The Mauryan Polity c6.s1.t4.29

c6.s1.t4.29

The next point to examine is the result of this invasion. The result was indeed far-reaching. The Mauryan empire expanded a good deal southward. The territory up to the frontiers of the chief Tamil kingdom came direct under the Mauryan sway, at least during the reign of Bindusāra, if not earlier. This is evident from the Aśokan Pillars and Rocks at the main road leading to the South (perhaps the Dakṣiṇapatha of Sanskrit literature) as well as at Gooty and Kaliṅga. Another result but more important than this was the alliance between the Empire and the Tamil states in the South. According to the maṇḍala theory of the Kauṭalīya the neighbouring state is supposed to be a potential enemy, if not a natural enemy. The time of Aśoka must have been the heyday of the teachings of the Arthaśāstra. For literary tradition whether Brahmanical, Buddhist, or Jaina makes Kauṭalya-Cāṇakya as the minister of Candragupta, and Bindusāra.² Be that as it may, the influence of the Arthaśāstra must have been great and profound. In spite of this we find that in practice the neighbours were allies of the empire, the representatives of the latter opening hospitals for man and beast even in those territories. This indirectly demonstrates that these small states acknowledged in a way the superiority, if not the suzerainty, of the Mauryan emperor. The invasion opened further the possibility of a strong Tamil king overreaching his enemies in the far north. Three centuries later we hear of Ceraṇ Śeṅguṭṭuvaṉ carrying his arms as far as the Ganges and returning victoriously. In much later times another Tamil king Rājendra led his army to the north fired by ambition to be the paramount master of all earth. It equally opened possibilities for a strong North Indian ruler to spread his sway over the distant south. We know from history Malik Kāfūr’s invasion of Peninsular India and his march through the Tamil kingdom as far south as Rāmeśwaram.¹ Not only, was therefore, the dakṣiṇapatha a commercial route for easy and frequent intercourse as suggested by the Arthaśāstra, but also a military route by which armies of the South and the North passed to and fro. It formed the great highway for Aśoka to broadcast his imperial policy. Its importance even in much later times as in the days of the East India Company can be seen by a reference to F. H. Scott’s military routes in his *Routes in the Peninsula of India.*²