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The Mauryan empire grew out of the Magadha janapada and kingdom. The empire was founded around 322 BCE by Chandragupta Maurya, a man of humble
origins who usurped the Magadhan throne of the Nandas. The Magadhan kingdom was already large and Chandragupta expnded it further. The Seleucid emperor, Seleucos I,
ceded to him all the Greek lands south of the Hindu Kush mountains. Thus his empire stretched through modern Pakistan into Afghanistan. Chandragupta is said to have
given up the throne in order to become an ascetic. His son, Bindusara, continued the expansion of the empire, as did his grandson, Ashoka. However, after witnessing the
aftermath of a particularly bloody battle during the Mauryan conquest of Kalinga in modern-day Orissa, Ashoka was overwhelmed with remorse and decided to abandon war
altogether. He converted to Buddhism and started to follow a policy of non-violence, spreading the pacifist philosophy of the Buddha throughout his empire and also to other
countries through emissaries sent out for that purpose. The Mauryan empire survived for some 50 years after the death of Ashoka, but was eventually overthrown when a
general in the army, Pushyamitra Sunga, usurped the throne.
The approximate chronology of the Mauryan kings is as follows:
Chandragupta (322-298 BCE)
Bindusara (298-272 BCE)
Ashoka (272-232 BCE)
Dasaratha (232-224 BCE)
Samprati (224-215 BCE)
Salisuka (215-202 BCE)
Devavarman (202-195 BCE)
Satadhanvan (195-187 BCE)
Brihadratha (187-185 BCE)
The Mauryan coinage consisted almost exclusively of silver karshapanas of roughly 3.4 gm, a series that continued the Magadha karshapana series. Almost all Mauryan
coins have five punches, as did the Magadhan coins before them ... a sun, a "6-arm symbol" and three others. Some of the last coins in the series also had a punch on
the reverse of the coin. Over time, the flans became smaller and thicker. The economy must have been very prosperous, as the coins seem to have been minted in the millions.
Large hoards of Mauryan coins are found to this day and, as a result, the coins are quite inexpensive, especially considering their age. Unfortunately, we do not know what the
punches signify, nor do we know exactly which coins were issued by which kings. Indeed, we are not even sure where the Magadhan series ends and the Mauryan series
begins.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.19 gm., Dim: 16 x 17 mm.
Ref: GH 477.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.43 gm., Dim: 15 x 14 mm.
Ref: GH 506.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.14 gm., Dim: 13 x 13 mm.
Ref: GH 509.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.01 gm., Dim: 15 x 14 mm.
Ref: GH 510.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.15 gm., Dim: 12 x 12 mm.
Ref: GH 512.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.38 gm., Dim: 13 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 516.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.35 gm., Dim: 13 x 14 mm.
Ref: GH 519.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.06 gm., Dim: 16 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 524.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.38 gm., Dim: 16 x 9 mm.
Ref: GH 530.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.43 gm., Dim: 11 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 534.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.22 gm., Dim: 13 x 17 mm.
Ref: GH 543.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.36 gm., Dim: 13 x 12 mm.
Ref: GH 549.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.08 gm., Dim: 14 x 17 mm.
Ref: GH 550.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.29 gm., Dim: 13 x 13 mm.
Ref: GH 552.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.37 gm., Dim: 11 x 16 mm.
Ref: GH 555.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.46 gm., Dim: 13 x 16 mm.
Ref: GH 561.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.42 gm., Dim: 16 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 566.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.28 gm., Dim: 15 x 14 mm.
Ref: GH 568.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 2.90 gm., Dim: 14 x 13 mm.
Ref: GH 570.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.25 gm., Dim: 12 x 16 mm.
Ref: GH 573.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.38 gm., Dim: 16 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 574.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 2.99 gm., Dim: 15 x 14 mm.
Ref: GH 575.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.27 gm., Dim: 11 x 14 mm.
Ref: GH 582.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 2.96 gm., Dim: 10 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 591.
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Silver karshapana
c. 4th-2nd century BCE
Weight: 3.24 gm., Dim: 12 x 15 mm.
Ref: GH 595.
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