The sculpture of the maurya period clearly demonstrates. Provide an account of trade and commerce during the postmauryan period in south india. This inscription makes a mention of pair of sudarshan lak of saurastra by rudradamans governor in saurastra suvisakha, the expense was borne by kings exchequer. The influence of perso hellenistic art can be traced back to the time of chandragupta maurya. There were pillars, sculptures, rockcut architecture, buildings like stupas, viharas and chaityas that served many purposes. Decentralisation was prevalent as the village units played a very important role as the base of administration since ancient times. In fact, the history of indian art begins with the advent of the mauryans. This situation would characterize the medieval period. Post mauryan period notes for upsc, ssc, mppsc pscexpert. The period from sixth to late fourth century bc witnessed the rise of territorial polities mahajanapadas in north india. Mauryan empire, in ancient india, a state centered at pataliputra later patna near the junction of the son and ganges rivers. It was a royal art patronized by mauryan kings especially ashoka.
Countdown for upsc to announce date for prelims 2020 topic. Thus, persian influence on mauryan art has been well accepted. The origin or stimulus for this urbanism is either attributed to achaemenid influence from the west or from socioeconomic and political developments in. Post mauryan period following the downfall of the mauryan empire in the second century bc, the region of south asia became a collage of regional powers indias northwestern border again was left unguarded, attracting a series of invaders between 200 bc and 300 ad. India after mauryas was a not a very remarkable period for political solidarity but it saw development of indian culture to a great extent. This book also explains the human relations in the mauryan period.
The mauryan period represents the third major period in the indian cultural history after the prehistoric times and indus valley period. It represented an important transition in indian art from use of wood to stone. How justified are we in characterizing the postmauryan. Chandragupta maurya 320300 bc the mauryan empire was the first largest empires that ever established on indian soil until 324 b. From the military point of view, it is important to know why magadh. Many distinctive features that we find in the architecture today developed throughout the long period of indian history.
It was succeeded by the shunga dynasty, which ruled in central india for approximately a century. After the decline of mauryas, the regional kingdoms were formed. The mauryan period was the era of major development in indian administration. The maurya empire was a geographically extensive iron age historical power based in magadha and founded by chandragupta maurya which dominated the indian subcontinent between 322 and 185 bce. In terms of cultural and historical development, this period registered a. Post mauryan period of india study materials download ancient history study materials.
Unlike mauryas none of these regional kingdoms could extend their political authority over the large area equivalent to that of mauryan empire. The developments made in natural sciences and mathematics during mauryan period were extremely influential as well. It can be appropriately claimed that the mauryan administration system, though monarchical, was sufficient because it had the privilege of possessing successful administrators such as chandragupta maurya, bindusara maurya and ashoka. The gandhara school of indian art is heavily indebted to greek influence. So most of the sangam literature also must have been produced during this period. Most of the information here is presented in a bulletpoint format. New perspectives on the mauryan and kushana periods. Samacheer kalvi 6th social science history solutions term. The founder of this great dynasty is chandragupta maurya along with the help of his guru chanakya. Ncert notes on important topics for the upsc civil services exam preparation. Comprising the majority of south asia, the maurya empire was centralized by the conquest of the indogangetic plain, and its capital city was located at pataliputra modern. The postmauryan five centuries pertains to the period between 200 b.
This is the dimension to which this paper is going to be taking to the readers. An overview mauryan art encompasses the arts produced during the period of the mauryan empire 4th to 2nd century bce represented an important transition in indian art from use of wood to stone 2 the lion capital of ashoka from sarnath. C, the mauryan dynasty was established under chandragupta maurya. After the harappan civilization, monumental stone sculpture and architecture appears only in the mauryan period. The education in the ancient period is influenced by religious, political, or economic factors. Maurya empire was the great empire to flourish in india. The great mauryan ruler ashoka embraced buddhism as a part of shraman tradition and the immense buddhist missionary activities that followed during his rule paved the way for the development of mauryan sculptural and architectural styles king ashoka patronized the shraman tradition in the third century bce the shraman tradition refers to several indian religious movements. The discoveries of this book do not seem to match the wellentrenched models that attribute the second period of urbanism to the late northern black polished ware period corresponding with the emergence of the mauryan empire. Ashoka is considered the most significant ruler of the empire. Mauryan art is the art, mostly sculpture, produced during the period of the mauryan empire, which was the first empire to rule, at least in theory, over most of the indian subcontinent, between 322 and 185 bce. The first among them were the bactrian greeks, known in earlier indian literature as yavanas. In this lesson we have discussed important questions on mauryan empire for ssc cgl, mts, chsl, cpo, railway, bank po etc. Sanskrit kavya style developed under royal patronage.
D, leading us to fix the period of sangam age roughly between third century b. The mauryan empire began to disintegrate almost immediately, showing that dhamma was insufficient to hold together so. How justified are we in characterizing the post mauryan five centuries as the dark period of indian history. The mauryan empire in thinking about the mauryan empire and, later the gupta empire we need to consider what. Although the book is not available in full but some parts of it are found in some books of greece. Empires were divided into provinces, provinces into districts, districts into rural and. From the point of view of art historians, there is evidence for strong influence in mauryan statecraft from iran. The revised edition was published thirtysix years later and has a new afterword, bibliography and index. The grandson of the founder of the maurya dynasty, chandragupta maurya, ashoka promoted the spread of buddhism across ancient asia. Post mauryan period of india study materials exams daily.
Buddhist architecture took off under ashoka and remained a major part of india long after the mauryan empire had collapsed. Indian knew the art of sculpture and wood carving as reflected in lomas rishi cave entrance. Asoka and the decline of the mauryas was first published in 1961 and written by the famous indian historian romila thapar. Arthashastra has profound influence in traditional india in making political decisions. The stone monuments of asoka have defied the ravages of time and they form the earliest artistic record of indian civilisation yet discovered. During the mauryan period, caves were generally used as viharas, i.
Some of the members of that community were, like the buddha himself, wandering ascetics. There were invasions from various foreign tribes but the indian society absorbed these infiltrators and continued its development by making alterations. Role of gandhara in spread of styles, influence of. They are exquisite in aesthetic quality and brilliant in their design and execution. Learn more about the mauryan empire in this article. Mauryan period seems to mark the beginning of buddhist construction in permanent materials. Ashoka and the mauryan empire the mauryan dynasty was founded by chandragupta maurya in 320 bc after defeating the incumbent nanda dynasty. The mahayana buddhist learnt the art of carving out caves from them and became skilled in rock cut architecture.
Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of art forms, literature and architecture from ancient to modern times. Manoj kumar dubey abstract the main discourse of this study is the great economic and social transformations which took place in india during mauryan oeriod. Ashvaghosha was a famous sanskrit kavya poet and he lived in the court of kushanas. The first imperial art presentation by group 8 1 2. Important satic gk questions with answers of mauryan empire. Due to the fall of achaemenid empire, there is an influx of unemployed craftsman in mauryan court, and as. Apart from the court art or royal patronage, cavearchitecture, sculpture, and pottery took the expressions of art by individual effort cave architecture. The mauryan period is a great landmark in the history of the indian art. Here again the mirrorlike polish has generally been considered as an import from the neareast, but some authors now consider the son bhandar caves might constitute a precedent and an evolutionary step to this type of polish, although these caves are generally dated to a much. The compilation is based on the ncert textbook an introduction to indian art part 1. The buddha was a charismatic leader who founded a distinctive religious community based on his unique teachings. He established the first territorial empire in ancient india, covering most of the indian subcontinent.
The mauryan dynasty a the mauryan empire was one of the largest empires to rule india. The great mauryan ruler ashoka embraced buddhism as a part of shraman tradition and the immense buddhist missionary activities that followed during his rule paved the way for the development of mauryan sculptural and architectural styles king ashoka patronized the shraman tradition in the third century bce the shraman tradition refers to several indian. The total configuration of ideals, practices and conduct is called dharma. The second edition is due to new data archeological and scriptural on asoka and the mauryas. This book not only tells the political philosophy, but also treated as manual instruction to the administration and ways to overcome the challenges it will face.
The king, as the supreme and sovereign authority of the mauryan empire, had the supreme executive, legislative and judicial powers. Iron age was the start of this great empire and covered the almost whole indian subcontinent geographically. This area also attracted alexander the great in 320 b. Postmauryan trends in indian art and architecture part i. The caves during the mauryan period were marked by a highly polished finish of. These notes will also be useful for other competitive exams like banking po, ssc, state civil services exams and so on.
Centralized administration of mauryan empire syskool. The earliest and most remarkable evidence of indian architecture is found in the cities of the harappan civilization which boast of a unique town planning. Arts of the mauryan period indian culture series ncert. The hindu temple architecture itself evolves out of mauryan stupas, and the developments of jainism, buddhism and other religions that happened during mauryan period have great influences on the present. The pillars of ashoka, made of sandstone, generally also exhibit a high level of mauryan polish. The mauryan empire was a pan indian empire founded by chandragupta maurya. So, different influences came from greece to gandhara. In a series of battles, he defeated dhana nanda and laid the foundations of the maurya empire in about 321 bc kautilya was the prime minister of chandragupta maurya. Mauryan sculptures were reflection of cultural contacts of india with persian and greeks which had existed much before the mauryan period, but not a blind imitation of persian art. The chief source of history of the mauryan age is accounts of magasthenses i.
One of the major fascinating points is how traders became the major source of spread of artistic style. He was considered as the real architect of the mauryan empire. Others were laypersons who venerated the buddha, followed certain aspects of his teachings, and provided the. The history of india is so vivid that it will be unfair to omit such small yet very important details about the developments that occurred before the establishment of the greatest empires in india, the mauryan empire. In this post, we bring you the important aspects of the arts of the mauryan period. He was assisted by his political adviser, kautalya, who also set out the rules for the. This culminated into the establishment of the mauryan empire in about 325 bc. The following are the sources of history which gave us information about the mauryan period. The period constitutes a very significant phase in the early history of india.