The Maurya Empire

Chandragupta Maurya

After the Aryans migrated to India, many kingdoms arose during the Vedic period
No major power emerged until the kingdom of Magadha (around 550 B.C.)
Chandragupta Maurya became king in 325 B.C. and the Maurya Empire began
He became king of Magadha
Chandragupta defeated a lot of kingdoms and made his own empire
He created a strong central government and taxed his people
Taxes were used to pay for spies and a great army to eliminate enemies
Chandragupta gave up the role of king around 297 B.C. to become a monk (he dedicated his life to pursue nonviolent actions)

Asoka (Chandragupta's grandson) became the new king
Asoka was very cruel in his actions (at first)
He attacked another Indian kingdom (unprovoked) and this actions caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people
After seeing such death and destruction, Asoka dedicated his life to practicing Buddhism
After this transformation, he began to rule as a peaceful Buddhist
As he transformed, Asoka engaged in Buddhism and began to use Buddhist principles and ruled in a peaceful manner

Asoka became a good ruler because he built over 1,000 stupas (dirt burial structure covered in stone) in honor of Buddha
He donated to charity and built hospitals

Buddhism is one of the world's largest religions
Asoka embarked on a pilgrimage to Buddhist places in India
He preached to people during his travels
He sent missionaries to spread the word of Buddhism to far away places
He commanded that Buddhist policies be carved on rocks and pillars across the whole empire
The three beliefs of Buddhism are Karma, rebirth, and impermanence

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