The Mauryan age had a glorious cultural development’. Discuss?

 Introduction:The rise of the Mauryas in the fourth century BCE opened a new chapter in the history of ancient India. It was during the Mauryan age that the whole of India was politically united for the first time under the rule of one king. Under the dynamic rule of the Mauryas the Magadha imperialism became a reality. The credit of achieving political and cultural unification of India and establishing an empire in the true sense of term invariably goes to them.

Major Sources for the Mauryan History:

The sources for the Mauryan period are more varied than those of earlier period. The history of their rule is rendered comparatively reliable on account of evidence obtained from a variety of sources. The Buddhist and Jaina traditions, early Dharmasastra texts, and the material retrieved from archaeological excavations continue to remain important base of historical reconstruction.

The palaces made during the time of Asoka were mainly made of stone. They speak of the highly developed art and architecture. Excavations at Pataliputra have discovered the ruins of these buildings. The most wonderful of these is the hundredpillard hall. The buildings, palaces and the monuments of the time of Chandragupta Maurya were mainly made of wood and had mostly perished away.

Stupas are another great form of Mauryan art. It has beautiful gateways decorated with rich sculpture. They enshrined the relics of Buddha. It is said that Asoka built 84,000 stupas in India and Afghanistan. The stupa at Sanchi is believed to be most prominent among the stupas. Hiuen-Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, said that Asoka built stupas at many places like Taxila, Kapilavastu, Prayaga, Srinagar, 

Beautiful pillars were also constructed in the Mauryan period during the time of Asoka. The number of Asokan pillars is not definitely known. The pillars were free standing columns and were not used as support to any structure. The pillars were very magnificently polished. The four lions sitting back to back at Sanchi and Sarnath pillars show the high skill of craftsmanship that prevailed in the Mauryan age.

Rock cut caves were also found of the Mauryan period. The caves were built by cutting the rocks and their walls were polished nicely. The rock cut caves of Asoka and of his grandson Dasaratha constructed for the residence of monks are wonderful specimens of art. The Barabar hill caves, the Nagarjuni hill caves, the Sudama caves, the Karna Chauper cave, etc are the remains of the cave architecture of the Mauryan period.

The Mauryan pottery consisted of many types of wares. The black polished type found in North India is one of the most beautiful specimens of the Mauryan pottery. It has a burnished and glazed surface.

Jewellery making was also known in the Mauryan period. During the excavation at Taxila, some ornaments of the Asokan period were found. Those ornaments show the artistic skill of the goldsmiths of the Mauryan period.

The Notion of Dhamma:the notion of Dhamma promulgated by Ashoka had been regarded as being synonymous with Buddhism. But with a plethora of material coming to light nowadays it is argued that Dhamma was aimed at building up an attitude of mind in which social responsibility and inter-personal behavior were of primary importance. The principles of Dhamma were acceptable to any people belonging to any religious sect. As one of the basic principles of Dhamma, Ashoka emphasized on the necessity of toleration – tolerance between people and also between their ideas and beliefs. It was a plea to suppress differences of opinion for a greater sense of harmony.

Science of Polity On the Science of polity, the Arthashastra is the major work we have to consider. Though Arthashastra was probably given its final form in c. AD 300, it undeniably contains material drawn from earlier versions or originally independent texts that go back to the third century BCE.

 Astronomy In astronomy, a small book of verse, the Vedanga Jyotisha, probably represents the state of knowledge or belief on astronomical and calenderical matters before 200 BCE. Like Arthashastra, it holds the solar year to be of 366 days and the lunar of 354, so that the solar year had to be adjusted to the lunar by an intercalary month every two-and-a half years.

Notions of Bhakti It is possible that the Mauryan period saw early glimmerings of bhakti, or devotion seeking the deity’s grace. The most definite evidence for this comes from Heliodorous column at Besnagar (Vidisha) near Sanchi, on which inscription datable to c. 140 BCE proclaims, the donor describing himself as “bhagavata”. In the Arthashastra the name Krishna occurs, but put unimportantly among many spirits in a magic mantra.

Assessment

The emergence of the Mauryan empire brought about new strategies of governing and resource mobilization which snowballed innovative changes in the domain of culture. In spite of a drive towards cultural uniformity, the variations within the Mauryan Empire were immense and continued into later times. Ecologies varied from region to region, as did patterns of living, languages and forms of worship. The religious landscape was enlivened by the co-existence of contending sects and continuous readjustments within existing systems of thought. This period also marks an important stage in the transition from orality to literacy. The Mauryan period also saw the evolution of traditional knowledge-systems that struck deep roots. This period also witnessed innovations within the domain of art and architecture and the flowering of a monumental artistic tradition.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mauryan Society and Culture

 In the Mauryan period, the social organization based on Varna and Ashrama w hich had begun in the Vedic age, reached a definite stage. In this period the Brahmanas regained their lost position i n the society. Megathese divides the Mauryan society into seven divisions - philosophers, farmers, herdsman, artisans, soldiers, magistrate and councillors. They have been interpreted as castes because no one was allowed to marry outside his own division or change his profession. The philosophers consisted of Brahmanas and Shramanas . The Shramanas included ascetics, monks and the followers of various sects. T he philosophers did not pay tax. T he farmers included the land owners , the Shudra cultivators and the labourers working on the land. The herdsmen were probably the pastoralists who comprised a significant section in the Mauryan population. The status of the artisans depended on his particular craft. For instance, metal workers were given a higher status than the weavers and potte...
Read more

Discuss major causes for raise New Religious Movements in 6th century ?

 The primary cause for the rise of Jainism and Buddhism was the religious unrest in India in the 6th Century BCE. Several social, economic, religious factors were also responsible for the emergence of heterodox religions like Buddhism and Jainism, In the Post-Vedic period the society was divided into four varnas viz, Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras. The Brahmanas who occupied the top most place in the society became the custodians of religion and learning. The Kshatriyas reacted very sharply against the ritualistic domination and the enviable social status enjoyed by the Brahmanas. Gautama, the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism and Vardhamana Mahavira, the promoter of Jainism were Kshatriyas. Both of them questioned the authority of the Brahmanas. In the Bramanical society, the Vaisyas were ranked third. During this period, due to the emergence of agrarian economy, expansion of trade and commerce, and finally the formation of guilds made the Vaisya community economically po...
Read more

Impact of Central Asian Conquests

 The coming of the foreigners established intimate contacts between central Asia and India. The turn of the millennium had been a period of central Asian intervention in the history of Northern India that took the form of conquest, migrations and commerce. · The second Greek conquest of India of Demetrius, Eucratides and Menander penetrated deep into the Indian Territory with the obvious purpose of setting up an empire. India and China were brought closer through the interlinking Oases and through Kushana territory bordering both The Sakas and the Kushanas strengthened the idea of the Divine origin of kingship. The Indo Greek kings and the Kushanas took exalted titles ‘Rajadhiraja’ (king of kings), ‘Daivaputra’ (son of heaven), Soter (Savior) and Kaisara (caesor). The Kushanas introduced the Satrap system of Government where as the Greeks followed the practice of military Governship. The Sakas and Kushanas added new ingredients to Indian culture and enriched it immensely. They...
Read more