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Mauryan Empire

c. 322–185 BCE

An Ashokan stone pillar standing beside the brick Ananda Stupa at Vaishali, Bihar, under a blue sky.

Recorded HistoryMauryan Empire

Chandragupta Maurya overthrew the Nanda dynasty at Pataliputra in the years around 322 BCE, and he and his successors extended the empire across most of the subcontinent. His grandson Ashoka, who reigned from about 268 to 232 BCE, had edicts inscribed on rocks and polished stone pillars across his realm, and they remain a major source for the period.

The empire ended about 185 BCE, when its last king, Brihadratha, was killed by his general Pushyamitra, who founded the Shunga dynasty. Sources place the founding in 321 or 322 BCE, so the dates of the period are approximate. The archive marks the empire from its start, c. 322 BCE.

c. 322–185 BCE, placed on the scale of its era on a line leading toward now.

Era
Recorded History
Period
c. 322–185 BCE
Edition
1/1
Status
Reserved for a Future Release
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Background artwork

Cinematic background showing a lion-topped sandstone pillar beside a brick stupa at sunset. An illustration generated with an AI image tool for TIME. It is an artistic depiction, not a photograph or a record of the moment. The monuments are shown in an imagined setting.