Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c8.9

c8.9

The thread of the main story is taken up again by Prof. Raychaudhuri in the chapter (IV) on Chandragupta and Bindusāra. A brief criticism of the sources is followed by a discussion of chronology which may with advantage be read together with a further discussion of the same topic that follows in the chapter on Aśoka (VI). Prof. Raychaudhuri holds that the classical sources were well aware of the overthrow of the Nandas by Chandragupta though it might appear to some that in speaking of his overthrow of the existing government and liberation of India they meant only the destruction of the Macedonian domination in the Indus valley. He discounts heavily the part attributed to Chāṇakya in the internal revolution that resulted in the fall of the Nandas and the establishment of the Mauryan empire, and is inclined to consider Chandragupta as the hero of the drama. He has also grave doubts about the age and authenticity of the *Arthaśāstra*. But the whole of his narrative shows that he is quite fully aware of the possibility of other views being taken on these subjects and of the need for putting before his readers all the available evidence to enable them to form their own opinions.