Author: Vaandu Mama
Translator: Derpitron
India had several rulers who changed the face of the nation’s history. One such a ruler is Chandragupta Maurya. Though he was a great king in history, his initial days were full of struggle. He lost his father even before his birth. So his mother moved to her brother’s place at Patliputra. Since they had no money, her brother instructed her to leave the baby at someone’s house who would raise the baby well. Accordingly her mother left the baby at a cowherd rearer’s house. He raised the baby well but when he grew up into a small boy, the cowherd man sold the boy to a hunter. The hunter used this boy to rear cattle. There were also other boys who reared cattle like Chandragupta. One day the boys played a game of kings and subjects. Even in that game, Chandragupta exhibited excellent leadership traits. This game was being watched by a learned Brahmin Vishnugupta. This Brahmin is none other than Chanakya. Chanakya went to the hunter and paid the money for releasing Chandragupta and took Chandragupta with him and educated him. Chanakya could foresee that this boy could rise up as a great king in future. He bought Chandragupta for 1000 “Karshas” (Currency during that period), and in due time, Chandragupta became educated and trained in warfare and was fit to be a ruler.
That was the time when Maghada was ruled by Mahapadmananda and his brothers known as Nava nanda. They were brutal rulers who ruled the country like tyrants. On the other hand, Greek king Alexander was attacking the North West frontiers around Punjab and trying to invade further. Chandragupta realised that a strong united force was required to stop the Greeks. So with the guidance of Chanakya, he mobilized the Panchalas. They were brave people who at present lacked a leader. So Chandragupta led them into a united force and started integrating several small kingdoms. He also devised a new war strategy to attack the Greeks and trained his soldiers accordingly. By the time he was ready to attack the Greeks, Alexander retreated, only his representatives were ruling the invaded kingdoms. Chandragupta at once attacked them and thwarted the Greeks.
Now that things were over with the outside invaders, Chandragupta shifted his focus to Maghada. It wasn’t easy to attack Mahapadmananda. He had a huge army. So he had to gather appropriate support before he could launch an attack. With the help of Chanakya’s strategy, Chandragupta was able to win the favour of several commanders who worked under Mahapadmananda. The people were also not happy with Nanda’s rule. All of this paved the way for Chandragupta. He was able to defeat the Nandas and take over Maghada too. Immediately next, Chandragupta started conquering several other smaller kingdoms and consolidated his empire. Chanakya had advised that having a large empire would be beneficial to thwart the invaders from entering the nation.
Like this, Chandragupta had a large empire that extended from Bengal in the east to Hindukush in the west and Himalayas in the north to Narmada in the south. He ruled the country for 24 years with the able guidance of the political expert Chanakya. So this is the story of how a humble cowherd boy went on to become the ruler of a great empire.