This chapter explores the political and economic history of the Indian subcontinent from roughly 600 BCE to 600 CE, a period in which the first large-scale states emerged, agriculture expanded dramatically, and towns and trade networks transformed the landscape. It is a period conventionally divided into three broad segments: the period of the Mahajanapadas and the rise of Buddhism (c. 600 BCE-300 BCE), the Mauryan empire (c. 321 BCE-184 BCE) under which much of the subcontinent was unified for the first time, and the period of the post-Mauryan states including the Satavahanas, Shakas, Kushanas and Gupta rulers (c. 200 BCE-600 CE).
The chapter is essentially about how historians reconstruct the past using a combination of sources: literary texts such as the Vedas, the Buddhist canon, the Arthashastra and the writings of foreign travellers like Megasthenes and the Chinese pilgrim Fa Xian; and archaeological evidence including coins, inscriptions, pottery, sculpture and settlement patterns. It also stresses that new sources constantly force historians to rethink older conclusions, such as the long-held belief that the Mauryan empire was highly centralised.
The sixth century BCE witnessed the emergence of sixteen large territorial states called the Mahajanapadas, extending from the north-west in Gandhara and Kamboja to Anga in the east. Most were located in the fertile river plains of the Ganga and its tributaries, where agricultural surplus was greatest. Some of the sixteen, such as Vajji and Malla, were gana-sanghas or oligarchies in which power was shared by a group of warrior families, while the rest, like Magadha, Kosala, Vatsa and Avanti, were monarchies.
The Mahajanapadas had two essential features: a fortified capital (fortifications are mentioned in the Buddhist texts and confirmed by archaeology, such as the mud-and-brick ramparts at Rajagriha) and an economy increasingly based on settled agriculture. The plough agriculture, the use of iron tools, and the clearing of the thick jungles of the Gangetic plain allowed the states to generate a substantial surplus that supported armies, administrators and priests. The word "janapada" means the land where a jana (tribe or people) sets its foot, and as these janapadas consolidated they grew into mahajanapadas.
Among all the Mahajanapadas, Magadha, with its capital first at Rajagriha (Rajgir) and later at Pataliputra (Patna), emerged as the most powerful. Several factors explain this. Its location between the Ganga and its tributaries, especially the Son, gave it fertile alluvial soil and easy riverine communication. It was also close to rich iron ore deposits in the hills of south Bihar, which supplied the metal for strong tools and weapons. The thick forests of the region supplied timber for building and elephants for war.
The earliest rulers of Magadha belonged to the Bimbisara (the Haryanka) and Sisunaga dynasties, but the most dramatic expansion came under the Nandas, who built a powerful army, and then under Chandragupta Maurya, who overthrew the last Nanda ruler with the help of his minister Kautilya (Chanakya), the author of the Arthashastra. The Arthashastra, written in Sanskrit, is a manual on statecraft that describes how a king should organise administration, collect revenue, maintain spies and wage war, and is an indispensable source for understanding Mauryan politics.
The Mauryan empire was the first empire to unify almost the entire subcontinent, from the north-west to the Deccan, leaving out only the extreme south. The sources for its history are the inscriptions of Ashoka, especially the fourteen Major Rock Edicts, the Pillar Edicts and the Minor Edicts; Megasthenes' account, the Indica, preserved only in fragments through later writers; and the Arthashastra. The empire was governed from the capital Pataliputra, with provinces administered by governors appointed from the royal family.
Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, is the best-known Mauryan ruler. After the brutal war against Kalinga in about 261 BCE, he renounced further conquests and embraced the policy of dhamma (dharma). His edicts, inscribed on rocks and pillars in Prakrit in the Brahmi script, reveal a ruler who promoted non-violence, respect for elders, tolerance of all sects, and the welfare of his subjects, even appointing special officers called dhamma-mahamattas to spread his message. The lion capital from Sarnath, associated with his pillar at Sarnath, became the emblem of independent India.
For a long time historians believed that the Mauryan empire was a highly centralised bureaucracy controlled from Pataliputra, an impression largely derived from Megasthenes and the Arthashastra. Yet modern historians like Romila Thapar and F. R. Allchin have questioned this view. They point out that both sources are problematic: the Indica survives only in fragments and was written by a foreigner, while the Arthashastra may have been composed centuries after the Mauryas.
Recent archaeological evidence suggests that the empire was not uniformly administered. The Ganga heartland with its Mauryan cities, stone pillars and polished stone (e.g., the famous Mauryan pillars with a distinctive polish) shows clear imperial control, but in other regions such as the Deccan, there were fewer such markers. Historians now argue that different areas were ruled through different levels of control: some directly, some through chiefs and local elites, and some barely touched. This shows how new evidence leads to new interpretations of the same empire.
After the fall of the Mauryan empire around 184 BCE, a succession of new dynasties arose. In the north-west, the Indo-Greeks, Shakas, Parthians and Kushanas ruled, with the Kushanas under Kanishka creating a vast empire extending into Central Asia. The Kushanas, who used gold and copper coins and issued inscriptions in Greek and Prakrit, were great patrons of trade and Buddhism. In the Deccan, the Satavahanas ruled for over 300 years, controlling both coasts and the river valleys, and issued lead and copper coins and coins bearing the names of their queens, such as the celebrated Naganika.
This period is remarkable for the richness of its sources. Coins became far more numerous and informative, bearing the names, titles and images of rulers, and sometimes even their physical features, as with the "heavy, round-faced" portraits on some Indo-Greek coins. Inscriptions, such as those from the Nagarjunakonda region, record donations to religious establishments. The numerous Buddhist monasteries and the sculptures at sites like Bharhut and Sanchi show that Buddhism had become a major religion with royal patronage.
The post-Mauryan rulers also introduced new ideas about kingship. Rulers began to claim divine status, often associating themselves with the gods. The Kushana kings took the title devaputra, "son of God," possibly imitating the Chinese title "son of Heaven." The Shakas and Satavahanas performed elaborate Vedic sacrifices such as the ashvamedha (horse sacrifice) to proclaim their power and prestige. The Satavahana ruler Gautamiputra Satakarni, for instance, is praised in an inscription for having performed the ashvamedha twice.
At the same time, many rulers patronised Buddhism rather than Vedic ritual. The Kushanas patronised the Buddha, and the Mahayana form of Buddhism, with its emphasis on devotion to the Buddha as a saviour figure, became widespread, partly because it was more accessible to common people than complex Vedic ritual. The chapter shows that the legitimacy of kingship in this period rested on a mix of Vedic ritual, divine claims and Buddhist patronage.
Beneath the world of kings lay the world of farmers and craftsmen. The period saw a huge expansion of agriculture through the clearing of forests, the spread of iron-tipped ploughshares, and the use of wells, tanks and channels for irrigation. The state depended heavily on agricultural revenue, usually collected as a share of the produce, and the use of the plough and manure increased yields. It was this rural surplus that paid for armies, cities and monuments.
However, not all farmers owned the land they cultivated. Landless labourers, hired workers and slaves formed the lower strata of rural society. The chapter points out that the terms for rural communities changed over time: the northern term gahapati and the southern term velalar both refer to powerful landowning householders. State grants of land to religious institutions grew over the centuries, and by the Gupta period such grants to Brahmanas and Buddhist monasteries were common, giving rise to a system that historians call "land grants."
Towns grew dramatically in this period, driven by craft production and trade. The urban centres of the Gangetic plain, such as Pataliputra, Kausambi, Sravasti and Varanasi, were supported by the agricultural surplus and by trade. In the Deccan, towns developed in the Krishna-Tungabhadra valleys under the Satavahanas. From around 200 BCE, coins, called punch-marked coins, were in wide circulation, and their widespread use suggests a growing monetised economy.
Trade was both internal and external. Long-distance overland routes, such as the northern route through the north-west into Central Asia and the southern route to the peninsula, carried goods like cloth, beads, spices, horses and gold. Maritime trade connected the subcontinent with the Middle East and the Roman world, with the Red Sea route and ports on the western coast and the Coromandel coast becoming important. The chapter also notes the crucial role of Buddhism and Jainism in this trade economy: monasteries were located along trade routes, and merchants and guilds donated generously to them, as recorded in numerous inscriptions.
The chapter ends by stressing that our understanding of the period keeps changing as new sources are found. The discovery of new inscriptions, hoards of coins, and new excavations at sites like Sringaverapura continually refine or overturn older theories. Where earlier historians saw a fully centralised Mauryan empire, we now see a more loosely administered realm; where they once believed trade was limited, we now know it was vast and complex. The student should therefore approach the period with an open mind, treating both the evidence and the interpretations as works in progress.
| State / Empire | Period (approx.) | Capital | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahajanapadas (16) | c. 600-300 BCE | Various (e.g., Rajagriha) | Monarchies and gana-sanghas |
| Mauryan empire | c. 321-184 BCE | Pataliputra | First pan-subcontinental empire; Asoka's dhamma |
| Satavahanas | c. 200 BCE-250 CE | Pratishthana (Paithan) | Ruled Deccan; queens in inscriptions |
| Kushanas | c. 50-240 CE | Purushapura (Peshawar) | Devaputra title; patrons of Buddhism |
| Guptas | c. 320-550 CE | Pataliputra | Land grants; classical age |
| Source Type | What It Reveals |
|---|---|
| Inscriptions (e.g., Asokan edicts) | Royal policies, languages, scripts, donors |
| Coins | Rulers' names, titles, images, economic activity |
| Literary texts (Arthashastra, Indica) | Statecraft, administration, foreign view |
| Buddhist canonical texts | Social and economic life, monasteries |
| Archaeology (fortifications, pottery) | Settlement patterns, urbanisation |
Between 600 BCE and 600 CE, the subcontinent saw the birth of the first states, the first great empire and the first mass urbanisation, all resting on the foundation of an expanding peasant economy. From the fortified capitals of the Mahajanapadas to the edicts of Asoka and the coins of the Kushanas, the sources of the period are rich enough to allow debate but partial enough to keep it alive. The chapter's central lesson is methodological: history is built by weighing literary texts against coins, inscriptions and excavation, and by constantly questioning old conclusions. The Mauryan "centralised empire" is a perfect example of how a new generation of historians can redraw the map of our knowledge.