Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c9.s1.t3.2

c9.s1.t3.2

Xandrames, the name mentioned by Diodorus, has been taken by some scholars to answer to the Sanskrit Chandramas, and identified with Chandragupta Maurya. But Plutarch clearly distinguishes between "Androkottos" and the king of the "Praisiai" in the days of Alexander, and his account receives confirmation from that of Justin. Xandrames or Agrammes was the son of a usurper born after his father had obtained the supreme authority among the Prasii, while Chandragupta was himself the founder of a new sovereignty, the first ruler of his dynasty. The father of Xandrames was a barber who could claim no royal ancestry. On the other hand, Indian writers are unanimous in representing Chandragupta as a scion of a race of rulers, though they differ in regard to the identity of the family and its claim to be regarded as of pure Kshatriya extraction. Jain evidence clearly suggests that the barber usurper is identical with the *nāpita kumāra* or *nāpitasū* who founded the Nanda line.