Plutarch, Parallel Lives: Life of Alexander 62.9Īccording to this text, the encounter would have happened around 326 BCE, suggesting a birth date for Chandragupta around 340 BCE. "Androcottus, when he was a stripling, saw Alexander himself, and we are told that he often said in later times that Alexander narrowly missed making himself master of the country, since its king was hated and despised on account of his baseness and low birth." 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: “ what is known about his youth 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".
Very little is known about Chandragupta's youth. It is stated that the Maurya line sprang from Suryavamsi Mandhatri, son of prince Yuvanashva of the solar race. All the Buddhist texts shows the genealogy of shakya kings of suryavamsha.Īshok Maurya's inscription claiming to be 'Buddhi Sakya' further proves the Mauryas to be an offshoot of the Shakyas to whom 'Sakyamuni' Siddhartha Buddha belonged.Ī medieval inscription represents the Maurya clan as belonging to the solar race of Kshatriyas. All the puranas and vedas together proved shakya clan as a branch of ikshwaku vamsha or surya vamsha. The Mahavamshatika connects him with the Sakya clan of the Buddha, a clan which also belongs to the race of Aditya, i.e., solar race by all the vedas and Hindu puranas. These traditions, at least, indicate that Chandragupta has come from a Kshatriya lineage. The Mahaparinnibhana Sutta of the Buddhist canon states that the Moriyas (Mauryas) belonged to the Kshatriya community of Pippalivana. Divyavadana calls Bindusara, son of Chandragupta, an anointed Kshatriya, Kshatriya Murdhabhishikata, and in the same work, king Ashoka, son of Bindusara, is also styled a Kshatriya. The Buddhist text of the Mahavamsa calls Chandragupta a section of the Khattya (Kshatriya) clan named Moriya (Maurya). Nanda dynasty was started by Mahapadma Nanda, who is considered, the first Shudra king of Magadha. The poets Kshmendra and Somadeva call him Purvananda-suta, son of genuine Nanda as opposed to Yoga-Nanda, i.e., pseudo Nanda. The medieval commentator on the Vishnu Purana informs us that Chandragupta was son of a Nanda prince and a dasi (English: maid), mura. On the other hand, the same play describes the Nandas as of Prathita-kula, i.e., illustrious lineage. This reinforces Justin's contention that Chandragupta had a humble origin. Mudrarakshasa uses terms like kula-hina and Vrishala for Chandragupta's lineage. Again more than a millennium later, Dhundiraja, a commentator of 18th century on Mudrarakshasa states that Chandragupta alias Maurya who, was son of the Nanda king Sarvarthasiddhi by a wife named Mura, daughter of a Vrishala ( shudra). More than half a millennium later, the Sanskrit drama Mudrarakshasa not only calls him Mauryaputra (Act II) but also a Nandanvaya (Act IV). Many Indian literary traditions connect him with the Nanda Dynasty of Magadha in modern day Bihar in eastern India. Over two thousand years later, the accomplishments of Chandragupt stand out in the history of South Asia.įurther information: Ancestry of Chandragupta Maurya His achievements, which ranged from conquering Macedonian satrapies in the northwest and conquering the Nanda Empire by the time he was only about 20 years old, to achieving an alliance with Seleucus I Nicator and establishing centralized rule throughout South Asia, remain some of the most celebrated in the history of India. After Chandragupt's conquests, the Maurya Empire extended from Bengal and Assam in the east, to Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west, to Kashmir and Nepal in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. Prior to Chandragupt's consolidation of power, small regional kingdoms dominated the northwestern subcontinent, while the Nanda Dynasty dominated the middle and lower basin of the Ganges. In foreign Greek and Latin accounts, Chandragupt is known as Sandrokyptos ( Σανδρόκυπτος), Sandrokottos ( Σανδρόκοττος) or Androcottus. Chandragupt is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor. Chandragupt succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. 320 BCE, – 298 BCE ) was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Hinduism for major part of life, Jainism in older daysĬhandragupt Maurya (Sanskrit: चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य Hindi: चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य), (born c.