According to the Buddhist text Mahabodhivamsa, Dhana Nanda was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty. He was the youngest of the eight brothers of the dynasty's founder Ugrasena. Chanakya, a Brahmin who was insulted by him, vowed to overthrow him, and raised an army that invaded the Nanda capital Pataliputra and killed him. Chanakya then installed his own protege Chandragupta Maurya on the throne. The Jain tradition presents a similar legend about the last Nanda emperor, although it simply calls the emperor "Nanda", and states that the emperor was allowed to leave his capital alive after being defeated. The Puranas give a different account, describing the last Nanda emperor as one of eight sons of the dynasty's founder, whom they call Mahapadma. The Greco-Roman accounts name Alexander's contemporary ruler in India as Agrammes or Xandrames, whom modern historians identify as the last Nanda emperor. According to these accounts, Alexander's soldiers mutinied when faced with the prospect of a war with this emperor's powerful army.
Life
Indian kings Porus and Phegeles are said to have informed Alexander III of Macedon of the unpopularity of Nanda among his subjects. The army of Nanda is described by Quintus Curtius Rufus, roman historian, as 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 four-horsed chariots and 3,000 elephants. Nanda's chief minister was Sakadala who had two sons, Sthulabhadra and Srikaya. Srikaya became the king's personal bodygaurd. Sthulabhadra loved the royal dancer Rupakosa and lived for 12 years with her. Sakadala was killed in a plot of his political opponent Varichi, after which, his son Srikaya was made the chief minister. The Greek accounts describe Agrammes as the ruler of the Gangaridai and the Prasii. When faced with the prospect of facing the powerful army of Nanda, Alexander's soldiers mutinied, forcing him to retreat from India.
In Buddhist tradition
The Buddhist text Mahavamsa names 9 Nanda kings, who were all brothers, and ruled in succession for a total of 22 years. The first of these kings was Ugrasena, and the last was Dhana Nanda: The Buddhist tradition states that Dhana Nanda insulted the Brahmin Chanakya for his ugly appearance during an alms-giving ceremony at Pupphapura, ordering him to be thrown out of the assembly. Chanakya then cursed the king, who ordered his arrest. Chanakya escaped and befriended the king's son Pabbata, instigating the prince to seize the throne. With help of a signet ring given by the prince, Chanakya fled the Nanda palace. Determined to overthrow Dhana Nanda, he acquired wealth to raise an army by using a secret technique that allowed him to turn 1 coin into 8 coins. Chanakya narrowed down two candidates to replace Dhana Nanda: Pabbata, and Chandragupta, who belonged to a former royal family. To test them, he gave each of them an amulet to be worn around the neck with a woolen thread. One day, while Chandragupta was asleep, he asked Pabbata to remove Chandragupta's woolen thread without breaking it and without waking up Chandragupta. Pabbata failed to accomplish this task. Some time later, when Pabbata was sleeping, Chanakya challenged Chandragupta to complete the same task. Chandragupta retrieved the woolen thread by cutting off Pabbata's head. Over next seven years, Chanakya trained and mentored Chandragupta. When Chandragupta became an adult, Chanakya assembled an army using his wealth. The army invaded Dhana Nanda's capital, but was decisively defeated and disbanded. Subsequently, Chandragupta and Chanakya raised a new army, and started capturing the border villages. Gradually, they advanced to the Nanda capital Pataliputta, and killed Dhana Nanda. Chanakya found the treasure of Dhana Nanda through a fisherman, and appointed Chandragupta as the new king.
Other descriptions of the last Nanda king
Jain tradition
The Jain tradition contains a legend that has several similarities with the Buddhist legend, but does not mention the name "Dhana Nanda": the Jain texts simply call Chanakya's rival king "Nanda". According to the Jain tradition, Chanakya visited the Nanda capital Pataliputra to seek donations from the king, but felt insulted by a servant of the king. He then vowed to overthrow the Nanda dynasty. He discovered and mentored Chandragupta, and raised an army that defeated the Nanda forces after an initial debacle. However, unlike the Buddhist tradition, the Jain tradition states that the Nanda king was allowed to leave his capital alive after being defeated. The king's daughter fell in love with Chandragupta and married him. This daughter is not named, although later, the mother of Chandragupta's son Bindusara is named Durdhara.
Puranas
Like the Buddhist tradition, the Puranas also state that there were 9 Nanda kings. However, they name the first of these kings as Mahapadma, and state that the next 8 kings were his sons. The Puranas name only one of these sons: Sukalpa. Dhundiraja, a commentator on the Vishnu Purana, claims that Chandragupta Maurya was the grandson of a Nanda king called Sarvatha-siddhi, although this claim does not occur in the Puranas themselves.
Greco-Roman accounts
The Greek accounts name Alexander's contemporary ruler in India as Agrammes or Xandrames, whom modern historians identify as the last Nanda king. "Agrammes" may be a Greek transcription of the Sanskrit word "Augrasainya". The Greco-Roman tradition suggests that this dynasty had only two kings: according to Curtius, the dynasty's founder was a barber-turned-king; his son was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya.
