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268 POLITICAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT INDIA
elephant accord well with his residence amidst the wild denizens of that sequestered region. During the inglorious reign of Agrammes, when there was general disaffection amongst his subjects, the Moriyas evidently came into prominence, probably under the leadership of Chandragupta. These clansmen were no longer rulers and were merely Magadhan subjects. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that Justin calls Chandragupta a man of humble origin. Plutarch, as well as Justin, informs us that Chandragupta paid a visit to Alexander. Plutarch says 1 "Androkottus himself, who was then a lad, saw Alexander himself and afterwards used to declare that Alexander might easily have conquered the whole country, as the then king was hated by his subjects on account of his mean and wicked disposition." From this passage it is not unreasonable to infer that Chandragupta visited Alexander with the intention of inducing the conqueror to put an end to the rule of the tyrant of Magadha. His conduct may be compared to that of Rānā Samgrāma Simha who invited Babur to put an end to the regime of Ibrahim Lūudi. Apparently Chandragupta found Alexander as stern a ruler as Agrammes, for we learn from Justin that the Macedonian king did not scruple to give orders to kill the intrepid Indian lad for his boldness of speech. The young Maurya apparently thought of ridding his country of both the oppressors, Macedonian as well as Indian. With the help of Kautilya, also called Chanakya or Vishnugupta, son of a Brāhmaṇa of Taxila, he is said to have over
1 Life of Alexander lxii.
2 Regarding the conduct of Samgrama Simha, see Tod's Rajasthan, vol, I, p. 240, n. (2). Anne Susannah Beveridge, the Babur-nama in English, Vol. II, p. 529.
3 As already stated the substitution of 'Nanda' for Alexander cannot be justified.
