Chandragupta Maurya

Back to Magadha, where the Nanda empire was weakening. Around 321 BCE, a few years after Alexander left, a new empire began: the Maurya empire of Chandragupta Maurya. It quickly took over the Nanda lands and kept growing.

Many accounts say he did it with a clever mentor, Kauṭilya, also called Chāṇakya or Viṣhṇugupta. Buddhist texts say Kauṭilya was a teacher at the famous university of Takṣhaśhilā (today Taxila). He knew a lot about politics, government and economics.

The legend goes like this. In Dhana Nanda's court, Kauṭilya saw how unpopular the king was and warned him: change your ways, or your empire will fall. Dhana Nanda got angry, insulted him and threw him out. Kauṭilya made a vow to end the Nanda rule.

There are many stories about Chandragupta, and they don't all match. But they agree on the main point: he overthrew the Nandas and ruled Magadha from his capital, Pāṭaliputra. When stories differ, historians look for what they share.

Magadha's geography, its working economy and its trade, plus Kauṭilya's advice, helped Chandragupta grow step by step. He defeated the Greek satraps in the north-west and built an empire from the northern plains to the Deccan plateau.

After beating the Greeks, he stayed on friendly terms with them and welcomed a Greek historian and diplomat, Megasthenes, to his court. Megasthenes wrote *Indika*, about India. Sadly the book is lost; we only have pieces quoted by later Greek writers.