Question

Consider the following statements about Chandragupta Maurya :

1. He married the daughter of Seleucus

2. He accepted Buddhism in the last period of his life

3. He made Ashoka his successor

Which of the statements given above is/are true?

1. Only 1
2. Only 2
3. 1, 2
4. 1, 2, 3

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 1 : Only 1

The Maurya Empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya.

• He had overthrown the Nanda Dynasty and rapidly expanded his power westward across central and western India in order to take advantage of the disruptions of local powers in the wake of the withdrawal by Alexander the Great‘s armies.
• In 305 BCE, Seleucus I tried to reconquer the northwestern parts of India in order to claim them for the growing Seleucid Empire.
• Seleucus lost the Seleucid-Mauryan War, and the two rulers reconciled with a peace treaty.
• The Greeks offered a Macedonian princess for marriage to Chandragupta, and several territories, including the satrapies of Paropamisade (modern-day Kamboja and Gandhara), Arachosia (modern-day Kandahar), and Gedrosia (modern-day Balochistan).
• In return, Chandragupta sent 500 war elephants, a military asset that would play a decisive role in Seleucus’ victory against western Hellenistic kings at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BCE.
• In addition to this treaty, Seleucus dispatched two Greek ambassadors, Megasthenes and, later, Deimakos, to the Mauryan court at Pataliputra.
• According to the Jain accounts dated to 800 years after his death, Chandragupta abdicated his throne and became a Jain monk, traveled away from his empire to South India, and committed sallekhana or fasting to death. 
• Chandragupta Maurya ruled from 322 BCE until his voluntary retirement and abdication, in favor of his son, Bindusara, in 298 BCE.

Thus, we can say that only statement 1 is true.