Greeks
-Greeks during the 3rd century B.C.E, had plans of making colonies in India
-Cyrus gave order for Megasthenes to go there -Megasthenes made way through the Indus River, by battling their people(the Gandharans) -By 325 B.C.E he had settled in India and made political crisis occur -Chandragupta later took over the Magadha empire which was part of the Mauryan Empire 1. Created a centralized & unified government with help of his adviser Ravtalya he created a book on a well established government called "Arthashastra" - Ahsoka(268-232 B.C.E) established "Pataliputra" as his capital, which was the head for central for treasury of taxes. 1. Encouraged agriculture,build roads for communication (1000 mi long) 2. His empire died along with him 3.military cost a lot for the government so they increased taxes and reduced leaves for military men -India again fell in 185 B.C.E -With Bactria(Greek empire) has control of MOST of India -Even with wars among neighbors, they provided good order to there area, and allowing merchants to conduct business safely. -many empires tried to gain power but only the Gupta's were able too. -They stated in Magadha, because of wealth, dominance of Ganges river, and role as intermediary between various subcontinent. -This made regions to forge alliances with Chandra Gupta, by 320 B.C.E -His successors were Samudra Gupta(335-375 B.C.E), and Chandra Gupta II(375-415 B.C.E) 1.conquered most of India except the Deccan and the southern most part of subcontinent -Gupta empire was smaller then Mauryan's -Capitol was again located in Pataliputra -While Asoka had more like a dictatorship but, Gupta's had a more governmental style -Gupta's administration was no match to the "White Huns" who conquered Bactria empire -Just like Rome and Han invasions cost them badly; fell to them during the 4th century -Gupta's empire was just there for the name with little regional power |
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