The Maurya Empire was a geographically-extensive Iron Age historical power based in Magadha and founded by Chandragupta Maurya which dominated ancient India between 322 and 187 BCE. Comprising the majority of South Asia, the Maurya Empire was centralized by conquering the Indo-Gangetic Plain in the eastern extent of the empire and had its capital city at Pataliputra (modern Patna).[5][6] The empire was the largest to have ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, spanning over 5million square kilometres (1.9million square miles) at its zenith under Ashoka.