10-26-2006, 03:12 PM
regarding the chandragupta gupta/maurya question,Letâs look at the standard text books accounts and how history of India is treated in this period and what disparities show up.
<i>The accounts of the reigns of Bimbisara and Ajatsatru give evidence of a policy aimed at control of as much of Ganges as possible.it seems they were the first Indian kings to conceive policy of a far flung empire</i>. ( Here the author claims that though prince Rama is believed to have had such a vast empire ,this concept must have been superimposed on him after such a feat had been accomplished by these 6th century B C Kings) [<i>FONT=Courier]If there was any source of inspiration to these kings it must have been Acheamedia Empire of Persia, whose founder Cyrus the great (558-530) , rapidly built the greatest empire the world has ever seen. Young men from Magadh were sent to Taxila to finish their education , and Bimbisara was in diplomatic contact with puskarasaran , king of gandhar whose kingdom probably included Taxila. <b>But</b> in an inscription of about 519 BC darius I , the third achaemedian emperor claims possession of Gandhar and later claims India , which according to Herodotus , became the twentieth satrapy of the Persian empire. [/FONT]</i>this is the first disparity.
Alexander in his Indian exploits(326 BC )met Omphis identified with Ambhi of Taxila and Porus identified with Paurava of Punjab.(who were these kings and when did they reign in India, was Chandragupta Maurya their contempory?)
<i>Plutarch(classical sources) states that Sandrocottus adviced Alexander to attack Nanda emperor. Both Indian and classical sources agree that Chandragupta overthrew the Nanda empire</i>.( Agreed that Indian sources say that chandragupta overthrew the Nanda emperor, but do the classical sources also mention Nanda by name?? or do they just state that chandragupta overthrew the previous emperor??)
Chandragupta Maurya was succesed by his son Bimbisara who was in touch with Antiochus I of Syria (again the source of this information can help fix the dates for Bimbisara.
Have Ashokaâs edictâs been dated?? Which period do they belong to?
Asholaâs edicts name kings Antiyoka ,Turamaya , Antikini , Maga and Alikasundara which scholars claim correspond to Hellinic kings : Antiochus II Theos of Syria, Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene and Alexander of Epirus.
An inscription on a pillar at Besnagar claims that sunga king Bhagadbhadra received an ambassador named Heliodorus from Greek king of TAXILA, ANTIALCIDAS (another source to check)
What is the importance of saka era in this scenario??
<i>Some authorities have tried to depict the great gupta emperors as librators of India from foreign yoke but it seems by this time(320AD) , the invaders had become thoroughly indianised</i>. (here again some sources of a fight that might have occurred between alexanders successor and chandragupt gupta , are conspicuous by their absence)
<i>Reign of chandragupta II (grandson on cgI)marks the high water mark of Indian culture. Later Indian legend tells of a great and good king Vikramaditya , scholars here conclude vikramaditya and CGII as one and the same . the only important descripancy (as per the author himself) is that Vikramaditya is said to have founded the Vikram era in 58BC.</i>Again Chinese Buddhist monk Fa-hsien , stayed in India for 6 years and did not mention chandragupta.
Mauryas (9 kings) 321-184BC
Shungas (10 kings)
Kanvas (4 kings)
Andhras (30 kings
GUPTA 319 AD
Repeatedly I come across this book name which reportedly gives a new perspective to Indian chronology ,hope to read it soon, Ancient India in a New Light (Aditya Prakashan, 1989) by K D Sethna.
does anone have more information on this??
<i>The accounts of the reigns of Bimbisara and Ajatsatru give evidence of a policy aimed at control of as much of Ganges as possible.it seems they were the first Indian kings to conceive policy of a far flung empire</i>. ( Here the author claims that though prince Rama is believed to have had such a vast empire ,this concept must have been superimposed on him after such a feat had been accomplished by these 6th century B C Kings) [<i>FONT=Courier]If there was any source of inspiration to these kings it must have been Acheamedia Empire of Persia, whose founder Cyrus the great (558-530) , rapidly built the greatest empire the world has ever seen. Young men from Magadh were sent to Taxila to finish their education , and Bimbisara was in diplomatic contact with puskarasaran , king of gandhar whose kingdom probably included Taxila. <b>But</b> in an inscription of about 519 BC darius I , the third achaemedian emperor claims possession of Gandhar and later claims India , which according to Herodotus , became the twentieth satrapy of the Persian empire. [/FONT]</i>this is the first disparity.
Alexander in his Indian exploits(326 BC )met Omphis identified with Ambhi of Taxila and Porus identified with Paurava of Punjab.(who were these kings and when did they reign in India, was Chandragupta Maurya their contempory?)
<i>Plutarch(classical sources) states that Sandrocottus adviced Alexander to attack Nanda emperor. Both Indian and classical sources agree that Chandragupta overthrew the Nanda empire</i>.( Agreed that Indian sources say that chandragupta overthrew the Nanda emperor, but do the classical sources also mention Nanda by name?? or do they just state that chandragupta overthrew the previous emperor??)
Chandragupta Maurya was succesed by his son Bimbisara who was in touch with Antiochus I of Syria (again the source of this information can help fix the dates for Bimbisara.
Have Ashokaâs edictâs been dated?? Which period do they belong to?
Asholaâs edicts name kings Antiyoka ,Turamaya , Antikini , Maga and Alikasundara which scholars claim correspond to Hellinic kings : Antiochus II Theos of Syria, Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, Antigonus Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene and Alexander of Epirus.
An inscription on a pillar at Besnagar claims that sunga king Bhagadbhadra received an ambassador named Heliodorus from Greek king of TAXILA, ANTIALCIDAS (another source to check)
What is the importance of saka era in this scenario??
<i>Some authorities have tried to depict the great gupta emperors as librators of India from foreign yoke but it seems by this time(320AD) , the invaders had become thoroughly indianised</i>. (here again some sources of a fight that might have occurred between alexanders successor and chandragupt gupta , are conspicuous by their absence)
<i>Reign of chandragupta II (grandson on cgI)marks the high water mark of Indian culture. Later Indian legend tells of a great and good king Vikramaditya , scholars here conclude vikramaditya and CGII as one and the same . the only important descripancy (as per the author himself) is that Vikramaditya is said to have founded the Vikram era in 58BC.</i>Again Chinese Buddhist monk Fa-hsien , stayed in India for 6 years and did not mention chandragupta.
Mauryas (9 kings) 321-184BC
Shungas (10 kings)
Kanvas (4 kings)
Andhras (30 kings
GUPTA 319 AD
Repeatedly I come across this book name which reportedly gives a new perspective to Indian chronology ,hope to read it soon, Ancient India in a New Light (Aditya Prakashan, 1989) by K D Sethna.
does anone have more information on this??