Textbook
India's Ancient Past
The expanded version of the classic old-NCERT ancient India text; clear and exam-friendly.
Megasthenes
Traveller / envoy
Mauryan Empire
active c. 300 BCE
Greek envoy to Pataliputra who wrote the Indica.
Their world
Move along the chart to see their age in any year, who ruled and what happened; click anything to open it.
The map shows Mauryan Empire around their lifetime and where the events of their lifetime took place.
Hover a dot for the event; click it to open the full map in that year.
Rulers of the time
Pandukabhaya
King, Anuradhapura Kingdom · c. 437–367 BCE
Bimbisara
King, Haryanka Dynasty · c. 544–492 BCE
Ajatashatru
King, Haryanka Dynasty · c. 492–460 BCE
Udayin
King, Haryanka Dynasty · c. 460–444 BCE
Shishunaga
King, Shishunaga Dynasty · c. 413–395 BCE
Kalashoka
King, Shishunaga Dynasty · c. 395–367 BCE
Events in their lifetime
| 327 BCE | Alexander crosses the Hindu Kush into Gandhara |
| 326 BCE | Battle of the Hydaspes Alexander won but restored Porus as a vassal king. |
| 326 BCE | Alexander's army mutinies at the Beas Alexander turned back and left India in 325 BCE. |
| 325 BCE | Alexander's army sails down the Indus |
| c. 321 BCE | Chandragupta Maurya overthrows the Nandas The Nanda dynasty ended and the Mauryan Empire was founded. |
| c. 317 BCE | Chandragupta takes the northwest from Alexander's satraps Greek garrisons east of the Indus were removed. |
| c. 303 BCE | Seleucid-Mauryan treaty Seleucus ceded the lands west of the Indus in return for 500 war elephants. |
| c. 302 BCE | Megasthenes at Pataliputra writes the Indica |
| c. 297 BCE | Chandragupta Maurya retires to Shravanabelagola |
Contemporaries
Sorted by how long their lives overlapped. The bar shows when, within Megasthenes’s life.
Seleucus I Nicator
Invader / conqueror · c. 358–281 BCE
Hellenistic king who ceded the northwest to Chandragupta Maurya
Overlap: 49 years
Chanakya (Kautilya)
Scholar / historian · active c. 320 BCE
Author of the Arthashastra and adviser to Chandragupta Maurya
Overlap: 40 years
Porus
General / commander · active c. 326 BCE
King who fought Alexander at the Hydaspes
Overlap: 34 years
Mahinda (Thera)
Saint / religious leader · active c. 250 BCE
Ashoka's son who took Buddhism to Sri Lanka
Overlap: 10 years
📚 Recommended reading
Reference
A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India
The most complete modern textbook on ancient India, rich in sources, maps and archaeology.
Reference
Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300
An authoritative, interpretive history of early Indian society and states.
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