Two mistakes have been made with respect to our history.
Mistake 1: That Alexander did defeat Porus. This mistake was propogated by Plutarch. See The spinning of a legend by Kamalesh Aiyer.
Mistake 2: That the Sandrokottus referred to by Plutarch is the same as Chandragupta Maurya. This mistake was made, based on phonetics alone, by the linguist William Jones and propagated by Colonial and Main Stream Historians. Palibothra referred to by the greeks was not the Pataliputra of Indian accounts.
- The greek accounts do not talk about Nandas, Mauryas or Chanakya. Mudra Rakshasam (by Visakhadutta) does not talk about the greeks at all. It only talks of the conflict of Chandragupta Maurya with the Nandas.
- The greeks say that Sandrokottus deposed his father Xandrames and had a son called Sandrocyptus. Sanskrit accounts tell us Chandragupta Maurya got rid of Dhanananda and had a son called Bindusara, who was the father of Asokavardhana.
Significance for us: Dates of our historical Events.
- Chandragupta Maurya was not of 4th century BC. So when did the Mauryans rule?
- During the time of a king called Viśvasphūrji, the Srimad Bhagavatham was appended with canto 12.1 This gives the duration of the Mauryan empire and tells in one line how a Brahmana (Chanakya) deposes Dhanananda and his 8 sons and installs Chandragupta Maurya on the throne. Since the major part of the Srimad Bhagavatam was written at the end of the Dvapara Yuga, canto 12.1 uses future tense for kaliyuga events to maintain the original period in which the Bhagavatam was first written. This is was a common style at that period. It also recounts the entire period from Puranjaya and the Pradyotans to the Kiliakilas andViśvasphūrji.
- Varahamihira has said there was a that a 1050 year gap between Parikshit and Mahapadma Nanda, the father of Dhanananda.
These are the points that we must look at along with Puranic, Astronomical and Archaeological evidence to decide the dates and events of our history.
Out of curiosity I am starting with Magadhan History. But I do plan to cover all the other Indian states as well at some point in time.
Authorship and Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved: Satya Sarada Kandula
