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The early Mauryan kings were able to be successful because they pursued a three pillared government policy that was ambitious, far-reaching, and well-planned. Chandragupta initiated his dynasty’s assent into power by challenging the Nanda Dynasty, which ruled northern India. After defeating the Nanda Dynasty, Chandragupta then filled the power vacuum in northwest India that was left by Alexander the Great after his ill-fated invasion. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the early Mauryan kings installed a strong central government that was not afraid to ruthlessly suppress dissent if need be.

[[File: Nanda_Empire.png|300px|thumbnail|left| The Extent of the Nanda Empire during Alexander’s the Great’s Invasion of India]]

The history of pre-modern India is divided into several major periods, with several more sub-periods. The period in Indian history from about 1,500 to 600 BC is known as the Vedic Period. This period was marked by a primarily rural society that was ruled by an ethnic Aryan warrior aristocracy, although the Dravidians in the south remained relatively free of direct Aryan control. After 600 BC, though, urban based kingdoms began developing throughout India, especially in the eastern and middle regions. <ref> Avaru, Burjor. <i>India: The Ancient Past: A History of the Indian Sub-continent from c. 7000 BC to AD 1200.</i> (London: Routledge, 2007), pgs. 86-87</ref>

Although Porus nominally remained in power, his army and position <i>vis à vis</i> the other Indian states was severely weakened. Less than five years after Alexander left India in defeat, a conqueror from the east entered the Indus Valley.

[[File: Chandragupta_mauryan_empire_305_BC.png|300px|thumbnail|left| Map Detailing the Empire Chandragupta Built]]

Although Chandragupta is well-known as the founder of the Mauryan Dynasty and the promoter of many of its successful policies, there is a dearth of primary source material about the ruler. Later Buddhist sources state that he was from the <i>kshatriya</i> or warrior caste, while Brahman sources depict him as being from the lowly <i>shudra</i> caste. <ref> Thapar, Romila. <i>Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.</i> (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002), pgs. 175-6</ref> The seeming contradictions in the sources may be related to religious considerations more than anything. Chandragupta became a pious Jain late in his life and his grandson, Ashoka converted to and promoted Buddhism. The general confusion surrounding the lack of coherency and chronology of texts relating to Chandragupta’s lives was alleviated to some degree when British scholar William Jones definitively connected the Indian king to the mysterious “Sandrocuttus” mentioned by classical historians. <ref> Avari, p. 106</ref> Once historians knew that Chandragupta was Sandrocottus, combined with advances in archaeology and Sanskrit philology, modern scholars could better reconstruct his early life and the formation of the Mauryan Dynasty.

Chandragupta began his rule in 321 BC after conquering the Nanda Empire in a very deliberate manner, working from the edges inward, take the Indus Valley in the northwest after Alexander the Great and his army left. <ref> Thapar, p. 176</ref> After subjugating northwest India, Chandragupta was left in control over all northern India, which consisted of the politically and culturally important, and fertile, Indus and Ganges valleys.

Once Chandragupta attained power and extended his empire’s borders to include most of India, he also faced the tough task of building a strong state internally. The Mauryan Dynasty and Chandragupta’s name never would have been known to later generations if it were not for the ruler’s efforts of domestic reform. Although Chandragupta was a Jain later in his life and abstained from all violence, he was not afraid to use violence, or the threat of it early in his rule. Chandragupta initiated harsh penal codes for lawbreakers and called on his chief minister, Kautalya, to compose a treatise of proper government.

“At any rate, when Gallus was prefect of Egypt, I accompanied him and ascended the Nile as far as Syene and the frontiers of Ethiopia, and I learned that as many as one hundred and twenty vessels were sailing from Myos Hormos to India, whereas formerly, under the Ptolemies, only a very few ventured to undertake the voyage and to carry on traffic in Indian merchandise.” <ref> Strabo, II, 12</ref>

The Mauryan Dynasty is often viewed as a golden age in Indian history and a bridge between the historically hazy Vedic Period and later medieval India. Chandragupta and Bindusara were able to build their dynasty into a great empire through some politically astute policies and a little luck. As he defeated the Nanda Dynasty, Chandragupta filled the void left by Alexander and Macedonians in the Indus Valley of northwest India. After establishing his dynasty as a true empire that ruled over most of India, Chandragupta and then Bindusara created a strong central government and made alliances with the Hellenistic kingdoms to the west, which all helped to stabilize the Mauryan state.

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