Mauryan (Maurya) Empire, led by the peaceful Ashoka (Asoka) (#53) (Hart 266), expanded in India. The Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya. He defeated an invasion by a Greek general from Alexander’s army. The Mauryan Empire was the largest ever in the Indian subcontinent, and it was one of the most populous empires of the time. This was known as a “Golden Age of India.” (Wikipedia) Trade, agriculture and the economy all thrived thanks to efficient security and administration. Mauryan India also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge. Ashoka was one of India’s greatest emperors. He was Buddhist and sponsored the spread of Buddhist ideals which helped spread peace and tolerance across all of India. (Wikipedia)
Alexander’s empire split into 4 parts. After Alexander died in 323 BCE, there were 40 years of war between “The Successors” (Diadochi) before the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power blocks: 1) the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, 2) the Seleucid Empire (mostly Persia) in the east,3) the Kingdom of Pergamon(in Thrace and eastern Turkey) in Asia Minor, and 4)Macedon / Greece. (Wikipedia)
The “Tiger of Ch’in,” Qin Shi Huang di*, was the First emperor of the Qin Dynasty (the 4th all together or the first Imperial Dynasty)which controlled and unified all of China at that point. Although it only lasted 15 years, the European name for China is thought to be derived from Qin. Unfortunately, an attempt to purge all traces of the old dynasties led to an infamous burning of books incident. But on the positive side, the Qin Dynasty increased trade, improved agriculture, and introduced several reforms, such as standardizing currency, weights and measures. The central government also consolidated construction of the Great Wall of China. Qin was buried with a Terracotta Army (thousands of life-sized clay soldiers). (Wikipedia)
Hellenistic Age was the period of approximately 300 years between the death of Alexander the Great and the beginning of the Roman Empire. During this time Greek colonists settled in conquered lands and brought the Greek language and culture with them. This is known as cultural diffusion. Such Hellenization was accompanied by the opposite spread of Asian culture to Europe and resulted in the development of a hybrid ‘Hellenistic’ culture. A common Greek dialect became the lingua franca throughout the Hellenistic world. A lingua franca is a working or bridge language used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue. During this time, trade also increased. (Wikipedia)
