Daily Routine of Chandragupta Maurya

The following thread would delve on the daily routine of Chandragupta Maurya.

Chandragupta (322-298 BCE) was the first emperor of India, who unified the country, from the mountains of Afghanistan to southern Mysore. 🧵 Sources of the thread are as under:

1) Arthashastra by Kautilya;

2) 'Geographica' by Strabo;

3) 'Indica' by Megasthenes;

4) 'Chandragupta Maurya and His Times' by Dr. Radha Kumud Mookerji;

5) 'Age of Nandas and Mauryas' by K. A. Nilakanta Sastry

Holi Celebrations at Lahore Darbar

The following thread will give a vivid account of the Holi festivities which took place at Lahore Darbar during the tenure of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

This account is taken from travellers, diplomats, court-chroniclers & from other sources.

🧵 Maharaja Ranjit Singh used to celebrate Holi with great pomp & grandeur.

Huge quantities of coloured powder & syringes made of gold and silver were collected. Wine and gulal were given to nobles, generals & chiefs.

The Maharaja spent 1 lakh Rs. every year on Holi celebrations.

#Chandragupta

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The expansion of Mauryan empire towards south has been credited to two kings of the dynasty; Chandragupta or Bindusara.

Ashoka is ruled out because he only conquered Kalinga as per his own admission in RE-XIII, RE Kalsi, etc.

Let's look at Bindusara first.++ 2/5

Tārnātha, states that:

"Chanakya accomplished the destruction of the nobles & kings of 16 towns and made Bindusara master of all territory between the eastern and western sea”.

Apart from this, his title 'Amitraghata' = slayer of foes, indicates some forms of conquests. ++

Daily Routine of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

The thread details the daily routine of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose empire stretched from Peshawar to Satluj in the 19th century.

Parts of the thread have taken from accounts of soldiers & diplomats, who spent time with the Maharaja.

🧵 W.G. Osborne- British Military Secretary, spent a month with the Maharaja in 1838 at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur district & noted the routine of the Maharaja.

The Maharaja woke up at 4.30 am during summers & 6 am in winters.

He would start the day with a "brisk gallop at 5 am". ++

Moksha: A Charity Event in the Times of Harshavardhan.

The following thread would look at an event named 'Moksha', held every 5 years at Prayaga, under Harsha of Kannauj.

The details of the event have been taken from the writings of Xuanzang, who saw this event in c.639 AD.

🧵 Harsha fixed the place of this event at Prayaga (Prayagraj), at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, where according to the traditions "it is more advantageous to give one mite in charity, than a thousand in other places."

#GuptaEra

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The overall general administration under the Imperial Guptas is described as following:

1) Gupta emperors nominated their successors, Chandragupta -I nominated Samudragupta before his council.

2) Titles of emperors' were 'Maharajadhiraja', 'Prithvipala' etc + 2/5

3) Local kings were known as ' Mahasamanta', 'Nripati' or 'Maharaja'.

The king was assisted by a Chief Minister called 'Sachiva', who is described as a third eye of the king.

4) An imp officer of the Palace Staff was Superintendent of Royal Kitchen called ‘Khadyapakika’ +

Funeral Customs of India as observed by Xuanzang

In 7th century, a great Buddhist pilgrim and scholar from China, Xuanzang came to India.

The following thread would give a glimpse of what Xuanzang saw w.r.t funerary customs followed by the Indians.

Thread 🧵 1) When a person died, his family members used to raise lamentable cries and weep.

The family members loosened their hair, and beat their chests repeatedly ( both men & women).

There was no fixed dress for mourning, neither any fixed hour.

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When did the Greek soldiers, who came with Alexander, leave India ?

Treaty of Babylon (323 BCE), formulated just after the death of Alexander, mentions 'India east of Indus' (till Beas river) belonging to the Greek empire. 2/4

The treaty of Triparadisus (321 BCE) which further partitioned Alexander's empire among his generals, doesn't include any regions east of Indus.

This signified the independence of these eastern regions from Greek rule.

Causes of the Decline of Mauryan Empire

The thread would look at the causes, which led to the decline & ultimately the end of Mauryan rule in India.

It would explain 5 reasons which all came together in the 2nd century BCE, ending the greatest empire, which India ever had.

🧵 The Mauryan empire (322-185 BCE) is the largest empire of India.

It not only unified India politically, but provided greatest impetus for trade, art & interactions with foreign nations.

At its height in 232 BCE, it's area was 5 million sq kms...150 times more than modern India.

Daily Routine of Krishnadeva Raya

The thread would detail the daily routine of Emperor Krishnadeva Raya.

The account has been taken from the work 'Chronica dos reis de Bisnaga' (Chronicles of King of Vijaynagar), written by Domingo Paes.

#Thread 🧵 Domingo Paes was a Portuguese traveller, who visited Vijaynagara in c. 1520 and has left a detailed and vivid description of Vijaynagara and the emperor.

His account is one of the very few descriptions of Vijaynagara by a foreign traveller.

Ravana lifting Kailasha: A Commentary

The thread would detail a rock cut sculpture of Ravana trying to lift the Kailasha mountain at Ellora caves, Maharashtra

#Thread 🧵 The story is taken from Ramayana, where Ravana, because of his victories against Gods and humans becomes so arrogant that he now wants to lift up the Kailasha, which is an abode of his benefactor God, Shiva and Goddess Parvati.

Ancient Indian Dishes

The thread would list some of the ancient Indian dishes and their method of preparation.

The preparations would consist of both veg and non-veg dishes, which includes soups, main courses, curds, sweets, cakes, etc.

#Thread 🧵 1. Chiva or Prathuka

Chivda is an ancient preparation, dating back to the vedic age.

It is prepared by moisturizing rice grains with water, slightly parching them, and flattening them with strokes of pestle.

Chivda is still eaten.

Traitors of India

The thread would list few of the greatest traitors of India, whose acts allowed foreign rule of the country, for which they were rewarded by the invaders.

🧵 1. Sanggaios or Sanjaya (c. 327 BCE)

Sanggaios was a chieftain under 'Astes' or 'Hastin' during Alexander's invasion.

He betrayed his master and joined the Greeks, who captured the city.

Sanggaios was later given administration of the fallen city by Alexander.

Unknown facts about Gupta Empire

The thread would detail many of the unknown facts about Gupta empire, which ruled whole of the subcontinent, directly or indirectly, including it's political, cultural, facets.

🧵 1. Gupta Calender

Gupta calender, which started in 319 AD, was officially started by Chandragupta Vikramaditya (375/380-414 AD).

His Mathura pillar inscription of 380, denotes the date of "year 61", corresponding to 319 AD, in which we first come across the Gupta calender.

Contemporary Great Kings of India and the West

The thread would detail contemporary kings of the West, who were living during the kingships of various great Indian kings.

🧵 1. Bimbisara

Bimbisara was the first great king of Magadha, who ruled between c. 542-491 BCE.

His contemporary in the West was Cyrus the Great, Great king of Persia, his son Cambyses, & Darius-I.

Cyrus ruled between c. 550-529 BCE, Cambyses (529-522 BCE), Darius (522-486 BCE).

Unknown facts, questions and their probable answers on the Iron Pillar at Mehrauli

The thread would detail some unknown questions & their possible answers based on the inscription on the Iron Pillar.

🧵Thread The thread would not touch the question on who the "King Chandra" mentioned in the inscription is, because it has been proved quiet conclusively that the king mentioned in the inscription is none other than Chandragupta Vikramaditya (375/380-414 AD)

Ancient Indian Dramatists and Playwrights

The following thread would detail the names and works of ancient Indian playwrights, whose works have enriched our literature, and made their names immortal in our culture.

🧵 1. Bhasa ( 1st century BCE)

One of the most celebrated Sanskrit playwrights, Bhāsa has written at least 13 plays.

His plays were lost untill rediscovered in 1913.

Famous works: Uru-bhangam, Karna-bhara, Dootaghatotkacha, Svapnavasavadattam, etc

Ancient Republics and Kingdoms of India

The following is an account of republics and kingdoms of ancient India, from 6th century BCE to 4th century AD.

Big empires like Guptas and Mauryas, etc are excluded from this thread.

🧵 1. Malavas (4th century BCE- 4th century AD)

Malavas were an ancient Indian tribe, mentioned in MbH & Mahabhashya.

Greeks called them 'Malloi', who were ruling near Multan.

After Alexander's invasion, they settled in Rajasthan, and were finally absorbed by Samudra Gupta.

Great Empires of India

1. Mauryan Empire

Comprised an area from borders of Iran in the west to Bengal, and from Kashmir to southern Karnataka, incldg Balochistan and Sindh.

An area of 5 million sq kms, 150℅ greater than borders of modern India. Capital at Pātaliputrā. 2. Kushan Empire

Their empire in India stretched from southern Afghanistan to Benaras and beyond.

An area of 2.5-3 million sq kms were under the suzerainty of Kanishka and his successors.

Capitals at Purushpura ( Peshawar) and Mathura.

Chapter 8: Indian Maritime Activities During the time of Chalukyas and Cholas

The chapter will describe the maritime relations of India towards the east, and additionally would detail few more aspects of this intercourse with China. The period succeeding that of Guptas and Harsha was also characterized by remarkable maritime activities, bringing about further expansion of Indian civilization.

Along with maritime relations with China, relations with Japan, and Korea were also established.

Pliny ( 1st century AD) calculates that the Roman Empire paid 'hundred million sesterces' every year to buy perfume, ornaments, spices, etc from India.

That equates to 2 billion dollars in today's currency ! Thanks to @Shipreeta who has calculated that Indians received an amount of 729.6 trillion dollars in modern currency, between 20 BCE to 450 AD, roughly 400 years of trade value between Indians and Romans.