Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c4.23

c4.23

(1) From Curtius (of first century A.D.): Porus (the Indian king who was defeated by Alexander in the battle of the Hydaspes and the greatest personality of the times in that region) reported to Alexander "that the present king (the Nanda king who was later to be supplanted by Chandragupta Maurya) was not merely a man originally of no distinction, but even of the very meanest condition. His father was in fact a barber" who stealthily became the queen's paramour and encompassed the assassination of the king by treachery. "Then, under the pretence of acting as guardian to the royal children, he usurped the supreme authority, and having put the young princes to death begot the present king who was detested and held cheap by his subjects."