The Brahmins, however, received a setback during the Mauryan Era (322-184 BCE) when its most famous member, the Emperor Ashoka, who united almost all of India, became a Buddhist and attempted to make India a Buddhist state. Buddhism had started as a reaction against too much elitism on the part of the Brahmins as had another religious group, the Jains. During the next five centuries, Buddhism declined, as did its attempt to minimize caste barriers in favor of universal brotherhood.