Granowicz1

Alyssa Granowicz

Professor Thomson

History 134

April 15, 2017

The Life of Chandragupta Maurya

Born in 340 BCE, in Pataliputra, Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya

Empire1. Maurya ruled from 324 BCE until his voluntary retirement in 297 BCE2. He died in 297

BCE in Sharvanabelagola, Karnataka3. He was the son to the Nanda King Sarvarthasiddhi and

the kings maid, Mura4. Chandragupta Maurya had two wives5. His first wife was Durdhara and

together they had a boy, Bindusara, who became the second Mauryan emperor of India6.

Bindusara would go on to have a son, Chandraguptas grandson, Emperor Ashoka, who was the

third Mauryan ruler7. Under Ashokas reign the Mauryan Empire reached its full power and

became the largest empire ever in the Indian subcontinent and in the world7. His second wife was

a daughter of Seleucus I Nicator; he married her in his 40s8.

Before the ruling of Chandragupta, India was mostly composed of a number of small

independent states9. The only exception was the Magadha Kingdom, a realm that controlled most

of Northern India, and was ruled by the Nanda dynasty10. Under Chandragupta Maurya rule, he

would unify India for the first time in history, but it wasnt an easy conquest11. He would join up

the valleys of Indus and the land of the five rivers with the eastern valleys of the Ganges and the

Jumna in one Empire that stretched from Aria to Patalipurta12. Chandragupta was also the first

Indian King that extended his conquests beyond the barriers of the Vindhyas to bring both the

North and the South under the umbrella of one paramount sovereign13.
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Chandragupta was a noble member of the Kshatriya caste, the warrior-rulers caste,and

was the main proponent for removing all fragments of Macedonian influence from India14. It all

started in 326 BCE, during Alexander the Greats fight into India15. Alexanders invasion of India

lasted about three years16. Although Chandragupta was related to the Nanda family, he was an

exile and was a fugitive in the camp Alexander the Great17. During Alexanders fight, he became

allies with his enemy, King Porus, the ruler of the local state of Paurava18. Alexander was

impressed by the courage and stature of King Porus, he decided to turn him into the king of all

conquered India as a Macedonian tributary19. Shortly after this, Alexanders army refused to go

farther into Asia or obey any orders, resulting in the Macedonian army turning back and leaving

India20.

Chandragupta would raise a small army with the help of his wise chief advisor Kautilya

Chanakya21. The small army lacked sufficient military strength that would not be able to take the

Magadha throne directly22. Kautilya Chanakyas cunning strategies and intelligent network

would become useful when Chandragupta triggered civil war on the capital of the Magadha

kingdom23. In 322 BCE, Chandragupta seized the throne and put an end to the Nanda dynasty24.

He established the Mauryan dynasty that would end up ruling India until 185 BCE25. After

ending the Nanda dynasty, Chandragupta went onto fight and defeat Alexander the Greats

generals in Gandhara26. Because of this, Chandragupta would now be seen as a brave leader who

ended the corrupt Nanda government and defeated part of the Greek invaders, gaining him a

wide public support27. Kautilya Chanakya would become Prime Minister of the Mauryan Empire

and would help Chandragupta turn the Empire into one of the most powerful governments during

that time 28.

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Pataliputra remained the imperial capital and Chandraguptas territory extended all across

Northern India29. In 323 BCE, Alexander the Great died and the Eastern territories controlled by

the Macedonians fell into the hands of General Seleucus30. Chandragupta knew Seleucus was

busy with the Western boarders and launched an attack that captured him land that is today

known as Pakistan and Afghanistan31. Chandragupta Maurya was able to rid the country of all

traces of Greek occupation32. In 305 BCE, Chandragupta signed a treaty with Seleucus that

established the borders of both rulers33.

Chandraguptas army consisted of 600,000 infantries, 30,000 horse-men, 36,000 men

with elephants, and 24,000 men with the chariots, totaling 690,000 in all, excluding followers

and attendants34. The army was controlled by a war-office that consisted of thirty members

distributed among six boards of five members each35. The six boards in order where the infantry,

the cavalry, the war-chariots, the elephants of war, transportation and commissariat, and the

board36. Battle after battle, the Mauryan forces absorbed most of the independent stats in India37.

In 300 BCE, the Mauryan Empire extended south into the Deccan Plateau38. However,

Chandragupta failed to annex the small kingdom of Kalinga on the Bay of Bengal39. It wouldnt

be conquered until 260 BCE by Emperor Ashoka, Chandraguptas grandson40.

During his reign, Chandragupta was solely devoted to the growth of the empire41. He

ruled from inside his palace, in which he lived in for 24 years, and had very little public

exposer42. In 298 BCE, he voluntarily abdicated the throne in favor of his son, Bindusara43. With

his son as the new emperor, Chandragupta turned into an ascetic and follower of Jainism and

migrated south44. There he starved himself to death inside a cave located in Sravana Belgola, one

of the most important places of pilgrimage in Jainism45. As the founder of the Mauryan Empire,
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Chandraguptas successors, would continue to grow the Empire; Asoka, the third Mauryan

emperor, went on to become one of the most powerful kings of the Indian subcontinent46.
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Notes

1. Violatti, Cristian. "Chandragupta Maurya." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., 26

June 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2017. <http://www.ancient.eu/Chandragupta_Maurya/>.

2. "Chandragupta Maurya." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Apr. 2017. Web. 10

Apr. 2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandragupta_Maurya>.

3. Ibid.

4. "Chandragupta Maurya." Cultural India. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.

<http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-history/ancient-india/chandragupta-maurya.html>.

5. "Know Everything about Chandragupta Maurya and His Two Wives." National Views.

N.p., 09 Oct. 2016. Web. 12 Apr. 2017. <http://nationalviews.com/chandragupta-maurya-wives-

nandini-durdhara-helen-facts>.

6. Chandragupta Maurya. Wikipedia.

7. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

8. Chandragupta Maurya. Cultural India

9. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.

12. Mookerji, Radhakumud. Chandragupta Maurya and His Times. Motilal Banarsidass

Publishing, 1966. Print. 2-166.

13. Ibid. p.2.

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14. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

15. Ibid.

16. Mookerji, Radhakumud. Chandragupta Maurya and His Times. p.2.

17. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

18. Ibid.

19. Ibid.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Violatti, Cristian. "Chanakya." Ancient History Encyclopedia. N.p., 3 Nov. 2013.

Web. 12 Apr. 2017. <http://www.ancient.eu/Kautilya/>.

23. Ibid.

24. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

25. Ibid.

26. Ibid.

27. Ibid.

28. Violatti, Cristian. Chanakya.

29. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

30. Ibid.

31. Ibid
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32. Mookerji, Radhakumud. Chandragupta Maurya and His Times. p.2.

33. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

34. Mookerji, Radhakumud. Chandragupta Maurya and His Times. p.165.

35. Ibid. p.166.

36. Ibid. p.166.

37. Violatti, Cristian. Chandragupta Maurya.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid.

40. Ibid.

41. Ibid.

42. Ibid.

43. Ibid.

44. Ibid.

45. Ibid.

46. Ibid.
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