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INDIA Pre-Mauryan (Ganges Valley). Magadha kingdom. Circa 430-320’s BC.
Silver Karshapana (or Possibly Double Karshapana?) 37x19mm (7.46 grams)
Struck circa 350-340s B.C. G&H Series III
Reference: G&H 320 and
325; ATEC 3335-54; HGC 12, 960.
Quadrate flan with various punchmarks.
Blank, but for single punchmark.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of
Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
.png/250px-Mahajanapadas_(c._500_BCE).png) Magadha
was a region and one of the sixteen
Mahajanapadas, ‘Great Kingdoms’ of the Second Urbanization (c. 600–200
BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges
Plain. Magahi or Magadhi is the language of Magadh which is still spoken in
southern Bihar. Magadha was ruled by the Pradyota dynasty, Barhadratha
dynasty, Haryanka dynasty (c. 544–413 BCE), and the Shaishunaga dynasty (c.
413–345 BCE). Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs
called Gramakas. Their administrations were divided into executive,
judicial, and military functions.
Magadha played an important role in
the development of Jainism and Buddhism. It was succeeded by three of
India’s greatest empires, the Nanda Empire (c. 345–322 BCE), Maurya Empire
and Gupta Empire. The Pala Empire also ruled over Magadha and maintained a
royal camp in Pataliputra.
The kingdom of Magadha, before its
expansion, corresponded to the modern districts of Patna, Jehanabad,
Nalanda, Aurangabad, Arwal, Nawada and Gaya in southern Bihar. It was
bounded on the north by the river Ganges, on the east by the river Champa,
on the south by the Chota Nagpur Plateau, and on the west by the Son River.
The region of Greater Magadha also included neighbouring regions in the
eastern Gangetic plains and had a culture and belief system of its own that
predated Hinduism. Much of the second urbanisation took place here from c.
500 BCE onwards and it was here that Jainism became strong and Buddhism
arose. The importance of Magadha’s culture can be seen in that features of
Buddhism and Jainism, most significantly a belief in rebirth and karmic
retribution, were incorporated into the Brahminical orthodoxy, resulting in
the Hindu synthesis.
 The
Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical
power in South Asia based in Magadha, founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322
BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The Maurya Empire was
centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and its capital city
was located at Pataliputra (modern Patna). Outside this imperial center, the
empire’s geographical extent was dependent on the loyalty of military
commanders who controlled the armed cities sprinkling it. During Ashoka’s
rule (ca. 268–232 BCE) the empire briefly controlled the major urban hubs
and arteries of the Indian subcontinent excepting the deep south. It
declined for about 50 years after Ashoka’s rule, and dissolved in 185 BCE
with the assassination of Brihadratha by Pushyamitra Shunga and foundation
of the Shunga dynasty in Magadha.
 Chandragupta
Maurya raised an army, with the assistance of Chanakya, author of
Arthasastra, and overthrew the Nanda Empire in c. 322 BCE.
Chandragupta rapidly expanded his power westwards across central and western
India by conquering the satraps left by Alexander the Great, and by 317 BCE
the empire had fully occupied northwestern India. The Mauryan Empire then
defeated Seleucus I, a diadochus and founder of the Seleucid Empire, during
the Seleucid–Mauryan war, thus acquiring territory west of the Indus River.
 Under
the Mauryas, internal and external trade, agriculture, and economic
activities thrived and expanded across South Asia due to the creation of a
single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. The
Maurya dynasty built a precursor of the Grand Trunk Road from Patliputra to
Taxila After the Kalinga War, the Empire experienced nearly half a century
of centralized rule under Ashoka. Ashoka’s embrace of Buddhism and
sponsorship of Buddhist missionaries allowed for the expansion of that faith
into Sri Lanka, northwest India, and Central Asia.
The population of
South Asia during the Mauryan period has been estimated to be between 15 and
30 million. The empire’s period of dominion was marked by exceptional
creativity in art, architecture, inscriptions and produced texts, but also
by the consolidation of caste in the Gangetic plain, and the declining
rights of women in the mainstream Indo-Aryan speaking regions of India.
Archaeologically, the period of Mauryan rule in South Asia falls into the
era of Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). The Arthashastra and
the Edicts of Ashoka are the primary sources of written records of Mauryan
times. The Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath is the national emblem of the
Republic of India.
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