Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya
Modern statue of Chandragupta Maurya at Birla Temple, Delhi
Emperor of Magadha
Reign	c. 322 – c. 297 BCE[1][2]
Coronation	c. 322 BCE
Predecessor	Dhana Nanda
Successor	Bindusara[3]
Born	c. 350 BCE Pataliputra, Magadha (Present day Bihar, India)
Died	c. 295 BCE Chandragiri, Maurya Empire (Present day Karnataka, India)
Spouse	Durdhara Berenice
Issue	Bindusara
Dynasty	Maurya
Religion	Hinduism
Alma mater	Taxila University

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire in South Asia. He was born in a humble family.^[4] He was picked up, taught and counselled by Chanakya (also known as Kautilya) – a Hindu Brahmin who wrote the Arthashastra. Together, Chandragupta and Chanakya built the largest empires in the subcontinent.

Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I Nicator, one of the successful satrapies of Alexander the Great and married a daughter of Seleucus I Nicator (named Berenice or Suvarnnaksi according to the Mahavamsa).^[5] He was the ruler until 297 BC. He became a Jain monk and died of starvation at Shravanabelagola of Karnataka around 295 BC.

Shashigupta, a ruler of the Punjab region during the during the 4th century BCE has been identified by some as Chandragupta Maurya.^[6][7] Though other scholars take this theory lightly.^[6] According to the Buddhist sources the Moriya tribesmen of eastern India were the ancestors of the Mauryas who under the leadership of Chandragupta Maurya in the 4th century BCE seized power in Magadha.^[8][9]

1. ↑ Chandragupta Maurya, Emperor of India Archived 10 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Encyclopædia Britannica
2. ↑ Upinder Singh 2016, p. 330.
3. ↑ Upinder Singh 2016, p. 331.
4. ↑ Mookerji, Radha Kumud (1966). Chandragupta Maurya and his times. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 5–7. ISBN 81-208-0433-3.
5. ↑ Paranavithana, Senarath (1971). The Greeks and the Mauryas. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Lake House Investments. p. 49.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona,1936, Vol xviii, part 2, pp 161, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Dr H. C. Seth.
7. ↑ Was Chandragupta Maurya a Punjabi?, Punjab History Conference, Second Session, October 28-30, 1966, Punjabi University Patiala, p 32-35, Dr H. R. Gupta.
8. ↑ Kapoor, Subodh (2002). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography. Vol. 2. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications. ISBN 978-8177552997.
9. ↑ Cunningham, Alexander (1871). The Ancient Geography of India: I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang. London: Trübner and Company. pp. 430–433.