IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : Modern India -MAGADHAN TERRITORIAL EXPANSION

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IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams


Modern India 1857-1964


MAGADHAN TERRITORIAL EXPANSION


Structure

18.0 Objectives
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Location of Magadha
18.3 Note on Sources
18.4 Political History of Pre-Mauryan Magadha
18.5 Notion of 'Empire'
18.5.1 Modern views on definition of 'Empire'
18.5.2 Indian notion of ~hakravarti-~setra
18.6 Origin of Mauryan rule
18.7 Asoka Maurya
18.7.1 The Kalinga War
18.7.;' Magadha at Asoka's death
18.8 Let US Sum Up
18.9 Key Words
18.10 Answers To Check Your Progress Exercises

18.0 OBJECTIVES


In this Unit we shall outline the territorial expansion of the kingdom of Magadha. This will provide an understanding of how and why it was possible for Magadha to becolne an 'empire'. After reading this Unit you should be able to:

  • identify the location of Magadha and its environs and note its strategic importance.
  • learn about some of the sources that historians use for writing on this period,
  • have a brief idea of the political history of Magadha during the two centuries preceding Mauryan rule.
  • underst d the notion of 'empire' in the context of early periods of history,
  • trace the chief events leading to the establishment of Mauryan rule,
  • learn about the early Mauryan kings - Chandragupta and Bindusara - and their expansionist activities,
  • explain the context of the accession and coronation of Asoka Maurya and the importance of the Kalinga War, and
  • finally, identify the boundaries of the Magadhan 'empire' at the death of Ashoka.

18.1 INTRODUCTION


In Unit 15 you were introduced to the various Janapadas and Mahajanapadas that are known to us from primarily early Buddhist and Jaina texts. The rise of these Janapadas and Mahajanapadas, which were situated mostly north of the Vindhyas, is dated around the second half of the first millennium B.C. In this Unit we shall be discussing in detail the growth of one of these Mahajanapadas, namely Magadha. Magadha has drawn the attention of historians for the last two hundred years. This is so because it had become the nucleus of the pokitical power of the well-known Mauryan dynasty.
However, in this Unit we do not intend to highlight only the achievements of the
Mauryan kings in expanding the temtorial frontiers of Magadha. We shall also discuss the notion of an 'empire' in the pre-modern context at two levels:
i) Various meanings of the term 'empire' which does not simply mean a territorially vast kingdom, and
ii) the early Indian notions of state and empire. By discussing these various definitions, it would be possible to understand the various 

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