Mauryan Empire Questions and Answers – Page 4

Chandragupta Maurya fought Seleucus I Nicator around 305 BCE. Their settlement transferred eastern territories to Chandragupta and established diplomatic relations between the Mauryan and Seleucid courts. Therefore this option matches the accepted historical association and chronology. Alexander died before the Mauryan–Seleucid settlement, Antiochus I belongs chiefly to Bindusara’s diplomatic context, and the other names do not fit the chronology and identity of Chandragupta’s opponent.

Greek and Roman writers used the name Sandrocottus, with variant spellings such as Androcottus, for Chandragupta Maurya. Amitrochates refers to Bindusara, while Priyadarsi or Devanampiya Piyadasi is an epithet of Ashoka; the remaining distractor is not the accepted Greek name of Chandragupta.

Correct answer: Jainism under Bhadrabahu. Later Jain tradition associates Chandragupta Maurya’s final years with acceptance of Jain discipline under the teacher Bhadrabahu and migration to Shravanabelagola. Therefore this option matches the accepted historical association and chronology. Buddhism is principally linked with Ashoka, Ajivika patronage is evidenced by Mauryan cave dedications, and Brahmanical traditions existed widely, but they do not match this specific Chandragupta–Bhadrabahu tradition.

Correct answer: Chandragupta Maurya. The founder of the Mauryan Empire was Chandragupta Maurya. He created a large imperial state centred on Magadha and established the dynasty later ruled by Bindusara and Ashoka. Bindusara was Chandragupta’s successor, Ashoka was the best-known later emperor, and Brihadratha was the last Mauryan king, so each is chronologically unsuitable as founder.