Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire in ancient India. He was born in a humble family.^[4] He was picked up, taught and counselled by Chanakya (also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta), a Hindu Brahmin by origin who wrote the Arthashastra. Together, Chandragupta and Chanakya built the largest empires in the Indian subcontinent.^[5]

Chandragupta Maurya
चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य
Modern statue of Chandragupta Maurya at Birla Temple, Delhi
Emperor of Magadha
Reign	c. 322 – c. 297 BCE[1][2]
Coronation	c. 322 BCE
Predecessor	Dhana Nanda
Successor	Bindusara[3]
Born	c. 350 BCE Pataliputra, Magadha (Present day Bihar, India)
Died	c. 295 BCE Chandragiri, Maurya Empire (Present day Karnataka, India)
Spouse	Durdhara A Seleucid Princess
Issue	Bindusara
Dynasty	Maurya
Religion	Hinduism
Alma mater	Taxila University

Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus I Nicator, one of the Hellenistic Successor satrapies of Alexander the Great and married a daughter of Seleucus,^[6] according to both the Mahavamsa and the Bhavishya Purana.^[7] He was the ruler until 297 BC. He became a Jain monk and died of starvation at Shravanabelagola of Karnataka around 295 BC.

Shashigupta, a ruler of the Punjab region during the during the 4th century BCE has been identified by some as Chandragupta Maurya.^[8][9] Though other scholars take this theory lightly.^[8] According to the Buddhist sources the Moriya tribesmen of eastern India were the ancestors of the Mauryas who under the leadership of Chandragupta Maurya in the 4th century BCE seized power in Magadha.^[10][11]