Quickly realizing his potential, Kautilya decided to take him as his protg and sought permission from Mura, a tribal or village head and mother of the boy, to take him along and train him for his future role. The folklore is that after returning from Dhanananda's court, the humiliated Kautilya, while plotting his revenge, met a boy in a village who also showed the qualities of being a great king in sports. The facts of how and when his first meeting with Chandragupta took place are not clear. Thus Chandragupta's own abilities were honored in terms of war, diplomacy and covert operations. Guiding him for the role, Kautilya prepared to take over Magadha and everything that went with it. The person selected was Chandragupta Maurya. This enabled him to establish a centralized all-India empire that could keep the invaders at bay and restore order.Ĭhanakya decided to field a better and more capable candidate instead of Dhanananda. Although initially from Magadha, a student at Takshashila and later a teacher, Kautilya thus witnessed the political unrest in north-western India caused by the Macedonian invasion. He was his best ally and mentor who shaped not only her career but the path of the Maurya Empire under Chandragupta.Ĭhanakya, on his part, decided to play a leading role in the reconstruction and reshaping of Indian politics. Regardless of what his initial move was in Chandragupta's career, what can be said for sure is his relationship with the politician Kautilya. The meeting was a disaster and Chandragupta was forced to flee for his life Justin and the Greco-Roman historian Plutarch refer to an interview with Alexander.
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Legend has it that he met Alexander and perhaps, in addition to his own military training, was allowed to serve in his army to learn how to use the Macedonian warfare and how it could be used against ancient Indian war tactics. Thus he focused on gaining military training and experience.
The only specific inscription of Chandragupta is in the CE 2nd century Junagadh inscription.Ĭhandragupta knew that war with the established empires would be inevitable for the successful completion of his journey to power. Much of Chandragupta's life and origins are still shrouded in mystery. According to the Roman historian Curtis, he had a huge treasure and an army of 20,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots, and 3,000 elephants. It included a good part of Central, East and North-East India.Īs a result, much of north-western India was plunged into unrest and political chaos.ĭuring this time the ruler of Magadha was Dhanananda of the Nand dynasty. In this way the boundaries of Magadha were greatly expanded from time to time. With the help of his mentor Chanakya or Kautilya, he established a vast central empire.Īround the 4th century BCE, India was divided into numerous empires and republics.At the forefront of this was the kingdom of Magadha in eastern India. Chandragupta was the founder of the Maurya dynasty.