Maurya samrajya aur Ashoka

Chandragupta aur Kautilya

Lagbhag 321 BCE mein, Alexander ki sena ke Bharat chhodne ke kuch saal baad, Magadha mein ek naya vansh satta mein aaya. Chandragupta Maurya ne Nandon ko hataaya aur Pataliputra ko apni rajdhani banaaya. Uske shuruaati jeevan ki kahaaniyan alag hain, par zyaadatar shrey uske guru Kautilya ko deti hain, jinhe Chanakya ya Vishnugupta bhi kehte hain, Takshashila ke vo shikshak jinka Dhana Nanda ne apmaan kiya tha. Peeche Magadha ka bhoogol, arthvyavastha aur vyapaar, aur aage raah dikhaati Kautilya ki ranneeti: inke saath Chandragupta ne kadam dar kadam vistaar kiya. Usne Alexander ke uttar-pashchim mein chhode Greek satraps ko haraaya aur aisa samrajya banaaya jo uttar ke maidaanon se Deccan ke pathaar tak tha. Phir usne Greeks se dosti ke rishte banaaye rakhe: Greek itihaaskaar aur doot Megasthenes uske darbaar mein raha aur apni kitaab Indika mein Bharat ka varnan kiya, jo ab sirf baad ke lekhakon ke uddharanon mein bachi hai.

Kautilya ka rajya ka vichaar

Kautilya ka Arthashastra, yaani ‘shaasan aur arthvyavastha ka shaastra’, raksha, arthvyavastha, prashaasan, nyaay, shehar ki yojana, kheti aur kalyan pe nirdesh deta hai. Iska sabse mashhoor vichaar hai saptanga, yaani rajya ke saat ang: raja (swami), salaahkaar aur mantri (amatya), ilaaka aur uske log (janapada), kile-band shehar (durga), khazaana (kosha), raksha aur kaanoon-vyavastha ki shaktiyan (danda) aur mitra rajya (mitra). Saath milkar inhe rajya ko sthir, surakshit aur samriddh banaana chahiye, zaroorat ke hisaab se yuddh ya shaanti ke gathbandhan se. Kautilya mazboot prashaasan, bhrashtaachaar ke khilaaf kaanoon aur praja ko nuksaan pahunchaane waale har kaam ki saza chaahte the.

Unki soch ke kendra mein kalyan hai. Raja apni praja ko samriddh banaakar taakatwar banta hai, kyunki shakti gaon-dehaat se aati hai, jahan se saari aarthik gatividhi shuru hoti hai; use un logon ko badhaava dena chahiye jo baandh aur sadak ke pul banaate hain ya gaon ki raksha karte hain. Raja ki khushi praja ki khushi mein hai, isliye vo kitna bhi taakatwar ho, praja ke hit sabse pehle aane chahiye.

Ashoka aur Kalinga yuddh

Chandragupta ke pote Ashoka ne 268 se 232 BCE tak raaj kiya. Shuru mein vo mahatvakaankshi tha: usne viraasat mein mile vishaal samrajya ko itna badhaaya ki vo door dakshin chhodkar lagbhag poore upmahadweep tak phail gaya, aaj ke Bangladesh aur Pakistan aur Afghanistan ke kuch hisson samet. Phir, jaisa uska apna ek edict batata hai, usne aaj ke Odisha, Kalinga, pe chadhaai ki aur bhayankar yuddh lada. Jo maut aur tabaahi usne dekhi, usne use badal diya. Usne jahan tak ho saka hinsa chhodi aur Buddha ki shaanti aur ahinsa ki seekh apnaayi. Buddha ke dharm ko apnaakar usne Sri Lanka, Thailand aur Central Asia tak doot bheje taaki Buddha ka sandesh door tak pahunche.

Samrajya bhar mein edicts

Itihaaskaar Ashoka ko ek mahaan sanchaarak kehte hain. Usne apne samrajya mein har jagah chattaanon aur stambhon pe edicts, yaani logon ke liye apne sandesh, khudwaaye, aur sabko dharma maanne ko kaha: kartavya, satya, sahi aacharan aur naitikta. Zyaadatar edicts Prakrit mein the, jo kai kshetron ki aam bol-chaal ki bhaasha thi, aur Brahmi lipi mein likhe gaye, jo Bharat ki saari kshetriya lipiyon ki jananee hai. Inmein usne khud ko Devanampiya Piyadasi kaha, yaani ‘devtaaon ka pyaara’ jo ‘doosron ko daya se dekhta hai’.

Parwaah karne waala shaasak

Edicts Ashoka ke kalyan ke kaam ginaate hain. Usne kaha ki vo logon aur jaanwaron ka ilaaj karwaata tha, apne samrajya ke baahar ke dakshini rajyon mein bhi; usne shikaar aur jaanwaron pe kroorta pe rok lagaayi, jo vanyajeev suraksha ki or ek shuruaati kadam tha; mukhya sadkon pe thodi-thodi doori pe kuen khudwaaye aur vishraam-ghar banwaaye, saath mein phal aur chhaaya ke ped; aur sabhi sampradaayon se ek doosre ki achhi seekhein apnaane ko kaha. Usne adhikaariyon se nishpaksh aur dhairyavaan rehne ko kaha, aur har paanch saal mein ek nireekshak bhejne ka vaada kiya taaki koi bina thos kaaran jail mein na daala jaaye ya sataaya na jaaye. Har daave ko sach maanna zaroori nahi, par Kautilya ki tarah use apni praja ke kalyan ki saaf parwaah thi.

Ashoka ke baad

Ashoka ki maut ke baad samrajya lagbhag aadhi sadi aur chala, par uske uttaraadhikaari use jod kar nahi rakh sake, kai chhote rajya alag ho gaye, aur lagbhag 185 BCE mein Bharatiya itihaas ka naya daur shuru hua. Maurya virasat bani rahi: Sarnath mein Ashoka ke stambh ka lion capital aaj Bharat ka rashtriya chinh hai.

Ye kyun zaroori hai

Mauryon ne pehli baar lagbhag poore upmahadweep ko joda. Magadha itna taakatwar kaise bana ki ye mumkin hua, ye Magadha ka uday mein hai, aur samrajya kaise chalte aur kyun bikharte hain, ye samrajya kya hai mein. Har sawaal ka jawaab Chapter 5 ke NCERT solutions mein hai; poore Chapter 5 ke notes bhi dekho.