Tell about Chandragupta Maurya ?

Chandragupta Maurya, along with his mentor Chanakya, was responsible in bringing an end to the Nanda Empire.

However, some of the friendly kingdoms were not annexed to the Mauryan Empire which included Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.

After a successful reign of around 23 years, Chandragupta Maurya renounced all the worldly pleasures and turned himself into a Jain monk. It is said that he performed ‘Sallekhana’, a ritual of fasting until death, and therefore willfully ended his own life.

There are many views when it comes to the lineage of Chandragupta Maurya

Both Chandragupta and Bindusara failed to annex Kalinga (modern Odisha). However, Bindusara’s son Ashoka the Great annexed Kalinga, establishing Mauryan rule throughout Indian Subcontinent with Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas still remaining independent friendly states.

Most of the information about his ancestry comes from ancient texts of the Greek, Jains, Buddhist and ancient Hindu known as Brahmanism.

At its height, the Maurya Empire became one of the largest empires of the world and the largest ever in India.

There have been many research and studies conducted on the origins of Chandragupta Maurya. Some of the historians believe that he was an illegitimate child of a Nanda prince and his maid, Mura.

If calculated with modern demographics, the Maurya Empire went all the way to the natural boundaries of Himalayas in North and up to Assam and into Bangladesh in East. To the West, the empire expanded way beyond modern Pakistan in Balochistan and went up to southeastern tip of Iran.

Others believe that Chandragupta belonged to Moriyas, a Kshatriya (warrior) clan of a little ancient republic of Pippalivana, situated between Rummindei (Nepali Tarai) and Kasia (Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh)

Much of Afghanistan including Kandahar and Herat were also under Maurya Empire. To the South, the Maurya Empire went up to modern Karnataka but did not cover the southern tip of Indian Subcontinent that belonged to the friendlies Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas but they accepted the supremacy of the Maurya Empire.

Two other views suggest that he belonged either to the Muras (or Mors) or to the Kshatriyas of the Indo-Scythian lineage.

After Battle of Kalinga, Ashoka the Great ended military conquests of the Maurya Empire and for next 40 years he ruled with peace and harmony.

According to the legend, he was raised by a pastoral family and then was later sheltered by Chanakya, who taught him the rules of administration and everything else that is required for one to become a successful emperor.

As we said at the very beginning, the Maurya Empire tells us the story of our bloody past, it can be very well-guessed that the empire was not built out of peace talks. Chanakya, a Takshashila-based Brahmin teacher was insulted by Dhana Nanda, the ruler of Nanda Dynasty. Humiliated, Chanakya swore to destroy Nanda Dynasty.

As per various records, Chanakya was on the lookout for a suitable person to end the reign of a Nanda king and possibly the Empire as well.

Impressed with Chandragupta’s leadership skills, Chanakya is said to have adopted Chandragupta before training him on various levels.

Chanakya met Chandragupta and together they formed an army consisting of Vahlik, Kamboja, Kirata, Yavana (Greek) and Shaka soldiers.

It is also being said that Chanakya and Chandragupta also built an alliance with Parvataka – the Himalayan King (often identified with Porus).

Chanakya brought Chandragupta to Takshashila, where he turned all his pre-amassed wealth into a huge army in an attempt to dethrone the Nanda king.

Together they managed to overthrow Dhana Nanda of Nanda Dynasty and Chandragupta Maurya rose to power, taking control of Magadha.

Around 324 BC, Alexander the Great and his soldiers had decided to retreat to Greece.

he had left behind a legacy of Greek rulers who were now ruling parts of ancient India.

After Chandragupta Maurya was installed as the new ruler, he campaigned against Macedonians and moved westwards.

During this period, Chandragupta and Chanakya formed alliances with local rulers and started defeating the armies of the Greek rulers.