The Mauryan empire unifies most of South Asia

Chandragupta Maurya, advised by the strategist Kautilya, built a centralized empire with provinces, spies, and the statecraft manual Arthashastra.

Why it matters

The Arthashastra is among history's most candid treatises on power, economics and espionage — an Indian Machiavelli eighteen centuries early — and Mauryan administration unified a subcontinent.

People

Chandragupta Maurya · Kautilya

Related events

• 268 BCE – 232 BCE

  Ashoka rules by edict

  The Mauryan emperor Ashoka, after witnessing the slaughter of his Kalinga war, publicly renounced conquest and inscribed principles of tolerance, welfare and restraint on stone pillars across his realm.

  Civilizations · south asia

• 550 BCE – 330 BCE

  Cyrus founds the Achaemenid Persian empire

  Cyrus the Great conquered Media, Lydia and Babylon; his successors ruled the largest empire yet seen through satrapies, tribute and relative tolerance of local customs and religions.

  Empires · persia

• c. 800 BCE – 300 BCE

  The Upanishads are composed

  Vedic speculation turned inward: the Upanishads ask what the self (ātman) is and how it relates to ultimate reality (brahman).

  Philosophy · south asia

Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica — Mauryan empire