Chandragupta Maurya is an Indian historical drama series based on the life of Chandragupta Maurya, an Indian emperor of ancient India and the founder of the Mauryan Empire. Chandragupta Maurya was first aired in March 2011 on Imagine TV. Ashish Sharma played the adult and Rushiraj Pawar played the young Chandragupta Maurya.
Contents
Summary
The story is about Chandragupta Maurya, who ruled over the Indian subcontinent in 300 BC. He would go on to become one of the greatest emperors in ancient India with his empire extending from Assam in the east to Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west.
The story begins with Chanakya, who goes to Dhana Nanda with the offer of Akhand Bharat (literally meaning Undivided India), but Dhana Nanda and his prime minister Amatya Rakshasa end up humiliating him. Chanakya then pledges to not tie a knot in his hair until he succeeded in overthrowing the Nanda dynasty. Whilst travelling to Takshashila, he meets Chandragupta and finding him suitable to achieve his dream of Akhand Bharat, (with the permission of Chandragupta's mother) takes Chandragupta to Takshashila. There they meet Prince Ambhik and his friends (Shashank, Digvijaya and Digamber), who as a group spare no expense in humiliating Chandragupta. This prompts Chandragupta to escape from Takshashila and return home to his village, but Dhana Nanda arrives with his army and destroys the village, killing Chandragupta's mother in front of him. Enraged, Chandragupta vows to destroy The Nanda Empire.
With this in mind, Chandragupta begins training under Chanakya, who then takes him to train under various warriors, who themselves had suffered under the rule of Dhana Nanda. Chandragupta also takes part in a Vijay Yatra, winning it. When Chandragupta turns 13, Chanakya hatches a plan to kill Dhana Nanda and orders Chandragupta to execute it. Chandragupta manages to kill Dhana Nanda, but Prime Minister Rakshasa reveals that the real Dhana Nanda is still alive. It is shown that the Dhana Nanda had seven doppelgangers and Chandragupta had killed one of the doppelgangers. Chandragupta is shattered, but succeeds in escaping from the palace. On hearing of this, an enraged Chanakya decides to further train Chandragupta into an Excellent Warrior.
The show then skips ahead to 8 year in the future, where an adult Chandragupta is being played by Ashish Sharma. Chandragupta is still plotting on overthrowing the Nanda Empire. The show now introduces a new Character Alexander the Great, who is called Sikandar. Prince Ambhik readily joins hands with Sikandar. Together they defeat Porus and their armies enter India. When Chanakya hears about this, he determines that it is time for Chandragupta to rise to his true calling and they set out to gather the forces of India and defend the land from the invaders. They spread the news of the might of the forthcoming Nanda Empire based in the Greek camp, and also poison some of their generals. With the soldiers' deteriorating health and fierce Indian resistance at every step, Alexander is forced to abandon his Indian campaign and returns to Greece. However, his general Eudemus remains in India, joining hands with Ambhik. However, Chandragupta and Chanakya pose them against each other, killing them, therefore ending any Greek influence in India.
Cast
Main
Ashish Sharma as Chandragupta Maurya, former Prince of Piplivan, first emperor of the Maurya Empire
Rushiraj Pawar as Young Chandragupta Maurya
Manish Wadhwa as Chanakya, a scholar from Takshashila, Chandragupta's adviser, Prime Minister of the Maurya Empire & also as Chanak, father of Chanakya
Nidhi Tikoo as Durdhara, princess of Magadh, Chandragupta's wife
Sooraj Thapar as Dhana Nanda, emperor of Nanda Empire, sworn enemy of Chanakya & also as Mahapadma Nanda first emperor of Nanda Empire, father of Dhana Nanda
Recurring
Abhijeet Sooryvanshe as Spy of Rakshas (Tej Sapru)
Malinee Sengupta as Chitraroopa
Rajeev Bharadwaj as Bhadrabhatt
Romanch Mehta as Purushdatt
Tej Sapru as Rakshas, the Prime Minister of the Nanda Empire and Dhana Nanda's closest associate
Rohit Purohit as Bhadrasaal, the General of the Nanda Army and ruler of Sahal
Alihassan Turabi as Virajas
Mohak Meet as Aditya
Sumeet Vyas as Ambhik Kumar, Ambhiraj's son and Durdhara's fiancé
Nitin Prabhat as Ambhik Kumar
Mohsin Shaikh as Sukant
Manas Adhiya as Ghanghor
Rishiraj Arya as Aerawat
Ravi Patel as Akshay
Ankit Arora as Chandragupta's father
Deepti Dhyani as Mura
Onkar Nath Mishra as Acharya Shreshtha
Vishal Aditya Singh as Shashank
Ankit Shah as Younger Shashank
Lalit Negi as Digvijay
Siddhharth Dhanda as Young Digvijay