Political History of Ancient India, from the Accession of Parikshit to the Extinction of the Gupta Dynasty c14.s2.4

c14.s2.4

If the author of the *Ārya-Mañjuśrī Mūla Kalpa*, Hemachandra and Tāranātha are to be believed, Kauṭilya or Chāṇakya continued to serve as minister for some time after the accession of Bindusāra.³ "Chāṇakya says Tāranātha, "one of his (Bindusāra's) great lords, procured the destruction of the nobles and kings of sixteen towns,¹ and made the king master of all the territory between the eastern and western seas." The conquest of the territory between the eastern and western seas has been taken by some scholars to refer to the annexation of the Deccan.² But we should not forget that already in the time of Chandragupta the Maurya Empire extended from Surāshṭra to Bengal (Gangaridae), *i.e.*, from the western to the eastern sea. Tāranātha's statement need mean nothing more than the suppression of a general revolt. No early tradition expressly connects the name of Bindusāra with the conquest of the Deccan.³ The story of the subjugation of sixteen towns may or may not be true, but we are told in the *Divyāvadāna*⁴ that at least one town of note, *viz.*, Taxila, revolted during the reign of Bindusāra. The king is said to have despatched Aśoka there. While the prince was nearing Taxila with his troops, the people came out to meet him, and said, "We are not opposed to the prince nor even to king Bindusāra, but the wicked ministers (*Dushṭāmātyāḥ*) insult us". The high-handedness of the Maurya officials in the outlying provinces is alluded to by Aśoka himself in his Kaliṅga Edict.⁵ Addressing his *Mahāmātras* the Emperor says: