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Chandragupta Maurya

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Chandragupta Maurya
Modern statue of Chandragupta Maurya at Birla Temple, Delhi
Modern statue of Chandragupta Maurya at Birla Temple, Delhi
Emperor of Magadha
Reignc. 322 – c. 297 BCE[1][2]
Coronationc. 322 BCE
PredecessorDhana Nanda
SuccessorBindusara[3]
Bornc. 350 BCE
Pataliputra, Magadha
(Present day Bihar, India)
Diedc. 295 BCE
Chandragiri, Maurya Empire
(Present day Karnataka, India)
SpouseDurdhara
A Seleucid princess (name unknown)
IssueBindusara
DynastyMaurya
ReligionHinduism
Alma materTaxila University

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire in South Asia. He was born in a humble family. 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 one of the largest empires in the subcontinent.

Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I Nicator, one of the successful satrapies of Alexander the Great and married Seleucus I Nicator daughter Helena . He was the ruler until 297 BC. He became a Jain monk and died at Shravanabelagola of Karnataka in the same year.

Shashigupta, a ruler of the Punjab region during the during the 4th century BCE has been identified by some as Chandragupta Maurya.[4][5] Though other scholars take this theory lightly.[4] 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.[6][7]

References

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  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. 4.0 4.1 Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona,1936, Vol xviii, part 2, pp 161, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Dr H. C. Seth.
  5. Was Chandragupta Maurya a Punjabi?, Punjab History Conference, Second Session, October 28-30, 1966, Punjabi University Patiala, p 32-35, Dr H. R. Gupta.
  6. Kapoor, Subodh (2002). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography. Vol. 2. New Delhi: Cosmo Publications. ISBN 978-8177552997.
  7. 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.

Bibleography

[change | change source]

Singh, Upinder (2016), A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century, Pearson Education, ISBN 978-93-325-6996-6