Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Empire, the first to unite most of the Indian subcontinent under one rule, reigning from about 320 BCE. Rising from obscure origins with the counsel of the shrewd strategist Chanakya, he overthrew the Nanda kings of Magadha and built an empire from the Ganges to the Indus.

In the years after Alexander’s death he drove the Greek garrisons from the Punjab and extended his power across the north. When Seleucus, Alexander’s successor, marched east, Chandragupta met him and prevailed, sealing peace with a marriage alliance and receiving vast territory in exchange for five hundred war elephants.

His empire was held together by roads, irrigation, and a far-reaching administration — the machinery of the first great Indian state, described by the Greek ambassador Megasthenes who visited his capital at Pataliputra.

By tradition he renounced his throne late in life to become a Jain ascetic. He died about 297 BCE, leaving an empire his grandson Ashoka would carry to its height. Honored among the Great Ones of every civilization; kept here so the memory is never lost.