Chandragupta Maurya rose from obscurity to forge the first pan-Indian empire, the Mauryan Empire, which stretched from the Hindu Kush to the Bay of Bengal. This series traces his journey: tutelage under the Brahmin strategist Chanakya (author of the Arthashastra), the overthrow of the Nanda dynasty in Magadha (c. 322 BCE), and the battlefield triumphs over Seleucus I Nicator after Alexander's death, which secured vast territories and strategic alliances, including the gift of 500 war elephants. We explore the Emperor's conversion to Jainism, his final years as a mendicant at Shravanabelagola, and the administrative machinery—a centralized bureaucracy, a standing army, and a spy network—that held the realm together. Lucas and Luna also examine the contrasting legacies of Chandragupta and his grandson Ashoka the Great, the role of the Arthashastra in statecraft, and the empire's complex religious landscape, from Jain and Buddhist influences to Vedic traditions. How did a young exile build an empire that would define South Asian political thought for centuries?

Support FexingoRSS Feed