Durdhara

Durdhara was the empress of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the 4th-century BCE Maurya Empire of ancient India, according to the 12th century CE Jain text Parishishtaparvan by Hemachandra.^[1] She is stated by this text to be the mother of the second Mauryan emperor, Bindusara also known as Amitraghāta.^[2]

Durdhara
Empress Consort of Mauryan Empire
Reign	c. 322 BCE - c. 320 BCE
Predecessor	Position established
Successor	Mother of Ashoka
Spouse	Chandragupta Maurya
Issue	Bindusara
Father	Dhana Nanda
Religion	Jainism Historical Vedic religion

According to the Jain tradition, after Chandragupta defeated the Nanda emperor, the Nanda princess fell in love with Chandragupta and married him.^[3] The legend does not name this princess, but later names Durdhara as the mother of Chandragupta's son Bindusara.^[2] Nothing is mentioned or known about Durdhara outside of this legend written 1,600 years after Chandragupta's era. Other sources, such as the Burmese Buddhist records do not corroborate the Jain legend.^[1] Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador in the final years of Chandragupta's court, does not mention Durdhara nor use the name Bindusara, but refers to Chandragupta's successor as Amitrochates, while the Hindu scholar Patanjali calls him Amitraghata (meaning "vanquisher of foes").^[4][5] Scholars consider the Bindusara of Jain texts to be the same as Amitraghata.^[5]

In popular culture

• Durdhara was portrayed by Nidhi Tikko in Chandragupta Maurya
• Saanvi Talwar played Durdhara in the 2016 historical fiction series Chandra Nandini.
• Pranali Ghogare and Aditi Sanwal portrayed Durdhara in Chandragupta Maurya