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CHANDEAGUPTA, 275 differences, 850 or 750 b-c, according to C^ylonese chronology, 315 B.C. Either of these dates is im- possible, because it does not agree with the chrono* logy of Greece, and hence both the Chinese and Ceylonese dates of Buddha's death must be given up as equally valueless for historical calculations. There is but one means through which the history of India can be connected with that of Greece, and its chronology be reduced to its proper limits. Although we look in vain in the literature of the Brafamans or Buddhists for any allusion to Alexander's conquest, and although it is impossible to identify any of the historical events, related by Alexander's compani<ms, with the historical traditions of India, one name has fortunately been preserved by classical writers who describe the events immediately follow- ing Alexander's conquest, to form a connecting link between the history of the East and the West. This is the name of Sandracottus or Sandrocyptus, the Sanskrit Chandragupta. We learn from classical writers, Justin, Arrian, Diodorus Sieulus, Strabo, Quintus Curtius and Plu- tarch, that in Alexander's time there was on the Ganges a powerful king of the name of Xandrames, and that soon after Alexander's invasion, a new empire was founded there by Sandracottus or Sandrocyptus. Justin says : ^^ Sandracottus gave liberty to India after Alexander's retreat, but soon converted the name of liberty into servitude after his success, subjecting those whom he had rescued from foreign dominion to his own authority. This prince was of humble origin, but was called to royalty by the power of the gods ; for, having offended Alexander by his impertinent lan^ V s Tc-e iT 6 CHANDBAGUPTA. gxxage,^ V..^^ ^csras ordered to be pttt to deatli, and esc o^ly \>y .^ ^Tit. Fatigued with h jourxiey ^e lay ■feo iest, -w^-lr.^Ti a lion oflarge size came axid liclc< -fcVie s^Bvea--fc. tliat poured from him vritli Viis tongue tire A -^sPw-^-fcliout doing him any harm. Xhe pr kr*im -witli ambitious hopes, and colh xrobbers he roused the Indians to rel> i. prepared for war against tlie capta tx*. a "w^ild elephant of enormous sis -^..^ liim, and received him on his l>ack ae ■r. tamed. He was a distinguished general .<^ri.d\er. Having thus acquired power. Si -x-^igned over India at the time -when Se r^^ag the foundation of his greatness, and Se 3L into a treaty with him, and settling affa 3L^ of India directed his march against .3.<3le8 this we may gather from classical -^ blowing statements, bearing on Xandram -ocyptus: "When Alexander* made in< -fclie interior of India, he w^as told that I ,<3us there was a vast desert of 1 2 ("or 11 s <3urtius,) days' journey, and that at the fi ,^ thereof ran the Ganges. Beyond that told, the Prasii (Pr&chyas) dwelt, and th. ^, Their king was named Xandrames wl,, into the field 20,000 horse, 200 OOO V^* ^ and 4,000 (or 3,000, Curtius, ) S^er ^^aer who did not at first believe thi - j^ing Porua whether this account of the 3.^'*^'*'\ ^'T '*'^*^- *"• ®2, says that S„^ ^^♦i"* ""*• ^Wlipp. Lib. xv.'cap. iv CHANDBAGUPTA. 277 of Xandrames was true ; and he was told by Porus that it was true, but that the king was but of mean and obscure extraction, accounted to be a barber's son ; that the queen, however, had fallen in love with the barber, had murdered her husband, and that the kingdom had thus devolved upon Xandrames." ^ Quintus Curtius says^, ^^ that the father of Xandrames bad murdered the king, and under pretence of acting as guardian to his sons, got them into his power and put them to death ; that after their extermination he begot the son who was then king, and who, more worthy of his father's condition than his own, was odious and contemptible to his subjects." Strabo adds^ " that the capital of the Prasii was called Pali- bothra, situated at the confluence of the Ganges and another river," which Arrian* specifies as the Eran- noboas. Their king, besides his birth-name, had to take the name of the city, and was called the Palibothrian. This was the case with Sandracottus to whom Mega- sthenes was sent frequently. It was the same king with whom Seleucus Nicator contracted an alliance, ceding to him the countiy beyond the Indus, and receiving in its stead 500 elephants/ Megasthenes visited his court several times ^; and the same king, as Plutarch says^, 1 Diodorus Siculus, zvii. 93. The statement in Fhotii Biblioth. p. 1679, that Porus was the son of a barber, repeated by Libanius, torn. ii. 632., is evidently a mistake. Plutarch, Vita Alexandri, c. 62, speaks of 80,000 horse, 8,000 chariots, and 6^000 elephanto. . 2 Quintns Curtius, ix. 2. Strabo^ xv. 1. 36. ^ ^ * Arrian, Indica, x. 5. * Strabo, xv. 2. 9. ^ Arrian, Exped. v. 6, Indica, v. 3. 7 Plutarch, Vita Alexandri, c 62. T 3 278 CHANDRAGUPTA. *^ traversed India with an army of 600,000 men, and conquered the whole." These accounts of the classical writers contain a number of distinct statements which could leave very little doubt as to the king to whom they referred. Indian historians, it is true, are generally so vague and so much given to exaggeration, that their kings are all very much alike, either all black or all bright. But nevertheless, if lliere ever was such a king as the king of the Prasii, an usurper, residing at Pfttaliputra, called Sandrocyptus or Sandracottus, it is hardly possible that he should not be recognized in the his- torical traditions of India. There is in the lists of the kings of India the name of Chandragupta, and the resemblance of this name with the name of Sandra* cottus or Sandrocyptus was first, I believe, pointed out by Sir William Jones.^ Wilford, Professor Wilson, and Professor Lassen have afterwards added further evidence in confirmation of Sir W. Jones*s conjecture ; and although other scholars, and particularly M. Troyer, in his edition of the R&jatarangint, have raised objections, we shall see that the evidence in favour of the identity of Chandragupta and Sandro- cyptus is such as to admit of no reasonable doubt. It is objected that the Greeks called the king of the powerful empire beyond the Indus, XandrameSj or Aggramen. Now the last name is evidently a mere misspelling for Xandrames, and this Xandrames is not the same as Sandracottus. Xandrames, if we under- stand the Greek accounts rightly, is the predecessor of Chandragupta or rather the last king of the empire conquered by Sandracottus. If, however, it should be ' Asiatic Researches, toL ir. p. 11. CHANDRAOUFTA. 279 maintained, that these two names were intended for one and the same king, the explanation would still be very easy. For Chandragupta (the protected of the moon), is also called ChandraS the Moon; and Chandra- mas, in Sanskrit, is a synonyme of Chandra. Xandra- mes, however, was no doubt intended as different from Chandragupta. Xandrames must have been king of the Prasii before Sandracottus, and during the time of Alexander's wars. If this Xandrames is the same as the last Nanda, the agreement between the Greek account of his mean extraction, and the Hindu account of Nanda being a l^ddra, would be very striking. It is not, however, quite clear whether the same person is meant in the Greek and Hindu accounts. At the time of Alexander's invasion Sandracottus was very young, and being obliged to fly before Alexander, whom he had offended, it is said that he collected bands of robbers, and with their help succeeded in establishing the freedom of India. Plutarch says distinctly that Sandracottus reigned soon after, that is soon after Xandrames, and we know from Justin, that it was Sandracottus, and not Xandrames, who waged wars with the captains of Alexander. Another objection against the identifica^ tion of Chandragupta and Sandracottus was the site of their respective capitals. The capital of Chandra- gupta, P&taliputra, was no doubt the same as the Pali* bothra of Sandracottus, the modern Patna. But ex- ception was taken on the ground that Patna is not situated near the confluence of the Ganges and the Sone or Erannoboas, where the ancient Palibothra stood. This, however, has been explained by a change 1 See Wilson's notes on the Mudra Rakshasa, p. 132. T 4 ^ ^ O CH ANDRAGUFTA. ci^r the river Sone, whicli is e8ta.l>lid1:i€ cz>graphical evidence. -TK^^e several other points on wliiclx tli^ Viandragupta and Sandracottiis ctgr^e.