Introduction

The empire came into being when Chandragupta Maurya stepped into the vacuum created by Alexander of Macedon 's departure from the western borders of India. Chandragupta subjugated the border states, recruited an army, marched upon the Magadha kingdom, killed its tyrannical king who was despised by the populace, and ascended the throne. He thus founded the Mauryan dynasty. In his rise to power, he was aided and counselled by his chief minister Kautilya (also known as Chanakya ), who wrote the Arthashastra , a compendium of kingship and governance
At its height, the empire stretched over parts of modern Iran and almost the entire Indian subcontinent, barring only the southern peninsular tip

Chandragupta Maurya

early age

Chandragupta was brave and charismatic - a born leader. The young man came to the attention of a famous Brahmin scholar, Chanakya, who bore a grudge against the Nanda
Chanakya groomed Chandragupta to conquer and rule in the place of the Nanda Emperor;
Chanakya helped the Chandragupta to raise an army, and taught him tactics through different Hindu sutras
a long series of battles Chandragupta’s forces with nanda dynasty laid siege to the Nanda capital at Pataliputra. In 321 BCE, the capital fell, and 20-year-old Chandragupta Maurya started his own dynasty

Caste

• Some identify 'Mauryas' with the Morieis tribe mentioned by the Greeks. A Brahmanical text states that Chandragupta was born of 'Mura', a shudra woman in the Nanda court
• Some others represent the Mauryas as Kshatriyas . Medieval epigraphs represent them as Kshatriyas of the solar race-and some Buddhist writers refer to them as the ruling clan of Pipphalivana
• According to Romila Thapar, "Chandragupta belonged to the Mariya tribe, but his caste was low; the family apparently being Vaishyas".

Raise of Chndragupta Maurya

• conquered the Nanda Emperor
• Chandragupta brought the Ganges valley under his control and moved towards the north-west
• ~305BC Chandragupta started a campaign against Seleucus Nikator & Seleucus gave up eastern Afghanistan, Baluchistan
• The empire built up by Chandragupta included Bihar and large portions of Orissa and Bengal as also of western and north-western India