Heidi Franks
HIS 111- WA
Blanche Hailey
26 October 2014
Chapter 8 This week I read chapter eight in my Patterns of World History book. I learned about the Empires and Visionaries in India. Before the rise of the Maurya, many states were all over india. This time period was referred to as the classical age of ancient India, Buddhism and Janism appeared during this time of religious ferment. A semi-barbarous state known as Magadha was located in the eastern part of the Ganges plain is home to where the new religions bloomed. Evently Magadha covered a large portion of northern India. This expansions happened under the line of kings of Nanda dynasty. The political situation amongst the Aryan states, and the first great conqueror, Chandragupta
…show more content…
Bindusara, Chandragupta’s son, continued his father’s work. Asoka was Bindusara’s son and he proved to be one of the most remarkable, and attractive, rulers ever. After a war in Kalinga Asoka converted to Buddhism and decided to reign in peace. He promoted Buddhism and sent missions abroad. These missions were the foundations of Buddhism. In the Mauryan government the king was advised by a council of advisors. The empire was divided into provinces, these provinces were governed by a member of the royal family. Under them, local rulers were kept in place if the were loyal to the Maurya and forwarded their taxes properly. The Mauryan regime had an extensive espionage system. Mauryan power rested on its army of seven hundred elephants, 1000 horses and 600,000 infantry. Fifty years after Asoka’s death the empire began to crumble. But what are the causes of the decline? Asoka was followed by a long line of weak rulers which leads to the second resins, the Maurya’s failure to develop robust imperial institutions. The effectiveness of Mauryan rule was dependent upon the personal ability and energy of the king. Third the system with picking officials did not work well which lead to have untrustworthy people