Another Chapter from History of India -The Mauryas

1. The
Mauryan
ERA
- Mamta Goyal

2. CHRONOLOGY OF Mauryan Era
519 – 491 B.C. – Bimbisara
491 – 466 B.C. – Ajatasatru
466 – 441 B.C. – Darsaka
441 – 408 B.C. – Udayi
408 – 353 B.C. – Other Kings
353 – 313 B.C. - Nandas
313 B.C. – 289 B.C. – Chandragupta Maurya
289 B.C. – 264 B.C. – Bindusara (son of Chandragupta Maurya)
264 – 228 B.C. – Ashoka
228 – 220 B.C. – Dasaratha
220 – 211 B.C. – Samprati
211 – 198 B.C. – Sahsuka
198 – 191 B.C. – Devavarman
191 – 183 B.C. – Satadhanvan
183 – 176 B.C. – Brihadratha
137 Years of Mauryan Era from 313 to 176 B.C.
438 B.C. – Foundation of Patlaliputra
345 B.C. – Birth of Chandragupta
325 B.C. – Chandragupta met Alexander
317 B.C. – End of Greek domination in Punjab by Chandragupta
314 B.C. – Chandragupta invaded Nanda Dominions
313 B.C. – Coronation of Chandragupta
289 B.C. – Death of Chandragupta

3. Humayun’s Tomb (New Delhi)

4. SAD but TRUE…
 Not much written about one of the greatest king,
conquerer and administrator of first ever - united
BHARAT
 No consensus about his birth and family lineage
 Diverse sources of information like Buddhist, Jain,
Greek and Brahmanica works add to the controversies
 our apathy towards preserving whatever little is
available

5. CHANAKYA (350 – 275 B.C.)
 Also known as KAUTILYA and VISHNUGUPTA
 Son of an accomplished brahmin - Chanaka who was killed by
the cruel Nanda ruler for raising his voice against the atrocities of
the king
 his birthplace – Taxila or Chanaka in punjab, or Kerala or
something else?
 Brahmin Scholar, maker of Chandragupta, Author of
Arthashastra

6. Chandragupta Maurya – who was he?
 An outcast Kshatriya or a poor shudra or a Nanda Heir –
no consensus in the history
 One book states his father “Maurya” was the
“senapati” in Nanda Army
 Most seem to suggest he was a nobody who was
recognised by Chanakya under whose guidance he grew
up to become one of the greatest king and create history

7. State of Country during those times
 Many Kingdoms and Republics
 tendency towards the growth of monarchy
 Magadha was rising fast under first known ruler
“Bimbisara”
 Magadha became the most powerful state and
was ruled by Nand ruler “Dhananand” when this
while journey of Chandragupta started

8. Other Characters
 Dhananand and Rakshas – ruler & prime minister
of Magadha respectively
 Paurus and Indradutt – ruler & prime minister of
Kaikey respectively
 Ambhi – Gandhar King

9. Chanakya is described as
 shrewd and wily politician
 one for whom end justifies the means – Spies, lies, manipulation (Saam, daam,
dandh, bhed in true sense)
 The KingMaker - but always worked towarda larger good of the country, not for
personal gain
 ruthless
 Intelligent
 Master Strategist
 Single point agenda - Akhand Bharat (the United India )
 Immensely Knowledgeable

10. Chandragupta Maurya - Characteristics
Whatever the origin, we can describe him as:
 Courageous
 Intelligent
 Moralist
 Loyal and Faithful
 Great Sense of Justice

11. How did the two legends meet?
No consensus on this:
 Chanakya was pouring sugar syrup on the grass that
had hurt his feet to root it out completely
 Some books state that Chandragupta watched his act
and was impressed with his wisdom and hence
requested him to become his guide to help in becoming
a king
 others claim that Chanakya found him in a village
inacting a king and observed his leaderships abilities and
decided to mentor him to become the king of “Akhand
Bharat”
 Chanakya took him to Taxila university where he
studied various arts including military, political science
etc.

12. Alexander’s India Invasion
 After his western conquest (Persia, Syria, Egypt,
Babylonia), crossed Indus in 326 B.C. to conquer “Bharat”
 King Ambhi of Taxila made friends with him to rival his
enemy “Paurus”
 Paurus, powerful king in Punjab resisted Alexander but
was defeated
Alexander reached Beas river and aimed to conquer rest
of India but that was not to be

13. Alexander’s Return
 The armymen were tired and homesick
 Extreme climatic conditions in India added to their woes
 Did chankaya had a role to play in his return?
 How about Chandragupta?
 Alexander retreated leaving his trusted “Seleucus” in
charge of his asian dominions and died on his way back

14. Chandragupta’s Journey
 Started with Punjab and moved towards east attacking Nandas
about 314 B.C. (Pauras was killed by Eudemos and Chandragupta
attacked Eudemos to take over Punjab)
 Malayketu (son fo Parvataka – an ally of Chandragupta) raised
against him along with few other allys and Rakshas – PM of Nandas
 Chanakya created dissent among the group and they killed each
other leaving Malayketu alone but he was restored as
Chandragupta’s minister
 After taking over whole of North India, he moves towards west
conquering Saurashtra , Vindhayan area and later Mysore and other
deccan territories

15. Chanakya School of Thought
 better to win over an intelligent and powerful foe rather than destroy him (
legend has it that he handled over his own position to minister of opponent
‘Rakshash’ in Nanda dynasty)
 Righteousness is the root of happiness (virtues and values determine the level
of contentment and bliss that human beings would enjoy)
 People fury is the greatest of furies – we have enough examples even in the
modern world
 economic prosperity creates prosperity for the people
 One without an adviser has no certainty of counsel
 One wheel does not move
 One who is learned and free from fraud should be made minister
 Ministerial advice should be kept secret from all quarters (on being heard by six
ears, secrecy of counsel gets broken)

16. Interesting Unknowns
 Communication Methods? – Pigeons, the
merchants and traders going places, specific
messengers?
 Transportation? – mostly horses – think about
the time it took to travel from one place to another
 Source of Knowledge – Chankaya seems to have
immense knowledge of geography and chemistry
but how?