Nearly 2300 years ago, Chandragupta Maurya brought about the political unification of north India and established an empire that successfully resisted the Macedonian invasion. His empire extended form Mysore (present-day Karnataka) in the south to the dorders of Persia (present-day Iran) in the northwest.
Many Legends describe the early career of Chandragupta, making it difficult to distinguish fact form fantasy in the stories about his later years. But what remains true is that he was the first true emperor of India, as no king before him had ever built such a vast kingdom.
Vishakhadatta’s famous play on Chandragupta, Mudra Rakshasa, was written in the 9th century AD. Two Sanskrit works followed this, nearly 700 years later – Mudra Rakshasa Katha by Mahadeva Tirtha of Tanjore and Mudra Rakshasa Katha Sara by Ravikartana of Kerala, both of which serve as introductions to earlier play.
Kempu Narayana, a scholar at the court of Krishnaraja Wedeyar III of Mysore, made a study of these works on chandragupta, and 1823, wrote mudra Manjusha in Kannada. This Amar Chitra Katha is based on Kempu Narayana’s pioneering work. Though Chandragupta was born in the north, he spent his last days at Shravanabelagola in |
