The Conquest of Magadha
The conquest of Magadha is the historical incident that paved the way for great Indian History. This conquest gave the Indian subcontinent a ruler and a dynasty that is held responsible for the immense development in the ancient period. The credit for the Magadha conquest is granted to Chandragupta Maurya, who had the invisible hand and motive of Chanakya.
Even after having a good strategy, due intelligence, and the support of Chanakya, the conquest of Magadha was not an easy and one-shot task for Chandragupta. He established his dominion after facing several failures on his way. Historians also refer to the conquest of Magadha as the story of the rivalry between the Nanda king and Chanakya, where Chandragupta was used as a weapon.
There has been a well-known incident that has spread through word of mouth and is represented in the inscriptions in one or the other way. The story talks about the insult felt by Chanakya in the royal court of Dhanananda. The reason for the insult is mentioned differently in different inscriptions, such as – some mention that Chanakya was dismissed by Dhanananda from the position of president of Danasala while others mention that Chanakya was thrown out of the court of Nandas for sitting on the King’s throne. Whatever the reason, Chanakya vowed to ruin the entire Nanda Dynasty.
About Magadha
The Magadha region of ancient India includes the modern-era regions of Patna and Gaya in Southern Bihar. This was among the 16 Mahajanapadas that were established in and around the 6th century BCE.
Magadha is known as one of the most developed areas of the Mahajanapadas as a result of its topography and natural environmental growth. This is surrounded by the rivers Ganges and Son in the North and West respectively. It was situated in a plain and productive region. Agriculture and the presence of minerals like Iron made this region prosperous, whereas the surrounding rivers had huge support for the transportation and communication establishment. The early capital of this region was Rajgir but was later replaced by Patliputra. The Magadha region expanded to include most of Bihar and Bengal with the conquest of the Vajjika League and Anga.
Though there is little certain information available about the earliest rulers of Magadha, historians following the sources believe that the first dynasty to rule Magadha was the Haryanka Dynasty, which ruled for about 200 years. The founder of the Haryanka dynasty was Bimbisara and the major credit for the expansion of wars goes to Bimbisara’s son – Ajatashatru. Patliputra grew as the hinterland and an important city in terms of trade and commerce after the death of Ajatashatru.
The Haryanka dynasty was succeeded by the Shishunaga, whose founder Shishunaga was himself the Amatya and governor of Banaras in the Haryanka kingdoms of the Indian subcontinent, and the most crucial work done by him was that he ended a century-old rivalry between Magadha and Avanti. Avanti was now part of Magadha. There is very little information known about the other rulers of this dynasty.
The successors of the Shishunaga dynasty were Nandas. Mahapadma Nanda took over the throne in 345 BCE. Puranas mention about nine Nandas that would have been ruling over the Indian subcontinent for 100 years. But there have not been facts that prove the Nanda dynasty prevailed for more than 25 years, even though the nince kings of the Nanda dynasty have been claimed as fact. Dhanananda was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty whose reference we also find along with mentions of Chanakya. Also, he was the ruler during whose reign the conquest of Magadha took place by Chandragupta Maurya.
The rise of Chandragupta Maurya
During his birth, Chanakya was prophesied to become the ‘Kingmaker’ and he believed in this prophecy and started searching for a person worthy of being a king after being disrespected in the court of Dhanananda.
Chanakya’s engagement with Chandragupta is marked as an encounter between them in the Vinjha forests where Chandragupta along with a group of his companions used to play the game of Kingmaking. Chandragupta used to play ‘king’ among the group of boys where he was giving justice to people in the mock court. Chanakya was struck by the personality and decision-making power of the boy. Chanakya adopted Chandragupta and bought him from the hunter under whom he was deposited as the safety deposit by her mother.
Chanakya took Chandragupta to Taxila and gave him the necessary education, with the help of which Chandragupta could overthrow the Nanda dynasty and establish his rule. After spending his youth in Taxila, he was taken to Patliputra for training and analysis of the situation in which he had to rise.
After the death of Alexander in Babylon, his empire on the Indian borders was in the hands of his generals and governors. The efficiency of Chandragupta Maurya may be proven by the fact that he played an important part in liberating North-Western India from Greek rule. This was the time i.e., 324-323 BCE when Chandragupta started to organise a powerful army, in which recruits were inducted from various places. With its help, he was able to turn out the foreigners and lead the strategy for the acquisition of Magadha.
The overthrow of Nandas
When Chandragupta had managed to kick the foreigners out of the subcontinent, he started preparations for an attack on Nandas. Nanda's rule was considered politically weak and oppressive by the common masses itself. But it is to be noted that Chandragupta and Chanakya were not successful in overthrowing Nanda on the first chance itself. Their first strategy was considered a big failure. According to the Buddhist texts, their first strategy was the acquisition of Magadha from the centre itself. The mistake in this strategy was highlighted in that Chandragupta had the ambition of being the king, but without beginning from the frontiers of the region, he started to gain power in the heart of the country and was eventually crushed by the army from the surrounding.
Chandragupta also tried the second strategy but failed once again. Though this time he started from the frontiers and started conquering many Rashtras and Janapadas, the only mistake he made was not posting the garrisons in the conquered area. Due to this, his defence became impossible as the people from the rear created trouble.
Finally, the third and final strategy of Chandragupta was successful. Chandragupta took the lessons from the last two strategies and came up with the right one. Along with conquering the Rashtras and Janapadas on the frontiers, he established garrisons to keep them under control. After conquering the frontiers, he headed towards Patliputra, capturing the capital.
There are very few details known about the fight between Chandragupta and Dhanananda. But it is believed that for the struggle with Dhanananda, Chandragupta also employed Greek soldiers along with his army. Eventually, Patliputra was captured, and the king was forced to surrender. Chandragupta spared his life and ordered him to leave Magadha along with his two wives and a daughter, and as much luggage as he could carry off in a single chariot. Chandragupta is also said to have fallen in love with the daughter of Dhanananda and later married her.
In the religious historical texts, this annexation has been described as the “restoration of dhamma”. The important fact regarding the siege mentioned in the inscriptions is that the siege of the capital was made through Guerrilla Warfare techniques. The reign of Chandragupta Maurya started in 322 BCE after the successful conquest of Magadha. He laid the foundation for the Mauryan dynasty and the development of the Indian subcontinent.
Aftermath
Chandragupta, with the support of the knowledge and teachings of his master Chanakya, was the emperor of a large empire. This was so extended that it joined the land of five rivers to the valleys of Yamuna and the region around the Ganges. However, the struggle was not over for Chandragupta.
Seleucus Nicator, who appeared to be the successor of Alexander and the ruler of Babylon had conquered the Bactrian region and now had his eyes to recover the land occupied by Alexander in India. His expedition in India in around 306 BCE was a failure and he ended up with a humiliating treaty. The treaty also appears as more of the marriage treaty in which Chandragupta marries the daughter of Seleucus – Helena, and gets the region of Kabul, Kandahar, Gandhar, and Baluchistan. In return, he gives a valuable gift of 500 elephants to Seleucus.
No further interference was seen from the side of the Greeks before the death of Ashoka.
