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#6) MAGADHA/ MAURYA 

-More agriculture, more revenue as the land was fertile because of Ganga .

-civilisation expanded eastwards.

- places were called as janapadas and some of them which were more important were named as mahajanapadas.

We will discuss both these topics 1 by one and our 7th topic i.e post maurya will be discussed within this article only...

*MAGADHA - (MAHAJANAPADAS) ( PRESENT BIHAR)-

They had 3 dynasties- 

# HARYANKA DYNASTY- 

kings- Bimbisara - capital was Rajgriha 

             then his son, Ajatsatru became the king.

             then came Udayin and he changed the capital to Pataliputra.

# SISUNAGA DYNASTY- 

the capital was Vaishali.

# NANDA DYNASTY-

most powerful rulers of Magadha.

Dhananand was the last ruler who was defeated by Chandragupta Maurya , who further founded Mauryan empire.

Foreign invaders 

1st Persians - unsuccessful (Iran and Afghanistan)

2nd Greeks - Alexander (Greece , Europe)

He came through north west route because of the fear of Nanda Dynasty in east.

He built 2 cities in India - Nikya and Bukephilia ( on river Jhelum).

*MAURYA AND POSTMAURYA -

they were people of lower caste and Moriya tribe.

-was started by Chandragupta Maurya ( for 24 years) by defeating Dhananand .

-whole India was united for the first time, under his rule.

-capital- Pataliputra .

empire extended to Himalayas in north to Mysore in south, Bengal 16 Hindukush in N-W  and in west upto Arabian sea.

- in his last days , he joined Jainism and died at Sarvanvelagola (after fasting).

- His son Bindusara became the king afterwards and did Taxilla Revolt in which Ashoka won the battle.

Ashoka became the king after killing all his brothers.

Ashoka won Kalinga war( area-andhra pradesh , orissa ), and is only king in the history of world who gave up after winning the war ,after seeing the violence and bloodshed in Kalinga.

So, he adopted Buddhism later and was the head of 3rd Buddhist council.

7 pillar edicts of Ashoka-

* Sarnath , U.P- 4 lion capital ( used as national emblem of India)

* Ashoka Chakra - in India's national flag.

Mauryan empire slowly broke down after the death of Ashoka and the last king was overthrown by Pushyamitra Sunga who started SUNGA DYNASTY IN MAGADHA .

#7) POSTMAURYAS -THE SUNGAS 

capital - Pataliputra and Vidisha

founder- Pushyamitra sunga

The famous stone railings and Sanchi Stupa were added by Sungas and Panini composed Ashatadhyayi the first grammer in Sanskrit.

THE SATVAHANAS / ANDHRAS-

feudalism started also called as zamindari ( king hands over all his responsibilities to a person.)

capitals- Kotilingala, Pune, Paithan , Parttishthan

trade relations with Greeks were good.

IndoGreeks were the first to introduce gold coins in India . most of the coins were bilingual - Greek and Pali.

#8)GUPTA AND HARSHA-

400 YEARS after the collapse of Mauryans, a new dynasty Gupta dynasty , arose in Magadha. 

* CHANDRAGUPTA 1-

STARTED Gupta era

increased wealth of his kingdom by marrying Lichchavi princess Kumaril devi( developed big army and big empire.)

* SAMUDRAGUPTA

greatest king, hero of 100 battles.

called as Napolean of India by Vincent A Smith as he believed in policy of war and conquest.

- got the title of Maharaj Dhiraj by Ashwamedha.

-biggest achievement - political unification of most of India / Aryavarta 

-Gold coins with he playing Veena and Garud symbol shows that he was a follower of Vishnu.

- he was so powerful that some states accepted his rule , even without fighting.

- his court poet -Harisena  composed Allahabad Pillar Inscription ( tells us about many kings).

*RAMGUPTA-

was defeated by Chandragupta 2 

*CHANDRAGUPTA-2

he married Ramgupta's wife , Dhruvadevi

shifted capital from Pataliputra to Ujjain.

got the title Vikramaditya .

Chinese traveller , Fahein came to India during his time and wrote the book Fakuki.

*BUDDH GUPTA

last ruler

gold and silver coins used for trade.

LITERAUTRE

- Sanskrit was national language.

Ajanta caves and Bagh caves 

*HARSHA

HARSHAVARDHAN 

followed Buddhism 

capital Thaneshwar ( kurukshetra )

Nalanda university formed by Kumar Gupta and Harsha.

conquest- annexed punjab, sindh, bengal, bihar, orissa

PALLAVAS 

CHOLAS 

CHALUKYAS

Aihole inscriptions - eulogy (praise) written by Ravi Kirti , court poet of Pulakesin 2

TRIPARTITE STRUGGLE

Age of 3 northern empires.

Palas , Pratiharas , Rashtrakutas - all fighting for Kannauj ( then capital of Harsha) , so called as tripartite struggle.