Chandragupta Maurya
Changdragupta Maurya deserves the title Great. There are several reasons for this. First, let us look at how he established the Mauryan empire.
Establishment of the Empire
Chandragupta Maurya was originally a warrior under the Magadha King. He met a wise sage named Chanakya( also Kautilya) who was skilled in the arts and of warfare and governing. Together, they raised an army and defeated Selucus Nicator who governed the Northwestern Indian territory captured by Alexander the Great, controlling the Khyber pass, resulting in the annexation of land from the Northwestern India to the mouth of the Ganges. He later defeated the Nanda Kings and established the Mauryan empire with its capital at Pataliputra. He also commanded armies to conquer the Hindu Kush mountains, thus having an empire of from the Indus the river all the way to the mouths of the Ganges. This showed that he was an extremely brave and ambitious ruler like Han Wudi.
Way of Rule
Chandragupta Maurya ruled his empire using autocracy in the court and democracy in the villages, he developed a highly advanced ruling system for that time. He divided his empire into six provinces and installed a viceroy in charge, while the major cities were ruled by six committees, in this way, he was able to spend more time tending to the matters of the court where he had a final say over all matters. To maintain law and order throughout the kingdom, he also imposed strict rules and harsh punishments by having parts of their body cut off for even a minor offence. Setting up a network of spies, he was able to have information on anyone who tried to rebel or had committed crimes. He had an army of 700 000 soldiers and 8000 chariots and 9000 elephants, all properly orgainsed into battle formation, ready to put down any rebellion or to defend against external attacks.
What he did for his people
Besides making his kingdom a safe place, on very important thing which he did was to open up the irrigation channels so that the farmers could farm easily, ensuring rich harvests, contributing to the prosperity of the country. For the ease of travel and trade, he also built many roads and cleared the mountain paths of bandits and robbers. The most famous road he built was the Great Royal highway, a very long road linking Pataliputra to the Northwestern Indus valley. Life of Chandragupta Maurya
It was believed that Chandragupta Maurya had come from the lowest caste in society, most probably the child of. He later joined the army and rose to become a general due to his bravery and wit. After he established the empire, he was said to constantly fearing of murder. Hiring strong bodyguards from foreign countries, they followed him everywhere he went. Pataliputra also had extremely tight security, having 570 watchtowers surrounded by a deep moat. He even when to the extreme of never sleeping in the same bedroom for two consecutive nights. Employing food tasters and owning huge numbers of peacocks , he made sure that no one ever tried to poison him. Later in life, he gradually became more religious and eventually converted to Jainism. Giving up his throne to his son Bindusara, it was said that he retreated to the deep mountains to spend the last few years of his life.