1.

reasons for the decline of Mauryan Empire:

I. One obvious reason for it was the succession of weak kings
II. Another immediate cause was the partition of the Empire into two. Had not the partition
taken place, the Greek invasions could have been held back giving a chance to the
Mauryas to re-establish some degree of their previous power.
III. The religious policy of Ashoka : antagonized the Brahmins of his empire. Since Ashoka
banned animal sacrifice it stopped the income of Brahmins who received gifts in form of
various kinds of sacrifices made to them.
IV. Huge Expenditure on army and bureaucracy: During Mauryan age a huge expenditure
was done on maintaining army and bureaucracy. Moreover, Ashoka during his reign
made large grants to the Buddhist monks which made the royal treasury empty. The
Mauryan kings who succeeded Ashoka faced the financial crunch.
V. Oppressive rule in provinces : The provincial rulers in Magadhan Empire were often
corrupt and oppressive. This led to frequent rebellions against the empire. During the
reign of Bindusara, the citizens of Taxila complained against the misrule of wicked
bureaucrats. Although Bindusara and Ashoka took measures to control the bureaucrats,
this failed to check the oppression in provinces.
VI. Neglect of North-West frontier : Ashoka was so busy in carrying our religious activities
that he seldom paid attention to north-west frontier of Mauryan Empire. The Greeks
took advantage of this and set up a kingdom in north Afghanistan which was known as
Bactria. This was followed by a series of foreign invasion which weakened the empire.
VII. Spread of new material knowledge in the outlying areas : like the use of iron tools and
weapons .This reduced the strategic advantage of Mauryans which previous Magadhan
rulers enjoyed.