I examine the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, the first of the Mauryan Emperors. It focuses on Chandragupta’s kingship within an Indian context by turning its focus away from the frequent comparisons...Show moreI examine the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, the first of the Mauryan Emperors. It focuses on Chandragupta’s kingship within an Indian context by turning its focus away from the frequent comparisons made between Indian and Western (read Greco-Roman) rulers. I examine the ways in which Chandragupta was able to maintain his authority and ensure the obedience of his subjects so successfully when his more established predecessors had failed so miserably. I conclude by referring to my original research aim, one that looked to explore how Chandragupta and Kautilya administered the Mauryan Empire and maintained the support and obedience of the Indian people despite exploiting their subjects to a similar extent as the universally despised Dhana Nanda. Kautilya’s Brahmanical-political theology depicted an unrealistic portrayal of a paternalistic king, albeit one who was more than willing to revert to the use of danda than his subjects would hope. Its influence on Mauryan policy was felt more in the autonomy it gave Chandragupta to act amorally, utilising apaddharma whenever he felt it necessary. The emphasis on universal artha gave way, as Chandragupta based his actions around the idea that the ‘the artha of the king and his associates alone is supreme’. Chandragupta prioritized internal security to the extent that peripheral regions of the Empire were isolated and their economic development stunted while Pataliputra and its citizens benefitted from the policy of expansion and exploitation.Show less
