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TRIBES IN ANCIENT INDIA We learn from Kautilya's Arthaśāstra, Kāmandaka's Nītisāra, the Purāṇas and the Mudrārāksasa that the Nanda dynasty was overthrown by Candragupta Maurya with the help of his wily and astute minister, Kautilya.
Candragupta was the son of the chief queen of the Moriya king of Pipphalivana,1 and founder of the Imperial Maurya dynasty of Magadha. He was advised by his minister Kautilya to seek the help of the Licchavis who were then living under a sangha form of government. The Licchavis enjoyed a great deal of independence under Candragupta. It will be remembered that they had been forced by Ajātaśatru to acknowledge the suzerainty of Magadha. Candragupta appears to have liberated the Punjab from foreign rule. He inherited from his Nanda predecessor a huge army which he increased until it numbered 30,000 cavalry, 9,000 elephants, 600,000 infantry, and a multitude of chariots. With this irresistible force, he overran and subdued all the northern States, probably as far south as the Narmadā or even farther.2 Plutarch 3 tells us that he brought under his sway the whole of India. Justin also says that Candragupta was in possession of India. Vincent Smith states that 'the dominions of Candragupta, the first historical paramount sovereign or emperor in India, extended from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea'.4 Justin - informs us that while India was under Candragupta, Seleukos (Seleucus), a general of Alexander the Great, made an expedition into India (about 305 B.C.). Appianus says that he crossed the Indus and waged war on Candragupta, king of the Indians, until he made friends and entered into relations of marriage with him. The hosts of Candragupta, however, proved too strong for the invader to overcome, and Seleukos was perforce obliged to retire and to conclude a humiliating peace. This treaty may be dated in or about 303 B.C. It was ratified by a'matrimonial alliance', which is taken to mean that Seleukos gave a daughter to Candragupta. Seleukos was not only compelled to abandon all thought of conquest in India, but also to surrender a large part of Ariana to the west of the Indus. In exchange for the comparatively trifling equivalent of 500 elephants, Candragupta received the Satrapies of the Paropanisadai, Aria and Arachosia, the capitals of which were known as Kabul, Herat and Kandahar respectively. The Satrapy of Gedrosia with its capital Makran seems also to have been ceded. The inscriptions of Asoka prove the inclusion of the
1 See chapter on Bulis, Moriyas, etc. 2 Smith, Early History of India, 4th Ed., p. 124. 3 Alex., LXII.
4 Smith, op. cit., p. 124. 5 Watson's Ed., p. 143.
6 Indian Antiquary, Vol. VI, p. 114.
