KING OF HEARTS
Though his origins are disputed, it is clear that a devious and disgruntled brahman Chanayaka(aka Kautilya) took young Chandragupta under his wing to overthrow the Nanda dynasty. At the time, the infamous Greek conqueror Alexander the Great had left Punjab, leaving a power vacuum and conflict that Chandragupta and his mentor took advantage of.
As the creator and founder of the most extensive empire ever forged by an Indian dynasty, you can think of Chandragupta as an ‘Indian Julius Caesar’. He ruled his empire with Chanayaka’s epic and powerful political guidebook, the Arthashastra “a guide not only for the acquisition of this world but of the next”
EMPIRE
Maurya Dynasty
CROWNED
Age 20
REIGN
321 BCE – 297 BCE
24 years
SUCCESSOR
Bindusara Maurya
SPOUSE
Queen Durdhara
LIVED
340 BCE – 298 BCE
REFERENCES
Keay, John. (2000). India: A history. New York: Grove Press
ISBN 0-8021-3797-0
Mookerji, R. (1966). Chandragupta Maurya and his times (4th ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
ISBN 8120804058
Alkazi, R. (1996). Ancient Indian costume (Abridged ed.). New Delhi: National Book Trust.
ISBN 8123716877 (excerpt available online)
Chandragupta | emperor of India. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2015, from www.britannica.com