Main Causes of the Fall of the

MAURYA EMPIRE
DONE BY:
IBNUL HASAN
KASHSHAF FAHMID
SHAFYAN AHMED
RUBAIAT ISLAM
SYEDA SILMA SOBHA
1. Brahmanical Reaction
• There is no question that Ashoka followed a compassionate policy and
asked the people to obey even the brahmanas, but in Prakrit and not
Sanskrit he issued his edicts.
• He forbade bird and animal killing, and derided superfluous rituals
performed by women.
• The anti-sacrifice attitude of Buddhism adopted by Ashoka adversely
affected the incomes of Brahmans
• Ashoka appointed rajukas to govern the countryside and introduce
vyavaharasamata and dandasamata. This meant the same civil and
criminal law for all varnas.
1. Brahmanical Reaction
• the Dharmashastra compiled by the brahmanas prescribed varna
discrimination. Naturally this policy infuriated the brahmanas.
• Some new kingdoms that arose on the ruins of the Maurya empire were
ruled by the brahmanas.
• the Satavahanas, who founded kingdom in the western Deccan and
Andhra, claimed to be brahmanas. These brahmana dynasties
performed Vedic sacrifices that were discarded by Ashoka.
2. Financial Crisis:
• The huge expenditure on the army and the payment to the bureaucracy
created a financial crisis for the empire of Mauria. In ancient times the
Mauryas maintained the largest army and the largest regiment of
officers.
• Given the number of taxes that were levied on the people, maintaining
this massive superstructure was hard.
• Ashoka provided HUGE donations to the Buddhist monks that left the
royal treasury empty. Towards the end, they were forced to melt gold
images in order to meet expenses.
3. Oppressive Rule:
• Oppressive rule in the provinces was a significant cause of the empire 's
demise. In Bindusara 's reign Taxila 's citizens bitterly complained of
the misrule of wicked bureaucrats.
• Their claim was remedied by Ashoka 's appointment but the same city
made a similar argument when Ashoka became emperor.
• Ashoka was much concerned about oppression in the provinces and,
therefore, asked the mahamatras not to tyrannize the townsmen
without due cause.
3. Oppressive Rule:
• He introduced rotation of officers at Tosali, Ujjain, and Taxila for this
reason. He himself spent 256 nights on a pilgrimage which may have
contributed to administrative oversight.
• Nevertheless, all of this failed to deter injustice in the outlying
provinces, and after his retirement Taxila took the earliest chance to
throw away the colonial yokes.
4. New Knowledge in the Outlying Areas:
• Magadha owed its expansion to certain advantages of essential
material. If the knowledge of the use of these cultural elements spread
to central India, the Deccan, and Kalinga as a result of the expansion of
the Magadhan empire, the Gangetic basin, which formed the center of
the empire, lost its unique advantage.
• In the peripheral provinces the regular use of iron tools and weapons
coincided with the decline and fall of the Maurya empire.
• New Kingdoms could be founded and developed on the basis of the
material culture acquired from Magadha. That explains the rise of the
Shungas and Kanvas in Central India, the Chetis in Kalinga, and the
Deccan Satavahanas.
5. Neglect of the North-West Frontier and the
Great Wall of China:
• The Chinese ruler Shih Huang Ti built China's Great Wall to shield his
empire from the Scythians' attacks, but Ashoka did not take any such
measures.
• when the Scythians made a push towards India, they forced the
Parthians, the Shakas, and the Greeks to move towards this
subcontinent. The Greeks had set up a kingdom in north Afghanistan
which was known as Bactria, and they were the first to invade India
• This was followed by a series of invasions that continued till the
beginning of the Christian era.
5. Neglect of the North-West Frontier and the
Great Wall of China:
• In the end, Pushyamitra Shunga defeated the Maurya kingdom. He was
a general of the last Maurya king named Brihadratha while a
brahmana. He's said to have publicly killed Brihadratha and usurped
Pataliputra 's throne by force.
• Pataliputra and central India governed by the Shungas. They
performed numerous Vedic rituals to mark the rebirth of the
brahminic way of life, and the Buddhists are said to have been
persecuted. The Kanvas who were also brahmanas were good to them.