Pre Mauryan Period

           PRE MAURYAN PERIOD (6^TH CENTUAY BC TO 4^TH CENTURY BC )

1)    Source of Information:-

      Brahmans & Upanishads composed from 800 BC onwards

      Buddhist texts:-

ü  Vinaya Pitaka – rules of order

ü  Sutta Pitaka – collection of Buddha’s sermons

ü  Abhidhamma Pitaka – treaties on metaphysics

ü  Jataka – stories of previous birth of Buddha and are part of Sutta Pitaka

      Archaeological excavations in Ahichchhatra, Hastinapur, Kosambi, Ujjaini, Sravasthi, Vaishali & many other reveal use of deluxe pottery called NBPW (Northern Black Polished Ware)

2)    Emergence of New Social Groups:-

      Contemporary texts links agricultural land as a very important economic asset

      Now Gahapati had emerged, signifying disintegration of joint ownership of land & emergence of individual land owners

      Land was cultivated by slaves, hired laborers & Shudras

3)    Polity:-

      Kings in 6^th century BC indicate his rule over a territory which included types of settlements such as villages, market towns, cities with regular taxation system & army

      Army was used by king for his own glory & expense was paid by revenue collected from villagers

4)    Emergence of Majanapadas:-

      New type of society was reflected in political-geographical units called, the Mahajanapadas

      Mahajanpadas – large territorial states, came up by incorporating Janapadas which were previously autonomous

      E.g. Kosala Mhajanapada= Sakyas+Kashi Janapada

      Extended from north-western Pakistan to eastern Bihar and from sub-mountainous regions of the Himalayas to river Godavari in south

      Anguttara Nikaya a part of Sutta Pitaka gives list of 16 Mahajanapadas in the time of Buddha

5)    Rise of Magadha:-

      In the battle for pre-eminence between 4 kingdoms

      Kosala, Vajji Confederacy Magadh & Avanti the kingdom that emerged victorious was Magadh

      Its capital Pataliputra is situated on the confluence of several rivers like Ganga, Gandak, Son & Pun Pun

      This enabled Magadh to effectively command the Uttarpatha

      Magadh made full use of its natural resources over other contemporaneous kingdom & emerged victorious

      Under Bimbisara (Contemporary of Buddha) of Haryanka dynasty Magadh emerged as controller of Middle Ganga Plains

      Bimbisara acquired Anga & placed it under viceroyalty of Ajatshastru at Champa

      He also strengthened his position by marriage alliances

      His 1^st wife was daughter of chief king of Kosala & sister of Prasenajit

      2^nd wife, Chellana was Lichchhavi princess from Vaishali

      3^rd wife, daughter of chief of Madra clan, Punjab

      He was imprisoned by his son Ajatshatru & starved to death

      Ajatshatru followed more aggressive policy

      He gained complete control over Kashi by attacking his maternal uncle Prasenajit, the king of Kosala

      The Vajji confederacy was defeated by deceit

      Ajatshatru is said to have ruled from 492-460 BC

      He was succeeded by Udayin (460-440 BC); during his reign kingdom extended in north to Himalaya & south to Chhota Nagpur hills

      Udayin & 4 kings who succeeded him were unable to rule effectively and last of them is said to have overthrown by the people of Magadh

      Shishunaga, a viceroy at Benaras, was crowned instead in 413 BC

      His greatest achievement was destruction of power of Avanti with its capital at Ujjain

      From then Avanti become part of Magadh empire till the end of Mauryan rule

      Shishunaga dynasty gave way to rule of Nanda dynasty headed by usurper, Mahapadma Nanda

      Nanda rule came to an end by 321 BC

      Chandragupta Maurya ascended to the throne of Magadh

6)    Persian invasion:-

      In 519 BC, the Persian emperor Darius annexed Punjab & for many years, the Indian satrapy continued to pay a huge tribute to Achaemenian King.

      For over a century thereafter, close relationship were maintained between Iran & India

7)    Alexander’s invasion:-

      He crossed the Indus in 326 BC, pursuing his dream of a world conquest

      Ambhi, the king of Taxila, sent a mission to Alexander offering to help him if his own kingdom was spared

      Porus decided to oppose the Macedonians & the Battle of Hydaspes was fought on the river Jhelum

      Alexander’s advance was hampered by his soldiers’ mutiny when they refused to go beyond river, Hydaspes (Beas)

8)    Milieu of Religious Movements:-

      Barter system gave away to a coin called Kahapana, made of copper & silver

      JAINISM:-

ü  Vardhaman Mahavira was born in 540 BC in village near Vaishali in north Bihar

ü  His father was head of Kshatriya clan & mother was Lichchhavi princess

ü  At age of 30 he became an ascetic & at 42 he attained the state called Nirvan or Kaivalya

ü  He was acclaimed as Tirthankara (forth finder), a Kaivalya (spreme omniscient), Jina (conqueror) & Arhant (blessed one).

ü  He died at age of 72 in 468 BC at Pavapuri

ü  Rishabha (literally Bull) was first Jain Tirthankara

ü  He told his followers that their deeds should be based on Right Faith, Right Knowledge & Right Action

ü  Right Faith – belief in what one knows

ü  Right Knowledge – knowledge of Jain creed

ü  Right Action – practice of 5 vows of Jainism i.e. non-injury to living beings, truth, non-stealing, not to own property and to practice chastity

ü  The first 4 vows were laid by Parshva. The fifth one was added by Mahavira

ü  He also asked his followers to abandon cloths & go absent naked

ü  According to Jains, Vedas & Brahmanas are not reliable & may be disregarded

ü  Jainism believes in Jiva (eternal soul) & Ajiva (eternal element)

ü  Jains are permitted to eat things with two Jivas; to eat things with three Jivas is forbidden as it involves a breach of basic law of Ahimsa

ü  Mahavira preached in Magadhi, the language spoken by common people

ü  Jaina teaching was at first preserved in an oral tradition. But in 3^rd century BC at a council convened in Pataliputra, it was collected and recorded

ü  The final version was edited in 5^th century AD. At the time of council Jains were divided into two sects, Svetambaras & Digambaras

ü  The orthodox Jainas came to be known as Digambaras (sky clad) & liberal ones as Svetambaras (white clad)

ü  Yapaniya developed as another as another Jains sect around 1^st century AD. It was probably founded by Kalasa

ü  A significant feature of this sect was that it thought that even women could attain Moksha & that Kevalins should take their food in Morsels

      BUDDHISM:-

ü  Gautama Buddha / Siddharta was contemporary of Mahavira

ü  He was born in 563 BC in Shakya Kshatriya family in Kapilvastu, situated in foothills of Nepal

ü  His mother was princess of Koshalan dynasty

ü  At age of 29, he left home & kept wandering for about 7 years before attaining knowledge or enlightenment at Bod Gaya under a Pipal tree

ü  He delivered his first sermon at Sarnath

ü  He passed away at age of 80 in 483 BC

ü  Buddha discarded Vedic religion in its totality

ü  Strongly opposed rituals, sacrifices, ceremonial worship

ü  Condemned the caste system

ü  The 4 truths, Aryasatya enunciated by Buddha from the basis of Buddhism

ü  These truths relate to suffering, its cause & the means of release from it.

ü  The four truths are:-

– Suffering – exists wherever there is life

– Desire – cause of suffering

– Release from pain – achieved only by abandoning desire

– Middle path – avoids two extremes namely attachment to passion & worldly pleasure on the other hand and practice if self-mortification & asceticism on the other

ü  Ashtang-marga (eight fold path) – leads to wisdom, calmness, knowledge, enlightment & release:-

– Right views

– Right aspirations

– Right speech

– Right conduct

– Right livelihood

– Right effort

– Right mindfulness

– Right meditation

ü  True follower of eight fold path attains salvation (Nirvana)

ü  Buddha believed that soul does not exist

ü  What is called soul in really is a physical or mental aggregate of five impermanent conditions. These are:-

– Form (the body)

– Feelings

– Idea or understanding

– Will

– Pure counciousness

ü  Triratna – Buddha, Dhamma & Sangha

ü  Parvana – confessions of offences that monks committed during their stay at monasteries

ü  Famous Viharas – Nalanda, Vikramshila in Bihar & Valabhi in Gujarat

ü  After death of Buddha 4 general councils were held

– 1^st – Rajagriha (483BC) – discourse of Buddha were collected, compiled & embodied in Pali. This literature is called ‘Tripitaka’

– 2^nd - Vaishali (383BC)

– 3^rd - Pataliputra (250BC) – in reign of Ashoka. It was at this council that it was decided to send missionaries to various parts of subcontinent.

– 4^th – Kashmir (1^st AD) – attended by Hien Tsang

– It recognized schism of Buddhism, one brance was called Hinayana followers of lesser vehicle & other Mahayana followers of greater vehicle

– Hinayana spread across – Ceylon, Burma, South east Asia

– Mahayana – India, central Asia, Tibet, China, Japan