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According to Appian, [[Seleucus I Nicator]], one of Alexander's Macedonian generals who in 312 BCE established the [[Seleucid Kingdom]] with its capital at Babylon, brought Persia and [[Bactria]] under his own authority, putting his eastern front facing the empire of Chandragupta.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=2-3, 35-38}}{{sfn|Appian|p=55}} Seleucus and Chandragupta waged war until they came to an understanding with each other. Seleucus married off his daughter, Berenice, to Chandragupta to forge an alliance.{{sfn|Appian|p=55}} | According to Appian, [[Seleucus I Nicator]], one of Alexander's Macedonian generals who in 312 BCE established the [[Seleucid Kingdom]] with its capital at Babylon, brought Persia and [[Bactria]] under his own authority, putting his eastern front facing the empire of Chandragupta.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=2-3, 35-38}}{{sfn|Appian|p=55}} Seleucus and Chandragupta waged war until they came to an understanding with each other. Seleucus married off his daughter, Berenice, to Chandragupta to forge an alliance.{{sfn|Appian|p=55}} | ||
According to Strabo, Chandragupta engaged in a marital alliance with [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus]] to formalise the peace treaty:{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=37}} | |||
[[File:Chandra Gupta Maurya entertains his bride from Babylon.jpg|thumb|alt=Marriage|"Chandra Gupta Maurya entertains his bride from Babylon": a conjectural interpretation of the "marriage agreement" between the Seleucids and Chandragupta Maurya, related by [[Appian]]<ref>''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars [http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_11.html 55] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103154609/http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_11.html |date=3 November 2007 }}</ref>]] | |||
{{quote|The Indians occupy in part some of the countries situated along the Indus, which formerly belonged to the Persians: Alexander deprived the Ariani of them, and established there settlements of his own. But [[Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Sandrocottus]] in consequence of a marriage contract ([[Epigamia]], Greek: Ἐπιγαμία), and received in return five hundred elephants.|[[Strabo]] 15.2.1(9)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&query=head%3D%23120|title=Strabo 15.2.1(9)}}</ref>}} | |||
R. C. Majumdar and D. D. Kosambi note that Seleucus appeared to have fared poorly after ceding large territories west of the Indus to Chandragupta. The Maurya Empire added [[Arachosia]] ([[Kandahar]]), [[Gedrosia]] ([[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]]), and [[Paropamisadae]] ([[Gandhara]]).{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=36–37, 105}}<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Walter Eugene | first1 = Clark | year = 1919 | title = The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 14 | issue = 4| pages = 297–313 | doi = 10.1086/360246 | s2cid = 161613588 }}</ref>{{efn|According to Grainger, Seleucus "must ... have held Aria" (Herat), and furthermore, his "son [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochos]] was active there fifteen years later". (Grainger, John D. 1990, 2014. ''Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom''. Routledge. p. 109).}} According to Strabo, [[Seleucus Nicator]] gave these regions to Chandragupta along with a marriage treaty, and in return received five hundred elephants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&query=head%3D%23120|title=Strabo 15.2.1(9)|access-date=14 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203225004/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&query=head%3D%23120|archive-date=3 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The details of the engagement treaty are not known.{{sfn|Barua|2005|pp=13-15}} However, since the extensive sources available on Seleucus never mention an Indian princess, it is thought that the marital alliance went the other way, with Chandragupta himself or his son Bindusara marrying a Seleucid princess, in accordance with contemporary Greek practices to form dynastic alliances. An Indian [[Puranic]] source, the [[Pratisargaparvan|Pratisarga Parva]] of the [[Bhavishya Purana]], described the marriage of Chandragupta with a Greek ("[[Yavana]]") princess, daughter of Seleucus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sagar |first=Chandra |title=Foreign Influence on Ancient India |publisher=Northern Book Centre |year=1992 |page=83}}</ref> [[Mahavamsa|The Mahavamsa]] also states that, seven months after the war ended, Seleucus gave one of his daughters, Berenice (known in Pali as ''Suvarnnaksi'') in marriage to Chandragupta.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paranavithana |first=Senarat |title=The Greeks and the Mauryans |publisher=Lake House Investments |date=January 1971 |isbn=9780842607933 |language=English}}</ref> | R. C. Majumdar and D. D. Kosambi note that Seleucus appeared to have fared poorly after ceding large territories west of the Indus to Chandragupta. The Maurya Empire added [[Arachosia]] ([[Kandahar]]), [[Gedrosia]] ([[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]]), and [[Paropamisadae]] ([[Gandhara]]).{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=36–37, 105}}<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Walter Eugene | first1 = Clark | year = 1919 | title = The Importance of Hellenism from the Point of View of Indic-Philology | journal = Classical Philology | volume = 14 | issue = 4| pages = 297–313 | doi = 10.1086/360246 | s2cid = 161613588 }}</ref>{{efn|According to Grainger, Seleucus "must ... have held Aria" (Herat), and furthermore, his "son [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochos]] was active there fifteen years later". (Grainger, John D. 1990, 2014. ''Seleukos Nikator: Constructing a Hellenistic Kingdom''. Routledge. p. 109).}} According to Strabo, [[Seleucus Nicator]] gave these regions to Chandragupta along with a marriage treaty, and in return received five hundred elephants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&query=head%3D%23120|title=Strabo 15.2.1(9)|access-date=14 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203225004/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&query=head%3D%23120|archive-date=3 February 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> The details of the engagement treaty are not known.{{sfn|Barua|2005|pp=13-15}} However, since the extensive sources available on Seleucus never mention an Indian princess, it is thought that the marital alliance went the other way, with Chandragupta himself or his son Bindusara marrying a Seleucid princess, in accordance with contemporary Greek practices to form dynastic alliances. An Indian [[Puranic]] source, the [[Pratisargaparvan|Pratisarga Parva]] of the [[Bhavishya Purana]], described the marriage of Chandragupta with a Greek ("[[Yavana]]") princess, daughter of Seleucus.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sagar |first=Chandra |title=Foreign Influence on Ancient India |publisher=Northern Book Centre |year=1992 |page=83}}</ref> [[Mahavamsa|The Mahavamsa]] also states that, seven months after the war ended, Seleucus gave one of his daughters, Berenice (known in Pali as ''Suvarnnaksi'') in marriage to Chandragupta.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Paranavithana |first=Senarat |title=The Greeks and the Mauryans |publisher=Lake House Investments |date=January 1971 |isbn=9780842607933 |language=English}}</ref> | ||
Chandragupta sent 500 [[war elephant]]s to Seleucus, which played a key role in Seleucus' victory at the [[Battle of Ipsus]].<ref>''India, the Ancient Past'', Burjor Avari, p. 106-107</ref>{{sfn|Majumdar|2003|p=105}}<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tarn | first1 = W. W. | year = 1940 | title = Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita | journal = The Journal of Hellenic Studies | volume = 60 | pages = 84–94 | doi = 10.2307/626263 | jstor = 626263 | s2cid = 163980490 }}</ref> In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched [[Megasthenes]] as an ambassador to Chandragupta's court, and later [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochos]] sent [[Deimakos]] to his son Bindusara at the Maurya court at Patna.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=38}} | Chandragupta sent 500 [[war elephant]]s to Seleucus, which played a key role in Seleucus' victory at the [[Battle of Ipsus]].<ref>''India, the Ancient Past'', Burjor Avari, p. 106-107</ref>{{sfn|Majumdar|2003|p=105}}<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tarn | first1 = W. W. | year = 1940 | title = Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita | journal = The Journal of Hellenic Studies | volume = 60 | pages = 84–94 | doi = 10.2307/626263 | jstor = 626263 | s2cid = 163980490 }}</ref> In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched [[Megasthenes]] as an ambassador to Chandragupta's court, and later [[Antiochus I Soter|Antiochos]] sent [[Deimakos]] to his son Bindusara at the Maurya court at Patna.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=38}} | ||
{{quote|text=Always lying in wait for the neighboring nations, strong in arms and persuasive in council, he acquired Mesopotamia, [[Armenia]], '[[Seleucid]]' [[Cappadocia]], [[Persis]], [[Parthia]], [[Bactria]], [[Arabia]], [[Tapuria]], [[Sogdia]], [[Arachosia]], [[Hyrcania]], and other adjacent peoples that had been subdued by Alexander, as far as the river Indus, so that the boundaries of his empire were the most extensive in Asia after that of Alexander. The whole region from Phrygia to the Indus was subject to Seleucus. He crossed the Indus and waged war with Sandrocottus [Maurya], king of the Indians, who dwelt on the banks of that stream, until they came to an understanding with each other and contracted a [[marriage]] relationship. Some of these exploits were performed before the death of Antigonus and some afterward.|sign=<small>[[Appian]]</small>|source=''History of Rome'', The Syrian Wars [http://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_11.html 55]}} | |||
An Indian [[Puranic]] source, the ''[[Pratisargaparvan|Pratisarga Parva]]'' of the ''[[Bhavishya Purana]]'', described the marriage of Chandragupta with a Greek ("[[Yavana]]") princess, daughter of Seleucus,<ref name="Sagar">Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992, p.83 [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA83]</ref> before accurately detailing early Mauryan genealogy: | |||
{{quote|"Chandragupta married with a daughter of [[Seleucus I Nicator|Suluva]] (Seleucus), the [[Yavana]] king of [[Persian Empire|Pausasa]] (Persia).<ref>The country is transliterated as "Pausasa" in the online translation: [http://mandhataglobal.com/wp-content/custom/articles/Puranas.pdf Pratisarga Parva p.18] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423144009/http://mandhataglobal.com/wp-content/custom/articles/Puranas.pdf |date=23 April 2016 }} and in Encyclopaedia of Indian Traditions and Cultural Heritage, Anmol Publications, 2009, p.18; and "Paursa" in the original Sanskrit of the first two verses given in Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA83 p.83]:</ref> Thus, he mixed the Buddhists and the Yavanas. He ruled for 60 years. From him, [[Bindusara]] was born and ruled for the same number of years as his father. His son was [[Ashoka]]."|''[[Pratisarga Parva]]''<ref>Translation given in: Encyclopaedia of Indian Traditions and Cultural Heritage, Anmol Publications, 2009, p.18. Also online translation: [http://mandhataglobal.com/wp-content/custom/articles/Puranas.pdf Pratisarga Parva p.18] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423144009/http://mandhataglobal.com/wp-content/custom/articles/Puranas.pdf |date=23 April 2016 }}.</ref><ref>Original Sanskrit of the first two verses given in Foreign Influence on Ancient India, Krishna Chandra Sagar, Northern Book Centre, 1992, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0UA4rkm9MgkC&pg=PA83 p.83]: "Chandragupta Sutah Paursadhipateh Sutam. Suluvasya Tathodwahya Yavani Baudhtatapar".</ref><ref name="Sagar"/>}} | |||
===Southern conquest=== | ===Southern conquest=== | ||
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[[File:MauryanCoin.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Coins|Silver punch mark coin of the [[Maurya empire]], with symbols of wheel and elephant (3rd century BCE)]] | [[File:MauryanCoin.JPG|thumb|left|alt=Coins|Silver punch mark coin of the [[Maurya empire]], with symbols of wheel and elephant (3rd century BCE)]] | ||
The empire built a [[Maurya Empire#Economy|strong economy]] from a solid infrastructure such as irrigation, temples, mines, and roads.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=187–195}}{{sfn|Roy|2012|pp=62–63}} Ancient epigraphical evidence suggests Chandragupta, under counsel from Chanakya, started and completed many irrigation reservoirs and networks across the Indian subcontinent to ensure food supplies for the civilian population and the army, a practice continued by his dynastic successors.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=187–194}} Regional prosperity in agriculture was one of the required duties of his state officials.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=192–194}} | The empire built a [[Maurya Empire#Economy|strong economy]] from a solid infrastructure such as irrigation, temples, mines, and roads.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=187–195}}{{sfn|Roy|2012|pp=62–63}} Ancient epigraphical evidence suggests Chandragupta, under counsel from Chanakya, started and completed many irrigation reservoirs and networks across the Indian subcontinent to ensure food supplies for the civilian population and the army, a practice continued by his dynastic successors.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=187–194}} Regional prosperity in agriculture was one of the required duties of his state officials.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=192–194}} | ||
Chandragupta's state also started mines, centers to produce goods, and networks for trading these goods. His rule developed land routes for goods transportation within the Indian subcontinent, disfavoring water transport. Chandragupta expanded "roads suitable for carts", preferring these over those narrow tracts that allowed only pack animals.{{sfn|F. R. Allchin|George Erdosy|1995|pp=194-195 | Chandragupta's state also started mines, centers to produce goods, and networks for trading these goods. His rule developed land routes for goods transportation within the Indian subcontinent, disfavoring water transport. Chandragupta expanded "roads suitable for carts", preferring these over those narrow tracts that allowed only pack animals.{{sfn|F. R. Allchin|George Erdosy|1995|pp=194-195}} | ||
The strongest evidence of infrastructure development is found in the [[Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman]] in Gujarat, dated to about 150 CE. It states, among other things, that Rudradaman repaired and enlarged the reservoir and irrigation conduit infrastructure built by Chandragupta and enhanced by Asoka.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|p=189}} Chandragupta's empire also built mines, manufacturing centres, and networks for trading goods. His rule developed land routes to transport goods across the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta expanded "roads suitable for carts" as he preferred those over narrow tracks suitable for only pack animals.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=194–195}} | The strongest evidence of infrastructure development is found in the [[Junagadh rock inscription of Rudradaman]] in Gujarat, dated to about 150 CE. It states, among other things, that Rudradaman repaired and enlarged the reservoir and irrigation conduit infrastructure built by Chandragupta and enhanced by Asoka.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|p=189}} Chandragupta's empire also built mines, manufacturing centres, and networks for trading goods. His rule developed land routes to transport goods across the Indian subcontinent. Chandragupta expanded "roads suitable for carts" as he preferred those over narrow tracks suitable for only pack animals.{{sfn|Allchin|Erdosy|1995|pp=194–195}} | ||
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The evidence of arts and architecture during Chandragupta's time is mostly limited to texts such as those by Megasthenes and Kautilya. The edict inscriptions and carvings on monumental pillars are attributed to his grandson Ashoka. The texts imply the existence of cities, public works, and prosperous architecture but the historicity of these is in question.{{sfn|Harrison|2009|pp=234–235}} | The evidence of arts and architecture during Chandragupta's time is mostly limited to texts such as those by Megasthenes and Kautilya. The edict inscriptions and carvings on monumental pillars are attributed to his grandson Ashoka. The texts imply the existence of cities, public works, and prosperous architecture but the historicity of these is in question.{{sfn|Harrison|2009|pp=234–235}} | ||
Archeological discoveries in the modern age, such as those [[Didarganj Yakshi]] discovered in 1917 buried beneath the banks of the Ganges suggest exceptional artisanal accomplishment.{{sfn|Guha-Thakurta|2006|pp=51–53, 58–59}}{{sfn|Varadpande|2006|pp=32–34 with Figure 11}} The site was dated to third century BCE by | [[File:Didarganj_Yakshi_statue_in_the_Bihar_Museum.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=Statue|3rd century BCE [[Didarganj Yakshi]], discovered in 1917 buried in the banks of the Ganges.<ref name=tapati51>{{cite book|author=Tapati Guha-Thakurta|editor=Partha Chatterjee and Anjan Ghosh|title=History and the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1eCdLyrpV8C |year=2006|publisher=Anthem|isbn=978-1-84331-224-6|pages=51–53, 58–59}}</ref><ref name=varadpande32>{{cite book|author=Manohar Laxman Varadpande|title=Woman in Indian Sculpture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IsE5KAja3jAC |year=2006|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-474-5|pages=32–34 with Figure 11}}</ref>]] | ||
Archeological discoveries in the modern age, such as those [[Didarganj Yakshi]] discovered in 1917 buried beneath the banks of the Ganges suggest exceptional artisanal accomplishment.{{sfn|Guha-Thakurta|2006|pp=51–53, 58–59}}{{sfn|Varadpande|2006|pp=32–34 with Figure 11}} The site was dated to third century BCE by almost all scholars{{sfn|Guha-Thakurta|2006|pp=51–53, 58–59}}{{sfn|Varadpande|2006|pp=32–34 with Figure 11}} but Frederick Asher questioned it.{{sfn|Asher|2015|pp=421–423}} | |||
==Succession, renunciation, and death (Sallekhana)== | ==Succession, renunciation, and death (Sallekhana)== | ||