Empire & Networks: Mauryans

321-185 BCE

I. Characteristics of Mauryan SA

II. Galactic Polity & Empire

III. Diversity, Governmentality & Dharma

IV. Asoka as Model, Asoka as Hero

V. Thapar’s Asoka & Contemporary Indian Politics

I. Characteristics of Mauryan SA

Greece/PersiaBengal/OrissaDeccan Plateau & Southern PeninsulaSri Lanka, Burma & ThailandTrade Central administration Tax Administer peripheriesArtisans Extraction of labor

II. Galactic Polity & Empire

Geography

Economy

Resources

Sustaining center

Fluid circles of power within larger circles

III. Diversity, Governmentality & Dharma

Dharma

Shramanic

Brahmanic

Physical and ideological presence

IV. Asoka as Model, Asoka as Hero

Model for powerful kingship

Buddhists

Asoka-Avadana (2nd c. CE, Sanskrit)

Mahavamsa (5th c. CE, Pali/Prakrit)

Brahmanic treatises and literature

Post-independence India

Post-independence Sri Lanka & SEA

V. Thapar’s Asoka & Contemporary Indian Politics