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Mauryan art is art produced during the period of the Mauryan Empire, the first empire to rule over most of the Indian subcontinent, between 322 and 185 BCE. It represented an important transition in Indian art from the use of wood to stone. It was a royal art patronized by Mauryan kings, most notably Ashoka. Pillars, stupas and caves are its ...
Such examples can also be seen in the remains of the Mauryan capital city of Pataliputra. It has also been suggested that 6th century Greek columns such as the Sphinx of Naxos, a 12.5m Ionic column crowned by an animal in the religious centre of Delphi, may have been an inspiration for the pillars of Ashoka. [27]
It discusses relief efforts undertaken by Chandragupta Maurya during a period of famine. [3] Scholars agree that punchmarked coins featuring a three-arched crescent atop symbol known as Rajanka or Meru symbol, found at Kumrahar (Patna) also mentioned on the Sahgaura copper-plate, were issued during Chandragupta Maurya's reign. [4]
The most widespread examples of Mauryan architecture are the Ashoka pillars and carved edicts of Ashoka, often exquisitely decorated, with more than 40 spread throughout the Indian subcontinent. [150] [better source needed] The peacock was a dynastic symbol of Mauryans, as depicted by Ashoka's pillars at Nandangarh and Sanchi Stupa. [32]
The first examples of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system appeared in the Brahmi numerals used in the Edicts of Ashoka, in which a few numerals are found, although the system is not yet positional (the zero, together with a mature positional system, was invented much later around the 6th century CE) and involves different symbols for units ...
According to architectural historian Pushkar Sohoni, "In early Buddhist architecture, the lion, along with the horse, the elephant, and the zebu, were considered auspicious. All these animals appeared as a standard quartet on many Mauryan pillars." [44] The lion capital and its Ashokan pillar have complex meanings.
The Maurya coins also have five symbols – the sun-mark, the six-armed symbol, three-arched hill with a crescent at the top, a branch of a tree at the corner of a four-squared railing and a bull with taurine in front. Punch-marked copper coins were first issued during the rule of Chandragupta Maurya or Bindusara.
The Barabar caves are the first known and dated example of Mauryan polish, dedicated by Ashoka in several inscriptions, in the year 12 and the year 19 of his reign. The caves were carved from granite, an extremely hard rock, and finished with a very fine polishing of the inner surface, giving a mirror effect of great flatness, as well as an echo effect.