Ashoka's empire encompassed almost the whole of the Indian
sub-continent. Geographically, it stretched from present day Afghanistan and Pakistan to
Bangladesh. Alexander the Great had conquered a great deal of India; but when he
withdrew, this left a power vacuum that was filled by Ashoka's grandfather,
Changdragupta Maurya. This was the beginning of the Mauryan dynasty. After his death,
Ashoka conquered the remainder of the sub-continent in a campaign that was quite bloody.
The bloodshed caused him to dedicate himself to
Buddhism.
Ashoka’s empire crumbled almost immediately after
his death in 232 B.C.E., largely due to economic difficulties. The cost of maintaining
an army (which was largely inefficient) outpaced revenue; and subsequent emperors
attempted to compensate for the loss by debasing the currency (reducing the gold or
silver in the coin without reducing its face value.) The Mauryan Empire disintegrated c.
185 B.C.E., after which local rulers ruled a series of localized
kingdoms.
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