History
* Shaka Era
Seventy Eight CE, the year of ascension of emperor Kanishka became the beginning of what came to be called the Shaka Era or shakabda. Many south Indians to this
day use this calendar. This era is seventy eight years behind the Common Era in normal use
* Mehrauli pillar
The famous Mehrauli Iron pillar now in Qutub Minar complex in Delhi was probably set up by Chandra Gupta II who was also called Vikramaditya.
This pillar is famous for the fact that it has not rusted despite standing in open air for the last seventeen hundred years.
* Gupta empire
The Gupta dynasty kings began their rule of a small kingdom in modern Bihar and within three generations gained control over most of Northern India from Gujarat
to Bengal and Delhi to present day Madhya Pradesh. Some of the most famous kings of this dynasty were Chandra Gupta I, Samudra Gupta, Chandra Gupta II, Kumara
Gupta and Skanda Gupta.
* Kushans
The Kushanas originally migrated from China and gradually established an empire with its centre in Afghanistan more than two thousand years ago. The most famous
Kushana king was Kanishka who ascended the throne in seventy eight CE
* The most important Satavahana kings were Gautamiputra Satakarni, Vashishtiputra Pulumavi and Yajnasri Satakarni. They ruled for about 200 years around 2000 years ago
* The most famous Mauryan ruler was Ashoka. He was the first ruler who tried to take his message to the people through inscriptions. Most of Ashoka’s inscriptions were in Prakrit and were written in the Brahmi script.
* One important book is Arthasastra written by Kautilya, a minister of Chandragupta.
* Another was Indica written by Magasthenese, an ambassador of a Greek King in the court of Chandragupta
* Arthasastra
Kautilya, who is also known as Chanakya, wrote a very important book on how to conquer and rule kingdoms. This book advises kings
on how to protect themselves from conspiracies, how to tax different kinds of professions, and gives information about various resources .
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