The Mauryan Polity c6.s1.3

c6.s1.3

That the royal dynasty which immediately preceded the Mauryan was that of the great Nandas who exercised their sway for well-nigh a century, is quite clear. But the materials available at present are too meagre to enable us to ascertain and describe the exact limits of their empire. But this much is certain that it included a good portion of the south of India in addition to their vast territory in the north. An inscription of the twelfth century after Christ records a tradition that one of the provinces subject to the rule of the Nandas was Kuntala which comprised the Western Dekhan and the North of Mysore. And this derives very strong support from another fact, namely, that the Kadamba kings of South India trace their descent from a certain Nanda, undoubtedly a member of this ancient royal family.¹ The above inscription therefore shows that the Nanda empire embraced also a good portion of the South. That being so, it may be safely assumed and it is not an improbable assumption that when Candragupta Maurya ascended the throne he was in possession of the whole of this empire left intact by his Nanda predecessors. It has been contended, however, that in the revolution effected by Candragupta with the help of his minister Cāṇakya, several States which had been loosely attached to the Empire under the strong hand of the Nandas cut themselves off the Empire and declared their independence. Among these were, perhaps, the South Indian provinces as they were far away from the Capital. That this was a possibility can be seen from the history of the Mauryas. Mention may be made of four factors in the light of which one may conclude that the Empire of the Nandas slowly expanded itself under the first rulers of the Mauryas.