Sunday, January 20, 2002		Books

A conqueror and consolidator
Review by Ivninderpal Singh

Chandragupta Maurya by Purushottam Lal Bhargava. D.K. Printworld, New Delhi. Pages x+160. Rs 220.

TRIBAL political organisations were giving way to territorial states towards the end of the Vedic period. But the territorial idea was gradually strengthened in the sixth century BC with the rise of large states with towns as their seats of power. The people now owed allegiance to the janapada (territory) rather than the jana (tribe).

Initially, these janapadas were agricultural settlements but through agricultural expansion, war and conquests, these became large territorial entities known as mahajanapadas. According to the Buddhist text "Anguttara Nikaya" which is part of "Sutta Pitaka", there were 16 mahajanapadas in the time of the Buddha. They fought for political hegemony for nearly a hundred years. Eventually, Magadha emerged victorious and became the centre of political activity in North India.

Magadha, which was ruled by three successive dynasties — the Haryanka dynasty, Sisunaga dynasty and the Nanda dynasty — culminated in the creation of the Mauryan empire in the fourth century BC. The founder of this empire, Chandragupta Maurya, is the subject of the book under review. The author has covered all aspects of Chandragupta Maurya’s reign, beginning from the rise and growth of the kingdom of Magadha. Apart from discussing political events, the author has covered the administration of the empire, religious, social and economic conditions, development of literature and art and various legends associated with the "gem of Indian history", as the ruler is called by the author.

The author begins with a chronology of events to find out the date of Chandragupta’s accession to the Maghadan throne as Buddhist chronicles, Puranas and Sri Lankan sources (Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa) provide different dates. Mr Bhargava has provided the reign periods from the first Haryanka ruler, Ksemadharman, to the last of the Nanda rulers in a tabular form. He marks 317 BC as the year of accession of Chandragupta. He also examines the chronological data of Buddhist chronicles of Sri Lanka but refutes those dates and adhere to the Puranic chronology. Regarding sources, the author discusses Brahmanical, Buddhist, and classical authors. Along with these, he has also touched upon the controversy about the date of composition of Arthasastra, a political treatise by Chanakya.

The rise and growth of Magadha along with Alexander’s exploits in India have been discussed in detail. The author attributes two main reasons for the success of Chandragupta Maurya — the destruction of small principalities of North India by Alexander and of eastern and southern India by Mahapadama Nanda, the first Nanda ruler, and the discontent among the people in the Nanda empire. Above all, the fact that he had a shrewd adviser in Chanakya, coupled with his own genius, made him one of the great rulers in history, he adds. Regarding his career, Mr Bhargava has discussed various sources analytically and also given several legends associated with Chandragupta in Buddhist, Jain, Hindu and European sources.

Chandragupta was not only a conqueror but a consolidator too. "Having achieved political unity, he applied his energies in giving a good government to his people," the author says. The author has discussed the administration after analysing Chanakya’s "Arthasastra" and Megasthenes’s "Indica". Powers and responsibilities of the king and his Ministers, military administration, financial administration, city administration, etc., have been discussed elaborately.

The composition of society and religious and economic conditions prevalent at the time have also been given due consideration. Megasthenes’s division of Indian society into seven classes have been discussed in detail along with the development of art and literature.

While highlighting the achievements of Chandragupta, the author compares him with the world’s three most renowned kings — Alexander, Akbar and Napoleon. Comparing their achievements, he concludes that Chandragupta was undoubtedly an uncommon genius.

However, the author’s opinion that Chandragupta was "the founder of the Hindu dynasty," does not seem true as Buddhist and Jain sources have given due importance to Chandragupta. Moreover, many rulers of this dynasty later adopted other faiths. His son and successor, Bimbisara, owed allegiance to Ajivika sect and his grandson, Asoka, turned to Buddhism after the Battle of Kalinga. Even Chandragupta himself turned to Jainism and retired to South India towards the end of his life. So to assert that Chandragupta laid the foundation of the Hindu dynasty will not be appropriate.

Overall, it is a good book for a layman for enriching his or her knowledge of Indian history. An exhaustive index will also be helpful for the researchers.