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Chandragupta Maurya: Difference between revisions
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== Early life == | == Early life == | ||
The Buddhist sources, written centuries later, claim that both Chandragupta and his grandson, the great patron of Buddhism called [[Ashoka]], were of noble lineage. Some texts link him to the same family of Sakyas from which the [[Buddha]] came, adding that his epithet ''Moriya'' (Sanskrit: Maurya, Mayura) comes from ''Mora'', which in Pali means peacock. Most Buddhist texts state that Chandragupta was a Kshatriya, the Hindu warrior class in Magadha and a student of Chanakya.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=13-18}} The Buddhist texts are inconsistent, with some including legends about a city named "Moriya-nagara" where all buildings were made of bricks colored like the peacock's resplendent neck.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=13-14}} The Jain sources, also written centuries later, claim Chandragupta to be the son of a village chief, a village known for raising peacocks.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=13-14}} | |||
One medieval commentator states Chandragupta to be the son of one of the Nanda's wives with the name Mura.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=7–9}} Other sources describe Mura as a concubine of the king.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of India |year=1968 |editor=Edward James Rapson |volume=4 |page=470 |quote="His surname Maurya is explained by Indian authorities as mean 'son of Mura,' who is described as a concubine of the king. |editor2=Wolseley Haig |editor3=Richard Burn |editor4=Henry Dodwell |editor5=Mortimer Wheeler}}</ref> Another Sanskrit dramatic text [[Mudrarakshasa]] uses the terms ''Vrishala'' and ''Kula-Hina'' (meaning - "not descending from a recognized clan or family.") to describe Chandragupta.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=9–11}} The word ''Vrishala'' has two meanings: one is the ''son of a [[Shudra]]''; the other means the ''best of kings''. A later commentator used the former interpretation to posit that Chandragupta had a Shudra background. However, historian [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee]] opposed this theory, and stated that the word should be interpreted as "the best of kings".{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=9–11}} The same drama also refers to Chandragupta as someone of humble origin, like Justin.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=9–11}} According to the 11th-century texts of the Kashmiri Hindu tradition – [[Kathasaritsagara]] and ''Brihat-Katha-Manjari'' – the Nanda lineage was very short. Chandragupta was a son of Purva-Nanda, the older Nanda based in Ayodhya. {{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=15-18}}{{refn|note|According to Kaushik Roy, Chandragupta Maurya was a [[Shudra]] lineage, king.{{sfn|Roy|2012|pp=61-62}}}} The common theme in the Hindu sources is that Chandragupta came from a humble background and with Chanakya, he emerged as a dharmic king loved by his subjects.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=7–13}} | One medieval commentator states Chandragupta to be the son of one of the Nanda's wives with the name Mura.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=7–9}} Other sources describe Mura as a concubine of the king.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |title=The Cambridge History of India |year=1968 |editor=Edward James Rapson |volume=4 |page=470 |quote="His surname Maurya is explained by Indian authorities as mean 'son of Mura,' who is described as a concubine of the king. |editor2=Wolseley Haig |editor3=Richard Burn |editor4=Henry Dodwell |editor5=Mortimer Wheeler}}</ref> Another Sanskrit dramatic text [[Mudrarakshasa]] uses the terms ''Vrishala'' and ''Kula-Hina'' (meaning - "not descending from a recognized clan or family.") to describe Chandragupta.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=9–11}} The word ''Vrishala'' has two meanings: one is the ''son of a [[Shudra]]''; the other means the ''best of kings''. A later commentator used the former interpretation to posit that Chandragupta had a Shudra background. However, historian [[Radha Kumud Mukherjee]] opposed this theory, and stated that the word should be interpreted as "the best of kings".{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=9–11}} The same drama also refers to Chandragupta as someone of humble origin, like Justin.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=9–11}} According to the 11th-century texts of the Kashmiri Hindu tradition – [[Kathasaritsagara]] and ''Brihat-Katha-Manjari'' – the Nanda lineage was very short. Chandragupta was a son of Purva-Nanda, the older Nanda based in Ayodhya. {{sfn|Mookerji|1988|p=13}}{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=15-18}}{{refn|note|According to Kaushik Roy, Chandragupta Maurya was a [[Shudra]] lineage, king.{{sfn|Roy|2012|pp=61-62}}}} The common theme in the Hindu sources is that Chandragupta came from a humble background and with Chanakya, he emerged as a dharmic king loved by his subjects.{{sfn|Mookerji|1988|pp=7–13}} | ||