''CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA''
''CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA''
The Mauryan Empire’s first leader, Chandragupta Maurya, established Mauryan empire around 321 B.C.E. Gathering an army and overthrowing the Nanda power in Magadha, in present-day eastern India, marking the start of the Mauryan Empire was n't a piece of cake for him . A
a political strategist, Kautilya had a great contribution to the empire’s legacy.
Kautilya
He was dropped off by his birth parents when he was a baby and was later picked up by a guru known as a teacher, named Chanakya. The early life of Chandragupta Maurya is unclear but According to the Sinhalese Buddhist tradition, Chandragupta's mother was pregnant when his father - who was the chief of the Moriya clan - was killed in a battle. His mother escaped to Pataliputra with the help of her brothers. For Chandragupta's safety, his maternal uncles helped a cowherd adopt him. When Chandragupta grew up, the cowherd sold him to a hunter who employed him to tend cattle.
MEETING WITH KAUTILYA:
HIs life took a turn when he met a great philosopher ,KAUTILYA . He had journeyed to Pataliputra (Patna), capital of the Nanda empire, in search of recognition of his learning. There he was insulted by Dhana Nanda, last of the Nanda rulers, and the irascible Brahmin swore vengeance on the house of the Nandas. Pursued by Nanda soldiers, Kautilya escaped into the forests, where he met the young Chandragupta Maurya. Kautilya took Chandragupta to Taxila. This was the time when Alexander's legions were invading northwestern India. Alexander retreated from the Punjab in 325 B.C., and soon thereafter Chandragupta worked his dynastic revolution, killing Dhana Nanda and becoming the ruler of India. Indian tradition asserts that Kautilya had masterminded this revolution and continued as Chandragupta's counselor.
Greek accounts mention him as Sandrokottos. Kautilya provided the strategy while Chandragupta executed it. They had raised a mercenary army of their own. In a series of battles, he defeated Dhana Nanda and laid the foundations of the Maurya Empire in about 321 BC.In 305 BC, he entered into a treaty with Seleucus Nicator in which Chandragupta acquired Baluchistan, eastern Afghanistan and the region to the west of Indus. He also married Seleucus Nicator’s daughter. In return, Seleucus Nicator got 500 elephants.
EARLY LIFE:
Legends say that he met Alexander and perhaps obtained his permission to serve in his army so as to learn the Macedonian way of warfare and how it could be used against the tactics of ancient Indian warfare, besides his own military training. Justin and the Graeco-Roman historian Plutarch (c. 46-120 CE) mention the meeting with Alexander. However, this meeting was a disaster, and Chandragupta was forced to flee for his life.
Vishnugupta Chanakya or Kautilya, on his part, had decided to take the leading role in rebuilding and reshaping the Indian polity. Though initially from Magadha, being a student and later a teacher at Takshashila (now Taxila in present-day Pakistan), Kautilya thus became witness to the political turmoil created in north-western India because of the Macedonian invasion.
Using the post-Macedonian invasion area of north-west India as an ideal base because of its chaotic conditions and lack of political and military opposition, Chandragupta deployed his men, challenged the waning Greco-Macedonian authority and scored victories over the local kingdoms or whatever was left of them. He then gained control over central India and finally advanced towards the Magadha heartland.
Plutarch states that he overran the entire country with an army of 600,000.
JAINISM :
The Mudrarakshasa uses the Sanskrit term vrishala, employed for Kshatriyas and others who deviate from the Brahminical rules, to denote Chandragupta “That Chandragupta did deviate from Brahminical orthodoxy is proved by his predilection shown for Jainism in his later years” (Majumdar, Raychaudhuri and Datta, p. 92).
MAURYAN ADMINISTRATION:
Chandragupta developed an imperial administration. The provinces were divided into smaller units and arrangements were put in place for both urban and rural administration. Archaeological evidence of the existence of a number of towns and cities has been found.
Of these, the most prominent was the capital city of Pataliputra.
MILITARY:
The state possessed a huge army. Troops (maula) were recruited, trained, and equipped by the state. There were many communities and forest tribes (atavika) that were known for their military skills and prized as such. Mercenaries (bhrita) also existed in large numbers as did corporate guilds of soldiers (shreni) and they were recruited whenever required. The army was composed of four The state possessed a huge army. Troops (maula) were recruited, trained, and equipped by the state. There w arms (chaturanga) - infantry, cavalry, chariots and elephants.
. According to the Roman writer Pliny (23 – 79 CE), Chandragupta possessed 600,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 9,000 elephants. Arms included bows and arrows, swords, double-handed broadswords, oval, rectangular or bell-shaped shields (often of hides), javelins, lances, axes, pikes, clubs and maces.
The Mauryans' vast military was supported by the vast size of the empire and the resources that thus came under its control.
CONCLUSION:
REFERENCE:
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