Life and conquests of Chandragupta Maurya

In the 4th century B.C. for the first time India came to be united under one political
umbrella.
The Pioneer of the task was Chandragupta Maurya of Maurya dynasty of Magadha.
So the rise of the Mauiyas in 4th century B.C. was an epoch making event in the
history of India. With Chandragupta Maurya India get up from her age long slumber
and entered into a new life.
The origin of the Mauryas is shrouded in mystery. Conflicting views are there on this
master. According to Vayu Puran and Vishnu Purana Chandragupta Maurya after
whom the dynasty has been named was the son of Mura.
One of the wives of the king Nanda. Vishakhadutta refers to Chandragupta Maurya
as "Vrishala, Kulahina Mauryaputra". In this drama Mudrarakshyasa.
This Drama refers to him as Mauryaputra or the son of Mura, the daughter of a
Sudra. But the theory of Sudra origin has not been accepted by the scholars.
The Buddhist Text Mahaparinirvana Sutta is the most authentic and Ancient
Canoncial Text of the Buddhists. It describes the Moriyas as a ruling Kshatriya clan
of Pipphalivana in the Gorakhpore district, in the region of Nepalese Tarai.
The Ceylonese chronicle Mahavamsa describes Chandragupta Maurya as belonging
to the Kshatriyaclan of Moriya. Mahabodhivamsa, Digha Nikaya, Divyavadana
equally point to t Kshatriya origin of the Mauryas.
The Jaina work Parisishtaparvan mentions that Chandragupta born of a woman who
was the daughter of the chief of a village of Pitamers or Peacock breeders.
According to the Greek historian Justin Chandragupta Maurya had a humble origin.
Historian Plutarch refers to non- sudra origin of Chandragupta.
Early life of Chandragupta Maurya and his rise to power:
The early life of Chandragupta Maurya was spent amidst family misfortunes.
According to Buddhist tradition his father was a chief of the Moriyan clan.
He was killed in a battle. His widowed mother took shelter in Pataliputra, where she
gave birth to Chandragupta Maurya in 345 B.C.
The young Chandragupta was reaned among cowherds and hunters. One day, while
young Chandragupta was playing a mock royal court with his village playmates,
Kautilya happened to pass by that way.
Being impressed by the dignity of bearing and potentiality of the boy; Chanakya
purchased him on the spot from his adopted father, the cowhered, by paying 1000
karshapanas (coins).

Kautilya then took him to the city of Taxila and gave him through education in
humanities, arts, crafts and military science, in order to equip him properly for the
future royal office.
Chanakya or Kautilya had come to Pataliputra for higher recognition. But he was
insulted by the King Dhana Nanda for his ugly appearance and uncouth manners
which wounded his feelings deeply, Chanakya's vanity and personal diginity was so
much affected that he took a vow for revenge.
According to Plutarch, Chandragupta Maurya worked as a soldier in Magadhan army
in his young days. Gradually he rose to the rank of a general.
But one day he incurred the displeasure of Dhana Nanda for resisting his authority.
Dhana Nanda ordered to kill him, so Chandragupta Maurya escaped to Punjab and
there he met Alexander.
He made him an appeal in invade Magadha. But his bold and brave conduct
annoyed Alexander who ordered for his arrest and execution, so he fled to Vindhyas,
where he met Chanakya.
Then both Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya considered the Nanda King as their
common enemy and hatched out a plot to overthrow him from the Magadhan
throne.
Towards 326 B.C. or 325 B.C. Chandragupta Maurya came to the flash light of
politics. It was Chanaky a's Machiavellian brain that worked for the rise of
Chandragupta Maurya to power.
He was the friend, philosopher and guide of Chandragupta, it was the favourable
time for Chandragupta Maurya to carry on his plan, because there was no political
stability in North-West. India after Alexander's departure and the oppressive Nandarule was not liked by the people.
Chandragupta Maurya raised a big fighting force with men from fin the heroic tribes
of the north-west and the Punjab, as well as from the fallen republican states of
those areas.
The Drama Mudrarakshasa also mentions that the army raised by Chandragupta
Maurya included various tribes. After this Chandragupta Maurya embarked upon his
career of conquest.
His conquests may be divided into four phases :
(i) Liberation of Punjab.
(ii) Overthrow of the Nandas.
(iii) The War with Seleucus.
(iv) Other conquests.

There is keen controversy among scholars as to the question whether Chandragupta

Maurya first liberated the North-Western India or first he overthrow the Nandas,
Greek historian Justin has referred to the fact that Chandragupta Murya raised an
army and "Solicited the Indians to overthrow the existing government." But from his
account nothing is known exactly about the existing government.
He has not mentioned clearly about the existing government which he meant either
the Greeks or the Nandas. Dr. Thomas has suggested that Chandragupta at first
liberated Punjab by, destroying the Macedonia government He then captured the
Magadhan throne by overthrowing the reigning Nanda king Dr. R.K. Mukherjee has
also suggested that the war of liberation from the Greek rule preceded the
overthrow of the Nandas of Magadha. But Dr. H.C. Ray Choudhury do not agree with
the above view.
He refers that Chandragupta Maurya first overthrow the Nandas and then took steps
to liberate Punjab. Whatever it may be Chandragupta Maurya was the first emperor
to liberate India from foreign yoke and united it into an empire.
War of Liberation against the Greeks :
It was the prime, duty of Chandragupta to liberate North-West India from the yoke of
the Greeks. R.K. Mukherjee writes, "Chandragupta's youthful imagination was
already fired by the spectacle of a foreign invasion of his -fatherland in progress
before his very eyes.
Thus his immediate imperative task was the liberation of his country from the yoke
of his subjugation". After tire death of Alexander in 323 B.C. at Babylone, there
started political unrest within the Greek empire. The Greek generals indulged in
mutual quarrels. And this made the position of the Greeks very weak in India.
The discontent of the natives of North-Western India against the Greeks was proved
even when Alexander was alive because they had assassinated two Greek
Governors namely Nicanor and Philip.
Greek historian Justin refers that, "India after the death of Alexander had shaken, as
it were the yoke of servitude from its neck and out his Governors to death.
The author of this liberation was Sandrocottus (Chandragupta). Chandragupta
conquered Sind from the Macedonians at first. Sind was then a part of Alexander's
empire.
It became easy on the part of Chandragupta to conquer Sind when the Governor of
Sind has been transfered and as such the post was lying vacant. Using lower Sind
region as the base of his operation. Chandragupta conquered the whole of Sind by
321 B.C.
After conquering Sind, Chandragupta wanted to conquer Punjab. The situation in
Punjab was favourable for him. By that time the power of Ambi of Taxila was in
decadence.

The formidable King Porus had already been assassinated by a Greek general
named Eudemus, who had also fled from India. So with ease, Chandragupta
conquered the Eastern Punjab up to the river Jhelum.
Marching further towards the west as far as the river Indus he subjugated the land
between the Jhelum and the Indus. This Indus river remained as the Northern
boundary of the Magadhan empire under Chandragupta. Thus Chandragupta
liberated the North-Western frontier of India from the Macedonian occupation.
Overthrow of the Nandas :
After of the occupation of the Punjab Chandragupta Maurya diverted his attention
towards the overthrow of the Nanda rule. King Dhana Nanda was very un popular
with his subjects, but he was powerful king. He had also ample wealth in his
possession and a formidable army.
The Buddhist and the Jain traditions refer that Chandragupta failed in his initial
attempts to overthrow the Nandas due to defects of strategy. According to
Mahavamsa Tika, Chandragupta committed the blunder of making a direct attack on
the heart of Nanda capital, without taking care to post garrisons in his rear.
He was outflanked, sorrounded and defeated by Nanda army. Then Chandragupta
ractified his defects and took the proper course of action in his second attack. He
began from the frontier after guarded his rear. He then besieged Pataliputra and
killed Dhana Nanda.
According to the Jaina writer Hemachandra, Dhana Nanda was defeated but was not
killed. He was allowed to leave Pataliputra with his two wives and one daughter and
as much luggage as he could carry in a single Chariot.
The Buddhist text Milinda Panho refers that a battle was fought between
Chandragupta's army and the Nanda army under its general Bhaddasala. And
Chandragupta routed his opponents and won the laurel.
The victory made Chandragupta Maurya the master of the Magadhan Empire. In 320
B.C, Chandragupta Maurya ascended the throne of Magadha. He added Punjab and
Sind to the newly conquered Magadhan Empire.
The war with Seleucus Nikator:
After the death of Alexander his general Seleucus made himself master of the
Western and Central Asia. He was very ambitious and planned to recover the Indian
conquests of Alexander which had been snatched away by Chandragupta.
But nothing has been mentioned by the Greek writers regarding the details of the
war between Saleucus and Chandragupta. Anyway Saleucus was defeated and
compelled to sign the treaty of subordinate alliance. He was forced to cede
Arachosia, Paropanisadee, Aria and Gedrosia.

These territories correspond to Harat, Kandahar, Kabul and Baluchistan. In turn

Chandragupta Maurya presented a gift of 500 war elephants to Saleucus.
Chandragupta also married the daughter of Saleucus. As a mark of gratitude
Saleucus sent Greek Ambassador Megasthenes to the court of Chandragupta.
Megasthenes was famous for his book 'Indika.' R.K. Mukherji writes "Chandragupta
was able to add another glorious feather to his cap. He extended his empire beyond
the frontiers of India up to the borders of Persia'. Now the Maurya empire extended
as far as Persia in the north-west after the annexation of the above four territories.
Other Conquests :
Conquest of Western India :
Chandragupta Maurya became the master of the tract of land stretching from
Magadha and Bengal in the East to the Hindukush mountain in the northwest.
Plutarch remarks that with an army of "six hundred thousand men Chandragupta
overran and subdued all India".
In the Western India Chandragupta Maurya conquered and annexed the province of
Saurashtra or Kathiawar. This fact is proved by the Girnar Rock Inscription of King
Rudradaman I. Chandragupta's High Commissioner in Saurashtra was Pushyagupta.
Pushyagputa had constructed the lake Sudarshana. Chandragupta Maurya also
annexed the neighbouring province of Avanti (Malwa) and made its capital Ujjain,
the seat of Maurya viceroyalty. Ashoka's inscription at Sopra in the Thana district
refers to the conquest of a part of Maharashtra which can be identified with Konkan
region of Maharashtra.
Conquest of the South :
Chandragupta Maurya had extended the Mauiyan empire in the South up to Mysore.
From the Rock Edicts XIII and II it is known that Ashoka's empire in the South extend
upto Mysore and Nellore. Ashoka had only Kalinga War to his credit and Bindusara
had not conquered, any part of India.
So it was Chandragupta Maurya who had completed the conquest of the South. The
Jain tradition refers to the fact that Chandragupta Maurya during his old age
became a Jain and migrated to a place called Sravana Belgola in Mysore where he
practiced his penance.
The inscriptions and monuments found at Mysore testify the fact that Mysore was a
part of Chandragupta's, empire. Some of the inscriptions and monuments also refer
to the name of Chandragupta Muni who was no other person than Chandragupta
Maurya.
The Ashokan Edicts discovered from Chitaldrug districts of Mysore support the Jain
tradition that Mysore was included within the empire of Chandragupta Maurya.
Extent of Empire:

"Thus, Chandragupta Maurya became the Raja Chakravati and made the ideal of the
political unification or India a very real one." His empire extended up to the borders
of Persia in the North - West, Bihar in the East, up to sea near Saurashtra in the
West and Chitaldrug district in Mysore and the Nellore district of Madras in the
South with ' Pataliputra as its capital. R.K. Mookherji writes that, "Chandragupta
undoubtedly ruled over a vast empire."
According to Pluatarch and Justin the whole of India had come under the possession
Chandragupta Maurya. V. A. Smith writes, "In the course of some eighteen years
Chandragupta had expelled the Macedonian garrisons from the Punjab and Sind,
repulsed and humbled Saleueus, the conqueror and established himself as
undisputed supreme lord of at least all Northern India and a part of Ariana.
These achievements fairly entitle him to rank among the greatest and most
successful kings known to history". P.L. Bhargava writes "Chandragupta was
undoubtedly the mightiest ruler of his time and one of the most lustrous stars in the
firmament of monarchy."
Chandragupta Maurya died in 298 B.C. after a reign of 24 years.
The Military Conquests of Chandragupta Maurya
chandragupta
The story of the military conquests of Chandragupta Maurya begins with his
coming to power.
The Nandas were a people who had held a territory in north-west India (called
Magadha). There was a brahman, named Kautila who had been cheated by the
court of the Nandas people, who sought revenge. He did by defaming the kings, the
government, and the Nandas people in general. Because he was not elligible for
kingship himself (due to physical deformality), he took a certain Chandragupta
under his wing and used him to lead a revolt against the Nandas people. Eventually,
after a failed attempt Kautilya and Chandragupta succeeded, and Chandragupta
was named king of Magadha around 320 BC.
About this time Alexander the Great had been continuing his conquering of the
Indian people all around north-west India. Eventually his invasion was halted
(through the complaining of his troops of the endless land and hard fighting
Indians). In 323 BCE, he died, and his empire was split up amongst his military
generals.
Chandragupta used this oppurtunity and drove out all the Greeks in north-west
India with the combined forces of his own and the conquered Nandas army. He then
proceeded to easily conquer all the tribes around the area of north-west India. After
which, he conquered the peoples along the Ganges river, defeating its capital,
Paliputra, and making it his own. In 313 BCE he named himself ruler.
Seleuces Nicator, the Greek official in charge of the the empire in Asia after the
death of Alexander, attempted to try to recapture the Indian land in 305 BCE. After
losing (in about two years), a treaty was set up between Maurya and Seleuces. In
exchange for 500 elephants, Chandragupta recieved the Greeks claim in India and

the Kabul Valley. This agreement was cemented with a marriage (probably a
Seleucid princess to a Mauryan prince). In addition, Nicator sent an ambassador to
Maurya named Megasthenes. His writings on the court and life of the Mauryans
became an important source for historians in persuit to discover more about the
Mauryan Empire.
Chandragupta kept up his empire until 301 BCE, when he handed it over to his
son, Bindusara. Legend has it that he became a Jainist monk and starved himself to
death eventually.
Of the three first emperors, least is known about Bindusara. He ruled from around
300 BC to about 275 BC. He continued to expand his empire and army, much like
his father did. Eventually, Bindusara became sick, and there seemed to be some
panic as to who would take over the throne. Suddenly, one by one many of the sons
of Bindusara were killed, until there was only son left: Ashoka, the only one who
seemed to be able to evade death. Ashoka eventually became historically the most
well-known of the Mauryan empires, albeit not for his militaristic power.
ashoka
After an internal struggle for power, Ashoka came to power around 272 BC. It
took hime almost a decade to secure his authority. He began his rule a harsh ruler,
enforcing his laws strictly and repressed his people greatly. After securing his
authority, he turned to a military conquest. He decided to annihiliate those
kingdoms the previous leaders had left alone. In particular, he chose the kingdom of
Kalinga, only because its borders blocked the Mauryan Empire from a part of the
Ganges river. In this invasion, he realized that he was killing hundreds of thousands
of ordinary people who had not deserved it. He realized his brutality and suddently
became Buddhist. His Buddhist belief caused him to become a compassionate ruler
for both his own people and those people outside his territory. From then he used
his great military for no other reason then to keep up his empire internally and for
defense. After his death, the empire gradually fell apart. Thus, the beginning of his
Buddhist belief ends the military conquests of the Mauryan Empire.