Emperor in India, reigned c. 321 BC - 297 BC.
Candra Gupta, the founder of the Maurya dynasty, successfully united almost all of India into one country with one administration.
When Candra Gupta was born the Mauryas were a migrant people. After the death of his father in a fight he was raised by a shepherd, who took him in as his son. He was sold to a hunter, who sold him to Canyaka, a Brahman politician. Canyaka took Candra Gupta to Taxila in today's Pakistan and saw to it that he received a good education in military theory and the arts.
At some point Candra Gupta felt a calling for greater things. (Legend has it that he rested from a meeting with Alexander the Great and was licked in his sleep by a lion, and that this raised in him hopes of a royal destiny.) Supported by Canyaka he collected a mercenary force, led a bloody military action against the autocratic rule of the Nanda dynasty and in c. 325 BC made himself king of the Magadha kingdom (in today's Bihar).
Following the death of Alexander the Great and the return home of Alexander's Indian representatives, Candra Gupta added the Punjab to his empire in c. 322. He expanded it to the borders of Persia and was able to defend it in c. 305 against attempts of invasion by Seleucos I Nicator of Greece. Eventually his empire ranged from the Himalayas and the Kabul valley in today's Afghanistan to the southern tip of India.
Candra Gupta's administration was based on the Arthasastra ("Handbook of Profit") of the Brahman statesman and philospher Kautilya and gave the country excellent services. As a result his empire continued for two or more generations.
Tradition reports that a sage predicted a 12-year famine. Candra Gupta tried to prepare the country for it, but when it came his efforts were insufficient. Depressed by the suffering of his people he retired to a religious site and fasted to death.