1 102 A The Mauryan Empire @ By the 3rd century BC, most of South Asia had been brought by military conquest under the rule of one dynasty, the Mauryans. The third emperor, Ashoka, was sympathetic towards Buddhism and instrumental in its spread abroad. Though the empire declined after 200 BC, its cultural achievements and international links continued.
# Mauryan empire and local successors, Diderganj yakshi
2 102 B South Asia and the west @ The north-west had been conquered by the Persians then by Alexander the Great. Although it became part of the Mauryan Empire, western contacts and influences continued and it came again under Greek rule in the 2nd century BC. Through this region trade routes linked the western world ultimately with China.
# Indo-Greeks and the west., Satyr
3 102 C Central Asian invaders @ Movements of nomads in one part of Central Asia had a skittles effect on other nomad groups and a succession of these were driven west into South Asia from the late centuries BC onwards. They carved out kingdoms for themselves in the subcontinent, frequently adopting local cultural traditions.
# Central Asian invaders, A Parthian
4 102 D Early Sri Lanka @ Tradition tells that North Indians colonized Sri Lanka around 500 BC although archaeology also links the island to neighbouring south India. Sri Lanka's history really begins in the 3rd century when the Mauryan emperor Ashoka introduced Buddhism here, the dominant religion ever since; magnificent Buddhist structures adorn the early capital, Anuradhapura.
