The tale of the last ruler: Dhana nanda

The last king of the Nanda dynasty enriched the empire with money and power. What led this powerful empire to fall?

The empire of Dhana Nanda, Image source- Wikipedia

The Nanda Dynasty came to power in the year 345 BCE with the reign of King Mahapadma Nanda, who laid its foundation on the blood of Kalasoka, the former ruler. With this, he became the first Nanda ruler of the Magadha empire. After his death, his son, Dhana Nanda, took over the throne.

Dhana Nanda was the second and last ruler of the Nanda Dynasty. Full of courage and valor, he made his empire flourish. His love for wealth contributed to a rich royal treasure. Dhana Nanda's father left him a sizable fortune. He had a standing army of 20,000 cavalries, 3000 elephants, 200,000 infantry, and 2000 chariots. He rose to be a strong leader.

He possessed enormous gold reserves and created his treasure house by constructing a deep excavation in a rock in the river bed of the Ganges. But, a huge part of the money came from taxes. He exploited his country’s people and was renowned for inflicting harsh and cruel punishments. He used extremely brutal methods to collect taxes from the populace. His reign was marked by great human suffering throughout his kingdom.

Even after running an empire full of armed forces and riches, he could not win the hearts of his people. Being a member of the Sudha clan and seeing his father's early disgrace gave rise to his anti-Kshatriya sentiment. Moreover, people understood that the lavishness of the empire was built on the cost of their living, so Dhana Nanda could not rule the hearts of his people.

However, this hatred by people never stopped him from winning kingdom after kingdom. He gradually gathered a force that was so large and potent that great emperors feared it. It was during this period that Alexander the Great visited India. He took a step away from entering the Magadha empire after being startled by the size of the force.

Dhana Nanda is also mentioned in Greek accounts, which referred to him as Agrammes, the king of the Gangaridai (the Ganges valley). Alexander did not want to stand against this army and retreated with his soldiers.

However, this bustling empire had a tragic fall. Once, a Brahmin philosopher came to his court with a proposal for foreign invasion. Instead of listening to his plan, Dhana Nanda insulted him for his ugly looks. Embarrassed in front of the entire court, he decided to destroy him.

Later, the Brahmin found a boy and decided to train him. He knew he was the only one who could uproot the Nanda rule. The brahmin was none other than Chanakya, and the boy was Chandragupta Maurya. With proper strategy and Chanakya’s guidance, he attacked Dhana Nanda.

Dhana Nanda was exiled from his kingdom and was never seen or heard from again. According to certain reports, Chanakya murdered Dhana Nanda to seek his revenge. Other tales claim that he converted to Buddhism before going into exile by giving up everything.

The Nanda empire was overthrown and replaced by the Maurya empire. Even after being powerful rulers, the Nandas suffered a tragic fall, and another powerful empire penned its glory in history.