<P> Under Chandragupta and his successors, internal and external trade, agriculture and economic activities, all thrived and expanded across the empire thanks to the creation of a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security . The empire was divided into four provinces, with the imperial capital at Pataliputra . From Ashokan edicts, the names of the four provincial capitals were Tosali (in the eastern Ganges plain), Ujjain (in the western Ganges plain), Suvarnagiri (in the Deccan), and Taxila (in the Indus Valley). The head of the provincial administration was the Kumara (royal prince), who governed the provinces as king's representative . The kumara was assisted by Mahamatyas and council of ministers . The empire also enjoyed an era of social harmony, religious transformation, and expansion of the sciences and of knowledge . Mauryans were followers of Buddhism and Hinduism . Chandragupta Maurya's embrace of Jainism increased social and religious renewal and reform across his society, while Ashoka's embrace of Buddhism has been said to have been the foundation of the reign of social and political peace and non-violence across the empire . Following the demise of Chandragupta, Ashoka became Emperor who ruled between 268 BC--232 BC . Ashoka was followed for 50 years by a succession of weaker kings . In 185 BC, the Shunga coup took place in which the emperor was killed, thus ending Mauryan rule . The fall of the Mauryas left the Khyber Pass unguarded, and a wave of invasions followed . </P> <P> The Greco - Bactrian king, Demetrius, capitalized on the break - up, and he conquered the Indus Valley in around 180 BC, forming the Indo - Greek Kingdom . </P> <P> By the time Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka had become emperor, Buddhism was flourishing in the Indus Valley and much of the eastern Seleucid Empire . In 250 BC, the eastern part of the Seleucid Empire broke away to form the Greco - Bactrian Kingdom by Diodotus of Bactria . Some of the Greeks apparently also converted to Buddhism during this period . </P> <P> Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved - of - the - Gods' instructions in Dharma . (Edicts of Ashoka, 13th Rock Edict, S. Dhammika). </P>

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