Dhana Nanda

Dhana Nanda
Nanda Samrat
Reign	329 BC --- 321 BC
Full name	Dhana Nanda
Predecessor	Mahapadma Nanda
Successor	Chandragupta Maurya (the founder of Maurya Dynasty)
Royal House	Nanda Dynasty
Father	Mahapadma Nanda
Mother	Shruda
Religious beliefs	Jainism

According to Mahabodhivamsa, Dhana Nanda was the last ruler of the Nanda dynasty. He was one of the nine sons of the Mahapadma Nanda. Plutarch tells that Androkottos or Chandragupta Maurya had stated that Nanda was hated and despised by his subject on account of the wickedness of his disposition and meanness of his origin

Life

Dhana Nanda's great-grandfather had 2 wives and one of them was a daughter of a barber. So,his grandparents, his father and his uncles were often insulted. To take revenge, his grandfather along with his 9 sons (including Dhana Nanda's father) made a plan to kill his great-grandfather and the sons of his other wife. After they succeeded, Dhana Nanda's grandfather announced himself the king. Later the throne was given to Dhana's father and after that to Dhana Nanda. Not much is known about his early life, but there are a few accounts of him in both secular and religious texts. Dhana Nanda was addicted to hoarding treasure.... He collected riches to the amount of eighty kotis in a rock in the bed of river (Ganges). Having caused a great excavation to be made, he buried the treasure there....Levying taxes, among other articles, even on skins, gums and stones, he amassed further treasure which disposed of similarly"

A Tamil poet called Mamulanar belongs to this period in his poem Ahananuru anthology number 251 points out hoardings of Nandan

During the Alexander's campaign of India, King Poros(or Porus) stated the king of Gangaridai was a man of worthless character and was not held in respect. He was considered to be the son of a barber. It is clear that the Dhana Nanda dynasty was very unpopular among the people and the neighboring states, few possible explanations of the unpopularity could be their varna, Nanda Kings were said to be of shudra caste and the other reason being their financial extortion. But the trait of cruelty was passed from generation to generation resulting the Nanda dynasty to be unpopular for its subjects.

Reign

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  Dhana Nanda's empire

Relations with the Kalinga Kingdom

Although the relations of Kalinga kingdom and Nanda Dynasty weren't very companionable, there had been a brief period in the past where the relations were affable, when Prince Shauryananda wed Damyanti of Kalinga. However, the relations were short lived as the marriage itself. The people of Kalinga despised the Magadha rulers, the Nanda dynasty, for belonging to Shudra varna and categorized them as barbaric. Dhana Nanda possessed similar aversion for Kalinga and its crown prince Kharasala.

The Nanda Army

Dhana Nanda's army, as described by Diodorus and Quintus Curtius Rufus, consisted of 200,000 infantry, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 war chariots and 3,000 war elephants. According to Plutarch however, the size of the Nanda army was even larger, numbering 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8,000 war chariots, and 6,000 war elephants.

References

Dhana Nanda Nanda Dynasty
Preceded by Mahapadma Nanda	Nanda Emperor 187–180	Succeeded by Chandragupta (Mauryan Dynasty)