Dhana Nanda

Dhana Nanda
Samrat
Dhanananda
Last Nanda Emperor
Reign	c. 329 BC – c. 321 BC
Predecessor	Mahapadma Nanda
Successor	Chandragupta Maurya (the founder of Maurya Empire)
Dynasty	Nanda
Father	Mahapadma Nanda

According to Mahabodhivamsa, Dhana Nanda (Sanskrit: धनानन्द) was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty. He was one of nine sons of Mahapadma Nanda. Plutarch tells that Androkottos or Chandragupta Maurya had stated that Nanda was hated and despised by his subjects on account of the wickedness of his disposition and meanness of his origin.^[1][2][3]

Names

Dhana Nanda is referred to as Agrammes or Xandrames by Diodorus (Greek historian).^[4] The name Agrammes is possibly a distorted form of the Sanskrit Augrasainya (son or descendent of Ugrasena).^[4]

Life

Dhana Nanda inherited throne from his father Mahapadma Nanda.^[5] Although it could be said that the Dhana Nanda dynasty was very unpopular among the people and the neighboring states, possible explanations of the unpopularity could be their financial extortion.^[6]

Reign

Dhana Nanda is described as a powerful king who ruled over the Parsii (Prachya, i.e. the eastern people) and the Gangaridae (the people of the lower Ganga valley).^[7][8] During his reign, the Nanda Empire extended from Bihar and Bengal in the east to Punjab and Sindh in the west. He had four ministers - Bandu, Subandu, Kubera and Sakatala.^[9] Sakatala emptied Dhana Nanda's treasury for purchasing peace from Mleccha invaders. He was then punished by the King for the act by casting into a subterranean dungeon along with his family with handful of grains and little water. The food and water being sufficient for only one human, all died but Sakatala himself. The foreign kings invaded again and Nanda requested of Sakatala's assistance which he denied. Sakatala found Chanakya to take his revenge from Dhana Nanda by ending his rule.^[10]

Dhana Nanda's empire

Relations with the Kalinga Kingdom

Although the relations of Kalinga kingdom and Nanda Dynasty weren't very companionable, there had been a brief period in the past where the relations were affable, when Prince Shauryananda wed Damyanti of Kalinga.^[11] However, the relations were short lived as the marriage itself. The people of Kalinga despised the Magadha rulers, the Nanda dynasty, for belonging to Shudra varna and categorized them as barbaric. Dhana Nanda possessed similar aversion for Kalinga and its crown prince Kharasala.

The Nanda Army

King Dhana Nanda inherited the vast empire of his father. The army of Emperor Dhana Nanda consisted of large number of cavalry, infantry, chariots and elephants. His army, as described by Diodorus and Quintus Curtius Rufus, consisted of 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 war chariots and 3,000 war elephants.^[7] According to Plutarch however, the size of the Nanda army was even larger, numbering 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 war chariots, and 6,000 war elephants.^[12]

Death

The exact circumstances surrounding the death of Dhana Nanda are unclear. Some accounts suggest that Dhanananda was killed by Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan Empire, after the latter captured Pataliputra, the capital of Nandas. Other accounts however suggest that after Pataliputra was stealthily captured by Chanakya, Dhana Nanda was sent into exile and was never heard of again. It is also suggested that Dhana Nanda was killed on Chanakya's orders during exile, thus clearing the path for Chandragupta's kingship.

Some other accounts also suggest that as Dhana Nanda had taken to Buddhism before exile, he renounced life completely after his clan was wiped out in a coup; thus not being a threat to Chanakya's plans and therefore was allowed to live.

Notes

1. Mahajan, V.D. (2010), "Chapter XVIII : The Rise of Magadha Section (h) The Nandas", Ancient India, S.Chand, pp. 251–253, ISBN 8121908876
2. Bongard-Levin, G. (1979), A History of India, Moscow: Progress Publishers, p. 264
3. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0243&layout=&loc=62.1
4. Sastri 1988, p. 14.
5. Upinder Singh 2008, p. 273.
6. Mahajan, V.D. (2010). "Chapter XVIII : The Rise of Magadha Section (h) The Nandas". Ancient India. S.Chand. pp. 251–253. ISBN 8121908876.
7. Singh 2008, p. 273.
8. Sastri 1988, p. 16.
9. Rice 1889, p. 8.
10. Rice 1889, p. 9.
11. Pillai, Rajat (2011). Chandragupta: Path Of A Fallen Demi-God. Cedar Books. p. 296. ISBN 8122312756.
12. Bongard-Levin, G. (1979). A History of India. Moscow: Progress Publishers. p. 264.

References

• Singh, Upinder (2008), A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century, New Delhi: Pearson Longman, ISBN 978-81-317-1120-0
• Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta, ed. (1988) [1967], Age of the Nandas and Mauryas (Second ed.), Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0465-1
• Rice, B. Lewis (1889), Inscriptions at Sravana Belgola : a chief seat of the Jains, Bangalore: Mysore Govt. Central Press