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Megasthenes’s account does not survive in full, but quotations from it occur in the works of several subsequent Greek writers. He lived in the Maurya capital of Pataliputra and wrote an account not only of the administration of the city of Pataliputra but also of the Maurya empire as a whole. Megasthenes was a Greek ambassador sent by Seleucus to the court of Chandragupta Maurya. We know about this from the account of Megasthenes and the Arthashastra of Kautilya. The Mauryas organized a very elaborate system of administration. The Mauryas also conquered the republics or samghas which Kautilya considered obstacles to the growth of the empire. In the north-west, they held sway over certain areas that did not even form part of the British empire. Aside from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and parts of north-eastern India, the Mauryas ruled over virtually the entire subcontinent. Eventually peace was concluded between the two, and in return for 500 elephants, Seleucus gave him not only his daughter but also eastern Afghanistan, Baluchistan, and the area west of the Indus.Ĭhandragupta thus built up a vast empire which included not only Bihar and substantial parts of Orissa and Bengal but also western and north-western India, and the Deccan. In the war with the Greek viceroy, Chandragupta seems to have emerged victorious. This may or may not be true, but Chandragupta liberated north-western India from the thraldom of Seleucus, who ruled over the area west of the Indus. Justin, a Greek writer, says that Chandragupta overran the whole of India with an army of 600,000. In modern times, several plays have been based on it. The machinations of Chanakya against Chandragupta’s enemies are described in detail in the Mudrarakshasa, a play written by Vishakhadatta in the ninth century. With the help of Chanakya, who is known as Kautilya, he overthrew the Nandas and established the rule of the Maurya dynasty. He took advantage of the Nandas in the last days of their rule. In all likelihood, Chandragupta was a member of this clan.