This week in History class, students learned about the Ancient Indian empires:
The Mauryan and Gupta empires of India united large areas of the subcontinent. Ashoka’s reign spread Buddhism far and wide, and under the Guptas, India’s arts and sciences flourished.
Like all empires, the Mauryan Empire could not last forever, and indeed it only survived after Ashoka for another fifty years. But more than three centuries later, the Gupta Empire would emerge in much the same region. Sri Gupta founded this empire around 240 or 280 CE. His successors expanded their territory through both conquest and marriage. Under Chandragupta II, who reigned from 380 to 415 CE, the Gupta Empire extended across the coasts of India. Like Ashoka, Chandragupta II made Pataliputra the capital of his empire and centralized the government there. He used tribute money from allies to fund government projects and salaries. However, he did not rely on a network of spies as Ashoka had but rather he let regions make their own decisions about administration and local governance.