To navigate the timeline, click and drag it with your mouse, or click on the timeline overview on the bottom.
350 BCE
340 BCE
330 BCE
320 BCE
310 BCE
300 BCE
290 BCE
280 BCE
270 BCE
260 BCE
250 BCE
240 BCE
230 BCE
220 BCE
210 BCE
200 BCE
190 BCE
180 BCE
350 BCE - 275 BCE: Life of Kautilya, Indian stateman and philosopher, chief advisor and Prime Minister of the Indian Emperor Chandragupta.
340 BCE - 298 BCE: Life of Indian Emperor Chandragupta, first ruler of the Mauryan Empire.
321 BCE: Dhana Nanda, king of Magadha, is killed by Chandragupta Maurya.
321 BCE - 298 BCE: Reign of Chandragupta Maurya, first ruler of the Mauryan Empire.
320 BCE - 180 BCE: Mauryan rule in the Gandhara region, beginning with Chandragupta Maurya.
320 BCE: Chandragupta Maurya seizes the throne of Magadhan and expands the kingdom over northern and central India.
305 BCE: Emperor Chandragupta signs a treaty with Seleucos I, establishing borders and giving the Punjab to Chandragupta in return for 500 war elephants.
300 BCE - 273 BCE: Reign of Bindusara, the second ruler of the Mauryan Empire.
298 BCE: Chandragupta voluntarily abdicates the throne in favour of his son Bindusara. Jain sources say that Chandragupta turned into an ascetic and follower of Jainism, migrated south and starved himself to death.
297 BCE - 273 BCE: Chandragupta's son, Bindusara, rules and expands the Mauryan Empire.
268 BCE - 232 BCE: Reign of Ashoka the Great, third ruler of the Mauryan Empire.
268 BCE: Ashoka becomes emperor of the Mauryan Empire in India.
260 BCE: Ashoka conquers Kalinga. The bloodshed makes him remorseful, and he turns towards non-violence.
232 BCE: Indian ruler Ashoka dies and the Mauryan Empire declines within fifty years.
187 BCE: Brihadratha, the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty is assassinated by his commander-in-chief, Pushyamitra Shunga.