The Nanda Dynasty of Magadha

The Nandas took Magadha around 345 BCE and extended it from the Punjab to the Gangetic coast.

1. How did the Nandas begin?

The Shishunaga line ended around 345 BCE. World History says the Nanda dynasty then began with Mahapadma Nanda. Some Puranas, old Indian texts, say a Shudra lover of the last Shishunaga king’s wife killed him. They say this lover founded the Nanda dynasty.

The origins of the Nandas are obscure. World History adds that all the texts of that period agree on one point. Mahapadma Nanda was of low birth.

Another tradition makes him an illegitimate son of the last Shishunaga ruler, Mahanandin.

2. How far did Nanda rule extend?

World History says Mahapadma Nanda won back all the lands that Magadha had lost under Ajatashatru’s successors. He pushed the kingdom into the Deccan plateau.

By the time Alexander reached the western frontier, the Nandas ruled from the Punjab in the west to the Gangetic coast in the east. So Magadha held the resources of northern India.

3. What does the Hathigumpha inscription say about the Nandas?

The Hathigumpha inscription belongs to King Kharavela of Kalinga. It speaks of a canal first built by a Nanda king. It also says Kharavela brought back a Jina image that the Nandas had taken from Kalinga.

Live History India says scholars disagree about which Nanda king is meant. Some say it was Mahapadma Nanda. Others say it could be Ashoka or Pushyamitra, the Shunga king.

So treat the Nanda link to Kalinga as a clue, not as proof.

Greek writers gave huge numbers, and they do not agree. The last king, Dhana Nanda, was rich and unpopular.

4. What numbers did the Greek writers give?

Diodorus says the king of the Gandaridae, Xandrames, had 20,000 cavalry and 200,000 infantry. He also had 2,000 chariots and 4,000 elephants.

Plutarch gives larger figures. He lists 80,000 horsemen, 200,000 footmen, 8,000 chariots and 6,000 elephants. He says the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii awaited Alexander with this force.

World History cites Curtius for 3,000 elephants. So the writers do not agree on the numbers. They all agree the army was huge.

5. What did Porus tell Alexander about the king?

Alexander doubted the reports. He asked Porus. Diodorus says Porus agreed that the rest of the account was true.

But Porus said the king of the Gandaridae was a common man. People believed he was the son of a barber. His father had been handsome and loved by the queen. She murdered her husband, and the kingdom fell to him.

Greeks knew the Nanda king as Xandrames or Agrammes. World History says so.

6. Who was Dhana Nanda?

Dhana Nanda was the last Nanda king. World History gives his rule as 329 to 322 or 321 BCE.

He was very rich but hugely unpopular. World History says he was cruel and taxed heavily. Buddhist texts say he dug up the Ganges riverbed and buried his gold there.

The stories of Nanda wealth lasted for centuries. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang still mentions them in the 7th century CE.

Alexander’s army turned back before meeting the Nandas. Chandragupta then ended the dynasty.

7. Did Alexander turn back because of the Nandas?

In 326 BCE, Alexander’s men refused to cross the Hyphasis, now the Beas. World History says they would not fight so large an army. Plutarch’s account is similar. The reports of the Nanda army reached them.

Livius gives other reasons. The men had left Macedonia to punish Persia, and they had done so. Magadha seemed to lie at the edge of the earth. They would have to march through continuous rains in the full heat of summer.

The Perseus notes say Arrian tells these events very differently. So sources disagree on the cause. They agree Alexander never fought the Nandas.

8. Who ended the Nanda dynasty?

Chandragupta Maurya ended it. After Alexander left, a power vacuum formed in western India. Chandragupta stepped in, took those kingdoms, and entered Pataliputra. World History says he killed the Nanda king, around 321 BCE.

The details are unclear. No contemporary account has survived. The story comes from later Indian writers, and they tell it differently.

One tradition makes Chanakya, also called Kautilya, an adviser of Dhana Nanda. Another says the king insulted him at a ceremony. Either way, he helped Chandragupta plan the takeover.

9. What came after the Nandas?

World History says the mighty Magadha kingdom gave way to an even more powerful one. That was the Mauryan Empire.

Plutarch says Androcottus, the Greek name for Chandragupta, later overran and subdued all India. He is said to have used an army of 600,000 men.

Remember three pairs: Mahapadma and Dhana, Xandrames and Alexander, Chandragupta and the Mauryas.

10. What is the quick comparison?

• Mahapadma Nanda: first Nanda king, of low birth, around 345 BCE.
• Dhana Nanda: last king, rich and unpopular, killed around 321 BCE.
• Xandrames: the Greek name for the Nanda king.
• Army figures: Diodorus and Plutarch differ. All say it was huge.
• Hyphasis (Beas): Alexander’s army refused to go further.
• Chandragupta Maurya: ended the dynasty.