Chandragupta Maurya

Chandragupta rose during the chaos following Alexander the Great's Indian campaign and early death in 323 BCE. He launched a war against the unpopular Nanda dynasty in Magadha on the Ganges Valley, defeated them around 322-319 BCE, and established his own line. With the counsel of his mentor Chanakya, who became his minister, he raised an army to resist the Greeks, beat them, and seized control of the eastern Indus Valley by roughly 317-312 BCE. He later expanded into parts of the western Indus Valley and possibly eastern Afghanistan through a dynastic marriage alliance with Seleucus I Nicator around 305-303 BCE. His empire stretched to include Gujarat and an extensive network of cities and trade routes. He reigned until about 298 BCE, founding the Maurya Empire that would reach its height under his grandson Ashoka the Great and launch an era of economic prosperity and religious transformation across the subcontinent.