Ancestry of Chandragupta Maurya - The Identification of Chandragupta Maurya With Sandrokottos - Further Allegations

Further Allegations

According to Greek accounts, Xandrammes was deposed by Sandrokottos, the son of Sandrokottos. In the case of Chandragupta Maurya, he had opposed Dhanananda of the Nanda dynasty and the name of his son was Bindusara. Both these names, Dhanananda and Bindusara, have no similarity with the names Xandrammes and Sandrocyptus of the Greek accounts. However, as is seen in the case of Amitraghata (Bindusara), Greek sources mention a secondary (Sanskritic) name of Indian kings. In the Greek accounts, we find the statements of the Greek and Roman writers belonging to the period from 4th century BCE to 2nd century CE. None of them have mentioned the names of Kautilya or Asoka. Kautilya's work on polity is an important Indian document on this subject. According to tradition, it was with his assistance that Chandragupta had come to the throne. Asoka's empire was bigger than that of Chandragupta and he had sent missionaries to the Yavana countries. But both are not mentioned in Greek sources by these names. Colebrook has pointed out that the Greek writers did not say anything about the Buddhist Bhikkhus though that was the flourishing religion of that time due to the royal patronage of Asoka. However, all of the above are futile arguments ex nihilo. Already Herodotos (Histories, around 420 B.C.) mentions ascetics in the Panjab.