The Buddhist and Hindu sources present different versions of how Chandragupta met Chanakya. In his wrath Alexander gave orders to kill Chandragupta, who somehow effected his escape and was later encouraged by various miracles to aspire to sovereignty. In the second incident, when Chandragupta was readying for war with Alexander's generals, a huge wild elephant approached him and offered itself to be his steed.Īccording to the classical writers, Chandragupta had visited Alexander in the Punjab, and greatly offended him. In the first incident, when Chandragupta was asleep after having escaped from Nandrum, a big lion came up to him, licked him, and then left. Justin, a Latin writer, who lived under Roman Empire, mentions few miraculous incidents that involved Chandragupta and presents these legends as omens and portents of his fate. According to Megasthenes' account, as it has survived in Greek texts that quote him, states that Alexander the Great and Chandragupta met. C., he was only a boy, probably not more than 20 years of age. C as, at the time of Alexander's Indian campaigns in 325 B. The date of his birth must have been about 345 B. Īlthough some sources reveal that Chandragupta belonged to more humbler origins. In fact, we are told by the Mahavansa^tika that Chandragupta's father, whose name unfortunately is not mentioned, was the chief of the Moriya clan and was killed by a powerful Raja, presumably Nanda. When king Nanda extended his conquests, the Moriyas too must fiave shared the fate of other clans and monarchies. BiographyĪccording to the Mahavansautika, the Moriyas were a branch of the Sakyas and were so called because, when driven by the attack of the Kosalan prince Virudhaka, they left their original home and settled in a place which abounded in mayura or peacocks. Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I Nicator - the Greek, who couldn't invade India due to strong resistance from the natives. His teacher, Arya Chanakya guided Chandragupta throughout his life. Chandragupta studied at Takshashila University - the most renowned University of that time. India's boundaries reached till Iran during Chandragupta's reign. One of the greatest emperors of India - Chandragupta Maurya, uprooted the despotic rule of Dhana Nanda from royal stone and created the vast empire spanning almost all of the Undivided India (Akhand Bharat).