length the part played by Ashoka in spreading Buddhism; a commentary on Mahavamsa, Vamsatthapakasini (c.10th Century CE), have preserved many Mauryan legends; Dharmasutras which reflect some elements of customary law and contained rudiments of legislative literature; avadan of Asoka is a Buddhist text, containing cycle of legends about this king. Jaina texts such as Jain Kalpasutra of Bhadrabahu (4th Century BC) and Parishistiparvan of Hemchandra give information about the Chandragupta’s connections with Jainism.

Material Remains (Archaeological sources):

Ashokan Inscriptions: These are around 150 edicts found at 45 different places in the entire Indian subcontinent. These inscriptions inscribed in Prakrit, Aramaic, and Greek are the most authentic source for Ashoka’s life and work. These inscriptions are very important as they reveal the real personality of Ashoka, both as an individual and a statesman. They speak of Ashoka’s interest for the propagation of Dhamma. These edicts are divided into Major and

Minor Rock Edicts, some as pillar edicts, which are well-polished sandstone monolithic pillars. These pillars are confined to the Gangetic valley, probably because it was easier to transport them through river.

Numismatic Remains: Coins are an important source of information about the Mauryan Empire. The most common ones are silver coins called pana, copper punch-marked coins called mashaka, and silver bar coins that have been found during the Mauryan period. These earliest surviving coins of India definitely had political significance. These coins provide the most important political information of that period.

Miscellaneous: Some Post Ashokan inscriptions, such as the Nagarjuni hill cave inscription, issued by Ashoka’s grandson Dasharath and the Junagarh inscription of King Rudraraman contain the reference to the Mauryans. Northern Black Polished Ware is another source that, according to Romila Thapar, was widespread throughout the Mauryan Empire, with the exception of the southernmost areas (Thapar, 1997:11). Another source that shows the excellence of Mauryan art are pillars surmounted with animal capitals, for example, the single lion capitals of Rampurva, Lauriya-Nandangarh and four lions at Sarnath and Sanchi, etc.

Thus, these vast repertoires of Literary and Archaeological sources have attracted a large number of scholars to investigate and write about them.-

Sources Dealing with Mauryan Origin:

The origin of Mauryans has been a topic of much debate due to variety of sources giving them different backgrounds. To begin with the Puranas, which is more concerned with the origin of Nandas and only mention that they were uprooted by Brahmin Kautilya who appointed Chandragupta as the king of the realm (Thapar, 1997: 13). The text describes Nandas as shudra and Mauryans as shudra-prayastv-adharmikah, ‘mainly shudra and unrighteous’. However, one of the texts describes the origin of the name Maurya to be derived from Mura, the wife of a Nanda king.

In Buddhist tradition the various literatures refer to the Mauryas as being of Kshatriya. In the Buddhist canonical texts called Divyavadana, Mahavamsa and Mahaparinibbana, Chandragupta is referred to be the heir of Kshatriya clan called ‘Moriya’. Jain literatures also support the Buddhist view indicating a connection between peacocks and the family name of Chandragupta. According to Justin, the Latin writer, Chandragupta was a man born in humble life. It was not that he was a man of lower caste but was a common man who aspired for royalty. In Mudrarakshasa he is addressed as Maurya Putra whereas Kshemendra and Somadeva call him Purvanandasutra, son of the Genuine Nanda.

Hence, amongst various views on the origin of Mauryans, the most reasonable view is that they were of Kshatriya origin and of Moriya clan originally ruling over Pippalivana.