The great Indian emperor Maurya, during his reign (340 BC – 298 BC), unified India as a single power for the first time. Before his reign, South Asia was mostly divided into small states, while the Ganga plains were ruled by the Nanda dynasty. Chandragupta Maurya conquered most of the Indian subcontinent and provided political unity to India and laid the foundation of the Maurya Empire.
Although there is very little information available about the early days of Chandragupta Maurya, it is believed that Chandragupta Maurya was born around 340 BC and his mother's name was Mura. It is also believed that the word Maurya was taken from the name of his mother Mura. As described in the Puranas (historical Sanskrit works), Chandragupta Maurya ruled for 24 years. After this his son Bindusara ruled for 25 years. Bindusara's throne was taken over by Ashoka in 274 BC, who became a successful ruler.
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Information about his ancestors is also unclear. According to Indian literary traditions, Chandragupta Maurya belonged to the Nanda dynasty. Nearly half a millennium later, he was called “Nandanavya” in Nanda (Act 4) of Mudrakshasa, a Sanskrit play. According to the medieval commentator of the Vishnu Purana, Chandragupta Maurya was born to the prince of Nanda and his maid Mura. Whereas according to the Buddhist text Mahavamsa, Chandragupta Maurya was born in the Khattiya (Kshatriya) clan with the name Moriya. It is difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Chanakya taught various lessons of politics and warfare skills to Chandragupta. Chanakya or Kautilya was a great scholar, who was a teacher of economics and political science in the ancient Takshashila University. After that Chanakya became the guru of Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta Maurya established the Maurya Empire by defeating Dhanananda, the ruler of the Nanda dynasty.
His empire was the most extensive in Indian history. The Maurya Empire extended from Bengal and Assam in the east to Afghanistan and Baluchistan, to eastern and south-east Iran in the west, to Kashmir in the north and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. When he established the Maurya Empire, he was only 20 years old.
Chandragupta Maurya was the first to face foreign invasion and a situation of despair. He established a nation free from Greek rule.
Chandragupta Maurya won the battle against Alexander the Great and his successor Seleucus-I Nicator. Then Chandragupta Maurya married the daughter of Seleucus to pursue a policy of friendship with the Greek states. In fact, this policy increased India's trade with the western world.
After the unification of India, as per Chanakya's advice, Chandragupta Maurya carried out important social and political reforms. Chandragupta Maurya established a strong central administration with a very low authoritarian structure. Thus, a strong administration led to the development of both trade and agriculture and made the economy very strong. Art and architecture developed to a great extent during the Maurya Empire. Buddhism and Jainism became very important religions.
Chandragupta is also known as “Sandrakotos” or “Andrakotus” in Greek and Latin. The Maurya Empire existed for about 137 years. In 298 BC, Chandragupta Maurya freed himself from the work of governance by handing over the throne to his son Bindusara. At that time, he was only 42 years old.
It is believed that Chandragupta Maurya, inspired by Jainism, adopted Jainism and became a monk under the Jain saint Bhadrabahu. He died by Salekhana (death by fasting) during the Shravan Belgola days (present day Karnataka).
Chandragupta Maurya was the most influential ruler like his grandson Ashoka. Under his rule he established the foundation of modern India by the unification of India.
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