State, Society, and the Quest for Salvation in India By facebooker_1987982734811389 Period: 563 BCE to 483 BCE Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha Period: 540 BCE to 468 BCE Life of Vardhamana Mahavira 520 BCE Invasion of India by Darius of Persia 327 BCE Invasion of India by Alexander of Macedon Period: 321 BCE to 185 BCE Mauryan Dynasty Period: 321 BCE to 297 BCE Reign of Chandragupta Maurya Period: 268 BCE to 232 BCE Reign of Ashoka Maurya Period: 182 BCE to 1 CE Bactrian rule in northern India Period: 1 CE to 300 Kushan empire in northern India and central Asia Period: 78 to 103 Reign of Kushan emperor Kanishka Period: 320 to 550 Gupta Dynasty