Nanda Dynasty
Nanda dynasty (344 BC - 321 BC)
- Founder - Mahapadma Nanda
- Last ruler - Dhanananda
Mahapadma Nanda - Mahapadma Nanda assassinated the last Shishunaga ruler Kalashoka and established Nanda dynasty in Magadha. After coming to power, he took resolve to eliminate all Kshatriyas from Magadha. Due to his aggressive attitude, he came to be known as 'Ekarat' and 'Ugrasena'. He annexed Kalinga.
After the death of Mahapadma Nanda, in a quick succession many rulers were appointed. The last ruler of Nanda dynasty was Dhanananda who was also the most powerful Nanda ruler.
Dhanananda - At this time ruler of Macedonia , Alexander started his eastern campaign. In 326 BC he fought with Indian ruler Porus in the 'Battle of Hydaspes' at the bank of Jhelum. Though Alexander defeated Porus, he was impressed by this bravery and reinstated Porus and made him his ally.
Alexander planned to attack on Magadha but his army was exhausted because of continuous war and it wanted time to recuperate. As such Alexander decided not to attack on Magadha. Very soon when Alexander was returning to Macedonia, he was attacked treacherously and because of injuris he died at Babylon.
Chandragupta episode - The fight between Chandra Gupta Maurya and Dhanananda was mentioned in Mudrarakshasa by Vishakhadutta. It also mentioned the political mechanisation devised by Chanakya and Chandragupta against Dhanananda.
(Story of Chandragupta Maurya & Pabbata as per Jain account -
Kautilya was a very intellectual Brahmin living in Taxila. Though he was very intellectual, his personality, i.e., appearance was not that good. he married to a very beautiful lady. Once the lady demanded some gifts from Kautilya and at that time Dhanananda organised a charity event for Brahmins. So, Kautilya went there and sat on the first row. When Dhananda arrived and saw the face of Kautilya, he became angry and said "how a Shudra came to my event". Though Kautilya tried to convince him but Dhanananda did not pay any heed to him and humiliated him and throw him out off the event. Humiliated Kautilya wanted to take revenge and tried to find some one who could replace Dhanananda. One day he find one neglected son of Dhanananda, Pabbata. Kautilya persuaded him and take him to Taxila to teach him. On his way to Taxila, he saw some children who was playing. There he saw a boy who always plays the role of king while others played the role of soldiers, ministers and citizen. When their play was over, Kautilya went to the boys and asked why that boy always plays the role of king. Then the boy replied, he was very authoritative and at the same time he always listen to us and always fight for us. That boy was Chandragupta. Kautilya find the traits of a king in Chandragupta. So, he persuaded to his mother. His mother happily handed over Chandragupta to Kautilya. Kautilya started to raise and teach both of them. At one point of time, Kautilya became confused between the two. So, he decided to take a test. He called Pabbata and gave him the task to untie the thread around Chandragupta's neck without waking him up. When Chandragupta was sleeping, Pabbata tried to untie the thread but during the course Chandragupta woke up. So, Pabbata failed to accomplish his task. Kautilya then gave the same task to Chandragupta and after some time Chandragupta came with the thread. Kautilya asked how Chandragupta that how you did that without waking up Pabatta. Then, Chandragupta replied that he made sure that Pabatta will never wakeup. He cut the head of Pabbata to bring the thread.
Then, Kautilya became sure that he was the boy who can become a great king as this is another trait of a great king that when it comes to yourself, you need to be brutal; you need to remove the contenders to make your place safe)
Fight with Dhanananda -
Kautilya gave the idea to Chandragupta to encircle the capital, Patliputra. Chandragupta raised an army to pursue this idea but somehow this idea got leaked. Dhanananda then targeted all the people who tried to encircle the capital. Somehow Kautilya escaped from the Patliputra and thought it to be a foolish attempt. For the very first time, Kautilya felt that what a bad kind of idea he devised. When Kautilya was wandering in some village he saw a mother and child. The mother was scolding the child because the child was eating the bread from the middle. The mother told to eat it from the corners as it was not too hot in the corners. This gave Kautilya the idea. Kautilya now knew his mistake who directly wanted to capture the centre rather than controlling the sides first.
Then again with the help from Kautilya, Chandragupta captured the peripheries first then attacked the capital and defeated Dhananda.
That's how Nanda dynasty came to an end. Chandragupta then established 'Maurya dynasty'.
Other names of Kautilya - Vishnugupta, Chanakya
He was also known as 'Indian Machiavelli'.
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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