Central Asiatic Provinces of the Maurya Empire

Summary

This study reconstructs the geography of the Maurya Empire’s central Asian provinces by combining Greek accounts with the evidence of Aśoka’s edicts. The author begins by noting that Aśoka’s inscriptions refer to territories inhabited by Greeks (Yonas), Kambojas and other groups beyond the Indus, showing that the Mauryan realm extended well into present‑day Afghanistan and north‑western Pakistan. He cites Strabo’s report that the Indus marked the boundary between the Maurya and Syrian empires and points out that Greek writers identified the Yonas, Kambojas, Gandharas and Katas as Mauryan subjects. These border peoples, who lived on both sides of the river, were included among Aśoka’s ‘borderers’, indicating that imperial authority reached beyond the traditional frontiers of India. The article then discusses the satrapies that formed the Mauryan western and north‑western provinces, examining place‑names preserved in the rock edicts and correlating them with archaeological sites. Particular attention is paid to Kamboja, identified with the Oxus region, and to the country of the Yavanas (Greeks) around Alexandria‑in‑Arachosia. The author argues that the Mauryas inherited Achaemenid administrative divisions and integrated them into their empire, retaining Persian titles and practices while promoting Buddhist policies. He also analyses passages in the Arthashastra and the Mahavamsa to identify the governors and provincial capitals in the north‑west and central India. Economic evidence, such as coin finds and references to trade routes, is marshalled to show that these provinces were prosperous and strategically vital. The article concludes that the Mauryan Empire’s western frontier lay not at the Indus but further west, and that the administration of the frontier provinces was more complex than has often been assumed. By synthesising Greek, Indian and epigraphic sources, the author reconstructs a picture of a vast, multicultural empire whose borders encompassed Greeks, Persians and numerous Central Asian peoples.