Compare And Contrast Gupta And Mauryan Empires

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India was and still is known as one of the most complex cultures we know of today. Two of the most memorable empires were the Mauryan and Gupta. The Mauryan dynasty formed after Alexander the Great visited India. The empire ruled by Chandragupta Maurya who was a powerful ruler and unified most of the subcontinent. The Gupta empire on the other hand was more influential even though they did not have any influential ruler and had a smaller empire. Both the Mauryan and Gupta empires changed through government structure, religion, and society. These two empires fed off of each other in religion because they both were Hindu and later on had sparks of Buddhism. In government the Mauryan Empire went off of the Ashashastra for guidance on how to rule …show more content…

The Mauryans had a bureaucracy which is a type of government where decisions are made by state officials instead of elected representatives. Their government was centralized and strong. It also had a postal service and taxed their citizens of the empire. They maintained a strong army that was helpful when conquering new territory. The Mauryans conquered a lot of territory throughout their rule but not near as much as China’s empires. China’s empires influenced much of the west, while the Mauryan empires mainly stayed on the subcontinent of India. The Mauryans used the Ashashastra as guide on how to rule their government successfully. The Gupta ruled less area than the Mauryans but left a lasting impression on India. The Gupta empire had a more spread out ruling style of their empire. The Gupta had provinces and within those provinces they had rulers who had power to rule that local area. These rulers only stayed in control of their local village if they obeyed. The Guptas as well had a taxation system. In Gupta society many of the local princes would intermarry with local dynasties around them because it spread their influence in a peaceful