History of Bharat (India): Kharavela's Revenge - Ocean of Churn

We provide a summary of main points from Chapter 4 (Pages 63 - 81) of the book "Ocean of Churn" by Sanjeev Sanyal

Iron Age (1700 BC or earlier)

Large contingent of Indian soldiers was part of Greek Imperial army (Ref: The Histories - Herodotus, 450 BDC)
India was famous for gold, cinnamon, horses
Phoenicians sailed around Africa (Cape of good hope) 2000 years before Vasco da Game

Contingent of Indian cavalry fought till the end (stirrup was invented in India)
Army of Massaga (E Afghanistan) had 7000 Indian mercenaries, who were prisoners of war. Since they refused to fight their own countrymen, they were massacred by Alexander
Alexander defeated king of Pure tribe
Weary trips forced him to return home. He mistakenly sailed down the Indus and reached the Arabian Sea instead of the mouth of Nile
Few soldiers retired by sea. Bulk of his army died in deserts of Balochistan and E Iran

Since NW India was politically unstable following Alexander’s incursion, Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya conquered it easily
They defeated Seleucus Nikator and made him sign a treaty in 305 BDC. Mauryan territory extended all the way to Balochsitan, while Seleucus received 500 Indian was elephants and mahouts in exchange
Seleucus used these elephants to crush internal rebellion in Greece. Elephants became the symbol of Seleucid empire ! In coins, he was shown riding elephant drawn chariots !

Chandragupta’s son Bindusara ruled for 25 years till 273 BC. His kingdom expended from Afghanistan to Bengal to most of Southern India
How Ashoka annexed the throne ?

After Bindusara dies in 274 BC, crown prince Sushima rushed back to Pataliputra from NW frontiers, Ashoka killed him at E gates
Took help of Greek mercenaries
Killed 99 half-brothers and hundreds of loyal officials in 4 year civil war
Crowned emperor in 270 BC
Known as Chandaashoka - Ashoka the Cruel
Ashoka converted to Buddhism one decade before Kalinga war (rebellious vassal). This had more to do with politics of succession than any regret for sufferings of war
Ironically, none of Ashoka’s inscriptions in Odisha talk about remorse of war. These are found in faraway places like NW Pakistan
Ashokvandana (Buddhist text) describes how Ashoka got many members of Jain and Ajivika sects killed. E.g. 18000 Ajivikas in Bengal in a single day
He was not a successful administrator. During his later years, the kingdom disintegrated. He brought disrepute to the vast Mauryan empire built by his grandfather and sustained by his father.
Post independence, academic historians built up the legend of Ashoka the Great to provide lineage of Nehru’s socialist project!!! Uncomfortable evidence was swept under the carpet.
Why should modern Indians accept a narrative based on minimal evidence?

Arthashasta written by Chanaklya (aka Kautilya)
Dakshin path was preferred trade route, esp. for diamonds found in peninsular India
Tamralipti in Bengal was a thriving port

Ashoka’s successors (eg. Dashrath) tried to mend relations across sects
For Ajivikas, he constructed rock-cut shrines: Nagarjuni and Barabar caves in Gaya, Bihar
Kingdom broke up rapidly after Dashratha
Satavahanas took over Southern territories with capital at Pratishthana (Paithan, Maharashtra). —> this clan is never mentioned in textbooks
Kalinga rebelled under Chedi clan, with Kharavela as their military leader in 193 BC
He defeated Indo-Greek Demetrius at Magadh in 185 BC
He defeated last Mauryan king Bahasatimati in 181 BC and sacked the Mauryan capital
Kharavela’s inscriptions at Udayagiri hill overlook those of Ashoka at Dhauli. They mention that he defeated the Satavahanas, Mauryas, Indo-Greeks and Pandyas too.
He conducted Ashwamedh Yadnya and declared himself as Chakravarti (world conqueror) - most powerful ruler in Indian subcontinent at that time —> Kharavela is never mentioned in Indian textbooks, since historians emphasise continental over coastal perspective