The Maurya period is remarkable in the early history of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta Maurya was the first ruler who tried to consolidate small fragmented kingdoms and combined them to form the first empire of the Indian subcontinent.
Priyadarsika is a Sanskrit play attributed to king Harshavardhan. It was first translated into English by G. K. Nariman, A. V. Williams Jackson, and Charles J. Ogden in 1923. Ratnavali and Nagananda are other works of Harshavardhan. Harshavardhan was also a great lover of education and learning. Emperor Harshvardhana wrote all the three plays in the Sanskrit Language.
In the post-Mauryan period, the techniques of cloth-making, silk- weaving, and the manufacture of luxury articles developed. Mathura was a great center for the manufacture of a special type of cloth which was called shataka.