Chandragupta Maurya

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Chandragupta Maurya
Samrat Chakravartin
Statue of a standing young man in red stone.
Statue of Chandragupta Maurya at the Birla Mandir, Delhi
Maurya Emperor
Reign 322BC - 298BC
Predecessor Dhana Nanda of the Nanda Empire
Successor Bindusara
Spouse Durdhara
Issue Bindusara
House Maurya
Born 340 BC
Pataliputra, Bihar, India
Died 298 BC
Shravanbelgola, Karnataka, India[1]

Chandragupta Maurya (340 BC – 298 BC) was the founder of the Maurya Empire and the first emperor to unify most of Greater India into one state. He ruled from 322 BC until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favour of his son Bindusara in 298 BC.[2][3][4]

Chandragupta Maurya was a pivotal figure in the history of India. Prior to his consolidation of power, most of South Asia was ruled by small states, while the Nanda Empire dominated the Indus-Gangetic Plain.[5] Chandragupta succeeded in conquering and subjugating almost all of the Indian subcontinent by the end of his reign,[nb 1] except the Tamil regions (Chera, Chola and Pandya) and Kalinga. His empire extended from Bengal in the east, to Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west, to the Himalayas and Kashmir in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. It was the largest empire yet seen in Indian history.[6][7]

After unifying much of India, Chandragupta and his chief advisor Chanakya passed a series of major economic and political reforms. He established a strong central administration patterned after Chanakya’s text on politics, the Arthashastra (English: "Economics and political science"). Maurya India was characterised by an efficient and highly organised bureaucratic structure with a large civil service. Due to its unified structure, the empire developed a strong economy, with internal and external trade thriving and agriculture flourishing. In both art and architecture, the Maurya Empire made important contributions, deriving some of its inspiration from the culture of the Achaemenid Empire and the Hellenistic world.[8] Chandragupta's reign was a time of great social and religious reform in India. Buddhism and Jainism became increasingly prominent.

In foreign Greek and Latin accounts, Chandragupta is known as Sandrokottos and Androcottus.[4] He became well known in the Hellenistic world for conquering Alexander the Great's easternmost satrapies, and for defeating the most powerful of Alexander's successors, Seleucus I Nicator, in battle. Chandragupta subsequently married Seleucus's daughter to formalize an alliance and established a policy of friendship with the Hellenistic kingdoms, which stimulated India's trade and contact with the western world. The Greek diplomat Megasthenes, who visited the Maurya capital Pataliputra, is an important source of Maurya history.

Chandragupta was Jain by faith. In the last years of his reign he took Jaineshwari Diksha from Shrutakevali Bhadrabahu to be a Muni. So he abdicated his throne and with the sangha he had gone to spend his last days at Shravanabelagola, a famous religious site in south India, where he fasted to death. Along with his grandson, Ashoka, Chandragupta Maurya is one of the most celebrated rulers in the history of India and is also known as Samrat Chakravartin. He has played a crucial role in shaping the national identity of modern India, and has been lionised as a model ruler and as a national hero.

Early life[edit]

See also Ancestry of Chandragupta Maurya Very little is known about Chandragupta's youth and ancestry. What is known is gathered from later classical Sanskrit literature, as well as classical Greek and Latin sources which refer to Chandragupta by the names "Sandracottos" or "Andracottus."[9]

Many Indian literary traditions connect him with the Nanda Dynasty in modern day Bihar in eastern India. More than half a millennium later, the Sanskrit drama Mudrarakshasa calls him a "Nandanvaya" i.e. the descendant of Nanda (Act IV). Chandragupta was born into a family left destitute by the death of his father, chief of the migrant Mauryas, in a border fray.[10] Mudrarakshasa uses terms like kula-hina and Vrishala for Chandragupta's lineage. This reinforces Justin's contention that Chandragupta had a humble origin.[11][12] On the other hand, the same play describes the Nandas as of Prathita-kula, i.e. illustrious, lineage. The Buddhist text the Mahavamsa calls Chandragupta a member of a division of the(Kshatriya) clan called the Moriya i.e. Mor clan or gotra of Jat people. The Mahaparinibbana Sutta states that the Moriyas (Mauryas) belonged to the Kshatriya community of Pippalivana i.e. possibly Pipli on the outskirts of Kurukshetra. These traditions indicate that Chandragupt came from a Kshatriya lineage. The Mahavamshatika connects him with the Shakya clan of the Buddha, a clan which also belongs to the race of Ādityas.[13]

In Buddhist tradition, Chadragupta Maurya was a member of the Kshatriyas and that his son, Bindusara, and grandson, the famous Buddhist Ashoka, were of Kshatriya lineage, perhaps of the Sakya line. (The Sakya line of Kshatriyas is considered to be the lineage of Gautama Buddha, and Ashoka Maurya billed himself as "Buddhi Sakya" in one of his inscriptions.) [14]

A medieval inscription represents the Maurya clan as belonging to the solar race of Kshatriya s. It is stated that the Maurya line sprang from Suryavamsi Mandhatri, son of prince Yuvanashva of the solar race.[citation needed] Chandragupta was a student of Chanakya.

Plutarch reports that he met with Alexander the Great probably around Takshasila in the northwest, and that he viewed the ruling Nanda Empire in a negative light:


PlutarchParallel Lives: Life of Alexander 62.9

According to this text, the encounter would have happened around 326 BCE, suggesting a birth date for Chandragupta around 340 BCE. Plutarch and other Greco-Roman historians appreciated the gravity of Chandragupta Maurya's conquests. Justin describes the humble origins of Chandragupta, and explains how he later led a popular uprising against the Nanda king.[15]

Foundation of the Maurya Empire[edit]

Further information: Magadha and Maurya Empire

Chandragupta Maurya, with the help of Chanakya, defeated the Magadha king and the army of the Chandravanshi clan. Following his victory, the defeated generals of Alexander settled in Gandhara (the Kamboja kingdom), today's Afghanistan. At the time of Alexander's invasion, Chanakya was a teacher in Takshasila. The king of Takshasila and Gandhara, Ambhi (also known as Taxiles), made a peace treaty with Alexander. Chanakya, however, planned to defeat the foreign invasion and sought help from other kings to unite and fight Alexander. Parvateshwara (Porus), a king of Punjab, was the only local king who was able to challenge Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River, but he was defeated.

Chanakya then went further east to Magadha, to seek the help of Dhana Nanda, who ruled the vast Nanda Empire which extended from Bihar and Bengal in the east to Punjab and Sindh in the west,[15] but Dhana Nanda refused to help him. After this incident, Chanakya began to persuade his disciple Chandragupta of the need to build an empire that could protect Indian territories from foreign invasion.

Nanda army[edit]

The Nanda Empire at its greatest extent under Dhana Nanda circa 323 BCE.
Main article: Nanda Dynasty

According to Plutarch, at the time of the Battle of the Hydaspes River, the Nanda Empire's army numbered 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 chariots, and 7,000 war elephants, which discouraged Alexander's men and prevented their further progress into India:

In order to defeat the powerful Nanda army, Chandragupta needed to raise a formidable army of his own.[15]

Conquest of the Nanda Empire[edit]

Further information: Nanda Dynasty
Main article: Nanda War
Chandragupta's empire when he founded it c. 320 BCE, by the time he was about 20 years old.

Chanakya had trained and guided Chandragupta and together they planned the destruction of Dhana Nanda. The Mudrarakshasa of Visakhadutta as well as the Jain work Parisishtaparvan talk of Chandragupta's alliance with the Himalayan king Parvatka, sometimes identified with Porus.[16]

It is noted in the Chandraguptakatha that Chandragupta and Chanakya were initially rebuffed by the Nanda forces. Regardless, in the ensuing war, Chandragupta faced off against Bhadrasala, the commander of Dhana Nanda's armies. He was eventually able to defeat Bhadrasala and Dhana Nanda in a series of battles, culminating in the siege of the capital city Pataliputra[15] and the conquest of the Nanda Empire around 321 BCE,[15] thus founding the powerful Maurya Empire in Northern India by the time he was about 20 years old.

Conquest of Macedonian territories in India[edit]

Chandragupta had defeated the remaining Macedonian satrapies in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent by 317 BCE.

After Alexander's death in 323 BCE, Chandragupta turned his attention to Northwestern South Asia (modern Pakistan), where he defeated the satrapies (described as "prefects" in classical Western sources) left in place by Alexander (according to Justin), and may have assassinated two of his governors, Nicanor and Philip.[3][15] The satrapies he fought may have included Eudemus, ruler in western Punjab until his departure in 317 BCE; and Peithon, son of Agenor, ruler of the Greek colonies along the Indus until his departure for Babylon in 316 BCE. The Roman historian Justin described how Sandrocottus (Greek version of Chandragupta's name) conquered the northwest:


Conquest of Seleucus' eastern territories[edit]

Chandragupta extended the borders of his empire towards Seleucid Persia after his conflict with Seleucus c. 305 BCE.

Seleucus I Nicator, a Macedonian satrap of Alexander, reconquered most of Alexander's former empire and put under his own authority the eastern territories as far as Bactria and the Indus (Appian, History of Rome, The Syrian Wars 55), until in 305 BCE he entered into conflict with Chandragupta:


AppianHistory of Rome, The Syrian Wars 55

The exact details of engagement are not known. As noted by scholars such as R. C. Majumdar and D. D. Kosambi, Seleucus appears to have fared poorly, having ceded large territories west of the Indus to Chandragupta. Due to his defeat, Seleucus surrendered Arachosia (modern Kandahar), Gedrosia (modern Balochistan), Paropamisadae (or Gandhara).[17][18]

Mainstream scholarship asserts that Chandragupta received vast territory west of the Indus, including the Hindu Kush, modern day Afghanistan, and the Balochistan province of Pakistan.[19][20] Archaeologically, concrete indications of Maurya rule, such as the inscriptions of the Edicts of Ashoka, are known as far as Kandhahar in southern Afghanistan.

After having made a treaty with him [Sandrakotos] and put in order the Orient situation, Seleucos went to war against Antigonus.

Junianus JustinusHistoriarum Philippicarum libri XLIV, XV.4.15

It is generally thought that Chandragupta married Seleucus's daughter to formalize an alliance. In a return gesture, Chandragupta sent 500 war-elephants,[17][21][22][23][24][25] a military asset which would play a decisive role at the Battle of Ipsus in 302 BCE. In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched an ambassador, Megasthenes, to Chandragupta, and later Deimakos to his son Bindusara, at the Maurya court at Pataliputra (modern Patna in Bihar state). Later Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt and contemporary of Ashoka the Great, is also recorded by Pliny the Elder as having sent an ambassador named Dionysius to the Maurya court.[26]



Southern conquest[edit]

After annexing Seleucus' eastern Persian provinces, Chandragupta had a vast empire extending across the northern parts of Indian Sub-continent, from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Chandragupta then began expanding his empire further south beyond the barrier of the Vindhya Range and into the Deccan Plateau except the Tamil regions (Pandya, Chera, Chola and Satyaputra) and Kalinga (modern day Odisha).[15] The famous Tamil poet Mamulanar of the Sangam literature also described how the Deccan Plateau was invaded by the Maurya army.[27] By the time his conquests were complete, Chandragupta had succeeded in unifying most of Southern Asia. Megasthenes later recorded the size of Chandragupta's army as 400,000 soldiers, according to Strabo:

Megasthenes was in the camp of Sandrocottus, which consisted of 400,000 men.

On the other hand, Pliny, who also drew from Megasthenes' work, gives even larger numbers of 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 war elephants:

But the Prasii surpass in power and glory every other people, not only in this quarter, but one may say in all India, their capital Palibothra, a very large and wealthy city, after which some call the people itself the Palibothri,--nay even the whole tract along the Ganges. Their king has in his pay a standing army of 600,000-foot-soldiers, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants: whence may be formed some conjecture as to the vastness of his resources.

Jainism and death[edit]

Purportedly the mark of Chandragupta's footprints in Karnataka, India, not far from the cave where he observed fasts in accordance with Jain beliefs.

According to Jain tradition, Chandragupta gave up his throne at the beginning of the third century BC when he was forty-two years old and became an ascetic under the last Shrutakevali Bhadrabahu, migrating south with them and ending his days in sallekhana (death by fasting) according to Jain spiritual tradition at Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa in present day Karnataka, though fifth-century inscriptions in the area support the concept of a larger southern migration around that time.[clarification needed][28] [29]


Main article: Maurya Empire

Chandragupta Maurya renounced his throne to his son, Bindusara, who became the new Maurya Emperor. Bindusara maintained friendly relations with Greek governors in Asia and Egypt. Bindusara's son Ashoka the Great became one of the most influential kings in India's history due to his important role in the history of Buddhism.

In popular culture[edit]

  • Chanakya's role in formation of the Maurya Empire is the essence of a historical/spiritual novel The Courtesan and the Sadhu by Dr. Mysore N. Prakash.[30]
  • The television series Chanakya is an account of the life and times of Chanakya, based on the play "Mudra Rakshasa" (The Signet Ring of "Rakshasa").
  • In the American comic strip Pearls Before Swine a girl named "Carla" mentions the story of him becoming an ascetic, although she says monk, and starving to death.[34]

See also[edit]



  1. ^ The conquest of the Deccan is a matter of conjecture. Either Chandragupta or his son and successor Bindusara established Maurya rule over southern parts of India, except the Tamil regions. Old Jaina tets report that Chandragupta was a follower of that religion and ended his life in Karnataka by fasting unto death. If this report is true, Chandragupta may have started the conquest of the Deccan.[2]


  1. ^ Chandragupta Maurya and his times By Radha Kumud Mookerji, 4th ed. 1966, p.40. ISBN 81-208-0405-8; 81-208-0433-3
  2. ^ a b Kulke, Hermann; Rothermund, Dietmar (1998) [1986]. A History of India (Third ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 59–64. ISBN 0-415-15481-2. 
  3. ^ a b Boesche, Roger (January 2003). "Kautilya's Arthaśāstra on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India". The Journal of Military History 67 (1): 9–37. doi:10.1353/jmh.2003.0006. ISSN 0899-3718. 
  4. ^ a b William Smith (ed), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, 1870, Vol 3 p. 705-6
  5. ^ Shastri, Nilakantha (1967). Age of the Nandas and Mauryas (Second ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 26. ISBN 81-208-0465-1. 
  6. ^ Vaughn, Bruce (2004). "Indian Geopolitics, the United States and Evolving Correlates of Power in Asia". Geopolitics 9 (2): 440–459 [442]. doi:10.1080/14650040490442944. 
  7. ^ Goetz, H. (1955). "Early Indian Sculptures from Nepal". Artibus Asiae 18 (1): 61–74. doi:10.2307/3248838. 
  8. ^ Sen, S. N. (1999). Ancient Indian History And Civilization. New Age International. p. 165. ISBN 978-8122411980. 
  9. ^ Romila Thapar; Early India: From the Origins to Ad 1300. University of California Press. 2004. ISBN 978-0520242258. p. 177.
  10. ^  Check date values in: |accessdate= (help);
  12. ^ There is a controversy about Justin's account. Justin actually refers to a name Nandrum, which many scholars believe is reference to Nanda (Dhana Nanda of Magadha), while others say that it refers to Alexandrum, i.e., Alexander. It makes some difference which version one believes
  13. ^
  14. ^
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Radhakumud Mookerji; Chandragupta Maurya And His Times. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. 1966. ISBN 978-8120804050. p. 6.
  16. ^ John Marshall Taxila, p. 18, and al.
  17. ^ a b Ramesh Chandra Majumdar; Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. 1977. ISBN 81-208-0436-8.
  18. ^ Aria (modern Herat) "has been wrongly included in the list of ceded satrapies by some scholars [...] on the basis of wrong assessments of the passage of Strabo [...] and a statement by Pliny." (Raychaudhuri, H. C.; Mukherjee, B. N. 1996. Political History of Ancient India: From the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty. Oxford University Press, p. 594). Seleucus "must [...] have held Aria", and furthermore, his "son Antiochos was active there fifteen years later." (Grainger, John D. 1990, 2014. Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom. Routledge. p. 109).
  21. ^ Ancient India, (Kachroo ,p.196)
  22. ^ The Imperial Gazetteer of India, (Hunter,p.167)
  23. ^ The evolution of man and society, (Darlington ,p.223)
  24. ^ Tarn, W. W. (1940). "Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita". The Journal of Hellenic Studies 60: 84–94. doi:10.2307/626263. 
  26. ^ Pliny the Elder, "The Natural History", Chap. 21
  28. ^ Vilas Adinath Sangave (2006). Aspects of Jaina religion. Bharatiya Jnanpith. pp. 99–. ISBN 978-81-263-1273-3. Retrieved 5 June 2013. 
  29. ^ A small temple marks the cave (Bhadrabahu Cave) where he is said to have died by fasting. There are two hills in Śravaṇa Beḷgoḷa, Chandragiri (Chikkabetta) and Vindyagiri. The last shruta-kevali, Bhadrabahu and his pupil Chandragupta Maurya, are believed to have meditated there. Chandragupta Basadi, which was dedicated to Chandragupta Maurya, was originally built there by Emperor Ashoka in the third century BCE.
  30. ^ The Courtesan and the Sadhu, A Novel about Maya, Dharma, and God, October 2008, Dharma Vision LLC., ISBN 978-0-9818237-0-6, Library of Congress Control Number: 2008934274
  31. ^ Chanakya Chandragupta, 1977 Telugu film at IMDb.
  32. ^ TV, Imagine. "Channel". TV Channel. 
  33. ^ COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP ON CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA, Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India
  34. ^ Pearls before Swine for September 23, 2013

Further reading[edit]

  • Kosambi, D.D. An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, Bombay: Popular Prakashan, 1985
  • Kalyani Chandrashekhar Gatole,Bhargava, P.L. Chandragupta Maurya, New Delhi:D.K. Printworld, 160 pp., 2002.
  • Habib, Irfan. and Jha, Vivekanand. Mauryan India: A People's History of India,New Delhi:Tulika Books, 2004; 189pp
  • Swearer, Donald. Buddhism and Society in Southeast Asia (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Anima Books, 1981) ISBN 0-89012-023-4
  • Nilakanta Sastri, K. A. Age of the Nandas and Mauryas (Delhi : Motilal Banarsidass, [1967] c1952) ISBN 0-89684-167-7
  • Bongard-Levin, G. M. Mauryan India (Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division May 1986) ISBN 0-86590-826-5
  • Chand Chauhan, Gian. Origin and Growth of Feudalism in Early India: From the Mauryas to AD 650 (Munshiram Manoharlal January 2004) ISBN 81-215-1028-7
  • Keay, John. India: A History (Grove Press; 1 Grove Pr edition May 10, 2001) ISBN 0-8021-3797-0
  • Kalyani Chandrashekhar Gatole. Chandragupta Maurya aur Uska Kaal (Rajkamal Prakashan, Re Print 1990) ISBN 81-7171-088-1

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Nanda Empire
Mauryan Emperor
322–298 BC
Succeeded by