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.
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.