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IMAGE COURTESY OF INDIAN SCHOOL/PRIVATE COLLECTION/DINODIA/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
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History books go on and on about Alexander the Great, but his early death helped launch a 150-year empire that would prosper, enshrine religious tolerance, and eventually renounce violence, even to animals.
Precious little is taught about the Mauryan Empire, which consolidated vast power and land after Alexander died in 323 B.C. It was the first great Indian empire, and its peaceful ambitions were enshrined in the message-laden pillars that remain throughout India. “Truth and virtue they hold in esteem,” Nat Geo quotes one historic court chronicler as saying. Sounds pretty good these days.
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(In the painting at top, Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan Empire, sits with his mentor Kautilya.)
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