.with Chandragupta the one who expanded this empire till Afghanistan....He was born in present day Bihar (India).
Based on
Plutarch's evidence, historians state Sandrokottas Maurya(belonged to the Ashvaka (q.v.) or Assakenoi clan of Swat/Kunar valley (modern
Mer-coh or
Koh-I-Mor — the
Meros of the classical writings).
Dr D.B. Spooner, the official excavator of Pataliputra Bihar ,also believes that Mauryas (Chandragupta, Ashoka) were Iranic ( Journnal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 1915, (Pt.II) , p.406, Dr D.B. Spooner).He talks about Zoroastrian-Parsi lineage of Mauryas in his articles extensively, where he calls modern excavations at Pataliputra (Patna) pointing to an actual dominion of ancient lranians in the east, further than Punjab.
J. W. McCrindle calls Chandragupta as Panjabi. North-west frontiers, the land of the Ashvakas, constituted part of greater Panjab, which in ancient times also included regions west of Indus and encompassed Swat/Kunar territories and Kabol river. It is very important that Dr J. W. McCrindle who re-translated the ancient classical works of Arrian, Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch, Justins etc relating to Alexander's invasion of India, has identified Chandragupt as hailing from the north-west. This is what B. M. Barua, the greatest Buddhist scholar, also states (Asoka and His Inscriptions, 1968, p 51, Beni Madhab Barua, Ishwar Nath Topa). Dr McCrindle has further reconciled and corrected several errors in the copies of the transcripts and has corrected Justin's story about Chandragupta having met Alexander and offending the latter (See: The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great, 1896, pp 405, Watson M'Crindle).
Dr. V. A. Smith on the influence of Iran upon India. Smith,
who is one 'of the best authorities on the History of Ancient India , is of opinion, that the Achremenian Persians had a great influence upon Mauryan India . '
Dr. Smith as pointed out several evidences to show, that Achremenian Iran had a strong influence on Mauryan India . Some of these are the following :
1. Influence of Iranian architecture on Indian archilecture.
2 . . The Achremenian practice of inscribing on pillars and rocks and the style of the inscriptions, which were followed by ~soka in hi inscriptions.
3· The Kharoshthi script came to India from the Armaic clerks of the Achremenians.
4 . Some of the features of the Mauryan administration and polity were taken from the Achmmenians.
5· Some of the Mauryan court customs were taken from the Achremenian Iranians.
http://crossasia-repository.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/3331/1/Modi_Ancient Pataliputra.pdf
Dr Seth refers to Sasigupta---Sisikottus of the Greek chroniclers, whom he connects with the Ashvaka clans of the Swat/Kunar valleys or to other branches of the Asvakas ruling west of river Indus, in the region falling between Hindukush and Kabul river.
Dr B. M. Barua: Dr Barua bases his theory of the north-west origin of Chandragupta on the very important fact that "Chandragupta’s education, military training and military/political alliances were all in that part of the India. And moreover, some of Asokas’ more important rock edicts also are located there--- After adoption of Buddhism by Asoka, the entire sources of his vast empire were harnessed to the drive of propaganda in the north-west " (
Indian Histocal Quartely, 1963, p 159, B. M. Barua). Dr Barua observes:
“To me, Chyandragupta was a man of Uttarapatha, or Gandhara, if not exactly of Taxila. His early education, military training, and alliances were all in that part of India and that some of Asoka's scribes were habituated to Kharosthi and few of his artists were well versed in the traditions of Persipolis. Furthermore, the Greek writers did not connect Chandragupta with the Maurya family.... He added the whole of province of Gandhara and the surrounding tribal states (Punjab and North-West Frontier Province) to the growing Magadha empire to gather with the territories ceded to him by Selecus Nicator” (
Indian Culture, Vol X, p 34, B. M. Barua). There is a force in the above arguments of B. M Barua.
Dr Chandra Chakraverty: In his interesting book entitled "The Racial History of India", Dr Chandra Chakraverty connects Chandragupta Maurya initially with Ujjanaka Uddyana/Oddyana, or Swat valley and calls him a ruler of this territory at the time of Alexander's invasion. He writes:
Massaga, the stronghold of the Assaakenians (asskanoi
) was stormed with great difficulty, and when the defenders were treacherously massacred, the women, according to Diodorus, taking up arms of the fallen fougHt heroically, side by side with their men. The Assakenians had an army of 20,000 cavalry, 30,000 infantry and 30 elephants but when defeated, they were given over as a reward to Sasigupta (Sisikottos). From Bajaur (i.e. Asvaka country), Alexander’s swollen army entered into Ujjanaka, the Mauriya kingdom of Chandragupta (Ujjanaka = Woo-chang of Fa-hsien, U-chang-na of Hiuen Tsang, Uddyana---the Swat Valley...i.e Aornos country of the eastern Asvakas). Here the resistance was as stubborn as in Bajaur and Alexander received a serious wound in the ankle. Then Poros (Porus) resisited the invaders on the banks of Hydaspes i.e Jhelum (See: Racial History of Ancient India, 1944, p 814-15, Chandra Chakraverty). It is notable that Chandra Chakraverty connects Sasi-gupta with Malakand area and Chandragupta with Uddyana/Swat valley (
Prakrit Ujjana or Ujjanaka = Woo-chang of Fa-hsien U-chang-na of Hien Tsang, = Sanskrit Uddyana/Udyana---the Swat Valley...i.e Aornos country of the eastern Asvakas) both localities being located in north-west frontiers and constituted the land of the famous Asvakas (which means
expert horsemen and breeders of notable horses).
Legend recorded by Hiuen Tsang (in 629-645)
Hiuen Tsang to a Mayura-raja (MORA-RAJA/MAURYA-RAJA?) and MAYURAS (MORAS/MAURYAS?) locate him/them in north-west frontiers of India (eastern Afghanistan, northern Pakistan), the very heart of Swat valley/Udyana, the ancient land of the Ashvakas (i.e. the
Kambojas section, specialised in horse culture). The information from Hiuen Tsang seems to be very interesting and revealing. It seems to hold a veiled clue to the fact that there indeed may have been a section of people in Swat/Udyana region known as Mayuras, Moras (Moriyas) and their king was also nicknamed as Mayura-raja or Mora Raja (Maurya Raja).
Dr Jiyālāla . It appears to be a historical fact that the Meryas of Ceylon inscriptions who are listed there with the Kabojas or Kambojas are same as Mauryas and they came to Ceylon from Patala after second c BCE. They appear to be connected with the Kambojas and after their migration from Kabul/Swat valley Patala in 4th c BCE (under pressure from Alexander) a section of them later also reached to Ceylon and thus finds references along with kambojas in ancient inscriptions of the island. Being originally from the region of MOR in lower Swat valley, they got their name as Moriyas or Mauryas and were, in all probabiliyty, a branch of the Ashvakas, who in turn, were a section of the greater Kamboja tribe located anciently in north-eastern Afghanistan/and Tajiksttan. Thus Mauryas and Kambojas appear to be related people and the Mauriyas rulers of Magadha are probably traceable to north-west India and probably to Kamboja lineage
The Indian Historical Quarterly, 1963, p 422; Ancient India, 2003, p 285, Dr V. D. Mahajan; Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 236, Dr H. C. Raychaudhuri). If Megasthenes and the Greek historians have correctly recorded the lineages of the Assaekenoi/Ashvakas and Sandrokottos/Chandragupta, then Chandragupta should have belong to north-western India, especially the Swat/Kunar region, west of Indus, rather than to the Suryavasmi Moriya clan residing anciently in Eastern India.
The above makes it evident that the Mauryan movement was West to East and not the other way around
