The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c10.71

c10.71

This story confirms the statements of the Purāṇas that the Nanda dynasty was of ambiguous origin and comprised only two generations. The oldest Purāṇa brands the first Nanda, Mahāpadma, as a prince, 'urged on by prospective fortune', whose reign marked the end of the Kshatriya, or high born, kings, and the beginning of the rule of those of low degree, ranking as Sūdras. The Mahāvaṁsa, when it dubs the last Nanda by the name of Dhana or 'Riches', seems to hint at an imputation of avariciousness against the first Nanda; and the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang also refers to the Nanda Rāja as the reputed possessor of great wealth.²