The document provides information on several South Asian empires that emerged between 550 BCE to 1700 CE. It discusses the Kingdom of Magadha, the first powerful kingdom located along the Ganges River. It then summarizes the Mauryan Empire founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 320 BCE and highlights the reign of Ashoka. Next, it covers the Kushan Empire and the Gupta Empire which reached its peak under Chandragupta II. Finally, it briefly discusses the Mughal Empire founded by Babur and some of its major rulers like Akbar, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.

1. South Asian
Empires

2. Kingdom of Magadha
This kingdom was led by Bimsiara Magadha.
At around 550 BCE , on of the kingdoms in the northern part began to
expand and rule over the other kingdoms.
The Kingdom was situated in the Ganges River Valley in what is now
the Bihar state.
The location enabled Magadha to control trade and communication
along the river that provided the link to the rich ports in the Ganges
Delta.
Magadha has a culture of its own. Jainism and Buddhism had their
roots in Magadha.
Two of the greatest empire, the Maurya and Gupta also originated
from this area.

3. Mauryan Empire- Chandragupta Maurya
head this empire
He defeated all the other leaders
of small kingdoms
He reclaimed the lands occupied
by Alexander the Great
He chose to establish his capital
in Pataliputra, the present day
Patna in the state of Bihar

4. Pataliputra
The city’s location near large rivers
became an important part of trade
and the economy of the kingdom
The city was laid out in the shape of
parallelogram. It was surrounded by
a wooden wall nine miles long and a
mile and a half wide.
It has 570 towers, 64 gates , and a
moat that was 900 feet wide for
defense and also for the sewerage

5. King Chandragupta Maurya
The king was closely guarded and
carefully protected for fear of
assassination that is why even his
food and drinks were tasted before
being served to him.
His palace was a maze of
underground passages and staircases
, hollowed pillars and collapsible
floors, all designed to cope with any
attempt on his life.

6. The Empire
The empire was divided into three
provinces ruled by viceroys who followed
the orders of the king.
All mines and forests were owned and
managed by the state.
There were large state farms , and state
granaries, shipyards and factories for
spinning and weaving cloth supervised
by the government.
A well maintained road system
connected the provinces.

7. Chandragupta ruled for 25 years, he abdicated in
301 BCE and became a Jain monk and fasted to
death.
He was succeeded by his son Bindusara who continued to
expand the empire.
Bindusara was succeeded by one of his son, Prince Ashoka, who
turned out to be the best emperors in the worlds history.

8. Prince Ashoka
He ascended the throne in 269 BCE.
He was a viceroy in one of the provinces in the west before the
death of his father.
He started his reign as a tyrant and spent several years of his reign
in military campaigns.
He expanded the empire to the south and was able to complete the
conquest of the whole Indian continent except Afghanistan.
The extermination of 100,000 Dravidian people brought him deep
sorrow and made him accept the teachings of Buddha.

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10. Path to righteousness of Ashoka
Ashoka created a new class of morally upright officials where its
members were responsible for investigating the affairs of the
province , encouraging good relations and ensuring promulgation
of the emperor’s orders.
He declared that all people are his children and encouraged
officials to treat them well.
He supported the Indian philosophy of Ahimsa or nonviolence to
people and animals.
He banned hunting and the slaughter of animals for food , and in

11. Great Advances
Mauryan period was also a time that
witnessed great advances in sculpture
and architecture.
Two other religious monuments show
the characteristic architecture of the
period of the Buddhists including
monastic caves and stupas ( mound
erected over a grave that contains
Buddha’s relics such as ashes or parts
of his personal belongings.)
Life under the Mauryan is prosperous,
while most people live on farms, cities
grew.

13. The Kushana Empire
The Kushan people came from a loose confederation of five
Iranian-speaking nomadic tribes form the northwest region of
China.
In China, they were known as Yueh-Chi, and came to the Indus
Valley at the end of the first century.

14. Leaders
Vima Kadphises - He was
the first leader of the
Kushans , made the
Kushana a powerful
empire.
Kanishka – Height of the
power of Kushana was
under him , they controlled
a large territory during his
time.
- it was a period of wealth

15. Political and Economic
The political and economic power allowed
the Kushans to develop a deep tradition of
courtly and secular art.
The development of Buddhist painting and
sculptural style became notable.
Sculptors carved images of Buddha that
started the veneration of images which was
not done in the earlier Buddhist tradition.
Kanishka promoted Buddhism and founded a
great Buddhist monastery in Peshawar.
He was instrumental in the staging of the
Fourth Great Buddhist Council that laid down
the canons of their way of practicing the
religion.

16. Gupta Empire
Founded in 320 CE when a
North Indian Princes named
Chandra Gupta I crowned
himself maharajadhiraja of
king of kings in the ancient
Mauryan capital of
Pataliputra.
He and his son , Samudra
Gupta , conquered
neighboring territories and

17. Samudra Gupta
He had incorporated 20 kingdoms
under his domain from the north in
the Himalayas to the south along
Narmada River and from the West of
Brahmaputra to the east of Yamuna.
He was a great patron of the arts,
music, literature, and others.
He was dubbed as the “poet king.”
A firm believer of Hinduism but
tolerant of other religions.

18. Chanda Gupta II
The empire reached its peak during Chandra Gupta II’s reign.
He conducted military campaigns and further extended the
territory.
Behind his success in war , they realized the uselessness of
chariots and learned to rely more on cavalry clad with armor and
armed with maces and lances. Archers were also used.
Overall, Gupta military successes were based on the concerted
use of war elephants, armored cavalry, foot archers discipline
soldiers , great leaders and proper logistical organization backed

19. Economy and religion
Economy prospered due to agriculture, industry and flourishing
trade.
Textile making was the major industry.
Chandra Gupta II’s reign is considered the Golden Age of Hindu
Civilization in South Asia.
During the period, Hinduism flowered and expanded throughout
India.
The return of Hinduism saw the strict implementation of the
Caste System.

20. Buddhist art and architecture attained a high level of perfection.
The famous rock-cut monastery , the Ajanta caves ( shelter or a
place of meditation) is another example of Buddhist arts during
that period.

21. Advancements
Major scientific advances were
made in the fields of astronomy ,
engineering, and mathematics.
The decimal system of numerals,
which included the concept of
zero , was developed. Arab
traders adapted this and passed
this on to Europeans.
Sophisticated coinage highlighted
the advances in metallurgy.
Beautiful and highly crafted
dinars went into circulation.
Another evidence of their

22. Collapsed
The Gupta empire lasted from 320 to 550 CE.
The emperors who succeeded Chandra Gupta II were not able to
equal his style of running the empire.
By 500 CE, many of the regional leaders were already declaring
autonomy and refused to pay taxes to the central Gupta state.
External threats also contributed to the collapsed. The cost of
fighting drained the treasury.
The end of the Gupta period was marked by wars among groups
who wanted to gain power.

23. Mughal Empire
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur Mirza
better known in history as “Babur”,
meaning the lion was the founder of
the Mughal dynasty.
Babur invaded India five times and
defeated the Delhi Sultanate of
Ibrahim Lodi.
The Rajput prince of India refused to
acknowledge his power and fought
in the Battle of Khanwa , babur
prevailed once more and he ruled the
continent.
He possessed great ideas of

24. Humayun, his son, inherited the empire
but was challenged by internal and
external enemies. Humayun lost power
and was forced to exile, but he came
back to once more consolidate, claim
and expand the empire.
Humayun died after falling from the
staircase under dubious
circumstances.
Akbar ascended the throne with
Bayram Khan, his childhood guardian,
upon reaching 18m he dismissed his
already overbearing agent and took
direct control of the empire and the
army and went on to become “Akbar

25. Religion
Akbar won over the Hindus by naming them to important military
and civil positions.
Islamic laws were not enforced in Hindu and non-Muslim Areas.
He conducted weekly discussions with different religions
prevailing in the realm and outside.
He initiated a court religion called Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith) or
Godism.
Akbar allowed widow marriages , outlawed the practice of sati or
widow-burning, and opened special market days for women.

26. Economy
Trade activities were facilitated by the construction of numerous
inns and hospitals.
State-owned factories were commissioned to produce high-
quality luxury goods for use in courts and exports.
Income from agriculture and trade were used to fund a series of
war campaigns.
Arts and Literature
Akbar was a great admirer of art
and literature. He ordered the
construction of many palaces and
monuments , and many have

27. Change of Throne
Akbar’s reign was threatened by the rebellion of his son, Prince
Salim, more popularly known as Jahangir
In his father’s absence he proclaimed himself king expect Akbar
was bale to wrest back the throne.
In1605, Akbar suffered a serious bout of dysentery, and after 3
weeks he passed away and buried at the tomb in Sikandra.
His son, Jahangir took over the throne and strengthened the
Mughal empire and granted permission to the British east India
Company that further enriched the empire

28. Shah Jahan
Shah Jahan built the Jama Masjid, largest mosque in Delhi and
the Pearl Mosque in Agra.
Most expectacular of all was the contruction of Taj Mahal which
marks the apex of Mughal architecture.
Jama
masjid
Taj Mahal

29. Aurangzeb
He emerged victorious after a power struggle with his brother.
He was not lavish in his lifestyle and did not accumulate
beautiful, expensive , and unique things.
He was a ruthless emperor , responsible for thousands of death
of Hindus, Sikhs, and Christians.
He restored the much hated tax of Jizyah that Akbar abolished
duringbhis reign.
He was skeptical and unaapreciative of the relevance of Science
and Technology.

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