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CHAPTER V KALINGA UNDER THE MAURYAS
The Nanda empire in Kalinga appears to have been only a passing episode. The strong position held by the Nandas in the heart of their dominion viz., Magadha, as contrasted with their comparative weakness in the frontier regions, is the theme of certain interesting anecdotes that Buddhist Commentators on the great Chronicle of Ceylon and other later writers tell of Chandragupta's ambitious adventure on the threshold of his career. This fact casts a doubt if the Nanda rule was so deeply established in Kalinga as in other parts of the country.
But what happened of Kalinga immediately after the fall of the last Nanda ruler is not easy to determine. Whether this part of the country, along with the rest of the Nanda empire, passed into the hands of Chandragupta Maurya or the people of Kalinga regained their independence during the period of the decline of the Nanda power and the accession of Chandragupta Maurya, and were able to retain it till it was subsequently subdued and annexed by Aśoka, is a problem on which no clear light is thrown by any evidence-literary or archaeological.
Even in the case of Chandragupta Maurya, there are no clear and contemporary records--either Greek or indigenous, of his wars and conquests in India, after his accession to the imperial throne of Magadha, except the one with the Greek king of Syria, Seleukas Nikator. The fact that Asoka found himself. at his accession, master of the country as far south as Mysore, shows that Southern India, upto the borders of the Tamil countries, had already been
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