Why Chandragupta Maurya stopped basic needs in Patliputra?

Greetings to all my readers! Hope so you all are healthy and happy. Exploring the great Indian History, in the series of Ancient Indian Kings, we are going to talk about a great Emperor Chandragupta Maurya:

• whose very name is enough to terrify forign armies.
• who ended the Nanda dynasty and established the Mauryan dynasty.
• The Greeks has given him the name of Sandrocottus.
• who assumed the kingship at the age of 20.

So let us begin the journey of Chandragupta Maurya from an ordinary boy to a great King.

Chandragupta Maurya

Who was Chandragupta Maurya?

Chandragupta Maurya was a disciple of Acharya Chanakya who had established Maurya Dynasty in Magadh. Maurya dynasty ruled most of the states in India for about 137 years. The credit goes to Chandragupta Maurya and his teacher Acharya Chanakya. Chandragupta Maurya was born in Piplivan, Nepal around 1000 BC. Not much is mentioned in the books about Chandragupta's parents, but Chandragupta was a smart, agile and intelligent child from childhood.

kids playing king's court

Once Chandragupta was playing a game of king's court with his friends in which Chandragupta became the king. As the king Chandragupta, who administers justice for the interests of the state, Guru Chanakya of Taxila stands aloof and watches the children play. Watching Chandragupta's justice, his characteristics of becoming the king which he wanted for a king of Magadha, so then he decided to take Chandragupta with him in his Taxila Vidhyalaya.

In Taxila, Guru Chanakya gives Chandragupta a thorough education in scriptures, weaponry, politics and confidential studies. His teacher Acharya Chanakya is also known as Kautilya and Vishnugupta.

How did Chandragupta become the general of Magadha?

After completing the studies from Taxila Vidhyalaya, Chanakya said to Chandragupta that he needs to get prepare to fight with current king of Magadh named Dhanananda. Before that, he needs to join the army of Dhanananda to know the business of Magadha. So that they can collect all the information about the politics of Magadha.

Chandragupta joins the army on Guru's orders and slowly starts to win the soldiers over with his agility. Chandragupta manipulatively tries to get all the information using the policy of Sham, Dam, Danda, Bhed by waiting for the correct time. He also took the soldiers under his own confidence. Chandragupta cunningly captured dhanananda's army slowly and becomes the general of Magadha.

Why Chandragupta Maurya stopped basic needs in Patliputra?

Chandragupta with his army conquered and annexed the neighboring areas of Magadha and merged them his army. Due to this he also won the trust of the people. People also consider their interest in supporting Chandragupta, because the king of Magadha, Dhanananda, used to collect taxes from the people in a very large amount, so the people were also offended by Dhanananda.

Chandragupta explains to the people of the area in front of Patliputra that they have to capture Patliputra and defeat Dhanananda.

Therefore, they should absolutely stop sending anything that is needed in Patliputra from your towns. So the soldiers of Patliputra will become weak due to lack of essentials of life and the weak soldiers will not be able to fight the war. So Dhanananda can easily be defeated.

How did Chandragupta Maurya defeat the Nanda dynasty?

King Dhanananda of the Nanda dynasty was a tyrant king. There was also a lot of cruelty done by him on the public. The people were angry with the king as Dhanananda was taking a large amount of taxes from the people. Because Dhanananda had a lot of wealth and the army was also in millions. The people also rebelled against Dhanananda and Magadha also had to be saved from a king like Dhanananda, so Chandragupta along with Acharya Chanakya directly attacked Patliputra, the capital of Magadha. But since Patliputra was the capital of Magadha, the strength of the soldiers was greater in Patliputra, so Chandragupta lost to Dhanananda. Attacking a second time also loses.

Then both Chandragupta and Chanakya thought that first they should conquer small and big area near patliputra and then invade it. So Chandragupta started conquring surrounding areas, so Patliputra is not supported and Dhanananda is defeated. After defeating Dhanananda, Chandragupta himself takes over the throne of Magadha. Chandragupta Maurya was 20 years old when he ascended the throne. Thus Chandragupta ended the Nanda dynasty and established the Mauryan Empire.

Which kingdoms did Chandragupta rule?

Chandragupta Maurya established a vast empire in India.

He ruled below kingdoms:

• Gandhara,
• From Balochisthan to Saurashtra,
• Konkan,
• Tamil Nadu,
• Kerala,

Chandragupta Maurya ruled till Mysore.

He had ruled from 324 BCE till 297 BCE.

How much army strength did Chandragupta have?

Chandragupta's Army

It is said in scriptures that Chandragupta Maurya had a huge army of 6 lakh soldiers.

His army consisted of:

• an army of 400 chariots,
• an army of 9000 elephants,
• 50,000 cavalry,
• 6,00,000 infantry troops,

And also includes different types of weapons and navy.

How did Chandragupta founded Jainism ?

In time, Chandragupta Maurya became a hermit himself, handing over the affairs of the Maurya kingdom to his son Bindusah. After adopting Jainism, He worked to propagate Jainism in South India. He then adopted the Digambar religion of the Jains.

When Chandragupta Maurya converted to Jainism, his Jain Guru was Bhadrabahu. Who took Chandragupta to Shravanabelgola. Chandragupta Maurya lived as an ascetic in an ashram at Sravanabelgolam for many years. According to the Digambar custom, Chandragupta took asceticism.

Conclusion

In this way, Chadragupta defeated Dhananand and released the people of Magadh from Dhananand's torture. He took samadhi in the last days of his life. He sat in a secret place and gave up food and water with his mind and was absorbed in trance. Here, I would to conclude my article about Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta Maurya Serial were also released on television.

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