Mudrarakshasa

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The Mudrarakshasa (lit. "The Signet of the Minister") is an historical Indian drama of the 4th century CE written by Vishakhadatta, which narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya to power in Northern India.

The plot is more or less as follows: Chanakya, minister of the king Nanda (Dhana Nanda), becomes victimized by this one, because he was an ally of Chandragupta in the latter's plans for usurpation. A pact with king Parvata from the Northwest ensures the victory over the king Nanda.

Parvata and Chandragupta distribute to the old possessions of Nanda. Parvata, next, dies poisoned by a young person, after his son Malayaketu succeeds him. Malayaketu, together with the last minister of Nanda, demands the inheritance of all the old territories of the Nanda.

The drama begins when Malayaketu and its allies (the kings of Persia, Sind and Kashmir) are arranged to attack Pataliputra, the capital of Chandragupta (present Patna, been of Bihar).

The outcome arrives when Chanakya manages by means of clevernesses to attract the last minister of the Nanda to the Maurya side, and to undo the conflagration of Malayaketu.

The historical authenticity of the Mudrarakshasa is somewhat supported by the description of this period of history in Classical Hellenistic sources: the violent rule of the Nanda, the usurpation of Chandragupta, the formation of the Maurya Empire, and the various fights against the kingdoms of the Northwest resulting from the conquests of Alexander the Great.