52 Facts About Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya was the ruler of an Iron Age Indian Empire who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty.

The Chandragupta Maurya kingdom expanded to become an empire that reached its peak under the reign of his grandson, Ashoka, from 268 BCE to 231 BCE.

Chandragupta Maurya was an important figure in the history of India, laying the foundations of the first state to unite most of India.

Chandragupta Maurya defeated and conquered both the Nanda Empire, and the Greek satraps that were appointed or formed from Alexander's Empire in South Asia.

Chandragupta Maurya set out to conquer the Nanda Empire centered in Pataliputra, Magadha.

Related searches

Chandragupta Maurya's empire extended throughout most of the Indian subcontinent, spanning from modern day Bengal to Afghanistan across North India as well as making inroads into Central and South India.

Contemporary Greek evidence however avers that Chandragupta Maurya did not give up performing the rites of sacrificing animals associated with Vedic Brahminism, an ancient form of Hinduism; he delighted in hunting and otherwise leading a life remote from the Jain practice of Ahimsa or nonviolence towards living beings.

Chandragupta's reign, and the Maurya Empire, set an era of economic prosperity, reforms, infrastructure expansions, and tolerance.

Chandragupta Maurya was born about 340 BC and died at about 295 BC.

Justin states Chandragupta Maurya was of humble origin and includes stories of miraculous legends associated with him, such as a wild elephant appearing and submitting itself as a ride to him before a war.

Megasthenes' account, as it has survived in Greek texts that quote him, states that Alexander the Great and Chandragupta Maurya met, which if true would mean his rule started earlier than 321 BCE.

Chandragupta Maurya is described as a great king, but not as great in power and influence as Porus in northwestern India or Agrammes in eastern India.

Chanakya states that Chandragupta Maurya returned dharma, nurtured diversity of views, and ruled virtuously that kindled love among the subjects for his rule.

One medieval commentator states Chandragupta Maurya to be the son of one of the Nanda's wives with the name Mura.

Chandragupta Maurya was a son of Purva-Nanda, the older Nanda based in Ayodhya.

The common theme in the Hindu sources is that Chandragupta Maurya came from a humble background and with Chanakya, he emerged as a dharmic king loved by his subjects.

The sources claim that the family branched off to escape persecution from a king of the Kosala Kingdom and Chandragupta Maurya's ancestors moved into a secluded Himalayan kingdom known for its peacocks.

Chandragupta Maurya has been variously identified with Shashigupta of Paropamisadae on the account of same life events.

However, the story makes no mention of the Maurya empire, and mentions that his disciple Chandragupta lived in and migrated from Ujjain – a kingdom about a thousand kilometers west of the Magadha and Patliputra .

One medieval commentator states Chandragupta Maurya to be the son of one of the Nanda's wives with the name Mura.

Chandragupta Maurya was a son of Purva-Nanda, the older Nanda based in Ayodhya.

The common theme in the Hindu sources is that Chandragupta Maurya came from a humble background and with Chanakya, he emerged as a dharmic king loved by his subjects.

Broadly, they mention young Chandragupta Maurya creating a mock game of a royal court that he and his cowherd friends played near Vinjha forest.

Chandragupta Maurya became a commander of the Nanda army, but according to Justin, Chandragupta Maurya offended the Nanda king who ordered his execution.

Chandragupta Maurya then refined his strategy by establishing garrisons in the conquered territories, and finally besieged the Nanda capital Pataliputra.

Related searches

Conquest was fictionalised in Mudrarakshasa, in which Chandragupta Maurya is said to have first acquired Punjab and allied with a local king named Parvatka under the Chanakya's advice before advancing on the Nanda Empire.

Chandragupta Maurya laid siege to Kusumapura, the capital of Magadha, by deploying guerrilla warfare methods with the help of mercenaries from conquered areas.

Chandragupta Maurya concluded these goddesses were protecting the town people.

Seleucus and Chandragupta Maurya waged war until they came to an understanding with each other.

Chandragupta Maurya sent 500 war elephants to Seleucus, which played a key role in Seleucus' victory at the Battle of Ipsus.

Chandragupta Maurya began expanding his empire southwards beyond the Vindhya Range and into the Deccan Plateau.

The Mauryan control of the region is further corroborated by the inscription on the rock, which suggests that Chandragupta controlled the Malwa region in Central India, located between Gujarat and Pataliputra.

Chandragupta Maurya's empire extended from Bengal to central Afghanistan encompassing most of the Indian subcontinent except for parts that are now Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Odisha.

Chandragupta Maurya established a strong central administration from Pataliputra .

Chandragupta Maurya applied the statecraft and economic policies described in Chanakya's text Arthashastra.

Maurya rule was a structured administration; Chandragupta had a council of ministers, with Chanakya was his chief minister.

Strabo, in his Geographica composed about 300 years after Chandragupta Maurya's death, describes aspects of his rule in his chapter XV.

Chandragupta Maurya had councillors for matters of justice and assessors to collect taxes on commercial activity and trade goods.

Chandragupta Maurya routinely performed Vedic sacrifices, Brahmanical rituals, and hosted major festivals marked by procession of elephants and horses.

Chandragupta Maurya's officers inspected situations requiring law and order in the cities; the crime rate was low.

Various sources report Chandragupta Maurya frequently changed bedrooms to confuse conspirators.

Chandragupta Maurya left his palace only for certain tasks: to go on military expeditions, to visit his court for dispensing justice, to offer sacrifices, for celebrations, and for hunting.

Chandragupta Maurya's empire built mines, manufacturing centres, and networks for trading goods.

Chandragupta Maurya's rule developed land routes to transport goods across the Indian subcontinent.

Chandragupta Maurya expanded "roads suitable for carts" as he preferred those over narrow tracks suitable for only pack animals.

Related searches

Evidence of arts and architecture during Chandragupta Maurya's time is mostly limited to texts such as those by Megasthenes and Kautilya.

The competing theories state that the art linked to Chandragupta Maurya's dynasty was learnt from the Greeks and West Asia in the years Alexander the Great waged war; or that these artifacts belong to an older indigenous Indian tradition.

Chandragupta Maurya led a group of Jain monks to south India, where Chandragupta Maurya joined him as a monk after abdicating his kingdom to his son Bindusara.

Chandragupta Maurya lived as an ascetic at Shravanabelagola for several years before fasting to death as per the Jain practice of sallekhana, according to the Digambara legend.

Chandragupta Maurya's grandson was emperor Ashoka who is famed for his historic pillars and his role in helping spread Buddhism outside of ancient India.

Jeffery D Long – a scholar of Jain and Hindu studies – says in one Digambara version, it was Samprati Chandragupta who renounced, migrated and performed sallekhana in Shravanabelagola.

Chanakya, who was a Jain follower, persuaded Chandragupta Maurya to convert to Jainism by showing that Jain ascetics avoided women and focused on their religion.