Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.150

c11.150

If Aelian is to be believed the royal palace "where the greatest of all the kings" of India resided was a marvel of workmanship with which "neither Memnonian Susa with all its costly splendour, nor Ekbatana with all its magnificence, can vie." Parks, resonant with the melodious notes of peacocks and pheasants, shady groves and ever green trees "set in clumps and branches woven together", some of which were brought from distant lands, lovely tanks abounding in tame fishes, and with little princes fishing, playing and swimming in them — were all calculated to lend charm to the scenery.² The majesty and beauty of the palace befitted the residence of a mighty monarch, and its dweller is revealed to us as a man of fine aesthetic sense with "a genuine joy of life and love of nature" not usually associated with a stern soldier. Excavations have brought to light the ruins of Maurya buildings at the village of Kumrahar, not far from the modern city of Patna. The wooden structures, especially fragments of timber palisade, probably date back to the reign of Chandragupta.³