Chandragupta Mauryan
Mauryan Emperor
Indian postage stamp depicting Chandragupta Maurya
Reign	340 BCE-298 BCE
Born	340 BCE
Birthplace	Magadha
Died	298 BCE (aged 42)
Place of death	Shravanabelagola, Karnataka
Predecessor	Dhana
Successor	Bindusara
Consort	Durdhara
Royal House	Mauryan dynasty
Mother	Mura
Religious beliefs	jain

Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य), (born c. 340BCE, ruled c. 320,^[1] – 298 BCE^[2] died about 298 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta, the first Mauryan king, claimed descent from Shakya clan of the Kshatriyavarna. Having defeated the Greek satrap in the Khyber mountains around 303 BC, Chandragupta was crowned King at Taxila. As a result, Chandragupta is considered the first unifier of India and its first genuine emperor.^[3] In foreign Greek and Latin accounts, Chandragupta is known as Sandrokyptos (Σανδρόκυπτος), Sandrokottos (Σανδρόκοττος) or Androcottus.^[4]

Prior to Chandragupta's consolidation of power, small regional kingdoms dominated the northwestern subcontinent, while the Nanda Dynasty dominated the middle and lower basin of the Ganges.^[5] After Chandragupta's conquests, the Maurya Empire extended from Bengal and Assam^[6] in the east, to Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west, to Kashmir and Nepal^[7] in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south.^[8]

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. Over two thousand years later, the accomplishments of Chandragupta and his successors, including Ashoka the Great, are objects of great study in the annals of South Asian and world history.

22 hours ago There are a total of 103 temples with 77 on hill and 26 in the village. The place is considered sacred by devotees. Sonagiri Temple is one of the primary pilgrimage places for the Jain Followers. The word “Sonagiri” means “The Golden Peak.”. Jain tradition holds that Chandragupta Maurya became a disciple of the sage Bhadrabahu (l. Home Top menu Table of Contents Previous: Chapter 4 Next: Chapter 6. Frieze from a Buddhist stupa. Chapter 5 – Chandragupta Maurya and Bindusara 321 B.C. When Alexander quitted the Panjab, he posted no Macedonian garrisons in that province, making over the care of his interests to King Poros, who must have been independent in practice. No Data Available. 3.2.0 3.2.0.

3Foundation of the Maurya Empire
4Expansion

Origins

While many Indian historians held the view that Chandragupta was an illegitimate child of the Nanda Dynasty of Magadha in eastern India, born to a Nanda prince and a maid named 'Mura',^[9]^[10] later literary traditions imply that Chandragupta may have been raised by peacock-tamers (Sanskrit: Mayura-Poshaka), which earned him the Mauryaepithet. Both the Buddhist as well as Jain traditions testify to the supposed connection between the Moriya (Maurya) and Mora or Mayura (Peacock).^[11] Yet there are other literary traditions according to which Chandragupta belonged to Moriyas, a Kshatriya clan of a little ancient republic of Pippalivana located between Rummindei in the Nepali Terai and Kasia in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh. A kshatriya people known as the 'Mauryas' who had received the relics of the Gautama Buddha are also mentioned in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Digha Nikaya: 'Then the Moriyas of Pipphalivana came to know that at Kusinara the Blessed One had died. And they sent a message to the Mallas of Kusinara, saying: 'The Blessed One was of the warrior caste, and we are too. We are worthy to receive a portion of the relics of the Blessed One. We will erect a stupa over the relics of the Blessed One and hold a festival in their honor.

Others claim that the Mauryas were the Muras or rather Mors. Jat authors such as B. S. Dahiya also propose an Indo-Scythian lineage common to the Mauryas and the Jats.^[12]^[13]^[14] Another school of thought, including scholars such as B. M. Barua,^[15] J. W. McCrindle, D. B. Spooner,^[16] H. C. Seth,^[17] Hari Ram Gupta,^[18] Ranajit Pal,^[19] Gur Rattan Pal Singh^[20] and Kirpal Singh^[21] have connected Chandragupta to Gandhara (or Kamboja) in modern day Pakistan. Based on interpretations of Plutarch and Appian's writings, these scholars assert that Chandragupta Maurya may have belonged to the north-west frontier region, possibly to the Assakenoi or Ashvaka (q.v.) Kshatriya clan of Swat/Kunar valley (modern Koh-I-Mor or Mer-coh — the Meros of the classical writings; probably Meru of Sanskrit texts and Mor and Mer in Prakritic).^[22]^[23]^[24] It has been claimed by several scholars that Chandragupta belonged to the Ashvaka tribe of this region (known as Mor), and thus, the dynasty founded by him was called Moriya or Maurya.^[21]^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28] The Ashvakas were a section of the Kambojas, who were exclusively engaged in horse-culture and were noted for providing mercenary cavalry.^[29]^[30] H.C. Raychaudhuri noted that the name Priyadarshi was adopted also by Chandragupta as also noted by W. W. Tarn.^[31]

According to Col. James Tod Chandragupta was a descendant of Puru dynasty:

“	Sandrocottus is mentioned by Arrian to be of this line ; and we can have no hesitation, therefore, in giving him a place in the dynasty of Puru, the second son of Yayati, whence the patronymic used by the race now extinct, as was Yadu, the elder brother of Puru.,	”
—, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, By James Tod , pp 37^[32]

Early life

Very little is known about Chandragupta's youth. Much of 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'. He was paragon for later rulers.

According to traditional accounts, Chanakya, a teacher at Takshasila University at the time of Alexander's invasion, found the boy Chandragupta from the Magadha kingdom in eastern India. As the story goes, Chandragupta was playing as a king with his friends and was giving justice to another boy playing criminal. He also saw the kindness inside him to help others. Chanakya saw this and was impressed with Chandragupta's sense of justice. Chanakya asked his mother about him. His mother told him that his father used to work as a servant of the Nanda king who ruled over the kingdom of Maghada and due to some fault he was sent into the prison. Chanakya told her to take him to the king and ask him to give some education to Chandragupta. Then she went to his court. There Chandragupta solved a problem for the king. The king was impressed and told his minister to join him in the best university at that time, The Vishvavidhyalay of Takshasila[often known as the Takshasila University]^[9]

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:

“	'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.'

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