Answer:
The Mauryan empire is what historians and archaeologists consider the first large empire in India. Chandragupta Maurya (Hence the name of the empire), founded the Mauryan empire and was the one who, in 321 BCE, overthrew the kingdom of Magadha (aided by nine Nanda kings), the largest ruling state in that era (with the help of Kautilya, an unloyal Brahmin of the Nanda court). He made an alliance with Seleucus Nicator, which ended his conquest campaign. Anyway, onto his grandson, Ashoka (His son was not that memorable, just stepping in his father's footsteps). Ashoka at first continued to conquer the land, but after a while, he stopped and advocated peace (started to believe in the Buddha). He "proclaimed to his subjects that the sound of the drum would be replaced by the sound of the dharma." This is just another way of saying that he would rule by virtue. He conducted dharma tours and also asked his subjects to observe certain principles including truthfulness, compassion, etc. But after his reign, the Mauryan empire declined for unknown reasons.
The Gupta Empire which flourished in the classical age was founded by Chandragupta I, and was continued by his son Samudragupta. He conquered territory. After they were done, they practiced tributary overlordship, meaning that the tributaries(city-states) had to pay tributes to the main capital annually. In the Gupta Empire, there were also a lot of important discoveries in art/literature and science. There was the famous play The Recognition of Shakuntala (not so famous now), and Ayurveda(medical science/doctors of that time) They also had the first suggestion that the earth rotates on an axis and the calculation of pi and the solar year(all done by Aryabhata).
The Gupta and Mauryan empires were all ruled and started through conquest, and also started and founded by people named Chandragupta. They also settled down after a few generations and ruled peacefully.
This is a brief overview of the Mauryan and Gupta Empires. For the more complicated version I am studying, visit