Picture ancient India in the 500s BCE. It is a vast peninsula with steep mountains on three sides. To the north rise the Himalayas, the tallest mountains on Earth.
From the northernmost foothills of the Himalayas to the southern tip of India is almost 2,000 miles. A person riding a horse (or an elephant!) would need weeks or months to travel from one end of ancient India to the other.
The country is divided into many small kingdoms and city-states that are often at war. Their kings fight to control more land and trade routes that can bring wealth. Could one leader ever unite this huge area?
