Chandragupta Maurya: The slave-boy who built a grand empire
South Asian history is a quagmire to get into. Modern political conflicts often make the region’s history a very contested space, where multiple narratives arise out of every historical event, individual and artefact. Every South Asian country has its own version of the past available. Distortions and skewed interpretations are in abundance. One group’s hero has become another’s villain as the battles of today are projected onto the past. And yet, there are sections in South Asian history that are potentially unifying. There are historical characters that all South Asians can celebrate, regardless of modern politics. Individuals that we can all collectively take pride in. I would argue that one such figure is Chandragupta Maurya, the ancient emperor who ruled over nearly the entire sub-continent.
Now, before we do a brief discussion on Chandragupta Maurya’s life and achievements, it is worth putting out a couple of disclaimers. First, modern sensibilities are not enough to interpret ancient events. Even though it is tempting to judge bygone eras through the prism of our modern world and morality, this is rife with problems. So, while we now agree that monarchy is an inherently oppressive system built on unearned privilege, we cannot assess the life of ancient rulers through this perspective. Second, based on advances in our historical understanding, we no longer subscribe to the ‘Great Man Theory of History’. We now know that history is never determined by the lives and actions of a few noblemen. On the flip side though, we also cannot deny the agency that individuals possess and their ability to leave an impact on history. It is possible that individuals, by being at the right place at the right time, can profoundly affect events of their time. Chandragupta Maurya was that kind of an individual.
To understand Maurya and his impactful life, we need to discuss both his individual life as well as the larger political context in which he rose from humble backgrounds to rule South Asia. To start off, it is important to keep in mind the kind of place South Asia was before Chandragupta Maurya emerged.
South Asia before Maurya
South Asia had never been a united polity in ancient times. In the fourth century BC, just before the emergence of Chandragupta Maurya, the entire region was divided into multiple kingdoms and empires. The most powerful of these was Magadha-ruled by the Nanda dynasty-which was generally considered the most formidable political unit in India. Nandas ruled from their seat in Pataliputra (modern-day Patna). Other smaller kingdoms were spread across North-West, South and Western India.
It was at this time of division that Macedonian and Greek armies, led by Alexander the Great, crossed Hindu Kush mountains and entered into what is modern-day Punjab. Though there is a lot of popular history on the famously heroic resistance efforts of local Indian kings such as Porus, the end result was Alexander’s domination of Western South Asia, particularly in the Indus river basin. He cut through Punjab defeating multiple smaller kingdoms and polities on his way. It was only a large-scale mutiny from his own battle-weary and homesick men that prompted Alexander to abort further invasion of India. He turned back on his way to home and left behind one of his very strong generals as a satrapy. After his exit, South Asia was once again a divided region and had received yet another humiliating reminder that it was vulnerable to foreign conquerors.
It was in this environment that Chandragupta Maurya grew up.
The Life of Maurya
A very fascinating thing about Chandragupta Maurya’s story is its almost fantastical evolution. For those of us who enjoy epic fantasy as a genre, his story would feel familiar. I would perhaps go as far as to say that Maurya is a stereotypical epic fantasy hero- the commoner boy who grows up to rule an empire.
There are multiple origin stories about him that all converge on one single point-Chandragupta Maurya was from a very humble background. He had never seen his father and most likely would not have known his identity. There is evidence to suggest that Maurya was lower-caste and lived the first few years of life with his maternal family. Though later sources often refer to Mauryans as Kshatriyas (the second-ranked caste in India), this might have been done to legitimize their rule. There is a good possibility that Chandragupta Maurya, who was to become the founder of South Asia’s largest empire ever, may have actually been a lower-caste Shudra. At some point in his childhood, Maurya ended up in slavery. Again, there are multiple theories for this. Some say that his maternal uncle sold him to a hunter while others maintain that he actually sold himself into slavery to help his family. There is no evidence to suggest that Maurya ever met his mother or his family again. Being a slave to a hunter is a particularly interesting point though because multiple historical texts have emphasized Chandragupta Maurya’s deep connection with animals. At different times, he has been associated with peacocks, lions, elephants and cattle animals.
Nevertheless, it was as a lowly slave that Maurya first met Chanakya, his eventual mentor and advisor. Chanakya, also known as Kautilya, was an ancient Brahmin philosopher and thinker who had studied at the ancient learning centre of Takhkhasilā (modern-day Taxila). Even though he is now widely mischaracterized as ‘India’s Machiavelli’, Chanakya was a far more successful figure than his medieval Italian counterpart. He is considered the chief architect of the Mauryan Empire and his seminal text, Arthashastra, provides a good window into the kind of state policies that were deployed by Chandragupta Maurya in his reign under Chanakya’s advice. Immediately prior to their meeting, Chanakya had come to Pataliputra to mobilize the Nanda rulers to unite India and develop a united front against the oncoming armies of Alexander the Great. However, the ruling monarch at the time, Dhana Nanda, mocked Chanakya and had ousted him out of his court. The philosopher had felt deeply slighted by this and it is said that he vowed to replace Nandas with a far more suitable candidate. It was in the search for a new emperor for a united South Asia that Chanakya came across Chandragupta Maurya, a slave boy who he noticed had been acting as the leader of other slaves. Impressed by his leadership skills, Chanakya bought Maurya from the hunter and took him to Takhkhasilā to raise him as a proper leader.
For the next decade or so, Maurya was raised in this ancient centre of learning and given instruction in everything ranging from classical literature, politics, and governance to warfare and military strategy. One Greek historian even claims that Chandragupta Maurya, or Androcottus, had actually met Alexander the Great as a young man. Though the veracity of this claim is hard to verify, there is evidence suggesting that Maurya saw the Macedonian invasion happening right before his eyes.
Once Alexander left India, his satrapy took over and further consolidated Greek rule over Western South Asia. Within this period, Chandragupta had grown up to be an active young man. In about 324 BC, he and Chanakya had effectively managed to collect an army of 50000+ men from Takhkhasilā and surrounding areas. This army was then put to good use and Greeks were thrown out from the city. Next, he came face to face with the two primary rivals of his time. On his east were the Nandas, the rulers of Magadha, and on his west was Seleucus I Nicator, the former satrapy of Alexander. Maurya dealt with Seleucus by first defeating him multiple times in battle and then, once his reputation had been built enough, offering an alliance by marriage to the old Greek. Maurya took Seleucus’s daughter as his wife and in return received the important regions of Gandhara and its neighbours as a wedding gift.
On the eastern side, Maurya followed his mentor’s advice by slowly eating away at Magadha’s territories from the outside instead of launching a full-scale war against Nandas. Over time, through a mixture of smart politics and quick battles, Chandragupta Maurya weakened the Nanda rule to a point where he comfortably took his armies to Pataliputra and conquered the capital city. The last Nanda emperor, Dhana Nanda, was forced to leave the city in ignominy. By defeating Nandas, Maurya had also fulfilled Chanakya’s vows.
Maurya’s golden reign began at Pataliputra. It is likely that his armies went deeper into other parts of India and conquered regions as far as Karnataka. However, historical evidence from his reign does not have the bloodstains of war and pyrrhic victories that form a key feature of the reigns of other famous kings such as Ashoka or Akbar. With the aid of his advisor Chanakya, Maurya built a very effective administrative system. As the first person to ever rule a united South Asia -stretching from the Bay of Bengal to Arabic Sea and Himalayas to Karnataka- he had a clear vision of how a state should be run, which was in many ways articulated in Arthashastra. Mauryan empire was known for its multiple levels of bureaucracy, extensive recordkeeping, centralized standing armies, welfare policies for the poor, and a very strong emphasis on infrastructure. Maurya also built an extensive road network and there are records of dams being built in far-off places like Gujarat.
On the political side, he ensured amiable relationships with all his neighbours. Diplomats were welcomed in his capital and artists were graciously patronized. One such diplomat, Megasthenes, stayed for four years at Pataliputra. His writings on this period extensively corroborate the policies and ideas written in Arthashastra and sketch images of an empire far more orderly and well-run than any contemporary Greek state.
The defining characteristic of Chandragupta Maurya’s life was his ability to dictate his own terms. Rising from a humble background, he built an empire from scratch with the aid of his mentor. And this ability was fully visible in how Maurya ended his own reign. After ruling over a largely peaceful and wealthy empire for two decades, Maurya finally renounced his power and wealth to become a Jain monk. Together with a group of Jain pilgrims, Maurya went to a site in Karnataka, now known as Chandragiri Hill, where he lived for the remainder of his life and died through voluntary fasting. He left behind a very peaceful and well-established Mauryan empire for his son Bindusara.
The Political Impact of Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya’s life trajectory can appear to be a little too smooth if viewed in isolation. When placed in its proper context, his achievements stand out for their improbability and for his victory against huge odds. His rivals weren’t as weak as they seem in retrospect.
Seleucus I Nicator was a successful general who commanded an army that was well-provisioned and highly experienced in warfare. The fact that a young Maurya could even stand toe-to-toe with someone of Seleucus’ status was an achievement in itself. And yet, Maurya not only defeated the old general but forced him to forge an alliance that Seleucus wouldn’t have accepted in other cases.
The Nandas were another nearly-impossible rival to topple. The reputation of their fearsome army and war elephants was so widespread that even Alexander’s battle-hardened veterans did not fancy fighting them. One of the main reasons for the mutiny in Alexandar’s army was the prospect of facing Nanda army. And yet, Maurya somehow managed to not only defeat this powerful army in battles but did it so decisively that the Nandas lost their kingdom and their capital.
By 321 BC, Chandragupta Maurya had become the undisputed king of nearly all of South Asia. At its peak, the size of the Maurya empire was close to 5,000,000 km², encompassing the modern states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. For comparison, even the British and Mughal Raj fell far short of this and the modern Indian republic is a mere two-thirds of this total size. More importantly, this was a peaceful empire where no ravaging conquests took place (until Ashoka’s rise) and the emperor sitting at Pataliputra was able to effectively rule areas and people situated thousands of miles away. This was rightfully one of South Asia’s golden eras where arts, handicrafts, architecture, poetry and literature flourished. This was an era where multiple religions were tolerated. Brahmanical hegemony, which took hold under other dynasties, was mostly absent under Mauryas. This golden era of Chandragupta Maurya finds a place in not just Indian texts but also the works of ancient Greek and Roman historians who associate him with great kingship and prosperity.
South Asia has had its share of powerful rulers. The likes of Ashoka, Harsha, Akbar, Shivaji and Aurangzeb among many others have left huge marks on the history of the subcontinent. However, no individual has come close to emulating the scope and extent of Chandragupta Maurya’s achievements.
Before being discovered by a wise mentor, he was just a low-born slave-boy working for a hunter in Magadha. He had no prior claims to titles, no inherited lands, no armies. He had no ancestry to speak of. His mentor Chanakya had offered him only knowledge and wisdom but no wealth. He was, by every standard, a self-made man- a claim no other famous South Asian king can make. This is where the sheer fantasy of Maurya’s life lies in. He was a low-born slave who broke the rigid obstacles of caste and class to become the founder of South Asia’s greatest empire ever.
Looking back onto his life, he is a figure who is worthy of respect by all South Asians. It doesn’t matter which South Asian country you belong to, or whatever your modern politics are, Chandragupta Maurya is a historical ancestor you can take pride in.
Further Reading/Viewing:
India: A History by John Keay
An Advanced History of India by B.C. Majumdar
Chandragupta Maurya and His Times by Radhakumud Mookerji
Bharat Ek Khoj: Chanakya and Chandragupta Part 1 & Part 2
