Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya
Statue of Chandragupta Maurya, Laxminarayan Temple
1st Mauryan emperor
Reign	c. 324 – c. 297 BCE
Predecessor	Dhana Nanda of the Nanda Empire
Successor	Bindusara
Born	340 BCE Pataliputra (now in Bihar)
Died	297 BCE (aged 41–42) Shravanabelagola, Karnataka
Spouse	Durdhara and a daughter of Seleucus I Nicator
Issue	Bindusara
Greek	Sandrokottos (Σανδρόκυπτος)
Dynasty	Maurya
Mother	Mura

Chandragupta Maurya (IAST: Candragupta Maurya, r. 321 – 297 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire and the first emperor to unify north and south west of present-day India into one state. He ruled from 324 BCE until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favour of his son, Bindusara, in 297 BCE.

Chandragupta Maurya was a pivotal figure in the history of India. Prior to his consolidation of power, most of the Indian subcontinent was divided into mahajanapadas, while the Nanda Empire dominated the Indo-Gangetic Plain. Chandragupta succeeded in conquering and subjugating almost all of the Indian subcontinent by the end of his reign, except Tamil Nadu (Chera, Early Cholas and Early Pandyan Kingdom) and modern-day Odisha (Kalinga). His empire extended from Bengal in the east to Aria or Herat in the west (now called Afghanistan and Balochistan), to the Himalayas and Kashmir in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. It was the largest empire yet seen in Indian history.

In Greek and Latin accounts, Chandragupta is known as Sandrokottos and Androcottus. He became well known in the Hellenistic world for conquering Alexander the Great's easternmost satrapies, and for defeating the most powerful of Alexander's successors, Seleucus I Nicator, in battle. By 323 BC he freed the piece of territory of India that was controlled by Seleuces, following Alexander's retreat. Chandragupta subsequently married Seleucus' daughter to formalise an alliance and turning Nicator into a satrap, and established a policy of friendship with the Hellenistic kingdoms, which stimulated India's trade and contact with the western world. The Greek diplomat Megasthenes, who visited the Maurya capital Pataliputra, is an important source of Maurya history.