History Section 02 Notes September 21 2016

• Pg.80
• The Greeks supplanted the Persians in Northwest India in 322 BCE
• Mauryan Empire
• Chandragupta founded the Mauryan Empire 
• The Empire Flourished Under Ashoka's Rule, but declined after Ashoka's demise
• Darius conquered the Indus Valley and Kashmir around 513 BCE
• Persian Influence on India
• India began to mint silver coins
• India adapted the Aramic Script and began adapting their works into Aramic
• The Persian Empire succumbed to Alexander the Great in 326 BCE
• The Greeks were impressed by India, and Alexander the Great debated with and learned from their philosophers 
• Pg.81
• Chandragupta founded the Mauryan Empire thanks to Alexander the Great's invasion
• The invasion created a crisis, that allowed Chandragupta to expand his territories
• The Mauryan Empire's government was heavily inspired by the Persians
• It adapted the province system used by the Persians 
• Developed a departmental military Developed a taxation system that collected money for public works by taxing agriculture
• The Mauryan Empire was the first time in which one man governed most of the subcontinent in India's History
• Who was Kautilya?
• He was Chandragupta's great minister, who wrote a treatise of war called the Arthashastra
• What is the Arthashastra?
• A treatise on how a king should seize, hold, and manipulate power using: 
• Spies dressed as gods
• Attacking enemies when their down
• Allying with your enemy's enemies
• What is the Significance of Megasthenes?
• He is a Greek ambassador, who was sent by Seleucus to India
• He spent fourteen years in Chandragupta's court, and left a lively description of life in India
• Pg.83
• Chandragupta kept himself constantly protected from assassination, and lived a long life
• Who is Ashoka?
• Ashoka is the grandson of Chandragupta
• Ashoka embraced Buddhism, and promoted its spread across India
• Ashoka had to rebel against his older brother, after his father's death, in order to become king
• Ashoka loved the banquet hall and harems
• Ashoka for a period was a fierce fighter, but after conquering Kalinga, changed his ways, and spread a doctrine of non-violence
• This went as far as to not only to forbid the hunting of man, but also animal sacrifices and the hunting of animals
• Rather than hunt, Ashoka would go on religious pilgrimages
• Ashoka once went on a 256 day pilgrimage to all the holy sites of Buddhism
• Pg.84
• Until ancient scripts were deciphered in 1837, nothing was known of Ashoka's achievements and pursuits for man and beast alike
• The pillars on which the Ashoka inscription survived, are the first examples of art, to survive since the end of the Indus Civilization
• Ashoka forbid any religious divides to exist in Buddhism, as he wanted the religion to be strong and united
• Ashoka ruled for 37 years
• After Ashoka's death, the empire went into decline
• The Mauryan Empire Collapsed in 185 BCE
• The cultural unity of the many religions and epics helped to establish a strong cultural unity, where political unity did not exist
• Who took rule after the Collapse of the Mauryan Empire?
• Indo-Greek, ruled by the inheritor's of Alexander the Great's defunct empire
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• Pg.85
• Pg.86