However, due to the betrayal of Vajrabahu (who later loses both his life and kingdom to Dhana Nanda) he is eventually badly defeated and forced to flee from Magadha. Chandragupta faces Dhana Nanda in a series of encounters and kills his elder brother Govishanka. With the help of the former soldiers of Piplivan and the king of the janapada (Indian kingdom) Assaka, Vajrabahu, Chandra forms a small army. Gradually, Durdhara develops a liking for Chandragupta. Meanwhile Dhana Nanda (unaware of Chandra's lineage), also recognises his aptitude and appoints him as the bodyguard of his beloved younger sister, Durdhara.

This prompts Chanakya to take a vow of eradicating the Nanda dynasty and putting a capable ruler on the throne of Magadha.Ĭhanakya finds Chandragupta (nicknamed Chandra), a slave who in reality is the crown prince of Piplivan, a kingdom which was destroyed by Dhana Nanda, and sees in him the talent to become a ruler. However, Dhana Nanda openly humiliates Chanakya in the court, mocking his dream of a united India and informs him that it was he who financially helped Seleucus assassinate Puru so that Seleucus will not attack Magadha. He seeks his help in overthrowing the Macedonians out of India and uniting the Mahajanapadas (Indian kingdoms). Chanakya, a Takshashilan Brahmin, scholar and the former prime minister of the Paurava Kingdom arrives in Magadha ruled by the unjust and cruel Nanda emperor Dhana Nanda.

Alexander's general Seleucus Nicator is still in the India, having vassalised Ambhiraj (formerly Ambhikumar in the prequel Porus), the king of Takshashila and also captured the Paurava Kingdom after assassinating Puru. The show starts in 323 BCE, exactly after the deaths of the Paurava king Purushottam (nicknamed Puru, called Porus by foreigners) and the Macedonian emperor Alexander the Great.

Chandragupta maurya serial episode 1