Emily Gureyeva
                                                                                                        AP World History
                                                                                                        Due Date: 10/ 18/ 2005

                                     Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka Maurya

     For two centuries India had been under the rule of Persia, having benefited from such rule through Persian stylistic influence in art, architecture, and perhaps even structure of government. Around 331 B.C.E., however, the Macedonian conqueror known as Alexander the Great procured a great victory against Persian forces near the Tigris River. With this victory, Alexander drove his forces east, and by 327 took control of the Persian territories in India. Despite Alexander’s heralded success in conquering other regions of the world, Alexander left India in 323 B.C.E., and did not return. In gratitude to Alexander’s leave, Macedonian settlements and posts began to disappear, and the absence of rule and power in the Indian region created a “power vacuum,” which was “filled” by the Indian Emperor known as Chandragupta Maurya, the vague founder of the Mauryan Empire in India. To later succeed his throne as emperor of India was Chandragupta’s grandson, Ashoka Maurya. These two powerful rulers, though they shared the same bloodline, had both similarities and differences in their methods of governing, their views on society, and in their accomplishments as Indian Emperors. 
     As ruler, Chandragupta Maurya was strict, he imposed highly centralized rule with a centralized bureaucracy, and had no vivid morality in his rule; Chandragupta was brutal, though he is later stated as having “ devoted himself to public business and the public good.” In contrast to Chandragupta’s method of governing the Mauryan Empire, was the rule of his grandson, Ashoka Maurya, considered to have been the “Emperor of Peace.”
Chandragupta took the throne of the Magadha kingdom in 322 B.C.E., and by about 305 B.C.E., he ruled an empire that extended to include the Indus and Ganges Rivers and plains, as well as the high country of the northwest. What is known of Chandragupta’s rule is written in documents, and focuses on the organization of government and court, showing the strictness of Chandragupta’s rule as opposed to the levelheaded rule of Ashoka. Chandragupta focused on maintaining his position as the central source of power of the Mauryan Empire by creating a spy system in his empire, ensure his constant safety, and brutally torturing any rebels that were detected. He followed the instructions of the Arthashastra, maintained an army, and to justify his immorality he used a rather malevolent aphorism, which stated, “Government is the science of punishment.” Unlike his grandfather, however, Ashoka was regarded as a peaceful ruler, who based his rule on non-violence, gentleness, goodness, high ethical conduct, renounced war and brutality, and adopted the “righteousness” of Buddhism. Furthermore, Ashoka attempted to teach ahimsa, or nonviolence, and the divinity and “sacredness of all living things.”  
     Aside from the differences in Chandragupta and Ashoka’s rule, both Emperors displayed several similar concepts, changes of character, and similar methods of governing the Mauryan Empire. Both Ashoka and Chandragupta Maurya adhered to the concept of righteousness or well being through belief and doctrine systems after facing the horror of mass bloodshed and war. Towards the end of his campaign, Chandragupta Maurya devoted himself to bettering the life of his public, and believed that “ In the happiness of his subjects lies a king’s happiness, in the welfare of his subjects, his welfare. A king’s goal is not that which pleases him, but that which pleases his subjects.” Chandragupta used this idea to benefit his public, and created a time of busy trade, regulated irrigation systems, networks of roads, and a general prosperity throughout the Mauryan Empire. Eventually, he abdicated his throne, became a Jain monk, and fasted to death due to his strong beliefs in nonviolence, and opposition to the killing of any living things, even for food. Chandragupta’s meritorious ideas were therefore similar to the Buddhist beliefs that Ashoka pertained to as emperor, as well as his belief in the doctrine of ahimsa, or nonviolence. Both emperors came to the conclusion of pursuing such commendable and moral paths after witnessing the aftermath of war, and the grief that violence causes. During Ashoka’s early time as ruler, he fought a war against the Kalingas, of which 150,000 were taken captive, and 100,000 were killed. Ashoka’s reaction to this was said to be grievous (according to an inscription on one of his edicts), and had caused him to attend a life of righteousness, similar to Chandragupta’s decision to become a follower of Jainism after years of all-powerful tyrannous rule. Finally, both Chandragupta and Ashoka created forms of bureaucratic hierarchies, though the structures were different for each ruler, to aid their rule of the Mauryan Empire.  
     Throughout the course of world history, the repetition and correlation of methods, concepts, ideals, and structures of the governments of societies has been constant, and is understandably evident in the similarities and differences of the rule of Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka Maurya. Whether it is through methods of governing, views on society, empirical accomplishments, morals, or ethics, this correlation and difference in all terms exists in the campaign of all rulers, and has not been shunned from any part of world history as of yet. In correspondence with this idea, it is rational that Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka Maurya, though of the same family and ruling region, have differences as well as similarities in their methods of ruling, their views on society, and personal accomplishments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Currently Playing Feel Good Inc. By Gorillaz FEEL GOOD INC. WOOT! see related