India Without Mauryans: What Does It Look Like

So, suppose for one reason or another the Maurya Empire never rises. How does India look? Will the Nanda Empire survive, and if so, for how long? Will someone else overthrow them? How does Kalinga do? Is it likely for India to unify under a different banner? How does Buddhism spread in this world?

So, yeah, project away!
 
Politically it's not going to be that different- some large empire will rise in the Indo-Gangetic plain, it's just very conducive to that.

The big question is what happens to Buddhism and post-Buddhism Hinduism. Ashoka's spread of Buddhism actually brought the South into closer cultural contact with the North, building the cultural continuum that would affect post Buddhist Hinduism. Without the Mauryas South and North India will be even more different.
 
Politically it's not going to be that different- some large empire will rise in the Indo-Gangetic plain, it's just very conducive to that.

The big question is what happens to Buddhism and post-Buddhism Hinduism. Ashoka's spread of Buddhism actually brought the South into closer cultural contact with the North, building the cultural continuum that would affect post Buddhist Hinduism. Without the Mauryas South and North India will be even more different.

So, more polarization of North and South India culturally and religiously?
 
So, more polarization of North and South India culturally and religiously?

That's a possibility. What Ashoka's missionary activity did was to bring South India (and by extension Sri Lanka) into a somewhat more unified cultural continuum with the North.
 
That's a possibility. What Ashoka's missionary activity did was to bring South India (and by extension Sri Lanka) into a somewhat more unified cultural continuum with the North.

Would the conversion of places like China and Japan happen and the missions to the Mediterranean occur as OTL without the Maurya?
 
Would the conversion of places like China and Japan happen and the missions to the Mediterranean occur as OTL without the Maurya?

That's an interesting question. IIRC it was Ashoka who first really gave impetus to active Buddhist missionary activity.
 
That's an interesting question. IIRC it was Ashoka who first really gave impetus to active Buddhist missionary activity.

We might see a world with significantly less Buddhism then. That's kind of a depressing thought, to be honest. I wonder if someone else will export the religion, or if something else will fill the void (if there is one, necessarily).
 
Top