Dhana Nanda

Dhana Nanda, a ruler of the Nanda dynasty in ancient India during the 4th century BCE, succeeded Mahapadma Nanda as a prominent ruler in the Magadha region. His reign marked the continuation of the dominance of the Nanda dynasty. Dhana Nanda’s rule is often depicted as tyrannical and despotic, characterized by a lack of compassion and a focus on the accumulation of wealth and power.

He is notably remembered for his confrontation with the influential philosopher and statesman Chanakya, also known as Kautilya or Vishnugupta. This conflict led Chanakya to support Chandragupta Maurya in overthrowing the Nanda dynasty and establishing the Maurya Empire, marking a significant turning point in Indian history.

Known for its extravagance and oppression, Dhana Nanda’s rule contributed to the downfall of the Nanda dynasty and created a power vacuum that was later filled by the rise of the Maurya Empire under Chandragupta Maurya. Historical accounts of Dhana Nanda’s life and reign are based on various sources, including ancient texts and inscriptions.

Dhana Nanda

Historical Figures	Dhana Nanda
Dynasty	Nanda Dynasty
Reign	329-323 BCE
Capital	Pataliputra
Significant Ruler	The last ruler of the Nanda Dynasty
Rise to Power	Usurped the throne from his father, Mahapadma Nanda
Defeat	Overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya, leading to the rise of the Mauryan Empire
Historical Significance	His defeat marked the beginning of the Mauryan Empire under Chandragupta Maurya

Introduction

Dhana Nanda was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty. He was addicted to hoarding treasures. During his reign, the Nanda Empire stretched from Bihar and Bengal in the east to Punjab and Sindh in the west. His dynasty was very unpopular among the people due to financial extortion.

Name: Dhana Nanda

He was called Dhana Nanda for his love of wealth and gold. He had four ministers – Banda, Subanda, Kubera and Sakatala.

King Dhana Nanda

The Nanda dynasty prevailed around 4th and 5th BCE and the dynasty spread over the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. In eastern India in the Magadha region, the Nandas overthrew the Sisunaga dynasty and extended their authority over much of northern India in their territory. Dhana Nanda, a descendant of the Nanda dynasty that ruled the Magadha Empire, is a well-known figure in medieval India. His saga of prosperity, misery, and rivalry with Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya make him one of the most powerful monarchs of the pre-classical era. Dhana Nanda’s father, Mahapadma Nanda, was the son of a ruler of the Shishunaga dynasty. Born of a Shudra wife and considered illegitimate to the throne, Mahapadma Nanda fought his way to overthrow Shishunaga. Dhana Nanda was one of the most powerful rulers of his time, but it was his father Mahapadma Nanda who laid the foundations of his prosperous dynasty.

He founded one of the most powerful North Indian empires, which was expanded by his son Dhana Nanda.

During their reign, the Nandas had a diversified military organization that included around 3,000 war elephants, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 chariots, and 2 lakh infantry. In Greek, he is known as Agrammes or Xandrames. During his reign, Alexander invaded northwestern India but was unable to continue on the Ganges plain due to the resistance of his army. He is said to be one of the 8 or 9 sons of Mahapadma Nanda. He is credited with the development of Nandopakramani (special provision). He became unpopular with his citizens as a result of his oppressive taxation methods.

In addition, his Suda origins and anti-Kshatriya stance earned him a considerable number of opponents. During his reign, when Chanakya (a brilliant Brahmin philosopher) approached him about a foreign invasion, Dhana Nanda insulted him, leading to his downfall, as Chanakya threatened destruction and organized an army that eventually captured and defeated him in Nanda’s capital. Pataliputra. Chandragupta Maurya, Chanakya’s protégé, was installed on the throne, effectively ending the Nanda Empire and ushering in the Mauryan Empire.

Dhana Nanda in the Buddhist tradition

• (1) The Buddhist text Mahavamsa names 9 Nanda kings who were all brothers and ruled successively for a total of 22 years. The first of these kings was Ugrasena and the last was Dhana Nanda – Ugrasena (Uggasena in Pali), Panduka, Pandugadi, Bhuta-pala, Rashtra-pala, Govishanaka, Dasha-Siddhaka, Kaivarta, Dhana Nanda.
• (2) Buddhist tradition states that Dhana Nanda insulted Chanakya for his ugly appearance during an almsgiving ceremony at Pupphapura (Pushpapuri) and ordered 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, prompting the prince to seize the throne. With the help of the signet ring given by the prince, Chanakya escaped from the Nanda palace. Determined to overthrow Dhana Nanda, he acquired wealth to build an army using a secret technique that allowed him to turn 1 coin into 8 coins.
• (3) Chanakya narrowed down two candidates to replace Dhana Nanda: Pabbata and Chandragupta, who belonged to the 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, when Chandragupta was sleeping, he asked Pabbata to remove Chandragupta’s woolen thread without breaking it and without waking Chandragupta. Pabbata failed in this task. Sometime later, while Pabbata was asleep, Chanakya challenged Chandragupta to complete the same task. Chandragupta obtained the woolen thread by cutting off Pabbata’s head. Over the next seven years, Chanakya trained and mentored Chandragupta. When Chandragupta became an adult, Chanakya gathered an army using his wealth.
• (4) The army attacked Dhana Nanda’s capital but was decisively defeated and disbanded. Subsequently, Chandragupta and Chanakya raised a new army and began occupying the border villages. They gradually advanced to Nanda’s capital Pataliputta (Pataliputra) and killed Dhana Nanda. Chanakya found Dhana Nanda’s treasure through a fisherman and appointed Chandragupta as the new king.

Dhana Nanda in the Jain tradition

• (1) 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 Jain tradition, Chanakya visited Nanda’s capital, Pataliputra, to seek gifts 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 he raised an army that defeated the Nanda forces after an initial debacle. However, unlike Buddhist tradition, the Jain tradition states that King Nanda 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.
• (2) Nanda’s chief minister was Sakadala, who had two sons, Sthulabhadra (297–198 BCE) and Srikaya. Srikaya became the king’s personal bodyguard. Sthulabhadra loved the royal dancer Rupakosa and lived with her for 12 years. Sakadala was killed in a conspiracy by his political opponent Varichi, after which his son Srikaya was appointed chief minister.

Puranas about Dhana Nanda

As in the Buddhist tradition, the Puranas also state that there were 9 Nanda kings. However, they named the first of these kings Mahapadma and stated that the other 8 kings were his sons. The Puranas name only one of these sons: Sukalpa. Dhundhi-raja, an 18th-century Puranic commentator, claims that Chandragupta Maurya was the grandson of a Nanda king called Sarvartha-siddhi, although this claim does not appear in the Puranas themselves.

Greco-Roman accounts of Dhana Nanda

• (1) 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 transliteration of the Sanskrit word “Augrasainya” (literally “son or descendant of Ugrasena”, Ugrasena being the name of the founder of the dynasty according to the Buddhist tradition). Greco-Roman tradition suggests that this dynasty had only two kings: according to Curtius, the founder of the dynasty was a barber who became king; his son was overthrown by Chandragupta Maurya.
• (2) The Indian kings Porus and Phegéles (Bhagala) are said to have informed Alexander of the unpopularity of Agrammes among his subjects. According to the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, his army had 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 four-horse chariots, and 3,000 elephants. Greek accounts describe Agrammesa as the ruler of the Gangaridai (Ganges valley) and the Prasia (probably a transliteration of the Sanskrit word prachyas, literally “easterners”). Faced with the prospect of facing Nanda’s powerful army, Alexander’s soldiers mutinied and forced him to retreat from India.
• (3) All historical accounts agree that the last Nanda king was unpopular among his subjects. According to Diodorus, Porus told Alexander that the current king Nanda was a man of “worthless character” and was not respected by his subjects because he was considered of low birth. Curtius also states that, according to Porus, King Nanda was despised by his subjects. According to Plutarch, who claims that Androkottos (identified as Chandragupta) met Alexander, Androkottos later stated that Alexander could easily conquer Nanda territory (Gangaridai and Prasii) because the Nanda king was hated and despised by his subjects for being wicked and of low origin. Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition accuses the Nandas of being greedy and imposing oppressive taxes. The Puranas of India refer to the Nandas as dharmas, indicating that they did not follow the norms of dharma, or righteous conduct.

Dhana Nanda’s Army Strength

He is known for raising a huge army consisting of 200,000 foot soldiers, 20,000 horsemen, 2,000 war chariots, and 3,000 war elephants. He used most of his wealth to maintain this huge army structure. Not only Dhana Nanda, but the entire Nanda dynasty was well known for its army and vast wealth. It has a huge amount of gold reserves. He built his treasury by making a deep excavation in the rock in the bed of the river Ganges. Dhana Nanda’s empire was very unpopular with the people and neighboring states due to their financial extortion.

The tyrannical king Dhana Nanda

His love of amassing money by squeezing people made him hate them very much. Anti-Kshatriya politics pitted orthodox Brahmins and Kshatriyas against him. He was known for his cruel and painful punishments. He adopted very cruel techniques to collect taxes from the people. The people in his kingdom suffered a lot under his rule. Once the Mleccha invaders tried to attack the Magadha empire. Sakatala, one of Dhana Nanda’s four ministers, emptied Dhana Nanda’s treasury in exchange for peace with them without the king’s permission. Dhana Nanda then punished him for this act by sending him to an underground prison cell along with his family with a handful of grains and some water. Food and water were only enough for one person, all but Satakala died. Such was the cruelty of Dhana Nanda. Later, when other foreign invaders invaded again, he recognized Satakala’s worth and asked for his help, but he refused.

Dhana Nanda insults Chanakya

Once a Brahmin was severely insulted by Dhana Nanda in front of all the courtiers. This Brahmin vowed to destroy Dhana Nanda and his kingdom. That person was none other than Chanaka. Later, Chanakya found a boy named Chandragupta and, impressed by his character, decided to make him king by dethroning Dhana Nanda. He personally trained the boy and when the time came he attacked Dhana Nanda but failed. Later, changing their plan, they attacked again, this time defeating Dhana Nanda.

Death of Dhana Nanda

Dhana Nanda was sent into exile along with his two wives and was never heard from again. Some reports suggest that Dhana Nanda was killed by Chanakya. Some other accounts suggest that he converted to Buddhism by renouncing life completely before his exile. There was no clear evidence as to what the exact end of Dhana Nanda was. If any of the readers know the truth, they can post their opinions in the comment section below.

Decline of the Nanda Dynasty

King Dhana Nanda inherited a vast empire, including an army that included cavalry, infantry, chariots, and elephants. He ruled when the Macedonian army led by Alexander the Great refused to advance and face the massive force of the Magadha Empire. He amassed vast reserves of gold and amassed a fortune by levying taxes on skins, stones, and numerous items. The taxation made Nanda unpopular with the people, which Chandragupta used to campaign against. In 323 BC, Chandragupta’s armies attacked Pataliputra (now Patna), and the Nanda army was crushed. This conflict marked the end of the Nanda dynasty and the beginning of the Maurya dynasty under Chandragupta Maurya.

Dhana Nanda in Popular Culture

Dhana Nanda appears as the primary antagonist in almost every serial on Indian television depicting the life of Chanakya or Chandragupta Maurya.

• (1) In the epic historical drama Chanakya (TV serial), Suraj Chaddha portrayed the role of Dhan Nanda.
• (2) In Chandragupta Maurya (2011 TV serial), Sooraj Thapar portrayed Dhanu Nanda.
• (3) Arpit Ranka portrayed the role of Dhana Nanda in the Chandra Nandini TV serial.
• (4) In Porus and Chandragupta Maurya, Saurabh Raj Jain essayed the role of Dhana Nanda.

Conclusion

The Nanda period was considered significant in Indian history. One reason is that the Nanda monarchs created a competent administrative structure that was required to administer a vast empire. According to the Buddhist classic Maha Bodhi Vamsa, Dhana Nanda was the last emperor of the Nanda dynasty of ancient India. Chanakya’s disciple, Chandragupta Maurya, was placed on the throne, which finally ended the Nanda Empire and ushered in the Mauryan Empire.

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