Publication date: 1 June 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781800083882
Number of illustrations: 19
Chandragupta Maurya
The creation of a national hero in India
Sushma Jansari (Author)
We take it for granted that some historical figures become heroes, and others do not. Chandragupta Maurya evolved from obscure ruler to contemporary national icon. The key moment in the making of this Indian hero was a meeting by the banks of the River Indus between Chandragupta and Seleucus, founder of the Seleucid empire and one of Alexander the Great’s generals, in c.305-3 BC. This significant event was a moment of peace-making at the end of conflict. But no reliable account exists in early sources, and it is not even clear which ruler was victorious in battle. This uncertainty enabled British and Indian historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to interpret the sources in radically different ways. With Chandragupta representing India and Seleucus standing in for Britain, British scholars argued that Seleucus defeated Chandragupta, while Indian academics contended the opposite.
The writing and reception of history fundamentally influences how we engage with the past, and the evolving colonial and post-colonial relationship between Britain and India is crucial here. In India, the image of Chandragupta as an idealised hero who vanquished the foreign invader has prevailed and found expression in contemporary popular culture. In plays, films, television series, comic books and historical novels, Chandragupta is the powerful and virtuous Hindu ruler par excellence. The path to this elevated standing is charted in this book.
Praise for Chandragupta Maurya
‘This is an absorbing tale and Jansari does well to carry the reader from ancient Greek texts to present-day Indian films and comics and to engage critically with visual as well as textual material.’
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History
List of figures and tables
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I Setting the scene in antiquity
1 Chandragupta and Seleucus: a clash by the banks of the Indus
2 Megasthenes: travelling between empires
Part II Establishing the narrative
3 Sir William Jones and James Mill: synchronising histories and creating a divide
4 Embedding the divide: competing accounts during the British Raj
5 Reaction and transformation: reshaping history for a new era
Part III Antiquity, art and contemporary popular culture
6 A national project of a different sort: representations of Chandragupta in the Birla Mandirs
7 Wimbledon to New Delhi: A statue of Chandragupta in the Indian Parliament
8 Chandragupta on stage and screen
9 Chandragupta in popular literature
Bibliography
Index
Figures and tables
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction Part I: Setting the scene in antiquity
1 Chandragupta and Seleucus: a clash by the banks of the Indus
2 Megasthenes: travelling between empires
Part II: Establishing the narrative
3 Sir William Jones and James Mill: synchronising histories and creating a divide
4 Embedding the divide: Writing under the shadow of the British Raj
5 Reaction and transformation: reshaping history for a new era
Part III: Antiquity, art and contemporary popular culture
6 A national project of a different sort: Representations of Chandragupta in the Birla Mandirs
7 Wimbledon to New Delhi: A statue of Chandragupta in the Indian Parliament
8 Chandragupta on Stage and Screen
9 Chandragupta in popular literature
Bibliography
Index
DOI: 10.14324/111.9781800083882
Number of illustrations: 19
Publication date: 01 June 2023
PDF ISBN: 9781800083882
EPUB ISBN: 9781800083912
Hardback ISBN: 9781800083905
Paperback ISBN: 9781800083899
Sushma Jansari (Author) 
Sushma Jansari is the Tabor Foundation Curator of South Asia at the British Museum. Her research examines how ancient South Asia was received and (re)constructed over the last two centuries. She was Lead Curator of the South Asia Gallery, a Manchester Museum partnership with the British Museum (opened 2023). Currently, she is Co-Investigator of the AHRC-funded project Sloane Lab: Looking back to build future shared collections, and working on a major exhibition about art, religion and power in ancient India.
‘This is an absorbing tale and Jansari does well to carry the reader from ancient Greek texts to present-day Indian films and comics and to engage critically with visual as well as textual material.’
Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History
Listen to the author of Chandragupta Maurya
Listen to Susham Jansari talk about Chandragupta Maurya on The Ancients podcast
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