|
Bindusara
Bindusara (), also Amitraghāta or Amitrakhāda (Sanskrit: अमित्रघात, "slayer of enemies" or "devourer of enemies") or Amitrochates (Greek: Ἀμιτροχάτης) (Strabo calls him Allitrochades (Ἀλλιτροχάδης)) was the second Mauryan emperor of India. He was the son of the dynasty's founder Chandragupta and the father of its most famous ruler Ashoka. Bindusara's life is not documented as well as the lives of these two emperors: much of the information about him comes from legendary accounts written several hundred years after his death. Bindusara consolidated the empire created by his father. The 16th century Tibetan Buddhist author Taranatha credits his administration with extensive territorial conquests in southern India, but some historians doubt the historical authenticity of this claim. Background Ancient and medieval sources have not documented Bindusara's life in detail. Much of the information about him comes from Jain legends focu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. Quote: "Magadha power came to extend over the main cities and communication routes of the Ganges basin. Then, under Chandragupta Maurya (c.321–297 bce), and subsequently Ashoka his grandson, Pataliputra became the centre of the loose-knit Mauryan 'Empire' which during Ashoka's reign (c.268–232 bce) briefly had a presence throughout the main urban centres and arteries of the subcontinent, except for the extreme south." The Maurya Empire was centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and its capital city was located at Pataliputra (modern Patna). Outside this imperial center, the empire's geographical extent was dependent on the loyalty of military commanders who controlled the armed cities sprinkling it. During As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashoka
Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra. A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with playing an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia. Much of the information about Ashoka comes from his Brahmi edicts, which are among the earliest long inscriptions of ancient India, and the Buddhist legends written centuries after his death. Ashoka was son of Bindusara, and a grandson of the dynasty's founder Chandragupta. During his father's reign, he served as the governor of Ujjain in central India. According to some Buddhist legends, he also suppressed a revolt in Takshashila as a prince, and after his father's death, killed his brothers to ascend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subhadrangi
The information about Mother of Ashoka The Great (c. 3rd century BCE), the 3rd Mauryan emperor of ancient India, varies between different sources. Ashoka's own inscriptions and the main texts that provide information about his life (such as ''Ashokavadana'' and '' Mahavamsa'') do not name his mother. The ''Asokavadanamala'' names her Subhadrangi, while ''Vamsatthapakasini'' calls her Dharma (Pali: Dhamma). Different texts variously describe her as a Brahmin or a Kshatriya. Names Ashoka's own inscriptions do not mention his parents. The various Buddhist texts provide different names or epithets for Ashoka's mother: * Subhadrangi, in ''Asokavadanamala'', a text composed sometime after mid-11th century; not to be confused with ''Ashokavadana'' within ''Divyavadana'' * Dharma (Pali: Dhamma), in ''Vamsatthapakasini'' or ''Mahavamsa-tika'', a 10th-century commentary on ''Mahavamsa'' * Janapada-kalyani, in a ''Divyavadana'' legend; according to scholar Ananda W. P. Guruge, this is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empire that reached its peak under the reign of his grandson, Asoka, from 268 BCE to 231 BCE. The nature of the political formation that existed in Chandragupta's time is not certain. The Mauryan empire was a loose-knit empire. Quote: "The geography of the Mauryan Empire resembled a spider with a small dense body and long spindly legs. The highest echelons of imperial society lived in the inner circle composed of the ruler, his immediate family, other relatives, and close allies, who formed a dynastic core. Outside the core, empire travelled stringy routes dotted with armed cities. Outside the palace, in the capital cities, the highest ranks in the imperial elite were held by military commanders whose active loyalty and success in war determi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susima
Susima (also Sushima) was the Crown prince of the Maurya Empire of ancient India and the eldest son and heir-apparent of the second Mauryan emperor Bindusara. He was next in line for his father's throne, but was killed by his younger half-brother, Ashoka The Great for the throne, who eventually succeeded Bindusara as the third Mauryan emperor. Birth and family Susima was the eldest son of the second mauryan emperor Bindusara. Not only was Susima the crown prince, but also his mother was a princess as opposed to Ashoka's mother, Subhadrangi, who was a commoner. Cultural depictions * Ajith Kumar portrayed Sushim in the 2001 Bollywood film ''Aśoka''. * Ankit Arora portrayed the role of Sushim in the historical drama series Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat. ** Sumedh Mudgalkar Sumedh Mudgalkar (born 2 November 1996) is an Indian film and television actor, as well as a dancer. He is best known for his work as Shushim in ''Chakravartin Ashoka Samrat,'' as Lord Krishna in ''RadhaKr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Durdhara
Durdhara was the Queen of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the 4th-century BCE Maurya Empire of ancient India, according to the 12th century CE Jain text '' Parishishtaparvan'' by Hemachandra. She is stated by this text to be the mother of the second Mauryan emperor, Bindusara also known as Amitraghāta. Nothing is mentioned or known about Durdhara outside of this legend written 1,600 years after Chandragupta's era. Other sources, such as the Burmese Buddhist records do not corroborate the Jain legend. Megasthenes Megasthenes ( ; grc, Μεγασθένης, c. 350 BCE– c. 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but ha ..., the Greek ambassador in the final years of Chandragupta's court, does not mention Durdhara nor use the name Bindusara, but refers to Chandragupta's successor as Amitrochates, while the Hindu scholar Patanjali calls h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karshapana
Karshapana ( sa, कार्षापण, IAST: ''Kārṣāpaṇa''), according to the Ashtadhyayi of Panini, refers to ancient Indian coins current during the 6th century BCE onwards, which were unstamped and stamped (''āhata'') metallic pieces whose validity depended on the integrity of the person authenticating them. It is commonly supposed by scholars that they were first issued by merchants and bankers rather than the state. They contributed to the development of trade since they obviated the need for weighing of metal during exchange. ''Kārṣāpaṇas'' were basically silver pieces stamped with one to five or six ''rūpas'' ('symbols') originally only on the obverse side of the coins initially issued by the Janapadas and Mahajanapadas, and generally carried minute mark or marks to testify their legitimacy. Silver punch-marked coins ceased to be minted sometime in the second century BCE but exerted a wide influence for next five centuries. Etymology The punch-marked c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Mauryan Rulers
The following list of Indian monarchs is one of several lists of incumbents. It includes those said to have ruled a portion of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. The earliest Indian rulers are known from epigraphical sources found in archeological inscriptions on Ashokan edicts written in Pali language and using brahmi script. They are also known from the literary sources like Sanskrit literature, Jain literature and Buddhist literature in context of literary sources. Archaeological sources include archeological remains in Indian subcontinent which give many details about earlier kingdoms, monarchs, and their interactions with each other. Early types of historic documentation include metal coins with an indication of the ruler, or at least the dynasty, at the time. These Punch-marked coins were issued around 600s BCE and are found in abundance from the Maurya Empire in 300s BCE. There are also stone inscriptions and documentary records from foreign cultur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or c. 400 BCE) and belonged to the Haryanka dynasty.Peter N. Stearns (2001), ''The Encyclopedia of World History''. Houghton Mifflin, p. 76 ff. . He was the son of Bhattiya. His expansion of the kingdom, especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Mauryan Empire. According to Jain Tradition, he is said to be the first Tirthankara (''will be named as Padmanabha / Mahapadma'') out of 24th Tirthankara of the future cosmic age. He frequently visited Samavasarana of Lord Mahavira seeking answers to his queries. According to Buddhist Tradition, he is also known for his cultural achievements and was a great friend and protector of the Buddh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vitashoka
Vitashoka or Tissa (born 3rd-century BCE) was a prince of the Maurya Empire as the only full-brother of Ashoka, and the only brother left alive by Ashoka. According to Divyavadana, he was a follower of the Tirthikas and used to criticize the Buddhist monks for living a comfortable life. He was made to sit on the throne by the courtiers. When Ashoka found out about that, he persuaded Vitashoka to become a Buddhist. Vitashoka became a monk and practised austerities rigorously. Name Vitashoka is referred to as Tissa (or Tisya) in Sri Lankan texts. Theragatha commentary regards Tissa and Vitashoka as different individuals. Other sources call him Vigatāshoka, Sudatta, or Sugatra. The Mahavamsa later names him as Ekavihārika. In the Divyavadana Divyavadana narrates a story of someone in Pundravardhana and then again at Pataliputra who drew a picture of the Buddha bowing before Nirgrantha Nataputta. As a punishment, Ashoka ordered the AjivikasDivyavadana apparently equates the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashokavadana
The Ashokavadana ( sa, अशोकावदान; ; "Narrative of Ashoka") is an Indian Sanskrit-language text that describes the birth and reign of the Third Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. It contains legends as well as historical narratives, and glorifies Ashoka as a Buddhist emperor whose only ambition was to spread Buddhism far and wide. ''Ashokavadana,'' also known as ''Ashokarajavadana,'' is one of the avadana texts contained in the Divyavadana (''Divyāvadāna'', "Divine Narrative"), an anthology of several Buddhist legends and narratives. According to Jean Przyluski, the text was composed by the Buddhist monks of the Mathura region, as it highly praises the city of Mathura, its monasteries and its monks. Date of composition There are several versions of ''Ashokavadana'', dating from 5th century CE to 16th century CE. Some date the earliest finished form of the text back to 2nd century CE, although its oral origins may go back to 2nd century BCE. The extant version ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seleucid Empire
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire originally founded by Alexander the Great. After receiving the Mesopotamian region of Babylonia in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former Persian Achaemenid Empire. At the Seleucid Empire's height, it had consisted of territory that had covered Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, and what are now modern Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and parts of Turkmenistan. The Seleucid Empire was a major center of Hellenistic culture. Greek customs and language were privileged; the wide va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
