Hinduism - Who Was Chandragupta Maurya?

 

(r. 321–297 B.C.E.) Chandragupta Maurya  is the Maurya dynasty's founder. 

The youthful Chandragupta established his kingdom by deposing the last member of the Nanda dynasty and establishing his capital at Pataliputra, which is now known as Patna in Bihar. 

From there, he seized control of the Ganges River valley, proceeded south into the Narmada River basin, and then turned his attention to northern India, exploiting the power vacuum left by Alexander the Great's previous invasion. 

He defeated Alexander's commander Seleucus Nicator in combat in 303 B.C.E., then consented to a treaty that gave him vast swaths of modern-day Afghanistan. 

Despite the fight, ties between the two seem to have been cordial, since Seleucus Nicator sent Megasthenes, an ambassador to Pataliputra, who stayed there for many years. 

Chandragupta is said to have received advice from a great brahmin minister known as Kautilya or Chanakya, who is credited with writing the Arthashastra. 

Chandragupta abandoned his kingdom to become a Jain monk and died of ceremonial hunger, according to tradition. 

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