Oct 21, 2019, 2:59 PM IST
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power based in Magadha and founded by Chandragupta Maurya which dominated the Indian subcontinent between 322 and 185 BC. Comprising the majority of South Asia, the Maurya Empire was centralized by the conquest of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, and its capital city was located at Pataliputra near modern Patna. The empire was the largest political entity that has ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, extending over 5 million square kilometres at its zenith under Ashoka.